The Motif of Mental Illness in the Works of M. Pantyukhov (1880–1910) and А. Mire (1874–1913)

Abstract

The article studies the motif of mental illness in the works of two littleknown writers of the late XIX – early XX centuries: M.I. Pantyukhov (1880 –1910) and A. Mire (1874–1913). Pantyukhov's novella «The Silence and The Old Man» and Mire’s short stories «The Insane», «At Bicêtre» and drama «The Defeated»
 were analyzed. These works were selected as they all are characterized by the motif of mental illness and psychological dissonance. The aim of the analysis was to study the characters showing symptoms of a mental disorder and determine
 their function in the narrative. Having a long history, the mad hero type became peculiarly popular in the Russian literature of the named period as those texts reflected the perturbations of the turning stage of the history and a crisis state of
 people’s minds those processes led to.
 The problem of madness was addressed by both key writers and obscure authors. The writers under study might be interested in that topic because of their personal lives, too: both of them suffered from mental disorders and happened to be patients at a hospital. Paradoxically, despite their addled minds, Pantukhov’s and Mire’s characters grasp the truths which are unobtainable for mentally healthy people and, due to this, become social malady denouncers and – sometimes – moral crusaders. Apart from having a specific, «sick» view of life, mad heroes are extremely
 vulnerable which makes them victims unable to resist the cruelty of life.