the madwoman

I've been doing some more reading for my thesis and looking at the idea of the madwoman in literature. Writing about madness apart from being a cathartic exercise also requires some reflection on my part. What am I trying to say here? I want to dispose of the myth that madness inspires creativity- I think creativity exists despite madness, and it is only when you are relatively well that you are able to create anything worthwhile. Romanticising madness is a real danger here- since so many literary figures experienced madness. I don't think there is any meaning to psychotic illnesses- they strike out of the blue- and part of it is accepting that. Then finding meaning in your own life after it has been taken away temporarily is probably part of the healing process. When an author writes about madness and it's not autobiographical (and even when it is) other meanings can be read into it- such as social commentary. I think I'm still sorting this out in my own mind- and maybe why I'm writing a minor thesis on it.