MADNESS AND THE MAN IN THE MIRROR: MAPPING FREEDOM

Abstract

Contemporary narratives of freedom have been dominated by the static conception that it can be achieved through a dissociation from the oppressor. This essay aims to uncover what modes of freedom have been left underdeveloped by highlighting its depiction in Wolf’s Cassandra and Cervantes’ Don Quixote. By coupling the character arcs of the eponymous protagonists with the personal experiences of the author, a roadmap away from static freedom will begin to emerge. This essay aims to identify a methodological approach towards dynamic freedom by analyzing madness as an exercise of non-conformity, self-perception as an act of affirming identity and heroism as a subject of rejection.