Depression In Bartleby, The Scrivener And 'A Hunger Artist'

When an individual feels sad, hopeless, discouraged, troubled, or withdrawn from their usual interests and daily living for a short period of time, it is depression. On the other hand, when these feelings heavily impact daily activities and bring severe and long-lasting psychological pain, this is major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition to major depressive disorder identified as MDD, it may be referred to as unipolar depression, major depression, or clinical depression.

In most works of fiction, there are many literary themes, elements, and symbols used. The stories follow different perspectives and views ranging from the narrator to first person. In Herman Melville’s, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, the story is presented through the eyes of Bartleby’s unnamed employer. It follows the rise and decline of Bartleby’s employment and leads to his untimely death which is caused by, and the focus of, his unexplained disorder which one would assume the mannerisms and symptoms of clinical depression. Upon further analysis, one can conclude that “Bartleby, the Scrivener” was a metaphor for Melville himself and the way his life and career was going at the time. Following Bartleby’s initial appearance, the theme is developed into his existence and is centered on his actions throughout the course of the story. These small indications of gradual depression placed by Herman Melville and his early reactions to public criticism create a foreground for Bartleby and set a tone for the rest of the story, following his dive into a deeper depression.

Edgar Allan Poe is considered to be the father of the short story by many. Over the course of his life, he wrote hundreds of short stories and poems. His writing style is unique and influenced by the tragedies that occurred over the course of his life. In fact, he is most well known for writing morbid stories and gruesome, dismal poems. Indeed his writing habits were heavily influenced by his life. His life was full of depression, angst, and woe. Many of the people he cared for fell victim to deadly plagues and diseases. To cope with this pain, Edgar Allan Poe sought comfort in the bottom of a bottle. In his times of depression he would drink heavily and become sick for days at a time.

Depression is a common but serious mood disorder that makes you sad, mad, happy, confused, jealous all in once. It can make you want to kill yourself if your moods get out of hand or, if you are having family problems you think that you are not worth being alive. For example, “Depression is more serious than sadness. It can feel like an inability to be happy. Depression is often caused by physical imbalances of chemicals in the brain.

Edgar Allan Poe was the epitome of a tormented genius. He possessed uncontrollable and self-inflicted internal problems. In addition, Poe was plagued by external difficulties—some preventable, some not. Most doctors today would pronounce Poe to be bipolar, chronically depressed, and perhaps even OCD. Most people today, and any day, would declare Poe to be self-obsessed and arrogant, or—at the least—snobbish. His personal life would also be considered less than ideal, though how much he was personally responsible for is still unknown (Hutchisson 19). Art, however, often springs from controversy and instability. In fact, Jacqueline Langwith, editor of Perspective on Disease & Disorders: Mood Disorders, notes that “creativity appears to be

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most mysterious authors that the world of writing has known. Although many critics have different views on Poe's writing style, Harold Bloom summed it up best when he said, "Poe has an uncanny talent for exposing our common nightmares and hysteria lurking beneath our carefully structured lives".(Bloom 7 ). Many of Poe’s works can be related back to his life. Poe had many problems such as psychological illness, alcohol addiction, and gambling issues. There is also the fact that Poe’s life was full of heart aches such as the fact that everyone that Poe would grow to love would leave him or die. Since Poe’s works are so closely related to his life or inspired by his life struggles one can correctly assume

The symptoms that Van Gogh experienced are what many people are still struggling with today., symptoms that are still overlooked in modern times This particular quote is so telling because people suffering from mental illness begin with a disadvantage and have to work twice as hard and usually for half the outcome as someone without illness. Vincent Van Gogh remains an inspiration for many artists, but his work really resonates with artists that struggle with their health. Despite all the suffering he went through in his own head, he managed to create beautiful pieces of artwork that still affect people over 100 years

Edgar Allen Poe was one of the most brilliant writers of the nineteenth century. His short stories and poems consist of horror, mortality, romantic struggle, and psychological concept. Poe’s tales labeled him as a master in his study of instability of self-control, the restrain of emotion, and access of feeling. His literary works were based on his personal background; therefore, many have similar characteristics.

It has been said that one cannot be truly great till they have experienced hardship. This, perhaps, is the reason that Edgar Allan Poe is thought to be one of the greatest story tellers in all of history. His life was not sprinkled with tragedy, but completely drowned in it. From the beginning of Poe’s life till the very end, he was, according to The Haunted Man by Phillip Lindsay, “born to live in nightmares” and that Poe’s life “might [as] well have been one of [Poe’s] own creations (Lindsay 2).” Death, hardship, and betrayal followed him wherever he travelled, causing him to become a depressed alcoholic along the way. It is widely believed by literary critics that “had he not been this tortured creature seeking a coffin for a

Depression is a mental illness in which a person experiences deep, stable sadness and discontinued interest in nearly all activities. People also use the term depression to describe the temporary sadness, loneliness,

We have all felt sad or low at some point but there are people who experience these feelings more than others and for a longer period of time. Plenty of time not knowing the reason behind such mood. Depression is a common and serious mental health disorder characterized by constant depressed mood or loss of interest in activities once enjoyed. This disorder can lead to a range of emotional and physical problems and can also decrease a person’s ability and desire to function at work and at home (psychiatry.org).

When an average person talks about depression, they say that it is simply being sad all of the time. If they see a starving dog on the side of the road begging for food, it causes them to become depressed. It is used as a way to express their emotions and how they feel on the inside. Depression is not used in the proper way that it is supposed to be used. It is extremely misunderstood and misused.

The following paper is a case analysis of Ernest Hemingway’s bipolar disorder. The goal of the paper is to conceptualize bipolar disorder using a psychodynamic model. The case study uses the concepts of abnormal psychology to trace the etiology of a mood disorder beyond just the vestiges of uncommon behavior. The paper argues that he suffered from a mood disorder. The etiology of his mood disorder is the unresolved issues he had with his father’s suicide. Excessive use of alcohol exacerbated his problems. He exhibited bipolar mood swings that contributed to his suicide. He engaged in risk-taking behavior. He was most likely motivated to rescue himself from an overprotective mother and a cold and disciplinarian father.

Peoples’ personal life experiences usually affect the topic of their work. John Keats was a famous poet who grew up in an idyllic life until tragedy continuously stroked until his death at twenty-five years old. At eight years old, his father died in a tragic riding accident. Six years later, his mother died of tuberculosis (TB). In the midst of his troubles, his teacher strongly encouraged his reading and literacy ambitions. Living next to an insane asylum, Keats eventually started to develop physical and emotional problems. Diagnosed with TB, Keats helplessly watched his beloved brother die from the final stages of the same disease. Furthermore, he was unable to marry his fiancée, Fanny Brawne. Drawing from his individual experiences,

The work of F. Scott Fitzgerald The Tender is Night shows us how a character having strong qualities such as education and career may collapse in search of entering into a new world which results in hamartia or a fatal flaw. It is the protagonist young American Doctor Dick Diver’s tragic downfall which attracts many critics attention on the work who is an educated promising psychiatrist and traveling man that shuttles between Vienna and Zurich in the pursuit of “to be a good psychologist – maybe to be the greatest one that ever lived” (Fitzgerald 147). It can be considered as an irony that as a talented psychiatrist Dick Diver who has a published book A Psychology for Psychiatrists and has ambitious desire in finding out ways for the mental illnesses Diver’s himself ironically gets caught to a kind of mental illness that causes his frustration. In this perspective, in the novel the protagonist Diver’s trauma is considered in a way as a good example for many psychiatrists who are in search of causes and solutions for mental illnesses together with Nicole character in the novel.