How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Madness

Disciplines > Storytelling > Plots > Polti's Situations > Madness

Description | Discussion | See also

Previous: Murderous adultery

Next: Fatal imprudence

Description

Elements

A Mad person
A Victim

Summary

A person becomes temporarily Mad, losing control and harming the Victim.

Variants

Kinsmen slain in madness
A lover slain in madness
Slaying or injuring of a person not hated

Disgrace brought upon oneself through madness

Loss of loved ones brought about by madness

Madness brought on by fear of heredity insanity

Discussion

Strong emotion causes powerful arousal, which leads to a loss of rational thinking. Anger takes over and the person loses all conscious control, effectively becoming a different person for a while.

In stories, we are both horrified by this loss of control and humanity whilst also looking on in fascination and recognition of what we perhaps sometimes would like to do. We also may feel pity and sorrow for the afflicted person, realizing that perhaps it could also happen to us.

Some people do indeed let go and find release in this activity, although others pay the price. The modern treatment of this can be Anger Management classes, where the person learns to suppress, displace, sublimate or otherwise deflect their destructive urges.

'Madness' is the 16th of Georges Polti's 36 Dramatic Situations.