The Characters of Madness in the Talking Cure

Abstract

Madness, as a character, is presented as such by Erasmus of Rotterdam in his The Praise of Folly: “It is I, Folly, who speaks.” When it appears in the middle of psychoanalysis, the usual instruments of exploration must be modified. This implies bringing into play an initial representation of events that have never been inscribed either in the life history or in the Unconscious, which may be repressed or forgotten later on. The purpose of this process is to put time in motion again. In this framework, the analogy between the action of theatre and the action of analysis leads me to describe the effects on the analyst when this somewhat unseemly character enters the scene, compelling the therapist to recognize the share he takes in its evocation.