Dancing with Ophelia: Reconnecting Madness, Creativity, and Love

202 Pages·2018·1.192 MB·English

by  Jeanne Ellen Petrolle

DANCING WITH
OPHELIA

DANCING WITH
OPHELIA
RECONNECTING MADNESS,
CREATIVITY, AND LOVE
J E P
EANNE LLEN ETROLLE
ee
excelsior editions
an imprint of state university of new york press
Cover image: Leonora Carrington, “The Temple of the Word.” © 2017
Estate of Leonora Carrington/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2018 State University of New York
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Printed in the United States of America
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Excelsior Editions is an imprint of State University of New York Press
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Jenn Bennett
Marketing, Fran Keneston
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Petrolle, Jeanne Ellen, author.
Title: Dancing with Ophelia : reconnecting madness, creativity, and love /
Jeanne Ellen Petrolle.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2018] |
Series: Excelsior editions | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017017029 (print) | LCCN 2017047165 (ebook) | ISBN
9781438468808 (ebook) | ISBN 9781438468785 (paperback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Petrolle, Jeanne—Mental health. | Manic-depressive persons—
United States—Biography. | Mentally ill—Patients—United States—Biography.
Classification: LCC RC516 (ebook) | LCC RC516 .P48 2018 (print) | DDC
616.89/50092 [B]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017017029
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness
and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.
—Ecclesiastes 1:17

CONTENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE ix
CHAPTER ONE
Through the Looking Glass 1
CHAPTER TWO
Where the Wild Things Are 17
CHAPTER THREE
Escape, Flight, Freedom, and Survival 29
CHAPTER FOUR
Mad Love 47
CHAPTER FIVE
Passions of the Mind 63
CHAPTER SIX
Traveling in the Underworld 77
CHAPTER SEVEN
Dark Nights of the Soul 97
CHAPTER EIGHT
Burning Alive and Rising from the Dead 113
CHAPTER NINE
The Power of the Paradigm 131
CHAPTER TEN
Things We Do with Words 149
NOTES 163
REFERENCES 177
INDEX 183
viii / Contents
AUTHOR’S NOTE
T
his book blends literature scholarship, art history, cultural analysis,
biography, and memoir. As all writers and readers of memoir know,
the genre raises questions about privacy and questions about truth.
Inevitably, any individual’s story touches the stories of others. These
proximities created ethical dilemmas as I wrote because in my moral
universe, no one else’s story is mine to tell. Only my story is mine
to tell. So my confessional bravado ends where other people’s privacy
begins. However, it was tricky in places to tell my story without reveal-
ing more than I cared to about the private lives of others. I solved this
problem not by falsifying details but by eliding details that were not
absolutely necessary to the tales being told in service of this book’s cen-
tral concerns. In addition to protecting the privacy of others, I wanted
to balance the prudence of discretion with the genre’s demand for self-
revelation. I have tried to manage my privacy settings wisely, including
whatever my analytical purpose required while omitting material not
essential to this purpose. So, I have arranged, re-arranged, and elided
details in order to meet my own ethical standards, but have not, to the
best of my knowledge, invented or altered events.
Many people contribute to the creation of a book and this book
seemed to require more than the usual number of early readers and
supporters. I thank everyone who read early drafts of chapters, offered
feedback, and/or supported my process: Teresa Arcq, Corrine Calice, Ana
Croegaert, Ken Daley, Pam Daniels, Paula Froehle, Heather Hancock,
Ames Hawkins, Whitney Huber, Rosalyn Johnson, Steve Kapelke, Garnett
ix