The madness of art

The author finds a constant thread of what Benjamin Rush termed "tristimania" in works of great authors. The madness of art, Henry James's description of the need to transform and metamorphose personal experience by means of prose, poetry, or other artistic expression, is illustrated in the lives and works of many great writers. Psychotherapy as a means of dealing with depression in artists can be either rejected or used to advantage. The author posits that the most enduring works may be those of artists who have lived through their sadness to experience and control their rage against aging.