The Path to Wholeness: The Therapeutic Potential of Bodily Writing in Late Medieval Dream Visions

Abstract

This dissertation argues that late medieval dream poets viewed writing as a serious means of therapy, capable of healing both pscyhological and physiological ailments. Blending together the poetic revelatory tradition (influenced by Apocalpytic writings) with new understandings of health and medicine, fourteenth-century dream visions sought to treat the illnesses of their poetic personae by applying medical principles to literary bodies. It is the dream frame in particular, as both a reflection of the poet’s physical and mental condition and a catalyst for introspection and transformation, that enabled these poets to write through and for their bodies, ultimately facilitating healing. I take as case studies four late medieval dream visions: Le Roman de la Rose, Piers Plowman, the House of Fame, and L’Advision-Christine.