The Unconscious and Suicide in Literature (IN: Suicide and the Unconscious, edited by A A Leenaars & D Lester)

This chapter focuses on the use of literature in the study of suicide. Discussions of the Greek tragedies of Oedipus & Antigone are presented. There is also a discussion of using the fictitious writings of authors, such as Sylvia Plath, to investigate their suicides. The analysis of literature as a method of investigating cultural attitudes toward suicide is also discussed. (49 refs) (SC)