The Metaphor Of Madness

Since the madman in Lu Xun’s A madman’s Diary opened the prelude of the madness in modern literary history, Chinese literary world, especially in the new period literature,a large number of "character of madness" had emerged. They form a unique “Characters Group”. Since the "character of madness" appeared in the literature, they had had the significance of metaphor,and with the development of the society they have been constantly extended new connotations.They’re not only the metaphor for the social morbid problems faced by the contemporary society, but also, from the perspective of aesthetics, provide a way to spiritual redemption for literature and human beings. This article attempts to sort out the evolution of the madness’ s connotations, and takes the characters of madness in the new period literature as examples to deeply analyse the metaphorical meanings of the madness, and finally analysis the character of madness’ s aesthetic value and practical significance.