SOURCE: "Preconceived and Fixed Ideas: Self-Fulfilling Prophesies in Der tolle Invalide auf dem Fort Ratonneau" in Neophilologus, Vol. 78, No. 1, January, 1994, pp. 109-18.

In the following essay, Dickson analyzes not only Francoeur's madness but the behavior of various other characters in Der tolle Invalide in terms of the psychological theories of Arnim's day.

Achim von Arnim's generation witnessed an expansion of scientific and pseudo-scientific interest in unconscious and pathological states of mind, which came to be regarded as providing the deepest insights into the psyche. Looking inwards at the processes of the mind led concomitantly to an appreciation of the extrinsic influences brought to bear on the intrinsic perspective. Man was often perceived as under threat from these influences and as unable to control his own destiny.

This would seem to represent the general consensus of opinion expressed in Der tolle Invalide auf dem Fort Ratonneau, in particular with...