Las máscaras del hombre melancólico. Amor y muertede la identidad a la épica

Abstract

Present research is based on Sigmund Freud’s study and analysis of melancholy, in addition to the study and historical analysis through different literary sources from the Middle Ages to Modernity. Melancholic Man and Man in Mourning characteristics were analyzed for Freud’s works in order to be able to propose three characters later, called "The masks of the melancholic man". In the same way, Melancholic Man was analyzed in the same different moments of the periods mentioned before, to develop his mask too. Both Freud's works and subsequent chapters, the subject of Love and Death were always investigated in relation to the Melancholy Man and his masks. It is proposed that the difference between the Melancholic Man and his masks lies in the subtle different behavior facing love and death; that difference makes that Melancholy Man has an identity issue while his masks develop an epic. We conclude with a brief commentary on the attitude faced death in Mexican culture. Based on the principles mentioned above, we propose the Mexican character as one of the Mexican man's masks