Art and Literature Intertwined: Intertextuality and the Representation of Expressionist Art in Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient

Alex Michaelides’ debut novel, The Silent Patient (2019), is a psychological thriller; the plot surrounds a psychotherapist whose obsession with a committed female murderer becomes the doom of him. While the novel has often been approached through psychoanalytic frameworks, this article examines how its narration incorporates expressionist art, Greek mythology, and ekphrasis through the lens of intertextuality. The article analyzes the novel according to the theory of intertextuality by the French philosopher and literary critic Julia Kristeva, focusing on how the novel combines its narration with Greek mythology and drama. The present study focuses on two paintings that are mentioned in the novel “Alcestis” and “Grove on fire” and how the main character’s art becomes a tool of communication and her voice in a moment that she is psychologically disturbed that she cannot express her emotions verbally. Moreover, the article does not analyze the protagonist through a psychoanalytical point of view, rather it concentrates on her art through expressionism.