The Webster's New World Dictionary defines "folie a deux" as "A condition in which symptoms of a mental disorder, such as delusive beliefs or ideas, occur simultaneously in two individuals who share a close relationship or association." (231) In Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener" this concept of coinciding peculiarity, or obsession is demonstrated quite vividly throughout three different stages. The first, Bartleby's unwavering preoccupation with his employment, followed by his decision to do no work whatsoever, and …
showed first 75 words of 678 total

showed last 75 words of 678 total
…peers cannot be undertaken lightly or only when convenient. The three stages of Bartleby's peculiar behavior are matched by the narrator's various lukewarm offers of assistance, which in regular society would be also regarded as selfish, eccentric indulgences, and mainly serve to appease the lawyer's conscience. The idea of "folie a deux" is well displayed within the oddities of these two men, and provides a unique perspective from which to understand Melville's classic short story.