Medardo Ángel Silva: una exploración psicológica, psiquiátrica y literaria de su fascinación Por la muerte en “Árbol del bien y del mal”

Abstract

This article proposes a comprehensive reinterpretation of the figure of Ecuadorian modernist poet Medardo Ángel Silva (1898–1919), through an analysis that integrates three perspectives: literary, psychological, and psychiatric. Through his most representative work, El Árbol del Bien y del Mal (The Tree of Good and Evil), the article seeks to unravel the complex relationship between the author’s personal life and his persistent fascination with death, a theme present in much of his poetic output. The main hypothesis guiding this research argues that Silva’s death was not an isolated event caused solely by unrequited love—as critical tradition has often suggested—but rather the result of a deeper psychological and existential configuration, where biographical, social, and emotional factors converge. Silva died at the age of 21, leaving behind a body of work marked by extreme sensitivity, persistent melancholy, and a clear idealization of death. From an early age, he faced multiple adverse circumstances: poverty, fragile health, racial discrimination due to his Afro-descendant origins, and a childhood spent near a cemetery—a symbolic space that would deeply influence his poetic imagination.