Inconvenient People: Lunacy, Liberty and the Mad-Doctors in Victorian England

Description

The 19th century saw a series of panics about sane individuals being locked away in lunatic asylums, and public feeling often ran high against the rising 'alienist' (or 'mad doctor') profession. English liberty was seen to be under threat from a new class of men who would sign away freedom in return for the high fees paid by unscrupulous people who wanted to be rid of a 'difficult' family member, spouse or friend. But who were the victims of this trade? And to what extent was it carried on? Why was it a problem for the wealthy and less so for the poor? Twelve separate stories of contested lunacy cases -- ranging from the 1820s to the 1890s -- reveal the various types of persons who came under threat of incarceration, the support that their plight aroused in the public mind and the newspapers, and doctors' shifting arguments about what constituted insanity. Contents......Page 2 About the Book......Page 3 About the Author......Page 4 Also by Sarah Wise......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Title Page......Page 7 A Note on Terminology......Page 8 Epigraphs......Page 9 Preface......Page 10 1. Being ‘Burrowsed’......Page 15 2. The Attorney-General of all Her Majesty’s Madmen......Page 44 3. The Alleged Lunatics’ Friend Society......Page 73 4. ‘Oh Hail, Holy Love!’......Page 99 5. ‘If I had been poor, they would have left me alone’......Page 133 6. ‘Gaskell is Single-Patient Hunting’......Page 177 7. The Woman in Yellow......Page 205 8. Juries in Revolt......Page 245 9. Dialoguing with the Unseen......Page 280 10. ‘Be sure you don’t fall, Georgie!’......Page 310 Epilogue: The Savage New Century......Page 354 Picture Credits......Page 363 Notes......Page 365 Acknowledgements......Page 385 Appendix 1......Page 388 Appendix 2......Page 392 Appendix 3......Page 395 Appendix 4......Page 402 Bibliography......Page 410 Index......Page 421 Copyright......Page 448