Annotated Bibliography for Women and Madness in the Eighteenth Century
Eighteenth-century poetry. An annotated anthology, ed. David Fairer and Christine Gerrard (Oxford and Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1999).
home / Proved to have a very useful index by subject, which lead me to excepts from several poems on the topic of madness. A good starting place, with several excellent primary sources -- Ann Yearsley, Anne Finch, Matthew Prior, James Thomson, William Cowper, Charlotte Smith, and Anna Seward. I've typed these poems up and posted them on the web
Eighteenth-century women poets. An Oxford anthology, ed. Roger Lonsdale (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1989).
home / The Index of Selected Topics had a listing of "ill health" poems, which were often the same as I found in Blackwell; those which were not focussed more on illnesses of the body, which is not my focus. Many of these poems focus on melancholy or head-aches (especially Jane Cave!). Also, an 'Ode to the Poppy' by Henrietta O'Neill, which I may contrast with Anna Seward's 'Sonnet: to the Poppy'
A History of Women In the West: III, Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes. ed. Natalie Zemon Davis and Arlette Cambridge Farge (Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1993).
home / Lots of interesting vaguely related things, but two articles in particular which proved useful and informative. On p.261-294 'The Ambiguities of Literature' by Jean-Paul Desaive, and p. 348-388 'The Discourse of Medecine and Science' by Evelyne Berriot-Salvadore (both translated by Arthur Goldhammer
The Anatomy of Madness, 3 vols. ed. W. F. Bynum, Roy Porter, and Michael Shepherd (London: Tavistock, 1985).
RC 450 .A1A53 1985 TRIN 1-3 / Missing from Trinity library, will try to find it at BMED at a later date, as it is currently checked out
Auerbach, Nina. Romantic Imprisonment: Women and Other Glorified Outcasts. (New York?)
PR 830 .W6A93 1985 ROBA/TRIN / Where is this book?? Every copy in the system seems to be missing!! Frustrating.
Chesler, Phyllis. Women and Madness. (New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1972).
RC 451.4 .W6C47 1972 TRIN / This book was a red herring, despite its enticing title. It deals with modern psychology, neglecting any deeper historical background outside of abusing mythic female archetypes such as Persephone, Demeter, etc. A pseudo-medical exploration of female misdiagnoses and misogynistic clinical ideology, it attempts to explain mental instability by categorizing women as victims of various confining social roles. It tries to be an 'expose' of the gender-biased oppressive psychiatric system, failing to take actual mental illness into account. Total waste of my time.
Doob, Penelope. Nebuchadnezzar's Children: Conventions of Madness in Middle English Literature. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974).
PR 275 .M44D6 1974 TRIN / While educational in the sense that it provided me with some interesting background of literary treatments of madness in the middle ages, and thereby some of the tradition that lies behind what I am researching, this book utterly failed to address madness as it relates to women. The gendered language of the table of contents and the preface was enough to convince me that further reading would be fruitless; " Madmen and wild men abound..."
Feder, Lilian. Madness in Literarure. (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1980).
PN 56 .M45F37 ROBA / While the library system believes it is available, this book was not actually on the shelf. Frustrating
Felman, Shoshana. Writing and Madness (Literature / Philosophy / Psychoanalysis). (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985). PN 56 .M45F413 1985 TRIN / Yet another frustrating experience, this book failed to have either a bibliography or an index of its contents (unusual in an academic publication). Also, for my specific purposes, a disappointment in its subject matter, which focused largely on the writings of men -- Foucault, Derrida, Nerval, Flaubert, Balzac, Lacan, and Henry James. Not one female perspective on the subject. And this book was written by a woman! Still, a few intriguing generalities in the intro.
Ferguson, Moira. "Resistance and Power in the Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley." Eighteenth-Century: Theory and Interpretation 27 . (1986): 247.
?? / Haven't found this yet, but I will look for it very soon! It sounds promising.
Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: a History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. (London: Tavistock Social Science Paperback, 1971).
RC 438 .F613 VUPT / Brilliant! A reallly useful resource, although unfortunately unindexed and with no bibliography a little hard to navigate. But, as the introduction explains, "Rather than to review historically the concept of madness, the author has chosen to recreate, mostly from original documents, mental illness, folly, and unreason as they must have existed in their time, place, and proper social perspective." Great. Now all I have to do is find the time to read the whole bloody thing
Gilbert, Sandra and Gubar, Susan. The Madwoman in the Attic: the Woman Writer and the Nineteenth Century Imagination. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979).
PR 115 .G5 VUPT / Why, oh why the 19th century? This book is useful for its examination of women's writing, and its exposure of which works were influential.. Part I, 'Toward a Feminist Poetics' and Part VI, 'Strength in Agony: Nineteenth-Century Poetry by Women' are most useful to me, as Parts II-V deal with novelists (Austen, Shelley, Bronte, Eliot).
Gilman, Sander L. Disease and Representation: Images of Illness from Madness to AIDS. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1988).
RC 438 .G54 1988 VUPT / This book focuses on the visual, but was interesting to look at nonetheless. I recommend it.
Hunter, Richard and Macalpine, Ida. Three Hundred Years of Psychiatry, 1535-1860: a History Presented in Selected English Texts. (London: Oxford University Press, 1963).
RC 438 .H84 BMED / This book was out, but I have it on reserve. I hope it will prove enlightening
Ingram, Allan. The Madhouse of Language: Writing and Reading Madness in the Eighteenth Century. (New York: Routledge, Chapman and Hall, Inc., 1991).
PR 448 .M45I5 1991 VUPT / A great find! This book will undoubtedly prove to be a major resource, as it deals exclusively with madness and language in the eighteenth century. The index and table of contents have not proven illuminating, but the bibliography is great! I anticipate I will read the entire book in the course of my research
Lipking, lawrence. Abandoned Women and the Poetic Tradition. (Chicago, 1988).
?? / Haven't found this one yet, but I'm working on it.
MacLennan, George. Lucid Interval; Subjective Writing and Madness in History. Leicester, London: Leicester University Press, 1992.
PR 120 M47M33 1992 ROBA / This is a very interesting and, so far as I can tell, unique book, in that it deals with the issue of madness as written about by madmen. Emphasis on the "men" I'm afraid. Still, chapters 4 and 5 focus exclusively on William Cowper, an eighteenth century poet whose work 'The Task' contains a madwoman (Crazy Kate). This may prove to be the beginning of an essay topic; after the discovery of this book, I may compare Cowper's representation of the Mad Female with a woman's presentation -- Yearsley's crazy Louisa?
Martin, Philip. Mad Women in Romantic Writing. (Brighton, 1987).
?? / Haven't found this one yet, but I'm working on it.
Porter, Roy. Mind-forged Manacles: a History of Madness in England from the Restoration to the Regency. (London: Athalone Press, 1987).
RC 450 .G7P67 1987 TRIN/BMED / Drat! Foiled again. The Trin copy is missing in action, and the Gerstein copy is in circulation. I will keep looking for this, as it seems like it could prove a useful resource
Porter, Roy. A Social History of Madness: Stories of the Insane. (London: Weideneld & Nicholson, 1987).
RC 464 .A1P67 1987 SMC / I haven't made my way to SMC library yet. SMC scares me, frankly
Priestman, Martin. Cowper's Task: Structure and Influence. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).
PR 3382 .T33P7 1983 ROBA / Chapter 3 is on 'Book One: The Sofa' exclusively, but no sign of Crazy Kate in the index, and the bibliography indicates no sources on madness in Cowper's poetry. Hmm...
Raftery, Deirdre. Women and Learning in English Writing, 1600-1900. (Portland, OR: Four Courts Press, 1997).
PR 111 R34 1997 ROBA / I mostly picked this one up for parts II and I, 'Strictures and Vindications: Eighteenth-century Theories of Female Reason' and 'Anatomizing Female Reason: Medical Literature and Popular Print Culture'.
Rigney, Barbara Hill. Madness and Sexual Politics in the Feminist Novel: studies in Bronte, Woolf, Lessing and Atwood. (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978).
PR 830 .W62R5 ROBA / Too modern a focus to be of any real use to me, I felt obliged to take a look for the title alone.
Roy, James A. Cowper & His Poetry. (London: George Harrap & Company, 1917).
PR 3383 .R7 ROBA / A tidy little volume with a sentimental intro. by a William Hudson. Proposes that "biography and production will be considered together and in intimate association". Contains annotated segments of "The Task".
Ryskamp, Charles. William Cowper of the Inner Temple, Esq: A Study of His Life and Works to the Year 1768. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959).
PR 3383 .R9 ROBA / Looks pretty dull, but it does have several pages on "The Task"; will read more later.
Showalter, Elaine. The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830-1980. (London: Virago, 1987).
RC 451.4 .W6556 1985 VUPT/TRIN / Very interesting, en enthralling feminist history of psychiatric treatment and education. The chapters on elecroshock therapy were excruciating to read, but informative. Unfortunately, the book's address of women and madness begins exactly at 1800, with little attention paid to the preceding century.
Small, Helen. Love's Madness: Medicine, the Novel, and Female Insanity 1800-1865. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).
PR 868 .M46S63 1996 VUPT / Super useful! Chapters cover: 1. Love's Madness; 2. Love-Mad Women and the Rhetoric of Gentlemanly Medicine; 3. Hyperbole and the Love-Mad Woman: George III, 'Rosa Matilda', and Jane Austen; 4. Love-Mad Women and Poitical Insurrection in Regency Fiction; 5. The Hyena's Laughter: Lucretia and Jany Eyre; and 6. The Woman in White, Great Expectations,and the Limits of Medicine. But again, no attention paid to the 18th century. Why is this??
Thompson, Rev. Henry. The Life of Hannah More with Notices of Her Sisters. (London: T. Cadell, 1838).
?? / Haven't located a copy of this yet, which is unfortunate, because of More's involvement with mad Louisa of 'Clifton Hill'.
Waldron, Mary. Lactilla, Milkwoman of Clifton: the Life and Writings of Ann Yearsley, 1753-1806. (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1996).
PR 3779 .Y4Z95 1996 ROBA / Not a lot of information on 'Clifton Hill' (only p.108-116), but lead me to Thompson's book.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. Maria or the Wrongs of Woman. 1798. Introd. Anne K. Mellor. (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1994).
home / A major insight into women writing about madness in this period, this work was left unfinished at Wollstonecraft's death
Yaeger, Patricia. Honey-Mad Women: Emancipatory Strategies in Women's Writing. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
PR 119 Y34 1988 ROBA / While this book has some good information about Mary Wollestonecraft in chapter 5, it focusses a great deal more on constructing a new set of terms for feminist criticism. Lots of Helene Cixous and Derrida; very eighties.