The inner side of wisdom: suicide in early modern England

Abstract

SynopsisThis essay traces the shifting perception of the nature and prevalence of suicide in early modern England. Suicide is presented as one form of deviance contemporaries recognized and is used to illuminate the history of mental disorder in its social and intellectual context.Daft Meg [an idiot and suicide] was a sort of household familiar among us, and there was much like the inner side of wisdom in the pattern of her sayings, many of which are still preserved as proverbs.John Galt, Annals of the Parish, p. 126.

Suicide in Opera

“…During the seventeenth century and for much of the eighteenth century, the principal subjects of opera and, in particular, opera seria, were the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome, contemporary subjects only appearing in opera buffa or the English ballad opera. As Stengel (1973) and MacDonald (1977) found, the Church's attitude towards suicide was un compromisingly harsh, treating it as a sin and as a form of murder. The legal penalties in Stuart England were equally harsh, â€oe¿ suicides being denied funerals and burial in the churchyard... his movable goods being forfeited to the King's Almoner― (MacDonald, 1977).…”

“…Stengel's (1973) survey of suicide and attempted suicide contained a chapter on the attitudes of society to suicide, but it is neces sarily brief and rather lacks the clarity of the rest of the book. One of the most detailed historical surveys is MacDonald (1977), which clearly illustrates the way in which society's attitudes towards suicidal behaviour altered between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the twentieth century.…”

Mitä väliä on historialla?

“…Myös Durkheim 1897, III (osa): (luku) 2. 5 Anderson 1980;Anderson 1987;MacDonald 1977;MacDonald 1986;Murphy 1986;Stevenson 1987;Stevenson 1987b. Myös varhainen empiirisesti keskiajan itsemurhia käsittelevä tutkimus : Schmitt 1976.…”

A personal view

“…That suicide began to vie with TB as a cause of operatic death, although overstated, is a valid observation when we look at 19th century operas. Given the penalties incurred by suicide in Stuart England (MacDonald, 1977), some shift in attitude must have occurred between the strict religious views prevalent in the 17th century and its presentation in graphic terms in a late 19th or 20th century opera acceptable to a thinking public. Feggetter treats us to a saunter through the repertoire outlining plots as we go.…”