Author: cskowronski (Page 2 of 3)

While doing background research on The Beetle, I discovered tons of sites that included information on early motion pictures. Many of them mentioned The Beetle, a British film from 1919. Curiously, not even stills from this classic are to be found anywhere, while other films from this era such as Nosferatu (1922), Frankenstein (1910), or Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920) have stood the test of time and are regarded as some of the best silent films of all time. I wonder if the fact this movie was never as popular as the others is why we don’t hear so much about the novel? After all, it was more popular than Dracula when the two horror novels had been released. All of us grow up hearing about other early monsters (Frankestein, Dracula, Hyde) that had established their dominance on the silver screen well before our time but rarely do we hear about Richard Marsh’s creation. Would The Beetle novel be just as popular as these other monsters if the film was more popular?

I also kept on seeing results for The Golden Beetle (1907) which was one of the first ‘colorized’ films (each frame was hand painted in post-production). The Beetle brought up the ideals of the New Woman, so I loved how in this film a badass lady beetle captures a man and destroys him.

This article from The New Yorker goes into the implications the book had on Wilde’s life. Due to the homoerotic symbolism in the novel, Wilde was convicted of “committing acts of gross indecency with certain male persons” and thrown in prison. After his death Wilde was known as a homosexual martyr that even inspired a nascent gay-rights movement.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/08/08/deceptive-picture

Hyde is the physical embodiment of the possibilities for human degeneration. His character may represent the possibilities for humans to return to a more primitive state, as it shows our ability to unleash repress monstrosity.

“If it is true that evil is inherent in all people or at least the result of people’s experience rather than divine providence, then it becomes more difficult to say with certainty that God had any role in forming the hearts and minds of human beings.”

Fuller, b. 2016

This analysis of the novel provides interesting thoughts on how Victorians may have viewed this novel based on the new research and understanding of psychology coming to light.

http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1491/the-anxiety-of-the-unforseen-in-stevensons-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde

The Wellcome’s Mental Health digitized records include a large span of primary source material that deal with the history of medicine dating from the 15th century to present day. Topics covered include anatomy, chemistry, psychology, zoology, and almost everything in between. The artifact I chose to explore is ‘Reasons for the establishing and further encouragement of Saint Luke’s Hospital for Lunaticks’ published 1830 in London, England. It is a small, printed book which includes lists of current staff, instructions, properties, and annual accounts and statistics. St. Lukes was founded in 1750 and functioned as a mental hospital for the poor. I chose this artifact because I am intrigued by the aspect of inhumane treatment of the mentally ill during this time period. Terms once widely used by professionals for describing the mentally ill (lunatic or idiot) would be considered wildly inappropriate today. When looking at the patient summaries, less than half of all patients that had been admitted were discharged as cured. The majority were discharged as uncured, idiots, diseased, or unfit. What would they do with these patients that were released as uncured? The concept of being deemed as an idiot or unfit for treatment also makes me wonder what criteria was being used for admission. When we think about Rochester keeping Bertha, a mentally unstable woman, in his attic for all those years, we are quick to judge Rochester for locking her up, questioning if he was the cause of her insanity. However thinking back to the level of understanding people had of mental health during this time period, many people would not have been able to understand Bertha’s mental illness or its cause. This article reminded me to think of things in the context of the time period they were written in and not just mine. Getting a closer look at primary sources from the time period made it easier for this to be accomplished and see another point of view.

“Think of his misery; think of his danger—look at his state when left alone; remember his headlong nature; consider the recklessness following on despair—soothe him; save him; love him; tell him you love him and will be his. Who in the world cares for you?“

Brontë, pg 408