19th century insane asylums final draft-Isabel Boland

 Insane asylums in the 19th century 

March 18th, 2025

Inside a 19th century asylum
Life inside Victoria’s 19th-Century ‘lunatic’ Asylums

    Bram Stokers Dracula is a timeless novel published in 1897. Dracula tells the classic tale of Count Dracula and his strive to take over England, extending the blood curse throughout England. There are many themes throughout this novel. Some include sexuality, fear, and madness. Anne-Marie Finn described it best in her journal "Whose Dracula is it Anyway? Deane, Balderston and the "World Famous  famous Vampire Play" she stated, "Bram Stoker’s Dracula has accomplished something that almost no other novel has ever done: it has been thoroughly embraced by Western popular culture. From Halloween costumes to breakfast cereal, from books to movies, to a multitude of merchandise, “Dracula” is everywhere. The title is one of the most instantly recognized in the history of publishing and readily conjures up the image of a black-caped villain who preys upon members of an unsuspecting British society"(Finn Journal of Dracula studies).Within the novel, there are diary entries from certain crucial characters including Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and Dr. Seward, who works at Purfleet Asylum. Dr. Sewards diary entries often revolved around his patient Renfield, who we learn to have a connection to Dracula himself. 

    During this time, asylums where very prevalent for a number of reasons. During this time period, people did not have the same knowledge and ideas about mental health that we have now. Back then, being "mentally ill" meant you were to be isolated from everybody. Asylums a place to manage people who seemed as if they would be troublesome or dangerous to society. Even women who came across defiant or disobedient would be sent away to these institutions. People also believed that there was a spiritual aspect to mental illness. Some believed that people could be "cured" by prayer or a spiritual awakening. 

    Psychiatric wards and insane asylums were a mere way of trapping individuals who actually needed professional medical attention and care. most of these hospitals were equipped with instruments that could perform lobotomies as well as using shock therapy. These ways of "curing" patients only lead to more damage mentally and if not physically for some. Other treatments included hydrotherapy which would have the patients wrapped in sheets and bounded essentially were trapped or "mummified" while being submerged beneath the water. " Hydrotherapy proved to be a popular technique. Warm, or more commonly, cold water, allegedly reduced agitation, particularly for those experiencing manic episodes. People were either submerged in a bath for hours at a time, mummified in a wrapped “pack,” or sprayed with a deluge of shockingly cold water in showers (Fabian Talkspace). This method was seen as a way good solution to deal with patients that were going through "manic episodes" whereas in reality these patients were scared and being brutally tortured by those that were suppose to help them.  

    In Dracula, Dr. Sewards patient Reinfield is connected to Dracula. We think this because on multiple occasions Reinfield is seen collecting animals and consuming them. There are multiple instances where Reinfield gets treated like a patient in a typical 19th century asylum. Some of these moments include when Reinfield is being studied as a "curiosity" rather then having a psychological dive into what he actually has/what is wrong with him. We see this through 19th century insane asylums because they tended to have the same things happen with their patients. Often times patients would be seen as a curiosity or as a subject for them to study due to their conditions. Helping the patients in a deep psychological way was often rare and not a regular occurrence. Another time when he is treated like an asylum patient is when he was confined, and observed like they used to do in the 19th century. Another factor of this is the isolation that Reinfield received from the rest of the asylum. This tends to happen when patients are erratic, and considered 'mad'. This was a very common diagnosis in the 19th century, and it was treated by observation, confinement, and isolation. 

 

Asylum patients
Patients at the “violent ward” at Byberry Mental Hospital circa 1943. 

   

sources:

1. Fabian, Renee. “The History of Inhumane Mental Health Treatments.” Talkspace, 9 Mar. 2023, www.talkspace.com/blog/history-inhumane-mental-health-treatments/.

2. “Madness, Morality, and Medicine: Life Inside Victorian Lunatic Asylums.” History Tools, www.historytools.org/stories/madness-morality-and-medicine-life-inside-victorian-lunatic-asylums. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

3. “Journal of Dracula Studies.” Journal of Dracula Studies | Kutztown University, research.library.kutztown.edu/dracula-studies/. Accessed 30 Mar. 2025.

4. Kamm, Rebecca. “Life inside Victoria’s 19th-Century ‘lunatic’ Asylums.” VICE, 27 July 2024, www.vice.com/en/article/life-inside-victorias-19th-century-lunatic-asylums/.

5. Ishak, Natasha. “These 9 ‘insane Asylums’ from the 19th Century Are the Stuff of Nightmares.” All That’s Interesting, All That’s Interesting, 17 Aug. 2023, allthatsinteresting.com/insane-asylums/4.