Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Confinement during the Enlightenment was based on a culture of shame and repression; in order to avoid scandal, all manner of people with supposed moral failings were locked away. Notably, the only subgroup of the imprisoned population that was made visible to the general public was “the mad.” Exhibitions of “madness” were a commonplace occurrence in cities like London and Paris, resembling the display of animals at a zoo. “Madness” thus took on an association with animality that was new to the era. Furthermore, “madness” was not considered an illness; it removed a person’s humanity. Conditions within the institutions of confinement were so inhumane that they could not be justified by “the desire to punish nor by the duty to correct” (81). Instead, a pervasive fear of the animalistic violence of “madness” justified brutalizing the “mad.”

Society’s religious relationship to “madness” was also shifting. Some people recognized “madness” as a Christlike trait, since Christ’s passion on the cross could be interpreted as a moment of “madness.” The Church could thus utilize “madness” as a symbol of humanity’s simultaneous guilt and innocence by virtue of its animality. “Madness” was evidence of a dangerous undercurrent of