Mr.
Woodhouse is not a hypochondriac! A bold thesis about Emma that disagrees
with every humanities writer who has considered the role of the heroine’s
elderly father (Gorman 71, Norris 94, Payne 320, Sales 136), except C. S. Lewis,
the famous author and former chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at
Cambridge University. Remarkably,
Lewis claims to have read Emma twelve times during his lifetime.
This writer will avoid engaging in “chronological snobbery,” a
concept coined by C. S. Lewis to describe the belief that modern
interpretations, thoughts, and behavior are superior to ideas and actions of the
past (Weight of Glory 50). The
medical terms and concepts in Emma generally have the same meaning today
as during the Regency time period. Due to their obvious dermatological findings,
measles and scarlet fever are identical. The “colds” discussed also appear
to be equivalent to current usage. However,
“putrid sore throat” has an uncertain modern classification. When English
medical textbooks from 1817 (Thomas Physic) and 1819 (Parr Dictionary)
are consulted, there appears to be a large overlap between putrid sore throat,
measles, and scarlet fever. This author initially thought putrid sore throat
could be the twentieth-century equivalent of diphtheria, but it seems more
likely to represent a non-specific syndrome involving pharyngeal pus arising
from many infectious disorders such as tonsillitis, laryngitis, or bronchitis. While Regency physicians had a poor understanding of empiricism, as did everyone else in the time period, the current physician-writer is impressed with his historical counterpart’s detailed descriptions of disease and their ability to prognosticate even when only few effective interventions were at their disposal. Yet, modern writers on the subject of Regency medicine often equate inability to treat with stupidity. How might the Regency physician view our society with its astronomically higher murder rate? Non-medical
writers have satirized the discussions of medicine and environment in Emma
as hypochondriacal. A chief subject
of their ridicule is the character’s discussions of “bad” air in Emma (103).
Is concern over air quality weak-minded? As a first year medical student at
Washington University in St. Louis, I was shocked and impressed when a set of
black lungs from the nineteenth-century coal-burning era were placed next to the
normal pink lungs most non-smoking inhabitants of the twentieth century possess.
A recent newsline from the Associated Press reads, “L.A. air could raise
cancer risk.” The article reports that air pollutants in the Los Angeles area
could cause as many as 426 additional cases of cancer per million exposed
individuals. In this context, the long discussion in chapter twelve between
Isabella and her father about air quality is not as irrational as some writers
would have us believe. Mr.
Woodhouse is presented by Jane Austen as the lovable, elderly father of the
heroine; he is a man who has three principle concerns: his health, the health of
others, and his opposition to matrimony in his circle of friends or family.
Health or psychosocial descriptions of Mr. Woodhouse include: <
spirits required support, hated
change (7) inability to walk far (8) <
an upset stomach from wedding cake
(19) <
fondness of society (in his own
way) (20) <
“horror” of late hours and
large dinner parties (20) <
approval of “small” egg
ingestion (24) <
ingestion of thin gruel (24) <
sitting for pictures makes him
nervous (45) <
feared leaving Isabella in the fogs
of December (49) <
slow walker (58) <
self described as “nervous”
(92) <
over-careful of the health of
others (92) <
belief that no one was healthy in
London because of the air (102) <
believes in pure air (106) <
drinks tea (124) <
becomes too warmed with a fire and
has to move back (171) <
believes in pork being thoroughly
boiled (172) <
self described invalid (209) <
worried about not hurting neighbors
(210) <
worried about draughts (249) <
visited Bath twice for therapeutic
reasons without improvement (275) <
kind-hearted, polite old man (295) <
worried about gypsies (336) <
travels to the Abbey with a window
down in the carriage! (357) <
needs to sit by the fire (in May)
(357) Rather
than forcing recent concepts of hypochondriasis upon a nearly 200-year-old
story, I would like to cite a
medical textbook from the Regency period: Hypochondriasis may be distinguished by the languor, listlessness, want
of resolution and activity, fear of death, and suspicious disposition always
being present. . . . [there is a] lowness and dejection of spirits, great
desponding. . . . In short, it is attended with such a long train of symptoms,
that it would fill many pages to enunciate them all, as there is no function or
part of the body that does not suffer in its turn by its tyranny. . . . tea and
coffee are improper articles of diet for hypochondriasis.” (Thomas 327) Before
a diagnosis of hypochondriasis is made, other diseases that mimic the latter
condition need to be ruled out. Diseases or infections easily mistaken for
hypochondriasis are thyroid and adrenal disorders, lupus erythematosis, miliary
tuberculosis, and brain tumors, to name only few. Oh,
that humanities teachers would practice medicine! They seem to be able to spot
non-organic illness instantaneously without the benefit of history taking,
physical examination, testing, and considering a differential diagnosis. We
could probably reduce the national health care budget more than 25% by employing
them rather than doctors of medicine! While the foregoing is written
tongue-in-cheek, in reality, the diagnosis of hypochondriasis nowadays is given
very careful consideration due to the shadow specter of malpractice lawyers.
Is
Mr. Woodhouse a hypochondriac? This writer thinks not. Those who care for the
elderly will recognize many common characteristics of aging. As readers of Emma
themselves age, it is likely that Mr. Woodhouse will be increasingly perceived
as having common sense in his conversation. Further, Jane Austen is explicit as
to when symptoms represent hypochondriasis, such as those of Mrs. Churchill or
the psychosomatic symptoms exhibited by Jane Fairfax. Anita
Gorman suggests that the pre-twentieth century word Jane Austen uses for Mr.
Woodhouse—“valetudinarian” (7)—is a synonym for hypochondriac (70-71).
However, the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary defines valetudinarian
as a “person weak in health” or “invalid”—descriptions substantially
different from the category of hypochondriasis. A common characteristic of
hypochondriascism and valetudinarianism is that both possess exaggerated fears
about potential disability; the valetudinarian differs in that he actually has a
number of bona-fide medical conditions (i.e., invalidism) whereas the
hypochondriac, in reality, enjoys good health. Mr. Woodhouse could easily have hypothyroidism—a common disorder, first described as “myxedema” in 1829—characterized by hormonal under-activity of the thyroid gland that leads to feeling of coldness, mental nervousness, and skeletal weakness. The most common cause of this condition, prior to the discovery of treatment in 1896, was a goiter or enlargement of the thyroid gland which often leads to trouble swallowing—thus, Mr. Woodhouse’s fondness of “thin gruel,” “small eggs,” and “thoroughly boiled pork.” A
review of the previous list of Mr. Woodhouse’s preferences shows how many of
them match this condition. If not for comedy relief as a hypochondriac, what
then is Mr. Woodhouse’s role? He most likely serves as a contrast to make Emma
appear all the more beautiful and healthy. His weaknesses also serve to exhibit
the heroine’s compassion for her elderly father; she would otherwise seem to
be excessively arrogant and selfish. In addition, Emma’s father is always
ready to advise others on their diet or meteorological exposure. His benign
condescension is accepted gratefully, for the most part, by the other characters
as a sign of his patriarchal interest in them. It
is normal for elderly people to fear loss, and Mr. Woodhouse is no different.
This fear leads to tension and subsequent relief about Emma’s marriage to Mr.
Knightley. Mr. Woodhouse’s opposition to matrimony in others is clearly
interrelated with his concerns about his own health, and he acts to restrain the
wishes and desires of both Emma and Mr. Knightley. “When first sounded on the
subject [of their matrimony], he was so miserable, that they were almost
hopeless” (483). Considering that Jane Austen never married and that C.S. Lewis married late in life, Mr. Woodhouse’s opposition to marriage may seem eminently reasonable to both of them. An elderly C. S. Lewis once described Mr. Woodhouse as “the most sensible character in Emma” (Letters 547). This physician-writer agrees with the Cambridge Don. Who will join us? Works Cited
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