Book contents
- Dracula for Doctors
- Dracula for Doctors
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Body and Mind
- Chapter 2 Medico-Gothic
- Chapter 3 Stoker Medical Circles
- Chapter 4 Asylum Doctors
- Chapter 5 The Gothic Asylum
- Chapter 6 Renfield, The Pet Lunatic
- Chapter 7 The Other Patients
- Chapter 8 Diagnosing Dracula
- Chapter 9 Dread Disease and the Asylum
- Chapter 10 Occult Blood
- Chapter 11 Holes in the Skull
- Chapter 12 Dead, Alive or Undead
- Chapter 13 Therapeutic Armamentarium
- Chapter 14 Compelling Eyes
- Chapter 15 Beastliness
- Chapter 16 Vivisection or Animal Torture?
- Chapter 17 Demons and Doctors
- Chapter 18 Scientists and the Supernatural
- Chapter 19 And Dracula for Dentists …
- Chapter 20 Sex and Death
- Index
Chapter 6 - Renfield, The Pet Lunatic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 October 2019
- Dracula for Doctors
- Dracula for Doctors
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Body and Mind
- Chapter 2 Medico-Gothic
- Chapter 3 Stoker Medical Circles
- Chapter 4 Asylum Doctors
- Chapter 5 The Gothic Asylum
- Chapter 6 Renfield, The Pet Lunatic
- Chapter 7 The Other Patients
- Chapter 8 Diagnosing Dracula
- Chapter 9 Dread Disease and the Asylum
- Chapter 10 Occult Blood
- Chapter 11 Holes in the Skull
- Chapter 12 Dead, Alive or Undead
- Chapter 13 Therapeutic Armamentarium
- Chapter 14 Compelling Eyes
- Chapter 15 Beastliness
- Chapter 16 Vivisection or Animal Torture?
- Chapter 17 Demons and Doctors
- Chapter 18 Scientists and the Supernatural
- Chapter 19 And Dracula for Dentists …
- Chapter 20 Sex and Death
- Index
Summary
Dr Seward regards his patient Renfield as an interesting case, worthy of study, in order partly to distract him from the unhappiness of his disappointment in love, but also potentially to advance his career. The phrase ‘pet lunatic’ (D, p. 217), which is how Seward refers to Renfield at one point, reminds me of the term ‘special patient’ used sometimes as a warning that if professionals get over-involved with a specific patient and react in a non-standard way their judgements and the care for the patient may be impaired.1
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Dracula for DoctorsMedical Facts and Gothic Fantasies, pp. 37 - 46Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019