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“The Time Is Sick and Out of Joint”: Physical Disability in Victorian England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Cindy Lacom
Cindy Lacom*
Affiliation:
Slippery Rock University
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Extract

By 1870 England had colonized over one-fifth of the world's landmasses. In 1776 Adam Smith revolutionized economic theory with the publication of The Wealth of Nations, setting the stage for a celebration of laissez-faire capitalism that continues today. In 1859 Samuel Smiles published Self Help, a text that would become a best seller and profoundly influence Victorian and modern ideas about human independence and endeavor. Charles Kingsley's sermons, which invoked the term “muscular Christianity,” linked athleticism and physical stamina with true masculinity and moral strength. Authors like Thomas Carlyle, from whose essay “Signs of the Times” the first part of my paper title is taken, increasingly aligned the ills of England's social body with the ills of individual bodies. And throughout the nineteenth century, as industrialization and urbanization radically altered life for millions, England struggled to cope with chronic and extreme poverty among the working classes, including starvation in the streets.

Type
Conference on Disability Studies and the University
Information
PMLA , Volume 120 , Issue 2 , March 2005 , pp. 547 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 2005

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References

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