William Godwinâs Mandeville, Madness, and the Case for/against Moral Management

Gerold Sedlmayr

Jump to Content

Chapter 4 William Godwinâs Mandeville, Madness, and the Case for/against Moral Management

In: The Cultural Heritage of Psychiatry and Its Literary Transformations

Author:

Gerold Sedlmayr

Gerold Sedlmayr
Search for other papers by Gerold Sedlmayr in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 71â90

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004745247_006

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

â¬42.00â¬35.00Â excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Abstract

The article argues that William Godwinâs novel Mandeville: A Tale of the Seventeenth Century in England (1817) offers a unique literary contribution to and critical negotiation of the emerging psychiatric discourse at the turn of the 19th century, of what was then called âmoral managementâ. In line with Godwinâs âdoctrine of necessityâ, as developed in his earlier philosophical work Political Justice (3rd ed. 1798), the novel illustrates how the eponymous characterâs mental condition is formed and destabilised by external circumstances from his birth. Traumatic childhood experiences, which are products of the political, religious and social conflicts of the Civil War period, the constricting nature of the place in which he grows up as an orphaned boy, and the politically charged atmosphere during his years of study turn Charles Mandeville into a self-centred and isolated human being who, as a self-proclaimed historian of his own life, attempts to (re)gain control over who he is and what he represents by translating his life into narrative. Mandeville thus offers a fictional psychiatric case study, albeit a highly ambiguous one since it is narrated by the afflicted individual himself.

The article shows how Godwinâs conception of the mind and the passions, with trauma marking a radical dysfunctionality of their economy, is at the basis of his understanding of the inextricable psychosocial linkage of the history of the self and that of the nation. This argument is complemented by a consideration of Godwinâs âdoctrine of necessityâ, raising the question of whether the mind can give rise to voluntary actions at all. In the third subsection, the care Mandevilleâs sister Henrietta provides for him during his episodes of madness is read as indicating that Godwin subscribed to the emancipatory promises of the nascent psychiatric movement of the time, moral management, but at the same time laid bare its problematic complicity with the suppressive ideology of the prevailing order. The concluding part elaborates on the claim that Mandeville is a major contribution to the history of psychiatry exactly because it subtly unfolds the ambiguity inherent in moral management.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9789004745247/BP000014.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

The Cultural Heritage of Psychiatry and Its Literary Transformations

Middle Ages to the Present

Series:Â Narratives and Mental Health, Volume: 4

Cover The Cultural Heritage of Psychiatry and Its Literary Transformations

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004745247

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 13 Nov 2025

Subjects

Front Matter

Back Matter

ProCite

RefWorks

Reference Manager

BibTeX

Zotero

EndNote

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	168	168	14
Full Text Views	1	1	0
PDF Views & Downloads	2	2	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Chapter 4 William Godwinâs Mandeville, Madness, and the Case for/against Moral Management

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

The Cultural Heritage of Psychiatry and Its Literary Transformations

Middle Ages to the Present

Table of Contents

References

Metrics

Metrics

Chapter 4 William Godwinâs Mandeville, Madness, and the Case for/against Moral Management