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Post by julietmontague on Apr 9, 2008 15:25:43 GMT -5
The only thing about Rebel Angels that irked me a bit was the portayal of Bethlem. It's just that insane asylums, Bethlem especially, were known for the horrible way patients were treated, the inhumane experiments performed on them, their despicable living conditions, and physical and mental abuse on many levels. Now, I know many were made better in the mid ninteenth century because of Dorothea Dix I believe it was who improved asylum conditions considerably, but such stories of horror were really most prevalent during the turn of the century, going really all the way untill the late 1950's! In Rebel Angels, the conditions seem hardly the horrific scene that we now know those places to be. Am I missing anything? Maybe I'm wrong and Bethlem truly was a better asylum than most after being reformed, though if anyone is familiar with Sweeney Todd (which I think takes place around the time of the reforms) it's obvious why it recieved its nick name.
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Post by juniper on Apr 9, 2008 16:49:18 GMT -5
I never really noticed this until you pointed it out, but yeah, it sounds like it's a HUGE historical innacurracy. I know Dix did go over to England at some point in her carrer, but I feel as though Bethlam def. should have been much harsher and cruler.
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Post by lucian11 on Jun 14, 2008 15:12:36 GMT -5
There are three possibilities:
1. The cruel conditions in mental institutions during those times escaped Libba’s researches.
2. She did it on purpose because she figured out during her researches that aristocrats were spared the cruelty.
3. She found out that the Bethlem institution was indeed better.
Of course most people are going to miss this, I know I did!
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