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Published July 2014

About the Chapter:

Daniel J.R. Grey, ‘”The Agony of Despair”: Pain and the Cultural Script of Infanticide in England and Wales, 1860-1960’, in Rob Boddice (ed.), Pain and Emotion in Modern History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), pp. 204-19.

This chapter explores how and why the closely entwined experiences of pain, shame and fear became — and remained — key elements of the construction of infanticide in England and Wales for at least a century.

About the Book:

Pain and Emotion in Modern History is a rich exploration of the affective expression of pain, the emotional experience of pain, and the experience of others’ pain as pain. Drawing on the expertise of historical, literary and philosophical scholarship, practising physicians, the medical humanities, and conceptual artists, this is a true interdisciplinary collaboration, styled as a history. It explores pain at the intersection of the living, suffering body, and the discursive cultural webs that entangle it in its specific moment. This volume goes beyond the typical spaces and parameters of pain, from the operating theatre to the waiting room; from the moment of birth to its anticipation and aftermath; from the body in pain to the body in a culture of pain. Most importantly, it moves from the narrowly physical to the broadly emotional, enabling the enrichment of the medical history of pain, as well as setting a new agenda for medical history.