Mental disturbances, 'a clouded mind'


Margaret Oliphant painted several compelling portraits of people who were mentally ill or suffering under other mental conditions.

In Cousin Mary a character goes into a catatonic state;  in The Cuckoo in the Nest a young man with mental and physical challenges is bullied and labelled a "softy";  in The Heir Presumptive there is a fascinating example of a post-partum psychosis. Portraits of madness include characters in Janet and in The Lily and the Thorn and its "sequel" Young Musgrave.

Yet another condition represented is that of a "clouded mind" - a dormant mind, never fully developed. Characters having this condition are in Salem Chapel, Innocent, and Valentine and His Brother. Perhaps in today's terminology these sensitive portrayals depict persons on the mild end of the autism spectrum.

(See also a related theme, Depression.)


Salem Chapel
Novel1862
Innocent, a Tale of Modern Life
Novel1873
The Story of Valentine and his Brother
Novel1874
Young Musgrave
Novel1877
The Lily and the Thorn
Short Fiction1877
Cousin Mary
Novel1887
Janet   [The Story of a Governess]
Novel1890
The Heir Presumptive and the Heir Apparent
Novel1890
The Cuckoo in the Nest
Novel1891

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