“A Transcript of Actual Life”: Headache in the Novels of Jane Austen

Abstract

References to headache in the novels of Jane Austen have been examined. Nine characters, all female, suffer headache at one time or another, often in association with emotionally stressful situations. As an authorial device, headache may have served Jane Austen as a culturally sanctioned form of bodily expression.

Jane Austen's (1775–1817) references to headache: fact and fiction

“…55 Other sources may have come from her reading: in addition to Johnson, Cowper, Fielding and Richardson, she is said to have read ‘pedagogical works, books of travel, history, political and medical pamphlets ’ “[this author's italics]”. 56 As a narrative device, headache appears in both the juvenilia and the mature works (five of the six major novels, the exception being Northanger Abbey , as well as in the unfinished fragment of Sanditon 5 ).…”

“…61 The same might be true of the headache. 5 It has been suggested by an experienced clinician that migraine provides ‘some expression of what cannot be expressed’. 62…”

“…This has been noted in a critical reading of the novels that analyses them in the light of medical thinking about illness and the body 3 and also, on occasion, by clinical neurologists. 4,5 However, an extended examination of Jane Austen's references to headache has not been undertaken previously. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to catalogue all references to headache in the Austen canon, including her extant correspondence, and in biographical material written by Austen family members and to consider this both from the standpoint of clinical neurology and as an authorial narrative device.…”

Francis Kilvert (1840–1879): An Early Self-Report of Cluster Headache?

“…The absence of any mention of unilaterality of symptoms is odd, although this absence has also been noted in the account of another writer, Arthur Ransome (1884–1967), whose letters and autobiography otherwise suggest a diagnosis of cluster headache (9). Although they are a recognized cause of facial pain, there is no strong evidence to suggest dental problems were the cause of Kilvert's symptoms, although there is a long history of dental treatment being undertaken inappropriately in primary headache disorders (10, 11). Atypical facial pain must also enter the differential diagnosis.…”

Headache in the writings of Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865)

“…Interest in Gaskell’s life and work has developed greatly in recent times, facilitated by publication of her extant correspondence 1–3 and biographical accounts 4,5 including that of Uglow, 4 which is the most comprehensive, from which it is evident that Elizabeth Gaskell suffered from headaches 6 and, like other 19th century female novelists, 7–9 she makes use of headache in her novels. Although a possible reference to mesmerism in one letter has been noted, 10 references to medical matters in Gaskell’s oeuvre, and to headache in particular, 6 have not yet attracted significant attention.…”