Yunhong Li
Date: 9/2/2019
FIQWS 101008
Prof. Elisabeth von Uhl
Discomfort and Anger Caused By A Clinical Lesson
“A Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere” is an 1887 oil painting by Andre Brouillet. This painting has more than twenty men and three women in a room. I focus on the three females first: two women stand to the far right edge. They look like caretakers. The other woman is being held by a man. Her body is arched with her left hands clenched and turned outwards. This posture is not normal. I think that description of a girl suffering from hysteria in Freud’s first lecture: “She suffered from a rigid paralysis, accompanied by loss of sensation, of both extremities on the right side of her body…She had difficulties over the posture of her head” (2200). That description is similar to the appearance of the fainted woman in this painting. Because of that similarity, the woman seems to have hysteria. “A Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere” makes me feel uncomfortable. The woman is obviously sick but is put directly in front of people like a showpiece for a clinical lesson.
The woman appears to be disrespected. The man holds her rudely and carelessly in Charlot’s “Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere”. Also, two women dressed like nurses standing next to the man holding the hysterical woman seem to be unable to help. This situation between the male and the three females in Brouillet’s painting reflects the low status of women at that time which was that women didn’t have many rights in the late 19th century. For instance, women were not allowed to go to school to get an education. They were often not allowed to work. Therefore, men had much more power than were considered superior to women. I see this painting and become sad and angry that sexism still exists in our society today. As an illustration, President Trump has a great prejudice against women. He repeatedly demeaned women, uttered words that were offensive, contumelious to women. Consequently, this oil painting lets me think back to now how it is too difficult to make people get rid of old ideas and admit women’s rights and equality.
On the other hand, if the purpose of the group of men in Brouillet’s painting is to study to find the treatment of hysteria by showing the fainted woman as an example of hysteria in the clinical lesson. That seems to help the woman, but not disrespect her. The fainted woman is shown in front of the group of men so that they can clearly see and know the physical condition of the woman, and have the chance to closely observe and study hysteria on the woman. They use the woman as a living example in clinical less that makes me think about the importance of practice. For example, we need to take in the knowledge by doing experiments and observing living samples in biology class. But more important is that we learn outside of textbooks.
However, unlike observing animals and plants, humans have dignity. For instance, humans know shame and contempt. They experience anxiety, tension, and other emotions. These emotions can affect them both psychologically and physically. The female patient in the painting is suffering from illness, and those men are just watching, and do not seem to be treating her. Observing a patient in the class may cause harm to the patient’s psychology, further aggravate the disease.
Women are not on earth to be men’s models for any reason. However, the men in Brouillet’s painting have a good purpose of using the female patient as an example to find a way to treat hysteria, but there is no justified reason to do the right thing when women’s rights and human dignity are being destroyed. “A Clinical Lesson at the Salpetriere” shows a time when women are treated with disrespect and injustice, that make me attach importance to the women’s rights and equality, and unwilling to accept the situation in which women have been despised so far. Although women are petite, but also can not be despised, their power is unpredictable. Sometimes, women are braver, stronger than men. Therefore, women are not inferior to men, they should be treated respectfully and fairly, enjoying the rights they should have in the world.
