Harriet Martineau and the Impersonality of Pain

This essay examines Harriet Martineau’s identification of the invalid with impersonality: the invalid is able to regard all persons as equally valuable, all suffering as of equivalent weight, and hence the pain she feels as of no greater or lesser consequence than that experienced by anyone else. Working with a radical version of Hartleyan psychology, Martineau insists on the extent to which all sensation—but especially painful sensation—has the potential to be attached to new associations, experiences, or beliefs. As a result, the sufferer from pain emerges in her account as the ideal legislator, albeit one who is prohibited by her condition from acting in the world.