Literary critic Christopher T. Hamilton posits that “the bottle of tonic [in “Power”] is likely a symbolic reference to quackery, an indirect analogy to charlatans who looked for opportunities to exploit others for financial gain, and ultimately for power.” Chase Dimock further notes that the reference to a cure for melancholy might be a reference to hysteria and its treatment. In light of Rich’s intense focus on Curie’s denial of her illness, it is important to understand the 19th-century view of women’s psychology that prevailed during Curie’s time in order to understand both Curie’s relationship to her own illness as well as Rich’s description of it.
Throughout the 19th century, upper-class European women were frequently diagnosed with “hysteria,” a collection of symptoms that could include amnesia, paralysis, unexplained pains, nervous tics, loss of speech, loss of sensation, sleepwalking, hallucinations, and convulsions. Without a robust concept of mental illness, all these symptoms were considered neurological disorders, and women were treated in asylums and sanitoriums using methods as various as tonics and manual massage. Explanations for hysteria in the 19th century included the idea that women were “faking it,” or that it was a disease that afflicted only women. It was not until the publication of noted Austrian psychologist Sigmund Freud’s “Studies in Hysteria” (1895) that such symptoms were linked to trauma and mental symptoms. “Studies in Hysteria” is considered the foundational text of modern psychology.
Born in Poland in 1867, Marie Curie became a female scientist during a time when women were regarded even by those in the scientific community as constitutionally weak and prone to nervous disorders. The development of Freudian psychoanalysis did not necessarily create a more respectful view of women and their mental capacities. Suffering from radiation illness at a time when radiation had only just been discovered (of course, by Curie herself), Curie never publicly acknowledged the effects of radiation on her health. Rich twice calls this a “denying” of her wounds. However, in light of early 20th century attitudes towards women, we might also consider the reasons why a famed female scientist might not go to a male doctor to discuss inexplicable rashes and the onset of blindness. Perhaps ironically, Curie in fact died at a sanitorium, one of the places hysterical women still would have sought treatment in the 1930s.
