100 Years of Assisted Suicide

Disability studies blogger extraordinaire Penny Richards has a fascinating review of Edith Wharton's 1907 novel, The Fruit of the Tree.  She notes:

Yes, one hundred years ago, the central ethical and practical conflicts of a novel swirl around questions of pain management, prognosis, and patient consent.

[ . . . ]

The central section of the book, from the time of Bessy's accident to the moment of her death, is packed with discussions about bodies, and quality of life, and modern medical advances, and the responsibility of nurses and doctors. The plot was apparently inspired by Wharton's upset after a woman friend was paralyzed and died months after an accident, in pain similar to what she assigned to Bessy.

As they say, go read the whole thing, especially Penny's conclusion.  For a brilliant and incisive interdisciplinary analysis of assisted suicide and euthanasia practices in the U.S. from the 19th century to the present, take a look at Shai Lavi's The Modern Art of Dying: A History of Euthanasia in the U.S.

Comments

[Penny Richards]

I've been meaning to send you some of the Wharton novel's passages about pain management, because you've mentioned that's an area of particular interest for you. I'm on vacation now, don't have the book handy.... I'll get back to you about that. Thanks for the link!