Summary and Analysis of The Elephant Man

Joshua Steele
September 17, 2012
English 115
Professor Macklin

Summary and Analysis of The Elephant Man

    In Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, we are introduced to John Merrick, a physically disabled man who is exploited as a form of entertainment before being rescued by Dr. Frederick Treves, a surgeon who wishes to research Merrick, who is also known as “the Elephant Man” (Pomerance 3). As the years pass, Merrick becomes a celebrity and is visited by the British royal family and an actress until his sudden death from asphyxiation. The themes that are prevalent in the play are the treatment of the disabled, nationalism and racism, and the ethics of medical research.
    In the 19th century, disabled people were viewed as pitiful individuals whose only “contribution” to society was to entertain the public at circuses and carnivals, which is shown in the play when Ross refers to him as, “…This freak of nature, the Elephant Man” (Pomerance 3).  Disabled people were also forcibly sterilized and required to enter institutions or asylums, where they lived for the rest of their lives. In the 20th century, World War I and World War II caused many Americans to change their view of the disabled. Beginning in the 1960s, many disabled people and their parents began pressing for major changes, such as the closure of institutions and asylums and the integration of disabled children into schools that would meet their needs and allow them to thrive. Due to pressure from disability rights activists, Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, which were signed into law by Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, respectively. In 1990, due to pressure from disability rights activists to create a national civil rights law for the disabled, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush (Anti-Defamation League). Regarding the treatment of the disabled, I am also influenced by my own experience; since I have Asperger’s and attended a school for students with Asperger’s and high-functioning autism.  In addition, the play is written in a way that encourages people to question how the disabled are treated by society at large, both in the past and the present. Another theme that is quite common in The Elephant Man is racism and nationalism.
    In the Victorian era, racism and nationalism was pervasive and viewed as socially acceptable, whether in public or private. One of the most prominent examples of racism is when the pinheads in Brussels are singing, “We are the Queens of the Congo, The Beautiful Belgian Empire our niggers are bigger our miners are finer. Empire, Empire, Congo and power. Civilizuzu’s finest hour. Admire, perspire, desire, acquire. Or we’ll set you on fire!” (Pomerance 10). In addition to showing that racism was widely accepted during the Victorian era, this quote also shows that racism as a form of entertainment was widely accepted. Another example of nationalism and racism is when Miss Sandwich, the nurse, tells Dr. Treves, “In Africa, I have seen dreadful scourges quite unknown to our more civilized climes. What at home could be worse than a miserable and afflicted rotting black?” (Pomerance 17). During the Victorian era, the United Kingdom and other European countries were colonizing Africa, Asia, and Oceania at a rapid and aggressive pace. A common quote at the time was, “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” which was modified from a original quote that read, “On her dominion the sun never sets” (The British Empire). However, critics of the British Empire further modified the quote to create the commonly known phrase, “The sun never sets on the greed, cruelty, and bigotry of the British Empire.”

Works Cited

 1. “A Brief History of the Disability Rights Movement.” Anti-Defamation League. Anti-Defamation League, 2005. Web. September 15, 2012.
2. Pomerance, Bernard. The Elephant Man. New York, New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1979. Print.
3. “The British Empire.” Caledonian Mercury October 15, 1821: 4. Print.