The mad writer

It would have been remarkable enough that Charles and Mary Lamb, the son and daughter of servants, both rose to become significant literary figures in 18th century England, intimate friends with the likes of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth. What makes their story even more remarkable is that Mary was officially insane, having stabbed and killed their mother with a kitchen knife. Susan Tyler Hitchcock tells their story in Mad Mary Lamb (2005).

Mental instability seemed to run in the Lamb family, and Charles himself suffered from bouts of depression. He was devoted to his sister, who was about a decade older, and when she was released from the madhouse, she moved in with him. Neither ever married, and they lived together until Charles died in 1834. They even, in effect, adopted a daughter together..

Yet about once a year Mary could feel and Charles could see that she was again being overcome by madness. He would lead her to one or another madhouse, where she would stay for several weeks. Hitchcock goes into detail about what madhouses were like in that era, long periods in a straitjacket being among the most bearable treatments. Upon her return home she would resume her housework, earning money making clothing for women and, in time, writing.

Charles is regarded as one of England's best essayists, but Mary was a skilled writer in her own right, although most of her work was not credited to her at the time. The children's books the siblings wrote together carried only her brother's name, even though most the writing was hers. This was even before Mary Ann Evans wrote her novels under the name of George Eliot to increase their appeal to publishers and readers, so Mary Lamb wrote in an age when female writers faced significant challenges. Hitchcock seems to blame Charles for grabbing the credit rather than giving him his due for encouraging his sister's literary efforts.

Even so, Coleridge, Wordsworth and others recognized Mary's abilities and welcomed her participation in the literary discussions held almost nightly in the Lamb home.

Hitchcock tries now and then to turn her biography into a feminist tract. At one point she even suggests Mary's killing of her mother might have been a good career move because it led to living with Charles and rubbing shoulders with literary greats. Like Mary Lamb, the author is at her best when she is thinking straight.

One can still go into any good bookstore and find or order a copy of Tales from Shakespeare, the most significant book Charles and Mary Lamb wrote together. Today both of their names are on the cover.