b'Lucy MckelveyFreak body as a ghost: Joseph Merrick in depictions of his life on stage, screen and in literature.Essay ExtractLucy MckelveyJoseph Carey Merrick, born in Leicester in 1862, is knownMerrick, due to his physical deformities, was unable to fit more commonly throughout history as The Elephantinto this working culture. In his autobiography, Merrick Man. Born with a rare genetic disorder, Merricks bodystates that he obtained employment at Messrs. Freemans was encompassed with limb deformities consisting of largeCigar Manufacturers, however his right hand got too fleshy tumours and bony lumps. With limited scientificheavy so he had to leave them (1884: np.). The phrase understanding in 19th Century Britain, Merrick was quicklytoo heavy highlights how Merricks deformity prevented labelled as a freak by Victorian society, branding himhim from carrying out the delicate movements needed to as an outsider. Although he was taken into the care ofhand produce cigars. Merrick then explains that because surgeon Frederick Treves at the Royal London Hospital,of being unable to get employment his father got him a from the freak show where he was displayed, Merrickspedlars license but because of being deformed, people status as an outcast is emphasised in depictions of hiswould not come to the door to buy [his] wares illustrating life.Bernard Pomerances play The Elephant Man, firsthow society rejected him because of his deformity, giving performed in London in 1977, particularly illustrates this.him no choice but to seek employment elsewhere (1884: The interactions between Merrick and the charactersnp.). Moreover, Howell and Ford state that Merricks highlight how Victorian society has made him into aadmission into the Leicester Union workhouse was ghostly figure. He is never truly seen or treated as a humanrecorded in December 1879 (1980: 43). In Pomerances play being, allowing us to only glimpse the shell of the personMerrick describes how at the workhouse where they put that he was beneath his deformity. This has led scholarsme, they beat you there like a drum (Pomerance 1979: 26). such as Benjamin Poore to believe that Merrick representsThe phrase where they put me confirms societys rejection a potent symbol of the outsider within history (2017: 208).of Merrick from the dominant commodity culture. Moreover, Victorian Britain was a time of great changeMerricks repetition of boom boom throughout the scene with the birth of capitalism and the industrial revolution,emphasises his haunted experiences within the workhouse, imperialism and the expansion of the British Empire, asthe onomatopoeia evokes the sounds made by mechanical well as a new fascination with science and technology.instruments yet also resembles the sound of a beating heart These significant changes influenced society and the waysymbolising the trauma that the real Joseph Merrick must people behaved and saw the world, causing new ideologieshave experienced while attempting to work within this and morals to emerge. Therefore, this essay argues that theenvironment (Pomerance, 1979: 26). expectations and culture of Victorian society caused the ghosting of Joseph Merrick, both in Pomerances play TheTherefore, as Merrick was unable to fit into the working Elephant Man and in other adaptions of his life. culture of the 19th Century, he became a commodity himself by becoming an act in a freak show. Merricks title Development of the Industrial Revolution between 1760of The Elephant Man as well as his act description of Half-and 1840 meant that when Merrick was born in 1860,a-Man-and-Half-an-Elephant dehumanises Merrick so that Victorian Britain was encompassed by a commodity culturehe is no longer seen as a person but is now purely an object, centred on the production, buying and selling of goods anda good that can be bought, sold and rented for a price, products. This led to a mass increase in both factory andallowing him to fit into the commodity culture (Howell machinery-based employment, dominating the workforceFord, 1980: 10). This concept is emphasised by Howell of the middle class for families like Merricks in the 19thand Fords statement that the showman hung a large Century. It is clear in Merricks own autobiography writtencanvas painted with the startling image of a man halfway in 1884 and in Pomerances play The Elephant Man thatthrough the process of turning into an elephant that also 19'