“A State of Conscious and Permanent Visibility”: Sight as an Instrument of Cure and Control at the Worcester State Hospital for the Insane, 1833–1900

The nineteenth-century lunatic hospital was intended to function as a curative instrument, targeting the mind through the senses. This paper compares the way in which visibility was mobilized in the design of the asylum, drawing upon ideals of nature and domesticity, against its imperfect realization in practice, with a focus on the lived experiences of patients.