‘The Cholic’, 1819

Description

Mounted hand coloured etching, entitled ‘The Cholic__’, drawn by Captain Frederick Marryat, etched by George Cruikshank, and published by G. Humphrey in 1819.

An elderly woman, thin and haggard wearing a cap and gown sits on a sofa screaming and writhing in agony as two naked demons haul tight a rope around her waist.

Behind, on the wall is a picture of a fat woman in a bedroom drinking from a decanter. The devil and other imaginary figures were a device used by artists, notably George Cruikshank, where the patient’s condition is highlighted by these imaginary figures who torment them.

The devils are metaphors (as well as a pun) for the malaise that the patient is haunted by; a character suggesting a physical, mental and psychosomatic explanation for their condition. In this image the devils are the very cause of the patient’s pain as it is the devils who quite literally inflict suffering upon her.