Abstract
In the opening chapters of Anna Karenina, Dolly discovers that her husband Stiva has cheated on her again. She is furious yet also heartbroken. Tolstoy writes that Dolly ‘winces as if from physical pain’. He repeats this several times for emphasis: ‘Dolly again feels pain and wishes she could inflict even a tiny bit of the same physical pain on him’; ‘She cried out, not looking at him, as if the cry had been caused by physical pain.’1
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
L. Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) (London: Penguin, 2000), 3
R. Melzack and P.D. Wall, The Challenge of Pain (London: Penguin, 1996), 3–14.
R. Melzack and P.D. Wall, ‘Pain Mechanisms: A New Theory’, Science, 150 (1965): 971–9.
H. Merskey ‘Psychological Aspects of Pain’, Postgraduate Medical Journal, 44 (1968): 297–306
E. Cassell, The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 30–46.
M.J. Bair, R.L. Robinson, W. Katon and K. Kroenke, ‘Depression and Pain Comorbidity: A Literature Review’, Archives of Internal Medicine, 163 (2003): 2433–45.
S. Mee, B.G. Bunney, C. Reist et al., ‘Psychological Pain: A Review of Evidence’, Journal of Psychiatric Research, 40 (2006): 680–90.
H. Osmand, R. Mullaly and C. Bisbee, ‘The Pain of Depression Compared with Physical Pain’, Practitioner, 228 (1984): 849–53.
D.E. Biro, The Language of Pain: Finding Words, Compassion, and Relief (New York: Norton, 2000), 36–47.
E. Scany The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985), 15–19.
J. Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking (New York: Knopf, 2005), 27–8.
E.S. Schneidman, ‘Perspectives on Suicidology: Further Reflections on Suicide and Psychache’, Suicide and Life-Threatening behavior, 28 (1998): 245–50.
N.C. DeWall, G. MacDonald, G. Webster et al., ‘Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain: Behavioral and Neural Evidence’, Psychological Science, 21(7) (2010): 931–7.
A. Damasio, Looking for Spinoza: joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain (New York: Harcourt, 2003), 83–133.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2014 David Biro
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Biro, D. (2014). Psychological Pain: Metaphor or Reality?. In: Boddice, R. (eds) Pain and Emotion in Modern History. Palgrave Studies in the History of Emotions. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137372437_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137372437_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-47613-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-37243-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)