1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: I am Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying, and 4 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: today we're going to talk about a very curious case 5 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: of a delusion that doesn't really exist anymore. Princess Alexandra 6 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: Amalia of Bavaria was part of the House of Vittlespach, 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,160 Speaker 1: which ruled Bavaria for more than seven hundred years until 8 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century. She was born on August six 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: and was one of nine children. Most of these were 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 1: pretty notable royal people, and she has plenty of relatives 11 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: who were a lot more famous or maybe infamous than 12 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: she was. One of them that jumps out is her nephew, 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: Lukevig the Second, who was also called Mad King Lukewig. 14 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: He was known for deeply eccentric behavior and for a 15 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,679 Speaker 1: fairy tale castle that he built, and for his suspicious death. 16 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: So Katie and Sarah did a podcast on all of 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: that back in two and they brought up Alexandra's own 18 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 1: dubious claim to fame in that episode, which is her 19 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: belief that she had swallowed a glass piano, which is 20 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:21,440 Speaker 1: quite something to believe it is, and a little context 21 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,520 Speaker 1: might help us all wrapper heads around this very particular delusion. 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: So for familiar background, the princess's father was Ludvig One 23 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,839 Speaker 1: of Bavaria, and he was known for being a bad poet, 24 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:40,000 Speaker 1: uh really great patron of the arts, and a notorious womanizer, 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,960 Speaker 1: so he sounds like a lot of fun. He had 26 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: many affairs, unfortunately, and decorated a room in the palace 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: with portraits of beautiful women. And he also had a 28 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: large birthmark on his forehead, and that's actually left out 29 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: of most depictions of him. Her mother was Torees of 30 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: Saxa Hildeberghausen, and she married Ludvic on Octo for twelfth, 31 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: eighteen ten, and their wedding festivals sparked the tradition that 32 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: has led to today's October fest. Terres had a hand 33 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: in ruling the kingdom, and the people were extremely fond 34 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,880 Speaker 1: of her, especially as she put up with all of 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 1: Ludwig's affairs. She got a lot of sympathy from people. 36 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: Alexandra's father left the throne pretty abruptly. He had started 37 00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: a really public affair with Lola Montez and she was 38 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: an Irish woman who was pretending to be a Spanish aristocrat. 39 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: The people of Munich hated her. She was coarse, and 40 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: she swore, and she was disrespectful to the Queen, who, 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: as we just said, they really loved, and she seemed 42 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 1: to have a really big influence on the king's opinions. Meanwhile, 43 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: the king had given her a title, money and a home, 44 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: so she was super unpopular and in the wake of 45 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: the affair, Lidzig abdicated the throne and Alexander's brother succeeded him. 46 00:02:55,080 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: Her brother ruled as Maximilian the Second from eighteen forty 47 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: eight to eighteen sixty four. Off then, this is portrayed 48 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: as the king left the throne because of the affair, 49 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: and that was really just one piece of the puzzle. 50 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: There were other things going on. There were other revolts 51 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 1: going on against the monarchy and other parts of Europe 52 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: at the time. Um Plus Luvic had a pretty liberal 53 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: reputation when he ascended to the throne, and people were 54 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: disappointed that the decisions that he made as king didn't 55 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: really match up with what they had expected of him 56 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: when he rose to power. They also didn't really like 57 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: the decisions that he was making, which they attributed to 58 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: Lola's influence. So it wasn't just that he had had 59 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: this scandalous affair going on. There were other things that 60 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: led him to abdicate. That was just one of the 61 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: big items that people can easily point to. Right And 62 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,880 Speaker 1: speaking of Lola, a mob burned down her house after 63 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: the abdication and she ended up fleeing and running to London. 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: So all of this happened when Alexander was about twenty two. 65 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: She was the only one of her siblings apart from 66 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: one who died in infancy, who never got married, and 67 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: only one of her siblings hadn't yet gotten married when 68 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: all of this happened, So Alexander was still living at 69 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,000 Speaker 1: home and she was pretty set apart from the rest 70 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: of her family at this point, and it was a 71 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: very public royal family. People you know, knew all of them. 72 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 1: Her siblings were married to royalty in many of their houses, 73 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 1: and the family was really hit hard by this scandal 74 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: and abdication, and Alexander's health and mental illness were already 75 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,719 Speaker 1: a little bit frail. She wasn't really hearty, and she 76 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: was super preoccupied with cleanliness, and she would wear only white, 77 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: so she already had some behaviors that were a little 78 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:45,599 Speaker 1: bit obsessive and suggested that she was not quite perfectly balanced. Right, So, 79 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,119 Speaker 1: just because one thing happened after another thing, it doesn't 80 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: mean the first thing caused the second thing. But this 81 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: must have been a really difficult time for somebody who 82 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: was already pretty isolated and not in good health. And 83 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: within a year of her father's abdication, when Alexandra was 84 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: twenty three, her parents saw her walking sideways, clearly struggling 85 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 1: in the palace, and when her parents asked her what 86 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: was wrong, she told them that when she was a child, 87 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: she had actually swallowed a grand piano made of glass, 88 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: and she was consequently frightened that if she bumped into anything, 89 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,800 Speaker 1: she would shatter, that the piano that she believed she 90 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: was still carrying inside of her would break apart. So 91 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 1: there are two things that are particularly strange in this delusion, 92 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,039 Speaker 1: and one is that she believed she had swallowed something 93 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,040 Speaker 1: that was much much bigger than she was she believed 94 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,360 Speaker 1: it to be an entire grand piano. And the other 95 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: is that she became to believe, as an adult that 96 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: she had already done this when she was a child 97 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: and that the piano was still inside of her. It 98 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:55,360 Speaker 1: caused her physical distress and it made it it made 99 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: her really, really careful and how she moved around a 100 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: and roughly a year or so later, in eighteen fifty 101 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: she was actually treated for this delusion in a mental institution. 102 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: It seems like she made some recovery there. In eighteen 103 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: fifty two she started to publish books of stories, essays, poems, 104 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 1: and other work, and she also worked in children's theater. 105 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,599 Speaker 1: Eventually she went to a convent in Munich and she 106 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: spent much of her later life there and even she 107 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: even became an abbess, which seems like she she must 108 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: have been doing better at this point. You wouldn't quite 109 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,080 Speaker 1: get into a position of authority if you were having 110 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: that sort of problem. Yeah, she died at the family's 111 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: summer palace at the age of forty nine on September one, 112 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: eight seventy. But she is not the only person historically 113 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: who has had the glass delusion. No, that's an actual 114 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,799 Speaker 1: delusion that that was cited pretty often between the Middle 115 00:06:52,839 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: Ages and all the way into the early nineteenth century. 116 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: It's maybe not something that was super common, but it 117 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: was revalent enough that it appears in both medical writing 118 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: and in literature from the time. Basically, people became convinced 119 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,600 Speaker 1: that they were either turning into glass, or that they 120 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: were made out of glass, or that they had turned 121 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: into a glass object like a flask. This is usually 122 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: cited as a urinal, which was just the word that 123 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: was used for a little glass jar kind of thing 124 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 1: or a lamp. They would be really careful not to 125 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:28,360 Speaker 1: get bumped or jostled or come into contact with anything 126 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: with anything hard, because people who had this delusion were 127 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: afraid that they would shatter, and it often came naturally 128 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,840 Speaker 1: with an extreme preoccupation with protecting themselves and avoiding contact 129 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 1: with others. Some people were even afraid that loud noises 130 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: would break them, so at that point they would have 131 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: to be not touching anyone or he in a quiet place, 132 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,239 Speaker 1: kind of an isolation that probably would propagate the delusion 133 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: even further. Yeah, but a lot of times people were 134 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: afraid that they're ducks or glass and that they would 135 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:05,440 Speaker 1: shatter if they sat down on anything hard. Um. This 136 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: whole idea of being breakable and being afraid that you're 137 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: going to break was also not really new. As a delusion, 138 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: but before the Middle Ages people thought that they were 139 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: made of pottery rather than glass. But the core idea 140 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: was still there of if someone touches me too hard, 141 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,920 Speaker 1: I will break. And at the time this delusion was 142 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: tied to melancholia, and it was generally among people who 143 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,320 Speaker 1: were very isolated and withdrawn from the company of other people. 144 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: And a lot of times people who had this delusion 145 00:08:32,920 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: also had photophobia and they wanted to stay out of 146 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: the sun. The first medical report of the condition may 147 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 1: have been around fifteen sixty one, and it was in 148 00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: a treatise by the Dutch physician Lemnius, who described a 149 00:08:47,040 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: man who would not sit down because he believed his 150 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: buttocks were glass. Charles the sixth of France also allegedly 151 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: had this condition and believed that his whole body was glass, 152 00:08:57,360 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: so he wouldn't let people touch him, and he had 153 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: special clothing that was reinforced with ribs made so that 154 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: he could wear that and then not break. And more 155 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: than one physician to royalty has described this condition. Alphonse 156 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: Paunce to Santa Cruz, who was the physician to fill 157 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: up the Second of Spain, described it around sixteen fourteen 158 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,760 Speaker 1: and he described it as an unnamed person in this case, 159 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:23,520 Speaker 1: possibly a prince that thought he was made of glass, 160 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: and his physician told him to lie in a straw 161 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: bed so that he wouldn't break, and then the bed 162 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:34,120 Speaker 1: was conveniently set ablaze, forcing the prince to move quickly 163 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: without consequently breaking, and that relieved him of the delusion. 164 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:41,199 Speaker 1: Kind of reminds me of cartoons, like hitting the person 165 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: on the head with amnesia again to make their yes. 166 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:49,559 Speaker 1: Um Andrea do Lauren, who was the chief physician to 167 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: Henry the fourth, also described that case. In his writings. 168 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: Uh Louis de Casseneuve, who was the royal physician in France, 169 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: described a gassmaker who constantly wore a cushion because he believed, 170 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 1: again his buttocks were made of glass, and that doctor 171 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 1: allegedly cured him by spanking him so again just proving 172 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: that what the person believed was not the case. People 173 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,280 Speaker 1: also described that they had glass hearts or glass heads 174 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 1: or glass chests that had to be protected. And there's 175 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: one theory that a lot most of the people who 176 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: described being afraid that they were glass were educated people, 177 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,439 Speaker 1: and they may have heard of this syndrome in medical writings, 178 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: and that may have contributed to eventually developing the delusion, 179 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: obviously based on other tendencies to be afraid and and 180 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,679 Speaker 1: having other mental things going on, right, so it may 181 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: have just shaped kind of the way that their delusion developed, 182 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: rather than being a spontaneous thought of their own uh. 183 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: And psychological writings at the time attributed many causes to 184 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:04,319 Speaker 1: this delusion, including the preoccupation with chastity, purity, and fortune. UH. 185 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,680 Speaker 1: And glass, we should note, was tied to fortune in 186 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:10,800 Speaker 1: folklore and literature because of its fragility, so fortune may 187 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 1: turn on you as easily as as glass may break 188 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 1: was kind of the underlying theme there. There were also 189 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: physiological explanations at the time, including that the people's brains 190 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: were too dry, and that was tied to melancholia in general, 191 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 1: and the glass delusion, as you mentioned a little while ago, 192 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: also appears a lot in literature. UH. In the sixteen 193 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: o seven allegorical play Lingua, most likely by English playwright 194 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: Thomas tom Kiss, there is a character who believes he 195 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,360 Speaker 1: has become a glass jurnal. There's also the six thirteen 196 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 1: short story The Glass Graduate by Servantes. His main character, 197 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: Thomas Rhodaga, is obsessed with the idea that he's made 198 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,920 Speaker 1: of glass. He wouldn't wear restrictive clothing, he would drink 199 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,800 Speaker 1: water from his hands instead of a cup, and sleep 200 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: in he loss, and he would walk in the middle 201 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:03,959 Speaker 1: of the road because he was scared that if he 202 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:06,959 Speaker 1: walked by the side that he could be shattered if 203 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: roof tiles fell on him. In this story, he winds 204 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:13,240 Speaker 1: up with this delusion because of an aphrodisiac that has 205 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:17,920 Speaker 1: gone horribly wrong. In sixty one, in The Anatomy of Melancholy, 206 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:22,080 Speaker 1: Robert Burton writes about this delusion under symptoms or signs 207 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,199 Speaker 1: in the mind, and he ties it to a fear 208 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:29,679 Speaker 1: of devil's death and danger. The seventeenth century writer Apollo 209 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,440 Speaker 1: de Medina was a Spanish writer who had a character 210 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: who was a dandy and believed his bottom was made 211 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: of glass, and he had to he had to commit 212 00:12:37,679 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: himself to an asylum after cracking it while answering the 213 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:44,120 Speaker 1: call of nature. And this that's sort of my personal note. This, 214 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: this series of stories about people who believe their glass 215 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: and might break really reminds me of the possibly apocryphal 216 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: story about the person who does too much lsd and 217 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: then starts to think that he's a glass of orange juice. 218 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: If anybody touches him, he's going to spill. Both of 219 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: these have the same underlying sense of um fear and 220 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: the dangers of taboo behaviors. I had not heard that 221 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: one until it came up in in this podcast research. 222 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: I heard it in high school. I never heard that, 223 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 1: and it's on It's on Snoops, so other people I 224 00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: believe it. I just fished that one for other people 225 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: than me have heard it. They just have very they 226 00:13:23,240 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: have similarities, and there are commonalities for sure, and how 227 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:31,600 Speaker 1: they express a sense of this odd fear and uh, 228 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,920 Speaker 1: as you said, like the taboo of not behaving properly. 229 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:38,360 Speaker 1: And there is a lot of modern research on these 230 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,439 Speaker 1: delusions as well well. There there have been modern writers 231 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,080 Speaker 1: who have kind of gone through and documented all of 232 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: the various citations of the glass delusion in medical literature 233 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: and in literature. There are other things that that have 234 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,079 Speaker 1: been documented that we didn't go over here because then 235 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: it would just be a list of names and dates 236 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,080 Speaker 1: and that would be annoying. But the BBC did an 237 00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: audio program called The Glass Piano in and in it 238 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: an actor plays Princess Alexandra, and then they interview modern 239 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,760 Speaker 1: scholars to offer some commentary about this delusion that she 240 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: experienced and sort of how she might have come to 241 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: this state. Uh psychoanalyst Susie or Box says that it 242 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: was important that Alexander's piano was specifically a piano and 243 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: not another glass thing. Piano, of course, means soft, and 244 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: what she thought she swallowed was huge and fragile, but 245 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: if she had been able to, she could have used 246 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: it to make music. Historian Aaron Sullivan talks in the 247 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: program about doing work into the history of emotions, and 248 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: she specifically talks about the history of sadness, and Sullivan 249 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: talks about the connection between melancholy and the glass delusion. 250 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: A lot of times, the underlying fear was the fear 251 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: of being vulnerable, So men would be afraid that their 252 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: body was becoming glass, and they would remove themselves from 253 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: society to protect themselves that they wouldn't have to have 254 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:04,200 Speaker 1: that vulnerability in front of other people. In Sullivan's opinion, 255 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: Alexander's delusion may have been an expression of her underlying fragility, 256 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: and she does in portraits seem quite fragile. She casts 257 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: and there is an air about her where she looks delicate, 258 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: it's very she's very pensive. Her portrait was painted for 259 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: her father's gallery of beauties, and in it she's really pale. 260 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,840 Speaker 1: She's dressed all in white. As we said earlier, she 261 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: went through a period where she would only wear white, 262 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,120 Speaker 1: and she just has a very fragile and pensive air 263 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: about her. So you and I were talking earlier about 264 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: how it's it's not really a far walk to go 265 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:43,400 Speaker 1: from being really uh, uncomfortable around people and withdrawing from 266 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,160 Speaker 1: people and feeling isolated and being afraid of being hurt 267 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 1: to starting to believe that you're made of something that 268 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: will break if you're hurt. Yeah, I mean you can 269 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: see how someone who is isolated, there's nothing to stop 270 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: that delusion from developing. Right, Everything they're doing on their 271 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 1: own is sort of supporting it. Unlike the instances we 272 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: cited where physicians kind of did like an extreme immersive 273 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: shock therapy of like, no, you're not going to break, 274 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: you're just fine, uh, you know. Not everyone had that, 275 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: and so the delusion just kind of grows and takes 276 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: on a life of its own, becomes very consuming. So 277 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:22,520 Speaker 1: that is the story of the Princess who swallowed the 278 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 1: glass piano. I really empathize with her. Yeah, do you 279 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: think you swallowed something? I do not think I care. 280 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: I don't think I've swallowed something glass. But I can 281 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: you know, I'm kind of a neurotic, anxious person. I can. 282 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 1: I can start of see if I were living in 283 00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:41,240 Speaker 1: a in a palace when my brothers and sisters had 284 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 1: all gotten married and gone off to live their own 285 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: lives and other palaces elsewhere, and I didn't really have 286 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: anybody to talk to you, and I was already kind 287 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: of of a neurotic mindset, I can sort of see 288 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,440 Speaker 1: getting to that point in the isolated halls of the 289 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: castle where my father had been forced from the throne 290 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: to be replaced by my brother. Yeah, it is, as 291 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: you said, a short walk. I mean, it's easy to 292 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: see how that happens. And now I believe you have 293 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:06,880 Speaker 1: a bit of listener mails from you. I have two 294 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,919 Speaker 1: listener mails and they are both about our episode on 295 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: Australia's rabbit Proof Fence. The first is from Karen, and 296 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: Karen says this morning while listening to the podcast Australia's 297 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:19,440 Speaker 1: rabbit Proof Fence on stuff you missed in history class. 298 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 1: Holly mentioned that the first people to come to Australia 299 00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: happened about three thousand to four thousand years ago. I'd 300 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: like to correct them by saying people populated Australia around 301 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: forty thousand years ago. We have cave Art and Kockadoo 302 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: that's been dated back forty thousand years. Keep up the 303 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 1: good work, and then on our Facebook we have Alex. 304 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:41,280 Speaker 1: Alex says hi, thanks for a great couple of episodes 305 00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: on Australian history. Just a correction splash misunderstanding that now 306 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: appears to have turned into a lengthy episode suggestion. I 307 00:17:49,119 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: haven't gone through other people's comments on this episode, so 308 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: this may have already been said. When talking about the 309 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,879 Speaker 1: dingo as a native animal, you said that dingo has 310 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: arrived with the Aborigines around three thousand to four thousand 311 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: year years ago. While the dingo may have arrived around 312 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: that time or as long as ten thousand years ago, 313 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: the Aborigines probably reached Australia as long ago as sixty 314 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,360 Speaker 1: thousand years I think this would make a great episode 315 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 1: topic as it covers an almost unknown period in human history. 316 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: A group of prehistoric people must have built boats and 317 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: embarked on an epic voyage tens of thousands of years 318 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,919 Speaker 1: before other people could have achieved anything like this. Another 319 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: interesting aspect is that Aboriginal culture has existed continually through 320 00:18:30,320 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: this time, making it the oldest existing culture on Earth. 321 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: It is also something that has often been left out 322 00:18:36,640 --> 00:18:40,919 Speaker 1: of history class on purpose. Even a relatively modern history 323 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: books begin with the history of Australia starting with the 324 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:48,200 Speaker 1: arrival of Captain Cook, despite the fact that modern Australia 325 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: has existed for something like one percent of the time 326 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:54,480 Speaker 1: it has been inhabited by humans. N sixties book, I 327 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: have to hand described the Aborigines as quote, I'm just 328 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: gonna apologize at advance for how a and said this 329 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: nineteen sixties textook is that was my side, the most 330 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: backward race on Earth, who gave us some jolly place 331 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,320 Speaker 1: names before going on at grade length about the mining 332 00:19:10,359 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: and stock raising industries. So thank you. Also, Alex, this 333 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,119 Speaker 1: ye're good, doesn't just make your still make her a 334 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: little bit, made my stomach hard a lot. And this 335 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,800 Speaker 1: so number one, I would like to apologize because this 336 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: is an example of what I wrote in my notes 337 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:28,000 Speaker 1: was not clear. And then constantly. I misspoken had portraits 338 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 1: of work, and we said it wrong. We do know 339 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,760 Speaker 1: amboriguities longer than that, yes, but just the yeah, the 340 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: dingo arrival thing got kind of conflated in with other things, right, 341 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: So my apologies because that was not wise on my part. 342 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: Mutual apologies, so and and my notes admittedly were not 343 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: clear on this point. Um. What we were trying to 344 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:50,040 Speaker 1: say was that the Dingoes arrived with some humans who 345 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: also arrived that long ago. We did not mean to 346 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:56,400 Speaker 1: imply that those were the first humans ever in Australia. 347 00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:58,760 Speaker 1: We may have actually said that, but that that was 348 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: because my notes. We're messed up on the point Lawonga, Yes, 349 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,840 Speaker 1: because sometimes we make errors with the best of intentions. 350 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:11,679 Speaker 1: So um. Alex's comment actually led to some pretty lively 351 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,200 Speaker 1: conversation on our Facebook page about how the the Aboriginal 352 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: people's who populated Australia arrived there and whether it was 353 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: via a land bridge or via boats. Um was a 354 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,199 Speaker 1: pretty interesting discussion, and I agree that would be a 355 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,239 Speaker 1: great podcast episode. So hopefully we will get that in 356 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: the queue sooner rather than later. We have so many 357 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,199 Speaker 1: good ideas from listeners. I know it's hard to. We 358 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:39,640 Speaker 1: can't guarantee that will hit them all. Just the volume 359 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 1: to our production ratio is not possible. Please send us 360 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: ideas because we love to hear ideas. But when I 361 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: made a list of all the ideas that we had 362 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: gotten in March, and there were about a hundred and 363 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: fifty of them, and we do two episodes a week, 364 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: So as much as we love to hear suggestions, there 365 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:59,240 Speaker 1: are just so many of them that we cannot possibly 366 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:01,600 Speaker 1: do them all. But we will do our best. We will. 367 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: If you would like to send us a suggestion or 368 00:21:04,080 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: write to us about this podcast or anything else, you 369 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,480 Speaker 1: can at History Podcast at Discovery dot com. We're also 370 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Facebook dot com slash History class stuff, 371 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,000 Speaker 1: and on Twitter at missed in History. We've recently started 372 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,800 Speaker 1: a tumbler which is missed in History dot tumbler dot com, 373 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:22,680 Speaker 1: and we are on Pinterest. If you would like to 374 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:25,879 Speaker 1: learn about something that I think maybe a modern equivalent 375 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: of the glass delusion, you can go to our website. 376 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,520 Speaker 1: Search the word hypochondria and you will find the article 377 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: what is cyberchondria. You can learn that in a whole 378 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: lot more at our website, which is how Stuff works 379 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: dot com. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 380 00:21:43,440 --> 00:22:02,240 Speaker 1: is it how Stuff Works dot com. Netflix streams TV 381 00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: shows and movies directly to your home, saving you time, money, 382 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:09,240 Speaker 1: and hassle. As a Netflix member, you can instantly watch 383 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:13,439 Speaker 1: TV episodes and movies streaming directly to your PC, Mac, 384 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:16,160 Speaker 1: or write to your TV with your Xbox three, sixty 385 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,760 Speaker 1: P S three or Nintendo we console plus Apple devices, 386 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,120 Speaker 1: Kindle and Nook. Get a free thirty day trial membership. 387 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: Go to www dot Netflix dot com and sign up now.