Page "Joseph Merrick" Paragraph 29

Treves observed that Merrick was very sensitive and showed his emotions easily.

At times Merrick was bored and lonely, and demonstrated signs of depression.

He had spent his entire adult life segregated from women, first in the workhouse and then as an exhibit.

The women he met were either disgusted or frightened by his appearance.

His opinions about women were derived from his memories of his mother and what he read in books.

Treves decided that Merrick would like to be introduced to a woman and it would help him feel normal.

The doctor arranged for a friend of his named Mrs. Leila Maturin, " a young and pretty widow ", to visit Merrick.

She agreed and with fair warning about his appearance, she went to his rooms for an introduction.

The meeting was short, as Merrick quickly became overcome with emotion.

He later told Treves that Maturin had been the first woman ever to smile at him, the first to shake his hand.

She kept in contact with him and a letter written by Merrick to her, thanking her for the gift of a book and a brace of grouse, is the only surviving letter written by Merrick.

This first experience of meeting a woman, though brief, instilled in Merrick a new sense of self-confidence.

He met other women during his life at the hospital, and appeared taken with them all.

Treves believed that Merrick's hope was to go to live at an institution for the blind, where he might meet a woman who could not see his deformities.