Against Melancholy: Robert Blakeway and the Anglican Definition of an Orthodox Sorrow in Early Eighteenth-Century England

Abstract

Scholars have long recognized the significance of the concept of ‘enthusiasm’ in eighteenth-century British culture. Its association with melancholy made it a powerful tool for dealing with religious and political dissent by dismissing enthusiasts' claims to divine inspiration as the delusions of their troubled minds. However, the medicalization of enthusiasm also meant that many Christians felt the need to defend their own faith against accusations that it caused melancholy. By examining and contextualizing Robert Blakeway's essay on religious melancholy, this article explores this latter concern. It suggests that such a preoccupation was related both to the fear of enthusiasm and to the fear of irreligion. Blakeway's essay is presented as an example of a broader effort by Anglican clergy to define an ‘orthodox sorrow’ as a middle way between enthusiastic melancholy and lukewarm indifference. Finally, the article emphasizes the polemical dimension of the vocabulary of sorrow in eighteenth-century England.