*Charles Lamb의 경우
Lamb's sister ,ten years older than himself had been showing signs of approaching insanity.
he must have neen anxious as he made his way home that evening , for he himself had been spent
six weeks in an asylum the year before and undoubtedly knew better than most the tortures of the
mentally ill. But even his worst fears could not have prepared him for the scene he was to behold
as he entered his home. He arrived in time to grab from his sister's hand the knife with which,
in a fit of insanity, she had just attacked her apprentice ,wounded he rfather and murdered her mother.
Mary was removed to an asylum; the coroner's request returned a verdict of lunacy.
Lamb could have allowed Mary to remain in a public ssylum , as their elder brother John urged.
But he would not. He became Mary's legal guardian ; quietly and tenderly -naver complaining but
often sad ,troubled and lonely - he assumed full responsibility for her and arranged his life
to meet her needs.
Mary's insanity was of the type that recurs periodically. When she was well,
she was a gay , well-informed ,gifted woman. Then she would become increasingly irritable .
When this ocurred , brother and sister would collect her belongs and together they would walk
to the asylum.
Care for her became his life. It is believed that he renounced his love , the Alice W-n of the essays,
to devote his lofe to Mary. He had to change their dwelling frequently to protect Mary from embrassment;
he felt guilty when he had to take trips without her; and when she was away he felt lonely.