Florence Nightingale: Toward a Psychohistorical Interpretation

Abstract

Florence Nightingale: Toward a Psychohistorical Interpretation Florence Nightingale's life and career pose one demanding question above all else: How did a woman in midand late Victorian England achieve such formidable power and influence in so many areas of public administration ? History is in large part the story of change, and the changes effected in this of reform in public and private sanitation, in nursing, in the care and provisioning of the military, in the construction of hospitals, in the mighty War Office, and in the administration of India-to name only Florence Nightingale's major preoccupations-were often due directly to her efforts. Her public life, and a good part of her private life, have long been open to the public gaze; indeed, it would be difficult to find another woman in modern times about whom more has been written.' Yet, it seems that Florence Nightingale's success has never been adequately explained. The present investigation makes no pretense of supplanting the major studies of Florence Nightingale's life and career.2 Rather, it is an attempt to supplement these works by applying to them some of the concepts of psychoanalytic psychology. In this way it serves as a response to White's complaint that in an age when rationality, insight, and creative social invention are in urgent demand, little has been provided in the way of systematic case records of great fortitude, rare heroism, or special success in grasping and solving important social issues.3 His complaint has special validity concerning women. The main theme of this study is that Florence Nightingale achieved greatness through her efforts to control the basic conflicts of her personality which affected her finding her niche in society. Her success in accomplishing this objective was only reached at high cost in each of the stages of her life, but the result was a unique and personally satisfying contribution of no small measure.