Joseph Merrick was born in 1852 and was better known to history as the Elephant Man. Due to his horrible physical deformities, which were almost impossible to describe, he spent much of his life exhibited as a fairground freak. Eventually, even nineteenth-century sensibilities could no longer tolerate this. Hounded, persecuted, and starving, he ended up one day at Liverpool Street Station where he was rescued, housed, and fed by the distinguished surgeon Frederick Treves.
To Frederick Treves' surprise, he discovered during the course of their friendship that lurking beneath the mass of Merrick's corrupting flesh lived a spirit that was as courageous as it had been tortured, and a nature as gentle and dignified as it had been deprived and tormented. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become a part of popular mythology.
This special history documentary contains much fresh information and presents the true and unromanticised facts of his life. An extraordinary and moving story, set amidst the brutal realities of the Victorian world, this is the real story of a tragic individual and his survival against overwhelming odds.
To Frederick Treves' surprise, he discovered during the course of their friendship that lurking beneath the mass of Merrick's corrupting flesh lived a spirit that was as courageous as it had been tortured, and a nature as gentle and dignified as it had been deprived and tormented. The subject of several books, a Broadway hit, and a film, Joseph Merrick has become a part of popular mythology.
This special history documentary contains much fresh information and presents the true and unromanticised facts of his life. An extraordinary and moving story, set amidst the brutal realities of the Victorian world, this is the real story of a tragic individual and his survival against overwhelming odds.
Category
📺
TV