Why are the asylum guards wearing cages on their heads?
In Dracula (1992), in the scenes in the asylum where Renfield is being held, the guards can be seen wearing cages on their heads. Why? Was this a normal practice? I have heard of head cages for inmates but not guards. I'm not sure what the purpose would have been other than protection, but give the rest of their body is unprotected there has to be more to it. I've included the best image I could find. If I can get a better one I will update.
Best Answer
The implication is that the inmates are potentially violent and presumably the biggest danger from unarmed but psychotic patients is biting/scratching/gouging at the face and eyes.
Clearly the protection is deliberately crude and underlines the primitive and brutal conditions in that setting in a way that more refined protection might not.
You could also speculate that the head cages reflect the appearance of the barred cells and by placing them on the guard's heads it is a metaphor for the idea that the inmates are prisoners of their own madness.
Equally by obscuring the guards faces with a crude and claustrophobic cage they are somewhat dehumanised and more like automata than medical staff. Indeed the whole visual style of the film uses a lot of elements which evoke stylized dreamlike of hallucinogenic states which confuse individual sense of identity and many of the characters are driven by some sort of obsession and it is implied that Dr Seward is as much a prisoner of his work as the peopel he treats (or at least studies).
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What was life like in an insane asylum?
Your Life Would Follow A Strict Routine Asylums became overcrowded in the 19th century, and the structure of treatment shifted away from individual care and more towards herding people. Life at the asylum was based on routine: patients would get up in the morning, leave their rooms, and be ushered into common spaces.What was considered insane in the 1800s?
Drunkenness and sexual intemperance, having venereal disease or deviant sexuality, which was the Victorian phrase for homosexuality, were seen as significant drivers of madness. Other listed conditions included mania, dementia, melancholy, relapsing mania, hysteria, epilepsy and idiocy.Batman: Arkham Asylum Walkthrough Part 38 - Trapped in the Aviary
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Answer 2
Was this a normal practice?
No, this was a design choice that is purely fictional, seemingly intended to evoke Victorian/steampunk-style aesthetic.
Staff in mental institutions don't wear iron face guards, nor is there evidence of this occurring historically.
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