In 1899, an Oxford University professor demonstrates a patient with a case of female hysteria, Eliza Graves, before his class, including a young man. Though the patient protests that she is sane, the professor points out that all mental patients claim to be sane. The young man later arrives at Stonehearst Asylum, where he desires to take up residency. A group of armed men, led by Mickey Finn, allow him entry. Finn escorts him to the office of the superintendent, Dr. Silas Lamb, where he introduces himself as Dr. Edward Newgate from Oxford.