“A THING LIKE DEATH”: MEDICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BODIES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS Cover Image

“A THING LIKE DEATH”: MEDICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BODIES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS
“A THING LIKE DEATH”: MEDICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BODIES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

Author(s): Greta Perletti
Subject(s): Gender Studies
Published by: Universitatea de Vest din Timişoara
Keywords: early modern literature and medicine hysteria; interdisciplinary approach; representation

Summary/Abstract: While the hysterical ailments of women in Shakespeare’s works have often been read from psychoanalytical standpoints, early modern medicine may provide new insights into the ‘frozen’, seemingly dead bodies of some of his heroines, such as Desdemona, Thaisa, and Hermione. In the wake of recent critical work (Peterson, Slights, Pettigrew), this paper will shed fresh light on the ‘excess’ of female physiology and on Shakespeare’s creative redeployment of some medical concepts and narratives.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 12
  • Page Range: 93-111
  • Page Count: 19
  • Language: English
Toggle Accessibility Mode