Health and Sickness in the Early American Novel: Social Affection and Eighteenth-Century Medicine (Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine)

This book is a study of depictions of health and sickness in the early American novel, 1787-1808. These texts reveal a troubling tension between the impulse toward social affection that built cohesion in the nation and the pursuit of self-interest that was considered central to the emerging liberalism of the new Republic. Good health is depicted as an extremely positive social value, almost an __a priori__ condition of membership in the community. Characters who have the “glow of health” tend to enjoy wealth and prestige; those who become sick are burdened by poverty and debt or have made bad decisions that have jeopardized their status. Bodies that waste away, faint, or literally disappear off of the pages of America’s first fiction are resisting the conditions that ail them; as they plead for their right to exist, they draw attention to the injustice, apathy, and greed that afflict them. This Book Is A Study Of Depictions Of Health And Sickness In The Early American Novel, 1787-1808. These Texts Reveal A Troubling Tension Between The Impulse Toward Social Affection That Built Cohesion In The Nation And The Pursuit Of Self-interest That Was Considered Central To The Emerging Liberalism Of The New Republic. Good Health Is Depicted As An Extremely Positive Social Value, Almost An A Priori Condition Of Membership In The Community. Characters Who Have The 'glow Of Health' Tend To Enjoy Wealth And Prestige, Those Who Become Sick Are Burdened By Poverty And Debt Or Have Made Bad Decisions That Have Jeopardized Their Status.--page [4] Of Cover. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Introduction: The Glow Of Health: Medicine Meets The Novel In Early America -- 2. A Very Unfeeling World: The Failure Of Social Healing In Rowson's America -- 3. Your Health And My Happiness: Sickness And Social Control In The Coquette And Female Quixotism -- 4. The Best Means Of Retaining Health: Self-determined Health And Social Discipline In Early America -- 5. The Means Of Subsistence: Health, Wealth, And Social Affection In A Yellow Fever World -- 6. The Learned Doctor: Tyler's Literary Endorsement Of A Federal Elite -- 7. Some Yankee Non-sense About Humanity: Hiding Away African Health In Early American Fiction. Maureen Tuthill. Includes Bibliographical References. "This book is a study of depictions of health and sickness in the early American novel, 1787-1808. These texts reveal a troubling tension between the impulse toward social affection that built cohesion in the nation and the pursuit of self-interest that was considered central to the emerging liberalism of the new Republic. Good health is depicted as an extremely positive social value, almost an a priori condition of membership in the community. Characters who have the "glow of health" tend to enjoy wealth and prestige; those who become sick are burdened by poverty and debt or have made bad decisions that have jeopardized their status. Bodies that waste away, faint, or literally disappear off of the pages of America's first fiction are resisting the conditions that ail them; as they plead for their right to exist, they draw attention to the injustice, apathy, and greed that afflict them."--Font no determinada Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Introduction: “The Glow of Health”: Medicine Meets the Novel in Early America....Pages 1-16 A “Very Unfeeling World”: The Failure of Social Healing in Rowson’s America....Pages 17-46 “Your Health and My Happiness”: Sickness and Social Control in The Coquette and Female Quixotism ....Pages 47-80 “The Best Means of Retaining Health”: Self-Determined Health and Social Discipline in Early America....Pages 81-114 “The Means of Subsistence”: Health, Wealth, and Social Affection in a Yellow Fever World....Pages 115-146 The “Learned Doctor”: Tyler’s Literary Endorsement of a Federal Elite....Pages 147-181 “Some Yankee Non-sense About Humanity”: Hiding away African Health in Early American Fiction....Pages 183-213 Back Matter....Pages 215-253