Literature and Medicine in Nineteenth-Century Britain: From Mary Shelley to George Eliot (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture, Series Number 46)

Although We Have Come To Regard 'clinical' And 'romantic' As Oppositional Terms, Romantic Literature And Clinical Medicine Were Fed By The Same Cultural Configurations. In The Pre-darwinian Nineteenth Century, Writers And Doctors Developed An Interpretive Method That Negotiated Between Literary And Scientific Knowledge Of The Natural World. Literary Writers Produced Potent Myths That Juxtaposed The Natural And The Supernatural, Often Disturbing The Conventional Dualist Hierarchy Of Spirit Over Flesh. Clinicians Developed The Two-part History And Physical Examination, Weighing The Patient's Narrative Against The Evidence Of The Body. Examining Fiction By Mary Shelley, Carlyle, The Brontës And George Eliot, Alongside Biomedical Lectures, Textbooks And Articles, Janis Mclarren Caldwell Demonstrates The Similar Ways Of Reading Employed By Nineteenth-century Doctors And Imaginative Writers And Reveals The Complexities And Creative Exchanges Of The Relationship Between Literature And Medicine. Introduction: Romantic Materialism -- Science And Sympathy In Frankenstein -- Natural Supernaturalism In Thomas Carlyle And Richard Owen -- Wuthering Heights And Domestic Medicine: The Child's Body And The Book -- Literalization In The Novels Of Charlotte Bronte -- Charles Darwin And Romantic Medicine -- Middlemarch And The Medical Case. Janis Mclarren Caldwell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 189-198) And Index. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Series-title......Page 5 Title......Page 7 Copyright......Page 8 Dedication......Page 9 Contents......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 12 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Romantic materialism......Page 15 Romantic medicine......Page 18 Two books: natural theology in literature and medicine......Page 22 Hermeneutics......Page 30 Methodology......Page 34 CHAPTER 2 Science and sympathy in Frankenstein......Page 39 The science of life......Page 40 Sympathy......Page 43 The text of frankenstein......Page 52 CHAPTER 3 Natural supernaturalism in Thomas Carlyle and Richard Owen......Page 60 CHAPTER 4 Wuthering Heights and domestic medicine: the child's body and the book......Page 82 CHAPTER 5 Literalization in the novels of Charlotte Bront......Page 111 CHAPTER 6 Charles Darwin and Romantic medicine......Page 131 CHAPTER 7 Middlemarch and the medical case report: the patient's narrative and the physical exam......Page 157 Bibliography......Page 203 Index......Page 213 Although we have come to regard 'clinical' and 'romantic' as oppositional terms, romantic literature and clinical medicine were fed by the same cultural configurations. In the pre-Darwinian nineteenth century, writers and doctors developed an interpretive method that negotiated between literary and scientific knowledge of the natural world. Literary writers produced potent myths that juxtaposed the natural and the supernatural, often disturbing the conventional dualist hierarchy of spirit over flesh. Clinicians developed the two-part history and physical examination, weighing the patient's narrative against the evidence of the body. Examining fiction by Mary Shelley, Carlyle, the Brontes and George Eliot, alongside biomedical lectures, textbooks and articles, Janis McLarren Caldwell demonstrates the similar ways of reading employed by nineteenth-century doctors and imaginative writers and reveals the complexities and creative exchanges of the relationship between literature and medicine Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 5 Title 7 Copyright 8 Dedication 9 Contents 11 Acknowledgments 12 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Romantic materialism 15 Romantic medicine 18 Two books: natural theology in literature and medicine 22 Hermeneutics 30 Methodology 34 CHAPTER 2 Science and sympathy in Frankenstein 39 The science of life 40 Sympathy 43 The text of frankenstein 52 CHAPTER 3 Natural supernaturalism in Thomas Carlyle and Richard Owen 60 CHAPTER 4 Wuthering Heights and domestic medicine: the child's body and the book 82 CHAPTER 5 Literalization in the novels of Charlotte Bront 111 CHAPTER 6 Charles Darwin and Romantic medicine 131 CHAPTER 7 Middlemarch and the medical case report: the patient's narrative and the physical exam 157 Notes 203 Bibliography 203 Index 213 Janis Caldwell investigates the links between the growing scientific materialism of the nineteenth century and the persistence of the Romantic literary imagination. Through closely analyzing literary texts from Frankenstein to Middlemarch, and examining fiction alongside biomedical lectures, textbooks and articles, Caldwell argues that the way "Romantic materialism" influenced these disciplines compels us to revise conventional accounts of the relationship between literature and medicine. Janis McLarren Caldwell investigates the impact of medical science and the Romantic interest in material culture on 19th century literature