Health and Sickness in the Early American Novel

Social Affection and Eighteenth-Century Medicine

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American
Cover of the book Health and Sickness in the Early American Novel by Maureen Tuthill, Palgrave Macmillan UK
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Maureen Tuthill ISBN: 9781137597151
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK Publication: September 26, 2016
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan Language: English
Author: Maureen Tuthill
ISBN: 9781137597151
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK
Publication: September 26, 2016
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Language: English

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.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

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.

More books from Palgrave Macmillan UK

Cover of the book British Chinese Families by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Late Modernity, Individualization and Socialism by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Imagining Shakespeare's Original Audience, 1660-2000 by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Public–Private Partnerships by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Managing Expatriates in China by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Cosmopolitanism in Contemporary British Fiction by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Gypsies in Germany and Italy, 1861-1914 by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book The Intelligent Mind by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book New Speakers of Minority Languages by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Interpretations of Peace in History and Culture by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Science and Empire by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Rethinking Evolutionary Psychology by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Displaying Families by Maureen Tuthill
Cover of the book Land Tenure Reform in Asia and Africa by Maureen Tuthill
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy