Desire and Disorder
Book Description
Desire and Disorder offers a fascinating exploration of how physical illness and emotional experience intertwined in eighteenth-century culture, revealing profound insights about the human condition that resonate with contemporary seekers of understanding.
Candace Ward examines the intricate relationship between medical writings about fever and the sentimental literature of the era, drawing connections between physicians' clinical observations and the emotional landscapes portrayed in novels and poetry. Through careful analysis of medical treatises alongside works by authors like Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, Ward demonstrates how "fever" functioned both as a literal disease and as a powerful metaphor for the disorders of desire, social upheaval, and human suffering.
This interdisciplinary study reveals how medical and literary voices of the period shared a common language for describing the complexities of human experience. By examining diverse sources including personal correspondence, political cartoons, and social reform documents, Ward illuminates the fluid nature of how societies understand and express physical and emotional distress.
For readers interested in the intersection of body, mind, and spirit, this work provides valuable perspective on how different eras have grappled with questions of wellness, social harmony, and the relationship between individual suffering and collective healing. The book offers unique insights into how cultural narratives shape our understanding of health, desire, and the human search for balance and meaning.
Who Is This For?
📖 Reading Level: Medium (200-400 pages) (~8 hours)
📄 Length: 297 pages
What You'll Discover
- ✓ Explore Medicine in literature
- ✓ Explore Social classes in literature
- ✓ Explore History and criticism
- ✓ Explore English literature, history and criticism, 18th century
- ✓ Explore Fever in literature
- ✓ Explore History
- ✓ Explore English literature
- ✓ Explore Human body in literature
