“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease
Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was frequently troubled by poor health, and her mid-life episode of life-threatening illness (1870–1872) when she suffered from Graves’ disease provides an illuminating case study of the ways that illness can be reflected in...
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doaj-0187c5c414f44922817623a950d1f75f2020-11-25T02:16:03ZengMDPI AGHumanities2076-07872019-03-01815710.3390/h8010057h8010057“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ DiseaseMary Arseneau0Emery Terrell1Department of English, Hamelin Hall, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, CanadaFaculty of Medicine, Roger Guindon Hall, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5, CanadaVictorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was frequently troubled by poor health, and her mid-life episode of life-threatening illness (1870–1872) when she suffered from Graves’ disease provides an illuminating case study of the ways that illness can be reflected in poetry and prose. Rossetti, her family, and her doctors understood Graves’ disease as a heart condition; however, Rossetti’s writing reflects a different paradigm, presenting themes of self-attack and a divided self that uncannily parallel the modern understanding of Graves’ disease as autoimmune in nature. Interestingly, these creative representations reflect an understanding of this disease process that Rossetti family documents and the history of Victorian medicine demonstrate Rossetti could not have been aware of. When the crisis had passed, Rossetti’s writing began to include new rhetoric and imagery of self-acceptance and of suffering as a means of spiritual improvement. This essay explores the parallels between literary and somatic metaphors: Rossetti’s body and art are often simultaneously “saying„ the same thing, the physical symptoms expressing somatically the same dynamic that is expressed in metaphor and narrative in Rossetti’s creative writing. Such a well-documented case history raises questions about how writing may be shaped by paradigms of illness that are not accessible to the conscious mind.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/8/1/57Christina Rossettipoetryliterature and medicinehistory of medicine19th centuryautoimmune diseaseGraves’ diseaseheartillness narrativemedical humanities |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Mary Arseneau Emery Terrell |
spellingShingle |
Mary Arseneau Emery Terrell “Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease Humanities Christina Rossetti poetry literature and medicine history of medicine 19th century autoimmune disease Graves’ disease heart illness narrative medical humanities |
author_facet |
Mary Arseneau Emery Terrell |
author_sort |
Mary Arseneau |
title |
“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease |
title_short |
“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease |
title_full |
“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease |
title_fullStr |
“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease |
title_full_unstemmed |
“Our Self-Undoing”: Christina Rossetti’s Literary and Somatic Expressions of Graves’ Disease |
title_sort |
“our self-undoing”: christina rossetti’s literary and somatic expressions of graves’ disease |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Humanities |
issn |
2076-0787 |
publishDate |
2019-03-01 |
description |
Victorian poet Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) was frequently troubled by poor health, and her mid-life episode of life-threatening illness (1870–1872) when she suffered from Graves’ disease provides an illuminating case study of the ways that illness can be reflected in poetry and prose. Rossetti, her family, and her doctors understood Graves’ disease as a heart condition; however, Rossetti’s writing reflects a different paradigm, presenting themes of self-attack and a divided self that uncannily parallel the modern understanding of Graves’ disease as autoimmune in nature. Interestingly, these creative representations reflect an understanding of this disease process that Rossetti family documents and the history of Victorian medicine demonstrate Rossetti could not have been aware of. When the crisis had passed, Rossetti’s writing began to include new rhetoric and imagery of self-acceptance and of suffering as a means of spiritual improvement. This essay explores the parallels between literary and somatic metaphors: Rossetti’s body and art are often simultaneously “saying„ the same thing, the physical symptoms expressing somatically the same dynamic that is expressed in metaphor and narrative in Rossetti’s creative writing. Such a well-documented case history raises questions about how writing may be shaped by paradigms of illness that are not accessible to the conscious mind. |
topic |
Christina Rossetti poetry literature and medicine history of medicine 19th century autoimmune disease Graves’ disease heart illness narrative medical humanities |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0787/8/1/57 |
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