Book contents
- Convalescence in the Nineteenth-Century Novel
- Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
- Convalescence in the Nineteenth-Century Novel
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Convalescent Time
- Chapter 1 Convalescence and the Working Class
- Chapter 2 Spiritual Convalescence
- Chapter 3 Novel Reading as Convalescence
- Chapter 4 Convalescence and Mental Illness
- Chapter 5 Imperial Convalescence
- Conclusion Convalescent Futures
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
Chapter 1 - Convalescence and the Working Class
Convalescent Homes, Illness Outcomes, and Charles Dickens’s Bleak House
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 May 2021
- Convalescence in the Nineteenth-Century Novel
- Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
- Convalescence in the Nineteenth-Century Novel
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction Convalescent Time
- Chapter 1 Convalescence and the Working Class
- Chapter 2 Spiritual Convalescence
- Chapter 3 Novel Reading as Convalescence
- Chapter 4 Convalescence and Mental Illness
- Chapter 5 Imperial Convalescence
- Conclusion Convalescent Futures
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
- Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture
Summary
Charles Dickens’s Bleak House (1852–53) portrays a staggering array of medical conditions. Beyond the much-discussed contagion that spreads to Jo, Charley, and Esther, the novel depicts such diverse afflictions as epilepsy, addiction, gout, stroke, paralysis, dementia, dyspepsia, ague, nervous shock, respiratory conditions, postpartum complications, as well as injuries resulting from industrial accidents, collapsed tenements, and spousal abuse. Additionally, the novel depicts Gridley’s and Richard’s more inscrutable deaths: They both lack any diagnosable disease, but still perish as a result of being “worn out” or “worn away.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Convalescence in the Nineteenth-Century NovelThe Afterlife of Victorian Illness, pp. 23 - 47Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021