Category: Literary Essays
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Aristotle: Medical
Aristotle (384–322 BCE), the student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great, is remembered primarily as a philosopher, yet his contributions to medicine and biology are equally significant. In an age when philosophy, science, and medicine were not rigidly separated, Aristotle sought to understand the natural world through observation and classification. His efforts laid…
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The strange death of Nana
Nicolas RoblesBadajoz, Spain “Nana was all covered with fine hair; a russet made her body velvety…”—Emile Zola, Nana The French writer Émile Zola (1840–1902), considered the leading representative of literary naturalism in his time,1 observed people and contemporary events in his novels. Zola never ceased to get involved in social, artistic, or literary causes that…
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Arrowsmith at 100 years
George ChristopherMichigan, United States Sinclair Lewis’ novel Arrowsmith (1925) is a biography of the fictional physician Martin Arrowsmith that chronicles his life from childhood through the transitions of his medical career. The novel spans the protagonist’s years in medical school and subsequent roles as a hospital house officer, clinician in solo practice, public health official,…
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Medicine’s “Naming of the Parts”: Less instrumentalism and more aesthetics?
Alan BleakleyPlymouth, United Kingdom The English poet Henry Reed first published “Naming of the Parts” in 1942. English schoolchildren of my generation, born soon after WWII, learned this poem by heart. But we were too young to know, and perhaps our English teachers failed to notice, that the poem is full of sexual innuendo. Ostensibly,…
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Stigma and truth in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier” (1926)
Shreya SharmaLondon, Ontario, Canada Throughout history, visible illness has been feared, medically and socially. Diseases with physical manifestations such as leprosy have carried a severe stigma, often leading to misdiagnoses, isolation, and discrimination. But what happens when fear, rather than science, dictates medical care? Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story “The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier”…
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Michelangelo’s poetry
JMS PearceHull, England The poetry of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) is often overlooked. In it we can discern that behind his sublime sculptures, painting, and architecture lurked a devout man disturbed by deep personal conflicts. Michelangelo, born in Caprese, considered himself a Florentine, although for many years he lived in Rome.3 In the Church of Santo…
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Virginia Woolf and the Common Reader
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, remains well worth reading. Lovers of English literature admire her wonderful style, and advocates of women’s rights appreciate the sentiments she expressed in her essay “A Room of One’s Own”. During most of her life she was afflicted by intense mood swings…
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On superficial, “epidermal” books
Frank González-CrussíChicago, Illinois, United States Camille Flammarion (1842–1925) was a French astronomer who acquired immense popularity as a writer (Fig. 1). Today, his surname brings to mind a major French publishing house (founded by his brother Ernest), but in the nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth, the word “Flammarion” evoked Camille’s extraordinary celebrity…
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Thomas De Quincey and the sisters of sorrow
Born in Manchester in 1785, De Quincey was a sensitive child and had an unhappy childhood. His two sisters had died very young, and he was only seven years old when his father was also brought home to die. Left in the guardianship of his mother and four friends of the family, he was sent…
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The truth about the Mad Hatter
Stephen McWilliamsDublin, Ireland Few works of fiction are as original as Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Replete with singular characters such as the White Rabbit, the King and Queen of Hearts, the March Hare, the somnolent Dormouse, and the infamous grinning Cheshire Cat, the novel also boasts one of the true icons of…