Shakespeare's Medical Language: A Dictionary

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Physicians, readers and scholars have long been fascinated by Shakespeares medical language and the presence of healers, wise women and surgeons in his work. This dictionary includes entries about ailments, medical concepts, cures and, taking into account recent critical work on the early modern body, bodily functions, parts, and pathologies in Shakespeare. Shakespeares Medical Language will provide a comprehensive guide for those needing to understand specific references in the plays, in particular, archaic diagnoses or therapies (choleric, tub-fast) and words that have changed their meanings (phlegmatic, urinal); those who want to learn more about early modern medical concepts (elements, humors); and those who might have questions about the embodied experience of living in Shakespeares England. Entries reveal what terms and concepts might mean in the context of Shakespeares plays, and the significance that a particular disease, body part or function has in individual plays and the Shakespearean corpus at large.

Author Bio

Sujata Iyengar is Professor of English at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA. She is author of Shades of Difference: Mythologies of Skin Color in Early Modern England.