Midwiving Subjects in Shakespeare's England (Women and Gender in the Early Modern World)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.68 (765 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0754609383 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 224 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-06-24 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
At the intersections of early modern literature and history, Shakespeare and Women's Studies, Midwiving Subjects explores how Shakespearean drama and contemporary medical, religious and popular texts figured the midwife as a central producer of the body's cultural markers. Midwiving Subjects, then, challenges recent studies that read the midwife as a woman whose power was limited to a marginal and unruly birthroom community and instead uncovers the midwife's foundational role, not only in the rituals of reproduction, but in the process of cultural production itself. This book will appeal to readers interested in Shakespeare as well as the history of women and medicine.. As a result of recent changes in managed healthcare and of increased attention to uncovering histories of women's experiences, midwives - past and present - are currently a subject of great interest. The signs of purity and masculinity, paternity and salvation were inherently open to interpretation, yet early modern culture authorized midwives to generate and announce them. In addition to attending most Englishwomen's births and testifying to their in extremis confessions about paternity, the midwife allegedly controlled the size of one's tongue and genitals at birth and was obligated to perform virginity exams, impotence tests and emergency baptisms
Bicks's close readings of historical documents and literary texts offer a new, richly researched angle on early modern women and the stories they generate.' Modern Philology . Bicks is especially strong when tracing the cultural paradigms that defined and delimited early modern midwives, in their time and the present.' ChoiceReviews 'a compelling and thoughtful explorationBicks offers a well-researched and thoughtful exposition of the midwife's importance to cultural production. Weaving together a wide range of historical sources and literary texts, Bicks illustrat
Caroline Bicks is Assistant Professor of English at Boston College. She has published work on women, religious rituals, and childbirth in the early modern period, including an essay in Maternal Measures: Figuring Caregiving in the Early Modern Period
Midwifery and Knowability Professor Harold Lorin This is a well researched and intelligent book. It not only covers the topic seriously, but uses Midwifery as an allegory (or other appropriate trope) for imperialism, royal legitimacy, the relation between language and reality, and establishing legitimacy and identity. It is a joy. There are constantly suggested questions, "is there such a thing as history, and what is the nature of knowability." Richard III is used as an ikon for distortions of history. As exciting as a late season Yankee-Red Sox game.