![]() These treatments, which involved ‘lengthy periods of bed rest’, probably resembled Mitchell’s popular rest cure, or some variant thereof (Gerzina, 2004, p.51). ![]() Burnett herself underwent more than one inpatient treatment for her recurring bouts of insomnia and depression. While the rest cure was used to treat a variety of ailments, the typical patient was an upper-middle-class woman suffering from hysteria or neurasthenia, a 19th-century term for ‘nerve weakness’ that encompassed depression, anxiety, migraines, and other symptoms. Invented in the 1870s by Mitchell, a Philadelphia neurologist, the cure found its way to Britain later in the century. The rest cure was the standard treatment for female invalids at the fin de siècle, involving bed rest, social isolation, and force-feeding. ![]() This social commentary surfaces in fictions such as The Secret Garden, which can be read as a feminist, Christian Science revision of Silas Weir Mitchell’s rest cure. ![]() Because of her reputation as a writer of juvenile fiction, however, modern readers tend to overlook Burnett’s incisive commentary on social issues, including medical controversies. During her lifetime, Burnett wrote over 50 novels for both adults and children and became the wealthiest woman writer of her day. ![]() British-born author Frances Hodgson Burnett, who later settled in the United States, is best known for children’s classics like A Little Princess (1905) and The Secret Garden (1911). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |