Langley Eric
Department of English, University College London, London, UK.
Med Humanit. 2011 Dec 1;37(2):103-9. doi: 10.1136/medhum-2011-010039. Epub 2011 Sep 2.
This article considers Shakespeare's metaphors of transmission, contagion and infection in the light of period plague tracts, medical treatises and plague time literature. The author demonstrates how period conceptions of disease are predicated upon a notion of sympathetic transference and, consequently, how kindness, likeness and communication between characters in Shakespearean drama are complicated and fraught with period specific anxiety. This article situates Shakespearean literary texts within a precise historical and medical moment, considering how scientific conceptions contaminate dramatic text.
本文结合当时的鼠疫文献、医学论著及鼠疫时期文学，探讨了莎士比亚作品中关于传播、传染和感染的隐喻。作者展示了当时的疾病观念是如何基于交感转移的概念，以及莎士比亚戏剧中人物之间的善意、相似性和交流是如何因此变得复杂，并充满了特定时期的焦虑。本文将莎士比亚的文学文本置于一个精确的历史和医学背景中，思考科学观念是如何影响戏剧文本的。
