Frankenstein: Texts and Contexts

"This paper (by Christine Hallett) is based on an examination of literature on puerperal fever published in Britain between the years 1760 and 1850."

Lisa Zunshine examines the historical and legal situation of foundlings, and how 18th-century dramatists sought to address issues of illegitimacy.

Includes information on English law in the early 19th century.

An anonymous attack on man-midwives.

A medical description of a miscarriage, here called "a monster".

How the printing press enabled the spread of once-private information to professional doctors, midwives, and lay people.

Romola Davenport Jeremy Boulton & Leonard Schwartz

An examination of life expectancy rates of elite and non-elite females in Britain over the centuries, with information on childbirth survival.

This thesis by Meghan Lorraine Burke examines four 18th-century novels to show how pregnancy moved from being a natural female domain to an unnatural one controlled by men.

An expose of the prophetess Joanna Southcott, who claimed, at the age of 64, to be pregnant with the prophet Shiloh who would bring peace to the world.

Also known as puerperal fever, this deadly postpartum infection was usually imparted to patients by the unwashed hands of surgeons and midwives.

This 2017 Ph.D. thesis by Lindsey Marlene Powers Gay explores the cultural meanings of pregnancy and childbirth in the 18th century.

Contains valuable statistical information on women's health care and mortality at the Westminster General Dispensary.

On Semmelweis' realization that child-bed fever could be prevented by hand-washing and other hygienic practices.

Elizabeth Nihell's manual on midwifery, with an attack on the idea of man-midwives and on the use of forceps.

An article on the high risk of death associated with pregnancy in the late eighteenth century.