Pregnant Bodies from Shakespeare to Ford

This book explores how the pregnant body is portrayed, perceived and enacted in Shakespeare's and his contemporaries' drama by means of a phenomenological analysis and a recourse to early modern popular medical discourse on reproduction.

Autorentext

Katarzyna Burzy ska holds a PhD in English literature and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of English, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznä. Her research interests include English early modern drama, eco-feminism, vegan studies and philosophical analysis of literature. In 2016 she published The Early Modern (Re)discovery of 'Overhuman' Potential: Marlowe's and Shakespeare's Over-reachers in the Light of Nietzsche's Philosophy. The current monograph *is a result of a research project entitled "Sir, she came in great with child, and longing": Phenomenology of pregnancy in English early modern drama (Measure for Measure* 2.1.96)" financed by National Science Centre, Poland (no. UMO-2017/27/B/HS2/00089).

Inhalt

Introduction: Early Modern and Modern Discourses of Pregnancy and Maternity **

1. Conception, Quickening and Engulfing Expansion: Pregnant Embodiment in Shakespeare's Early Pregnancy Plays **Pregnancy, Labour and the Postpartum Period: Pregnant Embodiment in Shakespeare's Late Pregnancy PlaysDelivery and Lying-in in Middleton's City ComediesIllicit and Secret Pregnancy in Post-Shakespearean Tragedies Conclusion