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Christopher Marlowe's Wound Knowledge

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 October 2020

Matthew Greenfield
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Abstract

When poisoned or fatally wounded, characters in Marlowe's plays often develop an uncanny knowledge of what is happening inside their bodies, including the precise anatomy of their injuries and the physiology of the onset of death. In effect, they conduct their own autopsies. These moments of peculiarly physical self-knowledge pose a useful challenge to our conventions for the representation of pain, embodiment, and interiority. Marlowe's wounded speakers deploy these anatomical selfdescriptions in a metatheatrical competition: in a struggle for the attention of the audience, describing one's wounds can be a powerful strategy.

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Type
Research Article
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PMLA , Volume 119 , Issue 2 , March 2004 , pp. 233 - 246
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 2004

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