About

My project investigates how anger was central to debates around gender differences in early modern medicine, in comparison to how angry women are presented in dramatic tragedies (c.1600-1620). Exploring how, in early modern medical discourse on anger management, women’s anger was distinguished from men’s in regard to agency, temporality, potency and cause, I analyse to what extent these distinctions are reinforced or challenged by dramatists. 

This thesis examines theories of gendered anger from a range of early modern medical writers and philosophers across Europe in comparison to representations of angry women in Jacobean tragedies such as John Webster’s The White Devil, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam, William Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra and John Ford, Thomas Dekker and William Rowley’s The Witch of Edmonton.

My work is interdisciplinary - at the crossover between history of medicine and drama. As such, I approach drama through a historicist lens and historical medical texts as a literary critic, which gives me both a broad scope on anger management discourse as well as close analysis of how texts enforce or destabilise binaries. I also take inspiration from modern critical theory, particularly gender performativity, affect theory, history of emotions, and deconstructive approaches to criticism. My work is intersectional, exploring how early modern theories of gender difference connect with those of race and social class.

Alongside my PhD research, I have Qualified Teacher Status in secondary education and Associate Fellowship in higher education. I have been working in education continuously since 2019, and am passionate about widening access to university and other cultural institutions.