Mysterious
Medicine: The Doctor-Scientist Tales of
Hawthorne and Poe is
one in a series of books called Literature and Medicine dedicated to the
exploration and explication of the intersection of the two titled
disciplines. This volume, edited by L.
Kerr Dunn, looks at the short stories (mostly—it includes one sonnet) of Nathaniel
Hawthorne and Edgar Allan Poe from the viewpoint of each author’s use of, and
in some cases experiences with, doctors, diseases, and the medical
profession. The volume begins with an
Introduction that situates the writings within the medical and social milieu of
the period (the authors were contemporaneous) and illustrates the way in which
the tales reflect the times. The stories
are grouped by author and arranged chronologically. Among the nineteen entries included are “The
Minister’s Black Veil,” “Lady Eleanore’s Mantle,” “The Birthmark,” and
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” for Hawthorne, and “The Black Cat,” “The Fall of the
House of Usher,” “Berenice,” and “Some Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” for
Poe; each entry is preceded by a brief introduction and followed by discussion
questions. An extensive list of
scholarly references closes out the volume.
Set in Padua "very long ago," this is the story of a "mad scientist" working in isolation on a completely unethical (at least by modern research standards) experiment involving poisonous plants. A young student of medicine observes from his quarters the scientist's beautiful daughter who is confined to the lush and locked gardens in which the experiment is taking place.
Having fallen in love with the lovely Beatrice, Giovanni ignores the warning of his mentor, Professor Baglioni, that Rappaccini is up to no good and he and his work should be shunned. Eventually, Giovanni sneaks into the forbidden garden to meet his lover, and begins to suffer the consequences of encounter with the plants--and with Beatrice, who dwells among them and has been rendered both immune to their effects and poisonous to others.
A devoted scientist, in a brief step from his laboratory pursuits, marries a beautiful woman with a single physical flaw: a birthmark on her face. Aylmer becomes obsessed with the imperfection and his need to remove it. The tale evolves around his progressive frenzy to use his scientific skills to render his bride perfect and the faith of his submissive wife that the union can survive only if he accomplishes his goal. The author tells us that Aylmer "had devoted himself, however, too unreservedly to scientific studies . . . " and, in the secrecy of his laboratory he prepares the potion for Georgiana which results in the disappearance of the birthmark and the death of Aylmer's experimental subject.
An eccentric aging physician, Dr. Heidegger, calls together his old friends and contemporaries to test his waters of the "fountain of youth." As the doctor himself sits by to enjoy the show, each of his four aged friends eagerly quaffs more and more of the magic potion, each draught further carrying them backwards into their shared youth. Having grown young, smooth-skinned and agile again, the three men begin to fight for the favors of the fourth compatriot now restored to her former beauty.
In the heat of the fracas, they begin to grow tired and within minutes the effect of the "waters" has worn off. The participants in the brief respite from old age are devastated by the transience of the experience. Despite Heidegger's warning that he has learned to appreciate the advantage of age by watching the four of them make themselves fools, they learned no such lesson and resolve to make a pilgrimage to Florida to seek the Fountain.
