The Secret Wound Love-Melancholy and Early Modern Romance

"In this unusual and fruitful study, Wells offers a new reading of early modern romance in the light of historically contemporary accounts of the medical perception of love-melancholy." - Book News, INC. "The Secret Wound is well-written and beautifully researched; its impact will be wide, deep, and across several disciplinary borders. Its trenchant account of the widespread literary phenomenon of love-melancholy will be read with interest by all scholars of the period." - Michael Schoenfeldt (University of Michigan) "This well-argued book explores the malady of love, that is, the moment when love becomes psychologically unmanageable and turns into delusional disease...This is an ambitious and sharply reasoned book and Marion Wells gives fascinating insights into the courtly and Petrarchan tradition of lovesickness." - Renaissance Quarterly "An intriguing, well-reasoned, in-depth exploration of a critical literary component." - The Midwest Book Review "This book is a significant and valuable addition to the study of early modern romance and should soon be adopted by fellow researchers as well as in courses dedicated to the genre." - Consciousness, Literature, and the Arts "This is a strong book, which will make a central contribution to the study of early modern literature and to the history of ideas. Wells presents a bold argument, and is a master of classical tradition, allowing her to make novel and impressive claims." - Mary Wack (Washington State University) "This fine and noteworthy book... is a significant and valuable addition to the study of early modern romance and should soon be adopted by fellow researchers as well as in courses dedicated to the genre." - Consciousness, Literature and the Arts "Wells offers a comprehensive account of the medical and psychological tradition of 'love-melancholy' as it evolved from the Greeks through the Renaissance, demonstrating beyond doubt the importance of this cultural trope... This study is an important and much-needed complement to recent work on romance." - CHOICE