Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Studies Murky Waters

Murky waters explores the ambivalent representations of spas in eighteenth-century medicine and literature. It gives a wide cultural perspective of the numerous spas, springs and wells of Britain, well beyond Bath, and focuses on specific political and cultural tensions while reasserting the centrality of health in spa towns. Murky waters challenges the refined image of British spa towns in the eighteenth century by uncovering darker and more ambivalent representations. Reconsidering mineral waters in their material and metaphorical aspects, it disassociates them from the ideas of cleanliness, transparency and well-being, while investigating their powerful effects on bodies, societies and culture.The book looks beyond the success story of Bath to take in the wider phenomenon of British spas in the long eighteenth-century. Closely examining the extensive primary sources for the two hundred spas and wells that existed across the period, it reveals a variety of descriptions of treatments, towns and facilities. Approaches from the history of health and literary criticism are combined in order to probe the medical discourse on the mineral components of waters. At the same time, the book explores the representation of spas in eighteenth-century British culture, giving a multi-layered perspective on this medical, cultural and social phenomenon.Digging deep into narratives of sick bodies, dangerous treatments, the gendered representations of spa users and the political and financial stakes for proprietors, Murky waters aims at launching further exciting research on this seemingly familiar yet often surprising topic. Murky waters challenges the refined image of spa towns in eighteenth-century Britain by unveiling darker and more ambivalent contemporary representations. It reasserts the centrality of health in British spas by looking at disease, the representation of treatment and the social networks of care woven into spa towns. The book explores the great variety of medical and literary discourses on the numerous British spas in the long eighteenth century and offers a rare look at spas beyond Bath. Following the thread of 'murkiness', it explores the underwater culture of spas, from the gender fluidity of users to the local and national political dimensions, as well as the financial risks taken by gamblers and investors. It thus brings a fresh look at mineral waters and a pinch of salt to health-related discourses.