![]() In The Last Man, Shelley crafts an intricate meta-narrative that disrupts this view of men as the universal subject by discrediting and complicating the legacy of her male narrator. Men’s experiences were viewed as universally human whereas women were designated to the ‘other’-a difference predicated on an acknowledgment of a culturally constructed definition of the ‘default’ human. Beginning with Renaissance humanism from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, it was “an attitude of thought which gives primary importance to human beings” which developed “as a reaction against the religious authoritarianism of Medieval Catholicism.” Humanism “emphasized human dignity, beauty, and potential, and affected every aspect of culture in Europe, including philosophy, music, and the arts.” (New World Encyclopedia) And yet, these artistic achievements that put forth a universality of the human condition existed within a predominantly patriarchal context: historical retellings were centered on men as the subject. Humanism is a philosophical belief that stresses the value of rational thought and reasoning, putting humans atop the natural hierarchy. ![]() ![]() Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s final novel, The Last Man, is often interpreted by scholars as being critical of humanistic ideology. ![]()
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![]() I looked at Oscar, who I had been thinking of as this wise, Sphinx-like creature with all the answers. There’s some kind of chemical in the herb that gives them an almost sexual high.” Mary laughed, and then launched into an explanation, almost shouting to be heard over the yowling of the cats and the laughter of the staff and patients. Watching their whirling-dervish routine, my inner veterinarian took over. I pushed my way to the front where I found Mary. It was like watching a drug-fueled pas de deux, with cats instead of dancers. ![]() Both cats were charging around the desk at breakneck speed, stopping occasionally to roll around, flailing their limbs in the air. All eyes were on Oscar and Maya who appeared to be in the throes of ecstasy. Like a small child trying to get a better look at a passing parade, I picked my way through the morass of walkers and residents. ![]() A small group of interested onlookers, residents, and staff had surrounded the front desk of the unit, blocking my view of the spectacle. It was as if I had stumbled on a scene from the Summer of Love. ![]() ![]() Personal life and career The writing of Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Īs Cahalan was a journalist for the New York Post before she became ill, her editor suggested that she write about her disease and how it impacted her. Cahalan's work has raised awareness for her brain disease, making it more well-known and decreasing the likelihood of misdiagnoses. When she is not writing longer works, she works as a journalist for the New York Post. ![]() She published a second book, The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission That Changed Our Understanding of Madness, in 2019. ![]() Susannah Cahalan (born January 30, 1985) is an American journalist and author, known for writing the memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, about her hospitalization with a rare auto-immune disease, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. ![]() |