Healing Minds or Building Binds?

“Go Rest, Young Man” is about the “Rest Cure,” a treatment created by Silas Mitchell for women dealing with "neurasthenia," and the “West Cure,” the equivalent treatment targeting men. Although they were meant to treat the same symptoms, the approaches were very different. Women were recommended to stay in bed and abandon hobbies, while men were encouraged to go to the West and partake in male bonding and strenuous exercise. Sexism in healthcare and the effects of it are evident in many different pieces of literature including Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth deal with guilt after they murder King Duncan. However, they are treated in very different ways. Lady Macbeth deals with subconscious guilt and anxiety that surface during her sleep and cause her to sleepwalk and mutter. After the doctor witnesses one of her nightly fits, he reports back to Macbeth, asking what he should do. Instead of listening to the doctor, Macbeth orders to purge the disease out of Lady Macbeth using drugs: “What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug/Would scour these English hence?” (IV, iii, 56-57). There is no communication between the affected and the doctor, only treatment imposed upon the female patient by males. On the other hand, when Macbeth hallucinates and hears things, Lady Macbeth dismisses his concerns and only questions his character. For example, after Macbeth murders King Duncan, he mentions a voice he heard. Instead of comforting him, she essentially tells him to man up when she says, “You do unbend your noble strength to think/So brainsickly of things” (II, ii, 47-48). Condescension towards sick women, and dismissal of sick men are harmful for both genders because they perpetuate stereotypes.

The change in power dynamics between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth throughout the play shows how men utilized healthcare to subjugate and confine women to the domestic sphere. Lady Macbeth is essential in Macbeth’s character development and rise in power; from the beginning, she is the catalyst of his transformation into a leader. Without her threatening his sense of masculinity, he never would have felt the need to prove his masculinity and eventually murder the incumbent to become king. Ironically, later in the tragedy, when Lady Macbeth’s mental health weakens, Macbeth does not tend to her personally. This is not only because Macbeth is busy tending to his kingly duties. To some extent, he is relieved that a female was no longer threatening his ego. This is evident in his priorities. He puts power first and her health in others’ hands. Macbeth, who was once Lady Macbeth’s puppet, is freed, and Lady Macbeth’s grasp on the political scene loosens with her failing mental health.

Shakespeare’s Macbeth illustrates how gender-biased healthcare supported gender roles and inhibited communication between the genders in the Middle Ages. Although not to the same degree, healthcare still plays this role in society today. According to a study conducted by National Pain Report and For Grace, 45% of over 2000 women surveyed reported that they were told by a doctor, “the pain is all in [their] head." This is not the only jarring statistic out there; there are countless accounts of women's voices being suppressed or women's pain getting delegitimized by doctors. The negative effects of healthcare, which has been depicted in so many works of literature, will be very hard to reverse. As with other societal issues, sexism has been deeply ingrained over centuries and festers in both the conscious and the unconscious. With mindfulness, education, and most importantly, communication, this problem can be ratified. Inform yourselves and inform others.