The Country Wife Dramaturgical File

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have always been a part of history and are even mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Before medicine and medical knowledge became as prevalent as it is today, there was a complete lack of awareness and understanding of STDs that allowed them to spread around the globe to all genders and sexualities. There was also little or no treatment for them up until the 18th century.

 

During the medieval period, syphilis and gonorrhea (otherwise known as ‘the clap’) were the two most common STDs throughout Europe and Asia. Sailors are the most common culprit of spreading the disease to other continents: one theory suggests that those who voyaged with Christopher Columbus contracted syphilis and brought it back to Europe upon their return. 

 

In the 17th century, Europeans had a great fear of getting STDs. Richard Wiseman, a 17th century European doctor, argued that STD’s such as syphilis and gonorrhea are “the most common employment of our profession, and the most predominant vice of the age”[1]. People would be so anxious of getting one that they would imagine that they have the symptoms and would become obsessed with the fear, and as a result they would visit doctor after doctor until they could find a cure. This practice led to further problems, because if a person was really sick from a non-STD, they would refuse any diagnosis other than the one they were looking for. The STD phobia wave allowed many other diseases to spread as a result. Also, there was a great deal of misinformation surrounding the two diseases: many Europeans believed that gonorrhea and syphilis were the same disease. 

 

Syphilis is divided into four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary. Primary syphilis includes sores at the sight of infection, secondary syphilis includes skin rashes and swollen lymph nodes, and while the latent stage has no symptoms, tertiary syphilis has severe medical problems. Syphilis is an STD that is much better to catch early, while it can still be treated.

 

Gonorrhea infections can sometimes cause no symptoms, however in those assigned male at birth the most common ones are painful urination, discharge, and swelling. In individuals assigned female at birth, symptoms can include discharge, painful urination, bleeding in between periods, and pelvic pain. Gonorrhea can lead to infertility in all genders, infection that can spread to other areas of the body, increased possibility for HIV/AIDS, and complications in babies.

 

 

[1] Fessler, A. "Venereal Disease Phobia in the 17th Century." Sexually Transmitted Infections. September 01, 1955. Accessed February 14, 2021. https://sti.bmj.com/content/31/3/190.