The Master of Arts in Medical Humanities and Bioethics Program presents
A Montgomery Lecture
with
Annalese Duprey, PhD Candidate
English Department, Northwestern University
Medical Humanities and Bioethics Fellowship Program, alumna
Mirrors and Mirror Neurons:
A Reflection on the Importance of Compassion in Healing
Medieval medicine and literature imagined lovesickness as a disease which could most directly be cured, literally, by empathy. The sick lover’s pain is most effectively assuaged when the object of his desires sees his suffering, takes pity on him, and reciprocates his amorous feelings. One of the primary metaphors of love in this medieval context is that of a mirror—the same metaphor by which we describe the neurons that help us forge social and emotional connections. Taking John Gower’s 14th century Confessio Amantis (Lover’s Confession) as its base text, this talk will consider the metaphor of the mirror, the lady’s empathy, and the modern understanding of mirror neurons while asking how medicine can better practice empathetic healing.