What did Lady Mary Wortley Montagu write about?
Lady Mary is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her Turkish Embassy Letters describing her travels to the Ottoman Empire, as wife to the British ambassador to Turkey, which Billie Melman described as “the very first example of a secular work by a woman about the Muslim Orient”.
What was Lady Mary Montagu’s main literary contribution?
Lady Mary’s literary reputation chiefly rests on 52 superb Turkish embassy letters, which she wrote after her return as the ambassador’s wife in Constantinople, using her actual letters and journals as source material. The letters were published in 1763 from an unauthorized copy and were acclaimed throughout Europe.
Why was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu important?
Born in 1689, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (née Pierrepont) was an English aristocrat and lady of letters. More important than her literary achievements, however, Lady Montagu was responsible for the introduction of the smallpox inoculation to Britain and Western Europe.
When did Lady Mary Wortley Montagu made her discovery?
1721
In August 1721, an extraordinary experiment was performed at London’s Newgate Prison that helped persuade people of the benefit of smallpox inoculation. Several prisoners awaiting execution were offered the chance to have inoculation with smallpox instead – being allowed their freedom if they survived.
What was England’s view on inoculations in the 18th century?
The efficacy of the preventative measures used against smallpox in eighteenth century England supports the characterisation of smallpox as a disease of low infectivity, particularly given that one pillar of prevention, mass inoculation with live smallpox, carried the risk of engendering an epidemic.
Who brought inoculation from Turkey to England?
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
How One Daring Woman Introduced the Idea of Smallpox Inoculation to England. British writer and explorer Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689 – 1762).
What is variolation in immunology?
variolation, obsolete method of immunizing patients against smallpox by infecting them with substance from the pustules of patients with a mild form of the disease (variola minor). The disease then usually occurs in a less-dangerous form than when contracted naturally.
What is democracy?
Democracy, which derives from the Greek word demos, or people, is defined, basi- cally, as government in which the supreme power is vested in the people. In some forms, democracy can be exercised directly by the people; in large societies, it is by the people through their elected agents.
What is a democratic society?
A society free to arbitrate between these two conflicting demands that of the free market and that of individual and collective humanity, that of money and that of identity may be termed democratic.
How does democracy work in the United States?
Democracies do not elect dictators or presidents-for-life. Elected officials are accountable to the people, and they must return to the voters at prescribed intervals to seek their mandate to continue in office and face the risk of being voted out of office. As democracy expands worldwide, so does the ballot box.
How can a democracy shatter a society?
If groups per- ceive democracy as nothing more than a forum in which they can press their demands, the society can shatter from within. If the government exerts excessive pressure to achieve consensus, stifling the voices of the people, the society can be crushed from above.