Studying in solitude: Demythologising the masculine medical monopoly with Jane Barker's Galesia and Tobias Smollett's Sagely

Women wishing to develop a knowledge of medicine during the eighteenth century were faced with an inherent challenge. Botany and, by extension, herbalism were considered acceptable forms of medicine for women to practise in the domestic sphere, while anatomy - with its intimate understanding of the inner workings of the human body - was not. If a woman healer wanted to improve their practice to encompass aspects of what a university-trained physician would be taught, then that required a conscious rejection of the societal status quo and a challenge to the myth that male hegemony in professional medicine benefited patients. This chapter presents the precarious position women healers occupied during the eighteenth century, utilising two creative depictions to demonstrate that while studying specialist knowledge could initially cause social challenges for women with the spread of misinformation, it was also, paradoxically, the value of that same knowledge which could see them become a central part of their communities. These themes will be explored through the works of two medically trained writers: Jane Barker (1652-1732) and Tobias Smollett, a qualified ship surgeon.