Summary

In the third chapter, Sontag focuses on one of the most central metaphors historically associated with both tuberculosis and cancer: “passion” (20). Her main argument is that tuberculosis was long seen as a product of romantic and sexual passion, or conversely, as the product of heartbreak and unfulfilled love. In order to provide evidence for this point, Sontag quotes from a letter by the writer William Keats, who complains that he should have been with his lover before he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. At the same time, tuberculosis was seen as a representation of political or moral passion in addition to romantic passion or heartbreak — for example, in Ivan Turgenev’s 1860 novel “On the Eve,” the protagonist dies of tuberculosis after he realizes he cannot return to his native country of Bulgaria from exile. While tuberculosis was seen as the product of a sudden and...