Structure

The book is structured in nine short chapters. These are roughly organized by theme, but Sontag also returns to previous arguments in the context of new chapters. For example, she writes about syphilis in Chapter Six and employs it as an example again in Chapter Eight. Additionally, she introduces the theme of the romanticization of tuberculosis in Chapter Two but provides further examples in Chapters Four, Five, and Six. The structure of the book could be envisioned as a spiral – Sontag introduces a theme and returns to it repeatedly while continuously bringing in new ideas and sources.

"Illness as Metaphor" lends itself to a unique organization – its focus on long-held and deeply engrained metaphors requires it to analyze a broad range of sources over a significant time period. While she covers wide variety of era, authors, and topics, Sontag is united in her analysis by a focus...