The Anatomy of Melancholy

See also. Music and harmony; Recreate; Remedy by diversion; Nepenthe; Leisure.

Mistress

Source forms: mistress; Mistris

The word. A mistress can be the woman a person loves or courts. The word need not imply an adulterous relationship.

In Burton. The definition of lovesickness describes sustained attention to the beloved’s beauty and behaviour. The unassigned couplet imagines a beloved not yet found. Cicero’s account of the lover’s obedience supplies a related image of the woman’s rule, though the selected body passage calls her a woman rather than a mistress.

The places. The mistress is the object of the lover’s consuming attention. (p. 446; DJR-115-49.) The speaker seeks an as-yet-unknown mistress. (p. 468; DJR-120-14.) The related argument represents love as subjection to a woman’s commands. (p. 523; DJR-130-02.)

In this edition. “his Mistris” → “his mistress” (DJR-115-49); “a mistress yet to come” → “a mistress still to come” (DJR-120-14); “a woman domineers” → “a woman rules him” (DJR-130-02). Mistress is retained where it occurs, with its historical sense explained. The argument about rule and obedience concerns command of the passions, not proof of the couple’s marital status.

See also. Dowry and jointure; Quean and slut.

Mortification

Source forms: mortified

The word. Mortification is the subduing of bodily desires through ascetic discipline. Mortified in this passage carries that religious sense, turned towards exhaustion and madness; it does not simply mean embarrassed.

In Burton. Burton attacks practices undertaken to earn merit under a claim of perfection. He describes the Devil as exploiting blind zeal through penance, harsh clothing, whipping and fasting. The word’s spiritual ideal is drawn into his account of harmful excess.

The places. Mortified links the ascetic ideal with Burton’s polemical account of madness. (p. 655; DJR-156-01.)

In this edition. “quite mortified and mad” → “utterly mortified and mad” (DJR-156-01). The retained word preserves the religious vocabulary and its bitter turn in Burton’s sentence. Wearing wool against the skin explains the accompanying going wolward.

See also. Solitude; Supererogation; Anchorite; Non naturals; Zeal.

Mortmain

Source forms: mortmain

The word. Mortmain concerns land held perpetually by an ecclesiastical or other corporate body, and the legal restrictions on transfers into such ownership. The selected occurrence is in Burton’s margin.

In Burton. The body describes large accumulations of ecclesiastical wealth. The margin invokes statutes of mortmain as evidence that lay people distrust the clergy’s power. The legal term supports the argument about lasting institutional possession.

The places. The marginal reference to mortmain accompanies the account of ecclesiastical holdings. (p. 649; DJR-154-33.)

In this edition. “mortmain” → “mortmain” (DJR-154:B28; margin). The English marginal term is retained and explained. It is not inserted into the main text’s list of territories or estimates.

See also. Church patronage.

Mountebank

Source forms: Mountebanks; Quacksalvers

The word. Mountebank and quacksalver are disparaging names for sellers of dubious remedies or pretended healers. Their context emphasizes deceit and the lack of the qualifications Burton demands.

In Burton. Mountebanks first join a polemical list of people who fabricate strange voices and frighten their audiences. In the defence of medicine, Burton separates such practitioners from a learned, skilful and honest physician. The accusation targets abuses of medical authority.