Digesting Moby-Dick

This essay argues that Moby-Dick explores the psychological and philosophical ramifications of contemporary theories of digestion. Digestion was a vital part of nineteenth-century conversations about the mind-body relationship. Physicians and itinerant dietary reformers alike held that the state of the mind mirrored the state of the stomach: to manage one’s digestion was to safeguard one’s mind against debility and madness. I argue that Moby-Dick depicts digestion as a powerful psychological force and an assertive check to contemporary philosophical hopes of transcending bodily limitations. Ultimately, the novel’s depiction of digestion yields new ways of thinking about embodiment in both Moby-Dick and the mid-nineteenth century generally.