
Boesky's paper explores the durable value of patience in illness narratives. Looking at Motteville’s account of Anne of Austria’s breast cancer experiences in the 1660s, Boesky argues patience often stands in uneasy opposition to articulation. While not always affiliated with silence, patience - the capacity to endure suffering over time - has long been contrasted with complaint. As medical humanists, we may unwittingly foreground older models of “patience” in patient-centered criticism. This paper, part of a larger project Boesky is beginning on affect theory and health humanities, seeks to reconsider how we privilege “patience” as we make meanings of illness and disability.