Womanly Roles vs. Consumption

From the introduction on, Rothman highlights the point that women as opposed to men choose to stay at home when they are diagnosed with consumption. In chapter 5, this is elaborated on. I found it very interesting how men would go and travel to treat their illness but women felt that it was their duty to stay and take care of the home. In chapter 5, we get a real sense of community. When a mother gets sick, the women in the community help raise her children. Women came together to assist each other when they needed it the most. When we meet Deborah in this chapter, we get a sense that even though she gets to travel and is sick, she still takes a responsibility to keep things neat and clean up after others. This disease did not mean that women could try and rest and get better. It seems that no matter what their chosen "cure" was (traveling or staying home) they always had the responsibility of taking care of others and displaying a proper outward appearance. They did not have the luxury of truly being sick and trying to fight the disease. Even further in the chapter, after being ill, Deborah gets pregnant twice at risk to her own health. I found it interesting how the proper duties of a family did not truly change with consumption, but perhaps one did need to continue living for as long as they ha left?