Green Sickness, the Strange Condition That Affected Young Virgins in the 17th Century
In the 17th century, the paleness and extreme weakness of unmarried teenage girls sparked medical and social fears, while society and literature reflected prejudices about their health and morality.
In 17th-century London, dozens of young women died each year from the so-called “green sickness,” a diagnosis that has disappeared from modern medicine.
The phenomenon was recorded mainly among adolescent girls around the 1650s. The condition worried doctors, families, and authorities, who tried to explain its causes and search for possible treatments. The term marked medical history for centuries, although today its meaning is unclear.
According to the National Institutes of Health, the first medical descriptions of the illness highlighted several symptoms. Affected girls showed pale faces, extreme weakness, difficulty eating, swollen ankles, and a pronounced apathy.
As JSTOR Daily explained, many physicians of the period associated the disease exclusively with young women who had not married. Thus emerged the popular expression “the sickness of virgins,” reinforcing the idea that a particular marital status had a direct connection with health.
John Graunt, considered a pioneer of statistics in England, analysed the phenomenon in the British capital. In his reports, he used euphemisms to avoid explicit details about a supposed sexual cause, since in that era it was shameful to mention such things.
In that sense, Graunt recorded in his mortality table “Stopping of the Stomach,” but clarified that he was in fact referring to green sickness.
A Symptom of Its Time—and of Literature
For centuries, the illness also held a notable place in popular culture. Shakespeare used the term in Romeo and Juliet and in Henry IV, Part 2 to ridicule or highlight weaknesses. References to a pale, sickly appearance reinforced the idea of a link between physical health and the emotional or social state of adolescents.
According to historian Winfried Schleiner, the sickness became so well known that it turned into a device in political satire, literature, and theatre of the era.
Girls with “green sickness” provoked not only medical concern but also sharp comments and jokes about their personal and social situation. The most widespread description included pale faces and “a trembling heart at the slightest effort.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, the name comes from the Greek chloros, meaning yellow-green, highlighting the pale appearance of those affected. Sixteenth-century physicians such as Johann Lange and Rodrigo a Castro interpreted the illness as being connected to imbalances of the “humours” and attributed its cause to the retention of “bad blood” due to lack of sexual activity or overly narrow blood vessels.
Since recommending marriage for all young women was not possible, they suggested bloodletting or enemas as alternative treatments, especially in the case of women devoted to religious life.
The condition remained tied to femininity for generations. However, some literary works extended the term—mockingly—to men who did not drink alcohol or lacked romantic experience. These uses demonstrated the symbolic and social weight of the diagnosis, far beyond any proven physiological basis.
Helen King, quoted by Schleiner, found that mentions of “green sickness” appeared in medical manuals up until the 1920s. Nonetheless, the diagnosis vanished from the list of recognised diseases during the 20th century. The reasons for its disappearance relate both to changes in social customs and to the medical understanding of the symptoms.
According to various studies, physicians of the time confused manifestations of real anaemias with social and moral notions related to virginity. Modern medicine identifies anaemia as a condition caused by nutritional deficiencies, chronic illnesses, or other factors, without any link to marital status or moral issues.
Some chronicles and satirical verses—such as those referring to the Duke of Monmouth—reinforced the idea that only marriage or sexual relations could “cure” the illness in young women.
This deepened the social stigmatisation of unmarried women or those who did not wish to marry, labelling them as sick because of their status.
Over time, the notion of “green sickness” functioned as a reflection of the prejudices and scientific ignorance surrounding the health of adolescent girls.
Blood smear showing hypochromic (and microcytic) anaemia. Note the increased central pallor of the red blood cells (Wikimedia).
The diagnosis revealed the interaction of cultural, medical, and religious factors in a period in which access to medical knowledge was limited and dominated by beliefs inherited from Antiquity.
Today, there is no evidence whatsoever linking the lack of marriage to haematological diseases. The disappearance of the term “green sickness” and its erasure from contemporary medicine show how diagnoses can be influenced more by social values than by scientific evidence.
According to specialists like Helen King and Winfried Schleiner, the study of “green sickness” makes it possible to understand how society interpreted the symptoms of young women and how science evolved by leaving behind myths and moving toward an understanding based on verifiable data and clinical observation.
Reading Comprehension Activity
Text: Green Sickness: The Strange Condition That Affected Young Women in the 17th Century
A. True or False (Write T or F)
Correct the false statements.
- _F__ “Green sickness” mainly affected adult married women in the 17th century.
- __T_ Girls with the sickness often had pale faces, weakness, and trouble eating.
- _T_ Shakespeare mentioned green sickness in at least two of his plays.
- _T_ Doctors of the time believed green sickness was caused by imbalances in the “humours.”
- __F_ Modern medicine still recognises green sickness as a real disease today.
- _T__ The sickness was commonly linked to young women who were not married.
- _T__ The name “green sickness” comes from a Greek word meaning “yellow-green.”
- _T__ Some doctors suggested marriage as a possible “treatment.”
- _F__ Green sickness was only ever used to describe women, never men.
- _T__ Today we know that the symptoms were actually caused by types of anaemia.
B. Multiple Choice Questions
Choose the best answer.
- In which century was green sickness most commonly reported?
a) 14th century
b) 17th century
c) 19th century
d) 21st century - What was unusual about how people understood the sickness in the 1600s?
a) They believed it was linked to social and moral ideas.
b) They thought it came from dangerous animals.
c) They believed it only affected wealthy families.
d) They thought it was contagious like the plague. - What symptom was not mentioned in the text?
a) Pale skin
b) Swollen ankles
c) Extreme weakness
d) High fever - Why did John Graunt use euphemisms in his reports?
a) He was unsure how to spell the real name.
b) It was shameful at the time to mention sexual causes.
c) He wanted to hide the sickness from the king.
d) He believed the sickness did not truly exist. - Which of these is a reason the term “green sickness” disappeared?
a) It was too long to write in medical books.
b) Medicine began relying more on science than social beliefs.
c) The government banned doctors from using it.
d) People stopped getting sick. - The Greek word chloros refers to:
a) strong heat
b) greenish-yellow colour
c) pain or illness
d) sadness or grief - What treatment did some doctors recommend when marriage was not possible?
a) Drinking herbal tea
b) Bloodletting or enemas
c) Cold baths
d) Long walks outdoors - Literary works used green sickness to:
a) praise the health of teenagers
b) make fun of characters or symbolise weakness
c) promote medical knowledge
d) teach moral lessons to adults - Who extended the term mockingly to certain men?
a) Military officers
b) Poets and playwrights
c) Scientists
d) Doctors - What connection does modern medicine make between green sickness symptoms and real illness?
a) They match symptoms of anaemia.
b) They match symptoms of allergies.
c) They match symptoms of poisoning.
d) They match symptoms of dehydration.
C. Short Answer Questions
Answer in complete sentences.
- What age group was mainly affected by green sickness? adolescent girls and young, unmarried women, typically around the age of puberty (ages 14-15)
- Why did society judge or mock girls with this condition? Society historically judged and mocked girls and women with various conditions primarily due to “hysteria,” a now-defunct “catch-all” medical diagnosis rooted in misogyny and a lack of scientific understanding.
- How did Shakespeare use green sickness in his plays? to refer to a real anemic medical condition thought to affect adolescent women, and metaphorically as a descriptor for intense jealousy and envy.
- What does the text say about how doctors misunderstood the illness?
However, based on general texts and research about diagnostic errors and patient-doctor communication, doctors can misunderstand an illness due to several factors:
D. Critical Thinking Questions
Answer in 3–5 sentences. Use evidence from the text.
- What does green sickness teach us about how society once misunderstood women’s health? demonstrates how historical medicine often framed women’s health conditions not as physiological ailments but as moral or social problems rooted in female biology and social expectations, particularly around sexuality, marriage, and female “fragility”
- Do you think social beliefs still influence how people understand certain illnesses today?
Yes, social beliefs continue to significantly influence how people understand, perceive, and respond to various illnesses in contemporary society
- Why is it important for science to base diagnoses on evidence rather than traditions or prejudices? It is critical for science to base diagnoses on evidence rather than traditions or prejudices to ensure effectiveness, ethics, and patient safety This approach is fundamental to providing reliable healthcare