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How Did Black Death Change American Culture

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The Black Plague struck Europe in the 14th century and spread rapidly, destroying families and towns (“Black Death”). To become infected, it only took some contaminated bodily fluid and the infected would die within a few short days. In today’s world, the Plague is easily treatable with common antibiotics. However, that was not the case back then and this changed people’s lives and outlooks on society. Different groups of people within a culture responded to death in different ways, that culture’s writing reflects this. During this time, folk ballads were sung and instead of dwelling upon the ubiquitous death, they were meant to portray death in a disconnected way. This was a very different approach than other writers. Throughout medieval literature, …show more content…

In the story, the husband defends his wife when she is about to get kissed by a robber. The wife exclaims, “Goodman, you’ve spoken the foremost word; Get up and bar the door” (“Get Up and Bar the Door”). The wife does not care that her husband defended her, only that he lost the contest and has to bar the door. The wife is detached in this situation because they have death come right through their door, the robbers. They could die any second from the threat of the robbers, but this does not faze the wife. Death does not scare them and they do not connect with the reality of matter. During the time this was sung and later written down, the Plague was everywhere. Similarly to “Twa Corbies,” death is just an action to which people are used to it. The Black Plague changed the lives of so many people not through just physical ailments, but also through mental ailments. The society at the time was mentally distraught and one of the ways they coped was to isolate themselves from their situation and death. This is demonstrated through folk ballads that are comedic and present a disconnected presentation through the elimination of concern for death. The Black Plague hindered the true expression of feelings in Medieval literature and society while resorting to detachment at their only way to

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