The Bubonic Plague: A Literary Analysis

The Black Plague, a disease many would agree was both one of the most devastating and poignant events to occur in European History. A time of persecution and suffering, many had to endure the effects that the Black Plague brought with it. Amidst the consequences suffered by those carrying the disease, came the ramifications that those who were not directly affected experienced. A few ramifications were self-evident, such as trade, others were concealed within the fear that the population had lost so much already, they could no longer afford to lose anything else, whether that be dignity or pride. The plague caused many to question their religious outlook, the lack of knowledge caused false cures to develop and affected the interactions throughout Europe.

The effect of living during the time of the plague would mentally scar a person. They would be mentally scared and paranoid of becoming sick, while physically they would try everything to not get sick. People would probably get sick from paranoia and they would be convinced they could die soon. Knowing that they might die soon, they would try to live life day to day, and might do dangerous things knowing that they could die soon.

1. The Great Famine was when it caused millions of deaths due to severe weather. Storms brought rain which ruined the wheat, crops, oat which people and animals almost everywhere depended to live. It’s impact on the medieval society was that more people were getting diesease as they wouldn't take in a lot of calories especially for the young kids, and the elderly. Working people, not eating much had less energy which meant lower productivity, output and higher grain prices since the amount was decreasing.

During the mid-fourteenth century, a plague hit Europe. Initially spreading through rats and subsequently fleas, it killed at least one-third of the population of Europe and continued intermittently until the 18th century. There was no known cure at the time, and the bacteria spread very quickly and would kill an infected person within two days, which led to structural public policies, religious, and medical changes in Europe. The plague had an enormous social effect, killing much of the population and encouraging new health reforms, it also had religious effects by attracting the attention of the Catholic Church, and lastly, it affected the trade around Europe, limiting the transportation of goods. As a response to the plague that took place

1.)The Black Plague has struck. It is a curse from God for all of us sinners. We must have done something awful to deserve something so horrible. The Black Plague is a sickness that kills you only a few days after you get it.

Which, was not an uncommon number of deaths for that time period, due to the medical treatment and preventative drugs that where available. What is uncommon is this plague is it affected young men and not just the old or children. There are many different speculations as to what disease the Plague actually was, especially within the last century. Although, none have been proven yet. With the difference of opinion on the

The medical advancement of the time were simply underwhelming and almost nonexistent when it came to the plague. Having large visible symptoms the plague seemed to send a message to its occupant that there was a short time left. Large swellings or bulbous showed up in the groin and armpits about the size of a softball and eventually spread to other parts of the body. The appearance of these

A modern day event that can be compared to the plague is Ebola. The Bubonic Plague led to an advancement in medicine and other health related practices. The outbreak of the plague caused sewer systems

This passage of Ioannes Cautacuzenos’ Historarum begins with the knowledge that the Black Plague was an equal-opportunity disease. He takes care to mention the death of an empress’ son, noting, “Strong and weak bodies we all similarly carried away, and those best cared for dies in the same manner as the poor”. Bewildered by the seeming randomness of the Plague, (“Even many who were seized by all the symptoms unexpectedly recovered. There was no help from anywhere; if someone brought to another a remedy useful to himself, this became poison to the other patient”) Cautacuzenos’ attempted explanation defaults to the supernatural and spiritual.

The was the start of the plague of London. How this illness came about is surrounded by rumors and there is no way to say where it began for sure or how it spreads. The plague brought London, great suffering, faith in humanity, and an increase authority. This disease starts out with swellings on the victims body. They would grow large and hard, too hard for a person to burst.

The Christians thought the Lord was punishing them with the disease, and that when the Lord was enraged to embrace in acts of penance, so that you do not stray from the right path and parish. The Christians pray to their Lord and ask what they should do? A great number of saintly sisters of the Hotel Dieu, who did not fear to die, nursed the sick in all sweetness and humility, with no thought of honor, a number too often renewed by death, rest in peace with Christ, as we may piously believe. People began to think the Jews were guilty for the disease. The Muslims looked at praying for the disease to go away in disgust, because they believe the plague is a blessing from God.

According to Ole J. Benedictow “Inevitably [the Black Plague] had an enormous impact on European society and greatly affected the dynamics of change and development from the medieval to Early Modern period. A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history.” It was one of the most devastating diseases in history

“We must become the change we wish to see in the world.”. Mahatma Ghandi In the story, The Eleventh Plague Stephen has to live through a dystopia where China nuked America and people are dying from a strand of super flu that China created. In my companion book first you will go inside a plane and find a can of pears, then you will travel into the world of flashbacks, after that you will find out how Stephen being alone is so important to the book, find out what happens when Nukes are mixed with the flu and finally, you will find out how the story should have ended. 3

In my essay I will be discussing the link between the different ways of reading “The Plague” (by Albert Camus, published in 1947) (Google Books, 2014). There is of course the literal story of a plague, then there is the metaphorical meaning of the Nazi Occupation, and when you look deeper into the book, you find that all of this is based around not just the Nazi occupation but a “darkness” - which symbolises pure evil. This evil is not literally the devil, but a more complicated way of referring to Existentialism (Miclaus, 2014). There is an order of reading this book and by analysing it, we come to an understanding with how the three themes come together into a bigger picture.

Hence, begins The Birth of the Clinic: An archaeology of medical perception by Michel Foucault. In this book, Foucault talks about the understanding of life, death and disease in modern times. He says that it is not just a biology and cannot be understood from only biological perspective, but also economics, geography, politics