Camus' The Plague Essay

The overall response to the plague was pure panic, no matter the religion or social status, The Black Death struck fear into the eyes of everyone. In the occurrence of The Black Death, faith was tested and religion was the source of hope for many. Populations responded to the plague by prioritizing what they believe or turning away from their religion. Nobody during this time period was prepared for a life changing pandemic of this power. To this day, it is almost impossible to prepare for an event like The Black Death. The plague not only shown us the reliance we have on others but it also opened our eyes to the many differences we

Beginning in the mid-fourteenth century, a plague swept the world like no other. It struck in a series of waves that continued into the eighteenth century. The first wave was estimated to have killed twenty-five million people, about a third of the Western Europe population at that time. Throughout the different outbreaks, the plague, also known as the Bubonic Plague or the Black Death, caused people to react in several ways. Some people believed the plague was a medical problem that can be treated, some found themselves concerned only with their own greed, still others believed there was nothing they could do and reacted in fear, and most people believed it was a form of divine

The Plague or ¨Black Death¨ was a virus that spread across Europe killing about 60% of the population. The plague's origin was at the time unknown and this brought about many questions. At this time, people did not have basic necessities such as proper hygiene and medicine. Therefore there was fear, superstitions as well as conspiracy, and there were also some who realized that they could gain from the deaths of those around them.

The people of the town would throw food at you if they saw you in town and you were ill with the Plague. No one in the towns wanted the Plague so they thought if they killed the people that had it; the dieses would eventually go away. Some people would steal the cloths off the dead people and sell it just to make a little money, even if thought that would help spread the Black Plague.

The Black Death is one of the worst disease in ancient history. It was an epidemic that killed millions of people between 1349-1351.Many people suffered from lack of care and lack of remedy, also it became difficult to find a medical person to diagnose such a horrible disease. Boccaccio, Tura and Venette describe the physical and social effect of Europe when the Plague had begun. In this selection, they describe how people respond and changed their behaviors .People were so scared from Plague therefore, some of them searched isolated place to abode .Another type of people would enjoyed the life with drinking ,singing, dancing, and telling jokes with each other and tried to forget the horrible disease. Other types of people believed to run away from effected place and they abandon all their family and belongings. Plague killed a lot of people and it effected on Europe’s population.

The bubonic plague, which occurred in the mid-1400s, was an pandemic that killed many, having both positive and negative effects on society during that time. The positives included the setting up of public health offices and greater resources for the survivors of the plague. Cities were not equipped to handle an outbreak like this, but after the government learned, “many areas established public hospitals and permanent boards to help protect public health” (Byrne). Along with these important health institutions being set up in European cities, due to the fact that Europe was overpopulated then, and that the plague helped to decrease the population size, the survivors also benefitted because they were given more resources and jobs and a lower living cost. Despite the fact that the plague helped the citizens in some ways, it still killed approximately one-third of

The black plague swept through Asia through Europe and eventually to china when they was going through a trade route and followed them. It was a life changing experience and killed one third of the people and the cause of the plague was unknown .Families was forced to abandon their family and whoever else was sick. European countries was looking toward Italians who caused the plague. The cities in the streets had lack of sewer systems. Houses were close together wasn't as clean which didn't make things better. The fear only increased when the plague was happening when more people got sick.

But, this is only what people believed. Let’s start with the neglect topic. Well, doctors refused to see patients; priests refused to administer last rites; and shopkeepers closed their stores. The disease affected cows, goats, sheep, chicken, and pigs as well as people. People desperate to save themselves abandoned their sick and dying loved ones. People believed that the Black Death was a kind divine punishment for sins such as greed, heresy, and worldliness. By this knowledge, the only way to overcome the plague was to win God’s forgiveness. They believed the way to do this was to purge the communities of troublemakers, so many Jews were killed in 1348 and 1349. Upper - class men joined the flagellants. They would beat themselves and one another with heavy leather straps while the townspeople watched. They did this for 33.5 days three times a day. The flagellant movement did provide some comfort to people who felt powerless but, began to worry the

The Black Plague changed everything about life in the European world. Politics were affected23 by the plague. Politicians were not showing up to important things and some were passing away. This made politics a very hard thing to handle during this thime. The economy was in a tough situation. Inflation was out of hand and taxes weren’t being paid. This made the economy crash. The plague caused cultural reprocussions24. Society was losing its traditions and moral values. The plague casted a shadow over the beliefs of the European people. They couldn’t communicate and live the ways they used to because they were so secluded from one another. The communication between other had almost vanished at this point in time. Once again, the art began to be dark and gloomy26 to represent the struggle everyone was facing. Skeletons filled the canvas of painting to express the everyday deaths of hundreds of people. The church had lost most of its believers27. Everyone blamed the church for the death and pain. There was no reason to go to church because they could nothing to help. Through these things, European people were shaken and

More than 20 million people has died becauase of the plague. People back then didn’t know what was going on and when they started to figure out what was going on, it was too late for them to do anything. Men, women, and children were panicking, became devastated. They did not understand the concept of the disease so they thought it was God's punishment. Some people would beat themselves or one another with a heavy leather strap stud with sharp pieces of metal, because they believed by removing the punishment they must have gotten lashes.

Psychologically, people who survived were numbed by shock. Every man had to be selfish in his actions. In the words of de Chauliac, “Father did not visit his son, nor the son his father. Charity was dead and hope was crushed” (Marks 99-100). Those who were not yet afflicted by the Black Death took refuge in groups. Some even went as far as to secluding themselves from all but the members of their group. Alternatively, others lived their lives to the fullest extent in various ways (100). Contrary to those groups, some even took flight and migrated elsewhere

The fear of disease caused the people to have erratic and emotional feelings. They blamed people and things that had no piece in the cause of the plague. People who were blamed for the plague would publicly kill or beat themselves because they believed what people would say.(Historic World Events) Knowing what we do now we know, in reality, people brought the spread upon themselves. The disease itself would infect airborne objects like fleas. The fleas would bite people and other animals continuing the spread of the disease. Rats were another big issue for people. The rats would get bitten by the fleas and then move to the farms and boat areas and bite people. The rats would also be in the markets and then the food the people would eat would have the disease in the area where it originated (Hoyle). Ships crews would all die out at sea, then float to shore. According to Jacob von Königshofen, that’s the way it would get across the seas and oceans to certain islands and port cities. Lastly, and the most disgusting thing that caused the spread of the plague, was the unhealthiness of the people. They would dump their bodily fluids in the streets causing an unhealthy environment. Also, there were so many deaths that they would just leave the dead bodies lying around until they could get a proper burial day. These practices accelerated the exposure of millions. (Historic world

In The Decameron by Boccaccio, the quote, “One citizen avoided another, hardly any neighbor troubled about others, relatives never or hardly ever visited each other. Moreover, such terror was struck into the hearts of men and women by this calamity, that brother abandoned brother, and the uncle his nephew, and the sister her brother, and very often the wife her husband. What is even worse and nearly incredible is that fathers and mothers refused to see and tend their children, as if they had not been theirs.” states how the people would avoid the sick for their own safety. If someone had the plague, they would be ostracized and be left to their own devices, even if they were deathly sick. The fear of death was so strong that even parents would abandon their children, and children would abandon their parents, just for the hope that they wouldn’t get sick. Also, In the quote “In this suffering and misery of our city, the authority of human and divine laws almost disappeared, for, like other men, the ministers and the executors of the laws were all dead or sick or shut up with their families, so that no duties were carried out. Every man was therefore able to do as he pleased.” shows how so many people died, that the ones who lived would be able to disobey the law. People would go into others homes uninvited and stay there for the night and take items from the

Living in Europe in the middle of the 1300’s would have been heartbreaking and dreadful. Not only were the living conditions very poor but there was an unknown disease that was wiping out a large percentage of European population. One cannot imagine the fear of wondering whether you or someone you loved was going to catch this deadly disease. No explanation would make a person feel safe from catching it or dying with it. The people of Europe just lived their lives as best they could realizing that nothing they do could ever stop this. They did not have the power to stop this it was far too beyond them. This unknown disease is known as the Bubonic Plague.

Love can be a person’s greatest gift or curse that will bring them to their demise. It infects their mind, controls their actions and consumes their thoughts with the singular obsession of being around their love. In the love stories, Tristan and Isolde and Lancelot and Guinevere, the characters face problems of the soul, and that bring about monumental repercussions to everyone around them.