Customer Reviews

Plague Pamphlets (BCL1-PR English Literature)

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Dekker wrote of an earlier plague (1603),than did Defoe, but this account differs in aspects other than period. It starts out as a lighthearted account, portraying a golden age, a utopian state, before the death of Elizabeth I . Life in London, from the period of the Spanish Armada to the present (thebeginning of 1603), is described in paradisical terms, with bounteous harvests, perfect government, citizens living in perfect harmony with one another, etc. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's subsequent ill-timed death and James' ascension have an unfortunate effect on English destiny, though the poet does try to convey some entirely hollow-sounding optimism that all will be well under James I.

This is all told in an easily-detected, subversive, comic voice, and one has to wonder how the author was not placed upon the rack for such an abrasive, abusive attack upon the monarchy (the author's identity must have been much more cleverly concealed than Shakespeare's, if you buy into that one). The tone of this piece, however, shifts entirely, about half way through, as Dekker enters into a description of the 1603 plague.

What had been, up to this point, an excercise in ribaldry and lighthearted political attack, turns suddenly into a heartfelt, utterly realistic description of the effect of the plague on his fellow countrymen. In many ways it is even more graphic, and at heart, poetic, than Defoe's deservedly celebrated account that will come about 50 years later. Defoe gives more detail, yet Dekker furnishes a more graphic and visceral impression of the horror the plague represents. He conveys a more complete mental image, entirely too graphic at times. In all honesty, should you want your thoughts to turn to the subject of your own mortality, by all means turn to this text.