8-5Plague



The Plagues //Answer Prepared by Nathan F.// Shakespeare lived during the time of the Bubonic Plague; he had a great fear of it. Many people in England were getting infected with it, and most died, in about 8 days. In fact some of Shakespeare’s brothers and sisters and even one of his children were infected and killed by the Bubonic Plague.

Since the Bubonic Plague was a type of Pneumonic Plague and was in the air, there really was nowhere to run from it. It wasn’t just widespread in big cities like London, but also in small villages and towns. If you were unlucky enough to be infected with the plague, you would be locked into your house, all doors and windows would be boarded shut; and no one would be allowed to leave or enter. Having this happen to you would be just like signing a death warrant and even if you did recover from the plague, you would have to get a “Certificate of Health” to prove that you were no longer infected.

Many people were recruited to work as “Watchmen” or “Death Cart Laborers”. Watchmen were instructed to watch the houses of the infected and lower down baskets of food and other supplies to them every day. Death Cart Laborers would take the dead from their houses and the streets and load them into a cart, wrap them up and take them to the many “Plague Pits” which were 20 feet deep. Their widths varying with the number of deaths, and how many needed to be fit into the pits. Often, old pits would have to be dug up because the number of deceased grew so great they needed to get more pits to “bury” them in.

There were many outbreaks of the Bubonic Plague during the Elizabethan era. Most of the outbreaks were caused by fleas that would be on different mammals. One of the greatest dangers was the rats. The plague could also be transmitted by an infected person’s breath or through the air. Poor hygiene was a large problem and only helped the plague spread more quickly.

The Bubonic Plague claimed around one third of the Elizabethan London population. As many as 2,000 people could die in just one week from the plague. Queen Elizabeth lived in great fear of the plague, and was moved to Windsor Castle, and ordered that if anyone from London came, they were to be hanged. Due to the plague the Globe Theatre was actually closed, which meant that no Elizabethan actors, theatre companies or play writers would receive their pay, including Shakespeare.

Many symptoms that pointed toward the Bubonic Plague were Bubo’s or sores, which would appear on your legs, armpits, and groin. Victims would also have a fever, delirium, nausea, and the desire to sleep. The only way to really keep the epidemic from spreading was quarantine, which was hard, because of the poor hygiene. In the Elizabethan era the bubonic plague definitely was the most deadly and the most dangerous. There were two other plagues that happened in the Elizabethan era. The second most common plague was the Pneumonic Plague; it wasn’t nearly as deadly as the Bubonic Plague was. The symptoms included a fever, cough, and a bloody esophagus, which was caused by the coughing. The least common plague during this era was the Septicemic Plague which almost all the victims would survive. The symptoms seen were a fever, and purple patches on the skin.

These plagues (mostly the Bubonic) all struck fear into people living during the Elizabethan era. It would often cause riots, and of course resulted in a huge drop in population. These plagues probably had one of the largest effects on England in the smallest amount of time.

__ Works Cited __ "The Black Death Bubonic Plague during the Elizabethan Era ." //William Shakespeare Info//. 2005. William Shakespeare Info. 14 Apr 2009 . Cantor, Norman. //In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made//. 1st. Harper Collins Publishing, 2002. Print. Defoe, Daniel. //A Journal of the Plague Year//. 1st. Dover Publications, 2001. Print. "Elizabethan Medicine and Illnesses." //Elizabethan Era//. ??/??/??. [|http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-medicine-and-illnesses.htm. 14 Apr 2009]

Lynette, Racheal. //Bubonic Plague//. 1st. Cengage Gale, 2004. Print.