Mini: Plague, Quarantine, & Shakespeare

In today's episode, we will be exploring how the bubonic plague impacted society and culture in early modern England. We'll discuss governmental and individual responses as well has the effect quarantines had on the early modern theatre and the development of Shakespeare's plays. And we'll learn that, when compared to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic...well, not much has changed. 

Kourtney Smith (KS): Welcome to a Shakespeare Anyone mini-episode! In these mini-episodes, we’ll be exploring topics that are related to Shakespeare but aren’t necessarily connected to whatever play we’ve been discussing. 

Elyse Sharp (ES): And they’re mini, because well, they’re shorter than our other episodes. They’re like quartos if the regular episodes are folio editions.  

KS: In today’s episode, we’ll cover the plague and quarantine during Shakespeare’s time.

ES: If you are like Kourtney and I, you remember that around this time three years ago, we started hearing fervor over the news of a contagion, a sort of plague, sweeping parts of the world. That plague (that we are still plagued by) is called Covid-19. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, people were comparing this new world of disease and quarantine to other periods in history, namely the 1918 flu and the Bubonic plague. However, in early modern and Shakespeare circles, academics, historians and theater-makers remarked how our main man, William Shakespeare, would have experienced something quite similar to our situation today.

KS: That’s because plague was a prevalent force that marked William Shakespeare’s life from his birth to his death. In 1564, the year Shakespeare was born, a quarter of the population of Shakespeare’s hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon, died of the plague. During the 1592-93 London plague, when records first place Shakespeare in London, the city saw at least 15,000 deaths, and at least 5,000 in outside parishes; that’s around 13% of the population. The 1603-04 London plague saw somewhere between 23,000 and 35,000, so around 20% of the population. Even after Shakespeare’s death, plague continued to infect London: in 1625, 40,000 Londoners, or 10 to 15%, died; in 1665, 31,200 Londoners, or 15%, died.  His audience was surrounded by plague. And obviously many died of plague. But, in spite of all of this plague, neither Shakespeare, nor his contemporaries, ever explicitly put the plague on the stage.

ES: As we just mentioned, there were many instances of plague for early modern England. The most common type of infection was the Bubonic plague, which first hit Europe and England in the 14th century. Centuries later, this plague was still around during Shakespeare’s life. It’s been widely accepted that fleas on rats from Asia were the largest spreader of the plague; but modern scientists suggest Tarbagan marmots were a larger cause of the spread. (For more information on the Bubonic Plague in general, check out Last Podcast on the Left’s five-part series called “The Black Death”). Fleas bit infected rats or marmots, and, now infected, those fleas bit and infected people with Yersinia pestis, or Bubonic plague. First indications of plague include a swollen lymph node, called a bubo, that turns purple or black; also a fever, rash and headache. If untreated, or mistreated, the bubos can burst and the victim will die. It was brutal. Without modern medicine, people had to isolate themselves and be lucky, or die.

KS: Let’s say an early modern city is exposed to plague. How would that be handled? While Italian authorities had been using quarantining practices as a response to Bubonic plague starting in 1348, in England, it took the royal government until the 16th century to incorporate quarantine and isolation into its book of orders. Parishes in affected cities were required to use both household quarantine and publicly operated pesthouses, or hospitals for infectious diseases, so they could isolate both the infected and the exposed. Homes with plague victims could be identified first by a pole suspended above a door or window with straw. If a parish-appointed searcher identified a house in which a plague victim had died, the door would be padlocked and the doors would be marked with the words “Lord have mercy on us”, as well as a painted cross or the symbol of the red cross. Families were quarantined for roughly a month. Sometimes the exposed could evacuate and quarantine elsewhere, but generally that was not the case.

ES: A second quarantine option was inside a parish pesthouse. Documents regarding the architectural specifications for pesthouses in 1665 mandated that two buildings be constructed: one for the sick, and one for the healthy but exposed. A master or mistress oversaw these two buildings and employed nurses and watchmen. One key feature to the structure was large windows to facilitate air flow. During those plague centuries, many physicians, healers and patients thought the disease was airborne, so this architectural feature was vital. Gates were locked to prevent escape. Some parishes, like St. Martin, built pestfields, which were fenced-in supervised areas with separate housing units for households or small families. Theoretically, these houses were surrounded by natural spaces so the ailing could enjoy fresh air and exercise. However, that element doesn’t appear to be as common (or possible) in a city like London.

KS: And the plague also affected the newly ascended King James I. In July of 1603, the parade that would normally have accompanied the coronation was canceled; and by July 30, James declared a state of emergency and issued National Plague Orders. In fact, this was one of King James I’s first orders as king. He ordered that: organizing committees are to meet in safe places, people must be appointed to count the affected and the dead and conduct the burials, and local taxes are to be levied to cover the costs. While at the same time James was placing orders in London on how to stop the spread of the disease, he chose to escape the dangers of London for Hampton Court.

ES: Which is hypocritical of James because, by that time, the royal government understood to some degree how the plague spread and was worried about people running away from the plague. But quite often if you were an aristocrat, a priest or a physician with a second residency, you could try to retreat to somewhere other than London to avoid the plague. (which sounds eerily familiar…) Early modern people were rightly afraid that people would run away and then spread the infection elsewhere; therefore governments and states jumped in to enforce quarantine, confinement and restrictions on movement.

KS: In addition to quarantine orders, the royal government also provided early modern Londoners some health advice.If you’ve heard “Ring around the Rosy”, the medieval folk rhyme, it’s basically that same concept. In a world filled with plague, how can we protect ourselves before and after infection. Here are some of the Order’s tips: “For the Poor take Aloes the weight of sixpence, put in the pappe of an ApplES: and for the richer Pilles of Rufus to be had in every good Apothecaries shop. After letting of blood and purging (as shall be needful) some of the forenamed Cordials are to be used.” Others tell you how to brew up rosemary and jumper, figs, sorrel, cinnamon and saffron. And, similar to big pharma in America, you might not be surprised to learn that the manufacturer of the Pills of Rufus had been lobbying the king.

ES: In addition to the royal government’s health advice, merchants marketed and sold homemade remedies and cures for plague. For example, tobacconists made an absolute killing during the plague. According to Hazel Forsyth from the Museum of London, “the tobacconist realizing that some people could create a sort of haze of smoke around them profited by suggesting that people might have perfumed tobacco which they could buy expressly to protect them against plague. And there were extraordinary recipes for plague protection in the form of treacle and gunpowder which was supposed to provoke a sweat.” Tobacconists, herbalists, and other healers, much like physicians, recommended treatment based on clearing and healing any bad air.

KS: And in order to control the spread of infectious disease, the royal government enacted crowd control and banned mass gatherings, playhouses included. The one place that was never closed during a plague was the church because it was believed to be impossible to become infected during the act of worship. So, unless it was known or obvious that you were infected, all could still attend places of worship. But these plague closures affected entertainment and public life for the working and lower classes. The 1603 outbreak, for example, was first spotted in Southwark, the district where theatres, bear-baiting pits, and cockpits were popular entertainment. During the multiple plague epidemics of the 16th and 17th centuries, theatres were constantly experiencing plague closures. It’s said that closures shut down the traffic of cities so much so that, apparently, even the busiest streets were left bare enough to grow weeds and grass.

ES: But let’s be real, not everyone in early modern England wanted to follow plague regulations, and some felt they didn’t have to. Socioeconomics impacted people’s reactions to plague regulations, as is seen in court records. People charged in the Westminster Sessions (also known as Westminster Guildhall) can be divided into two categories: those who neglected their duty, and those who refused to follow orders. Sound familiar? In 1636, Friswide Williams and Edith Flatsoe, two searchers from St. Martin Parish, were bribed to lie about the cause of a servant’s death for a wealthy household. When the searchers arrived, they nailed the dead servant’s body into a coffin because they had died of pestilence, or plague. Before they left the house, another servant entered and delivered them 10 shillings to report the servant’s death “only of a surfeit”, so that the house would not have to quarantine. Dr. Kira L. Newman suggests that this incident displays an imbalancES: a wealthy household can afford to bribe searchers and watchmen to hide plague deaths in order to avoid quarantine, which a poor household could not afford to do.

KS: Not all of the plague regulation offenders were aristocrats or from the upper echelon.  Those who weren’t bribing searchers and watchers instead refused to pay the additional tax for the relief of visited houses or chose to break quarantine. That demographic tended to be the middling demographic: coachmakers, grocers, fishmongers, tailors and innkeepers were often charged. Dr. Newman suggests that this class of offender was a result of the inconvenience and economic suffering placed upon households under plague regulations. Simply, these tradesmen couldn’t make a living. If a tradesman sold perishable goods, quarantine took a double toll. While public health was important for slowing or stopping the spread of plague in communities, the royal government didn’t provide assistance, except to those who already received charity services.

ES: And sometimes refusal got physical. In 1637 there was a case of violent rebellion against quarantine. Jeremy Wright and Kellaway Guidott, two gentlemen of St. Clements Danes, were charged after Wright assaulted a constable and the constable’s assistant when they went to shut up Wright and Guidott’s houses. As two gentlemen, they would have been financially secure enough to quarantine for a few weeks. They also would have had access to other living quarters to wait out the quarantine. In this particular instance, Dr. Newman posits that the two gentlemen were upset with their forced social isolation, rather than the previous example’s financial motivation.

KS: And this reactionary attitude to quarantine was articulated in some popular narratives because, to them, quarantine was critiqued as a punishment. Quarantining was painted as an inversion of traditional values of charity and community. According to the book of orders, government-hired plague officials were the only individuals allowed to enter and exit infected houses, which upset some who wanted direct contact with the object’s of their good will. Also, when someone was identified as infected or exposed but didn’t want to cooperate, the forceful application of quarantine also led some to view quarantine as punishment. If individuals or families refused to quarantine or relocate, the Justice of the Peace’s bearers were expected to force them out.

ES: Another narrative against plague regulations was that if plague was an act of God, then government intervention was useless, if not outright harmful because it attempted to take plague control out of the hands of God. A lot of warped attitudes towards plague regulations could be due to the civic authorities and physician’s inability to understand the cause of a plague. The 1593 plague was blamed on the position of Saturn in the night sky. Travelers were also viewed as the cause of the spread of plague, which caused ships to be held at anchor and travelers on foot to be held in quarantine before entering the city. In 1577, a preacher, T. White, even blamed theatre and plays, a “sin”, as the cause of plague. These are just a few examples.

KS: While most of what we know about plague and quarantine comes from official documents, medical texts, plague pamphlets and sermons, there are some surviving first-hand accounts like letters, diary entries and poems that shed a light on personal experiences during a plague. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to examine those.

ES: But clearly plague was a reality for early modern people, including Shakespeare. While we don’t have any first-hand accounts from Shakespeare himself, plague shows up in his plays. Many references to plague are metaphorical expressions of rage or disgust. In Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio calls down a plague on both your houses.

KS: Lear tells his daughter Goneril “Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, or embossed carbuncle/ In my corrupted blood.”

ES: Timon of Athens offers his visitor: “Be as a planetary plague, when Jove/ Will o’er some high-viced city hang his poison/ In the sick air.”

KS: And Coriolanus spits at the plebians, “All the contagion of the south light on you/ You shames of Rome, you herd of–Boils and plagues/ Plaster you o’er, that you may be abhorred/ Farther than seen, and one infect another/ Against the wind a mile!”

ES: Plague appears throughout Shakespeare’s works in the form of everyday exclamations: A plague upon it when thieves cannot be true to one another

KS: A plague of sighing and grief!

ES: A plague of these pickle-herring!

KS: Comically, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing mocks what it is to be befriended by Benedick: “O Lord! He will hang upon him like a disease. He is sooner caught than the pestilence, and the taker runs presently mad. God help the noble Claudio. If he have caught the Benedick it will cost him a thousand pound ere ‘a be cured.” Benedick is that one guy who, metaphorically speaking, is like the plague: nearly impossible to get rid of.

ES: Olivia in Twelfth Night marvels at the speed at which she has fallen in love: “Even so quickly may one catch the plague?/ Methinks I feel this youth’s perfections/ With an invisible and subtle stealth/ To creep in at mine eyes. Well, let it be.” Shakespeare uses a plague metaphor to show Olivia’s acceptance of her lovesickness.

KS: Romeo and Juliet contains Shakespeare’s only usage of the plague as an off-stage event. Friar Lawrence asks another friar to deliver a message to the exiled Romeo in order to loop him into Juliet’s faking-her-death plan. Unfortunately for the star-cross’d lovers, this messenger was exposed to a disease and forced into quarantine. The crucial letter never makes it to Romeo and the metaphorical plague on both the Montagues and Capulets is ramped up by the social disruption of a literal plague.

ES: Even though Shakespeare mostly only references the plague, his audiences, gripped with memories of plague, must have understood the undertones of these lines. In 1603, the plague forced Shakespeare's company to temporarily close their doors and head to the provinces on tour. While we don’t know what plays were performed where, they would have presented well-tried and profitable favorites such as Romeo and Juliet. If this is the case, BBC’s Shakespeare’s Restless World wonders how would the 1603 audiences have reacted to Mercutio’s dying curse, a plague on both your houses.

KS: And that’s the plague and Shakespeare!

ES: Please continue the efforts of community care: remember to continue wearing masks, especially indoors and when you notice other masked individuals; social distance; isolate after you attend gatherings; test; stay boosted; and keep each other safe. And thank you for listening to this episode.

Quote of the Episode:

KS: From Othello, act two, scene one, spoken by Iago, “The Lieutenant tonight watches on the court-of-guard:--first, I must tell thee this: Desdemona is directly in love with him.”

Shakespeare Anyone? is created and produced by Kourtney Smith and Elyse Sharp.

Music is "Neverending Minute" by Sounds Like Sander.

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Works referenced:

Folger Shakespeare. Living through the plague – excerpt: 'death by Shakespeare' by Kathryn Harkup. Shakespeare & Beyond, 5 May 2020, https://shakespeareandbeyond.folger.edu/2020/05/05/plague-death-by-shakespeare-kathryn-harkup-excerpt. Accessed 24 Jan 2023.

Greenblatt, Stephen. What Shakespeare actually wrote about the plague. The New Yorker, https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-shakespeare-actually-wrote-about-the-plague. Accessed 24 Jan, 2023.

Kobrak, Paul. Shakespeare’s Restless World, performance by Neil MacGregor, et al., episode 17, BBC, 8 May 2012. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.

Newman, Kira L. S. “Shutt Up: Bubonic Plague and Quarantine in Early Modern England.” Journal of Social History, vol. 45, no. 3, 2012, pp. 809–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41678910. Accessed 24 Jan. 2023.

Shapiro, James. Ch. 14 Plague. In The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606. essay, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2016, pp. 549-596.