Samuel Pepy's 'The Great Plague'

Superior Essays
Seldom does one pick up a literary book expecting to discover history. Typically one envisions a literary work to move the soul, or facilitate a grand adventure of the mind. Odder yet would be a student of history delving into a historical document in anticipation of a soul search. However, thanks to Samuel Pepys we have an un-edited, un-filtered first hand account of what it was like to be in the midst of some of the most momentous events in English history. Pepys bore witness to and recorded the second Anglo-Dutch war, the Great Fire of London, and what the Restoration or even the Great Plague was like experience. And while these events can be found in history books, Samuel Pepys’ diary brings something to the table that a group of …show more content…
And this time it didn’t just affect the poor and downtrodden. The scale of this outbreak affected neighbors and communities Samuel Pepys was directly involved with. This outbreak was hitting close to home, and Pepys was concerned. “This day I am told that Dr. Burnett, my physician, is this morning dead of the plague” (Pepys August 25 1665). Pepys would write about entire streets being closed off, and how people he knew would fall to the sickness. Overall 68+ thousand lives were lost during the “Great Plague” as it was called, and Samuel Pepys shares what it was like to live through it. He shared what it was like to watch in horror as an unseen foe struck down indiscriminately. He watched this all happen as his country was losing a war with the Dutch. With the uncertainty of not only his family, but also his country, this citizen hero bravely fought on. And thank goodness, he survived the plague to save …show more content…
His diary spans the Restoration period, a war, the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, and what life was like 350 years ago. Samuel Pepys gives students of his diary a raw, un-edited view into the life on an 17th century Londoner in every aspect of his life with his superbly detailed accounts. Surprisingly, one discovers that 350 years ago, even though conditions were drastically different; human nature is easily related to across the centuries. Compassion, sorrow, and happiness in the little things are still the same. And that is the real magic of Samuel Pepys diary; it is the ease at which readers can instantly relate to the emotions and situations Samuel was witness to. This ease permits the experience of living the historical adventures of a citizen hero who battled his fears and overcome some frightening times and find pleasure in the joys of survival. And while Samuel Pepys never intended for his diary to ever be read, it sure is refreshing to read about how the average person handled the events of that

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Black Death Facts

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This great upsurge in bereavements brought many changes through the period 1348 to 1350. Aside from the social and economic calamity that was brought about by the plague, the biological aspects are equally frightening. ("41 Interesting Facts...")…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Plague DBQ

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Due to Versoris we are allowed to see how much fear the plague caused that people left behind their humanly ways of love and caring for others. This extreme amounts of fear are shown greatly through the eyes of Wallington, a puritan in 1625, who began asking himself, “who’s next?”(Doc 8). He feared for him and his…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Intro - There are many ways the Black Plague affected Europe. Dead body’s stacking up outside your home was normal. I will tell you about the horrifying things the Black Death did to people, and how the plague got to Europe. Then I will tell you about some of the insane ways they tried to treat the Black Death. How did this misery end?…

    • 476 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Guerre Book Report

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davis is a historical tale about sixteenth century identity fraud and the authors who wrote about the Martin Guerre trial. As a historian, Davis uses several forms of writing as her resources including “letter and diaries, autobiographies, memoirs, family histories…plays, lyric poems, and stories.” Davis realizes that these types of resources come with over-exaggerations, gaps, and contradicting perspectives, subsequently she supplements these with the use of her knowledge of the French government, geography, business practices and the legal system of the sixteenth century.…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Under the guise of sarcasm and an erratic and fantastical plot, Voltaire’s Candide examines human nature and the human condition in the context of an 18th century France. This is done so not only through the derision of philosophical positions such as Optimism and Pessimism, but also of the religious intolerance of that day. It may seem at first that Voltaire views humanity in a dismal light and merely locates its deficiencies, but in fact he also reveals attributes of redemption in it, and thus his view of human nature is altogether much more balanced and multi-faceted. The world in which Voltaire lived was marked by two diurnal events of significance in the backdrop: firstly that of the gradual decay of the ancien régime, the term given to…

    • 1608 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On The Black Plague

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the 14th century, around 75 to 200 million people died because of the disease known as the Black Plague. These numbers show that around a third of Europe’s population was completely wiped out. Many terrible changes occurred including the rich and the poor going against each other, blaming one another for causing this horrific disease. The Black Plague was the worst epidemic that has ever been recorded in the world’s history because of the disease’s ability to spread rapidly, the terrible process of infection, and as well as the long term effects that it had on Europe.…

    • 1209 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Ultimate Sacrifice Death and loss are the ultimate sacrifice. When reading a novel like A Tale of Two Cities, a lot of characters have to sacrifice things for the people they love unwillingly. Many characters in the novel have had troubling pasts that lead them to conflict which will ultimately end in a sacrifice. Charles Darnay, an impacting character, is related to the aristocracy, as learned when the reader finds out his real last name is Evremonde. Charles Darnay being related to the aristocracy is one of the main sources of conflict that leads to the ultimate sacrifice of death and loss for many characters.…

    • 1126 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    But one of the more interesting was how the plague had a great influences the Religion, Society/Workforce and Economy of England. During the plague religion was impacted greatly. With so many dying so quickly, many would die without…

    • 1043 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What brought most fear amongst the people who suffered through the black death was the mortality rate. This plague spread across the eastern hemisphere like a wildfire, taking out every being that crossed its path. Due to the disease being able to enter the body through both the bloodstream and respiration, the infected population nearly doubled by the minute. As described in a Welsh Lament, the plague was "death…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Bubonic Plague was arguably the most devastating epidemic of the mid-fourteenth century, sweeping across Europe and wiping out one-third of the population. This epidemic was detrimental to schools, businesses, and families all across Europe. This also transformed into a time when God became ever present in the lives of those struck with fear of this mysterious, pestilent affliction. Surprisingly enough, even though the majority of people had procured this spiritual-mindedness, there were still some who would go to great lengths to protect themselves. Schools’ attendance was greatly affected by the Black Plague.…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (James) All these casualties caused a shift in the social scale and workforce. Overall, the bubonic plague had a major effect on Europe’s…

    • 3323 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Moliere 's Tartuffe, and Voltaire 's Candide are each praiseworthy abstract works of the eighteenth century in their own particular rights. Fraud is a sarcastic drama, and Candide a provocative travelog. While each sticks somberly to its type, different similitudes and also differentiating contrasts can be followed among the previously mentioned works. Composed amid the Age of Enlightenment, each of these works mirrors the belief system of the period and subsequently, has different likenesses. Firstly, each of these works commends reason over religion and the hypothesis that man is in charge of his own behavior.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Furthermore, Candide serves as a source of historical information in this class. I feel this book portrays one person’s view of historical content relevant to the period of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution. Even more, since Voltaire was born and lived during this period, I feel he could have used some of his personal experiences in this book. He could have incorporated what he saw and based some of the characters from the people he knew. I feel like this is a good source of historical information because it has allowed me to experience history in a new way.…

    • 193 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The existence of the plague as a whole still continues to boggle the minds of researchers everywhere. It still exists today, even if we can not see it. The mutations live on in the survivor’s posterity, in minor plagues throughout the world, the feudalism free Europe, and in the medical developments discovered while finding a cure. The Black Plague killed around 350 million Europeans, but the loss of people is not the only way it affected the population. From the beginning when it first arrived in the ports of Sicily, to the height where the disease spread to the corners of Europe, to the cease of the plague were researchers are still continuing to piece the beginning of the plague to the…

    • 1683 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wright tells of how Pepys was in the Royal Society, where he often communicated with many scientists such as Sir Robert Boyle and Dr Turberville, leaders in their fields at the time, and from whom in that society he learned about subjects such as chemistry and optometry. He also recounts Pepys own astronomical observations after he spent a fair amount of money purchasing a telescope. Lastly, he also mentions Pepys’ passion for music, which he shared with the society’s president. This information shows Pepys’ diversified interests which explains his importance because of the various subjects he was educated on. This article cites all its sources and often quotes Pepys’ diary directly, using it as a primary…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays