Tag Archives: plague

Anti-Vaxxers Ignore the Past

By Robin Bates | Published: July 10, 2023

Anti-vaxxers should read 19th century novels, which describe high mortality rates

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "University Hospital Boston", anti-vaxxers, Birds' Christmas Carol, Bleak House, Charlotte Bronte, Childbirth, Cholera, Daniel Defoe, Jane Eyre, Journal of the Plague Year, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Mary Oliver, Nemesis, Oliver Twist, Philip Roth, Polio, Robert Kennedy Jr., Scarlet Fever, Secret Garden, Small Pox, Turberculosis, typhus | Comments closed

Holding on to Our Imperiled Humanity

By Robin Bates | Published: November 2, 2021

In arguing for the humanities, this “American Scholar” article makes good points but dismisses some powerful arguments.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Albert Camus, As I Lay Dying, English majors, George Herbert, King Lear, Robert Oppenheimer, William Faulkner, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Plague Lit on Life Returning to Normal

By Robin Bates | Published: March 28, 2021

Plague Lit teaches us how people behave DURING plagues. How about how they behave when life returns to normal? Camus may be best on this.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Albert Camus, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, Journal of the Plague Year, Last Man, Mary Shelley | Comments closed

Post of the Year: Plagues in Literature

By Robin Bates | Published: December 30, 2020

A survey of literature through the ages that has dealt with plagues.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aeneid, Albert Camus, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, Emily St. John Mandel, Journal of the Plague Year, Katherine Anne Porter, Louise Erdrich, Margaret Atwood, Oedipus, Oryk and Crake, Pale Horse Pale Rider, Sophocles, Stand, Station Eleven, Stephen King, Tracks, Virgil | Comments closed

A Literary Survey of What Plagues Mean

By Robin Bates | Published: April 19, 2020

A survey of how literary authors have grappled for meaning in times of pestilence bolsters our own search. I look at Sophocles, Virgil, Defoe, Porter, Camus, King, Mandel, Atwood, and Erdrich.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Aeneid, Albert Camus, COVID-19, Daniel Defoe, Emily St. John Mandel, Journal of the Plague Year, Katherine Anne Porter, Louise Erdrich, Margaret Atwood, Oedipus, Oryk and Crake, Pale Horse Pale Rider, Pestilence, Sophocles, Stand, Station Eleven, Stephen King, Tracks, Virgil | Comments closed

To Understand COVID-19, Read Camus

By Robin Bates | Published: March 15, 2020

Camus’s “The Plague” provides insights into our own coronavirus.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Albert Camus, coronavirus | Comments closed

What Defoe Would Say about Ebola

By Robin Bates | Published: October 21, 2014

Daniel Defoe’s “Journal of the Plague Year” has good advice for dealing with outbreaks, such as not to react with overly harsh and fearful measures.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Daniel Defoe, Ebola virus, Journal of the Plague Year, London plague | Comments closed