Readers of the novel will note that at this point I have entirely passed over a long account about three men from Wapping, whose tale of taking to the highways and fields is instructive, but perhaps too long and detailed for modern listeners. However, the final paragraphs of their story are so compelling, and so seamlessly connected with what follows, that I have inserted them, out of order, at the beginning of this episode.
The main theme of this episode centers around a phenomenon seen again in our own times: the resistance of rural areas to the arrival of strangers fleeing the epidemic. More generally, it speaks to our habit of ascribing all manner of wickedness to outsiders. The author mentions the several species of rumor and myth, some even sanctioned by official voices, that charged the victims of the plague with the desire to infect others. On their part, fleeing Londoners spoke of the uniform cruelty and inhumanity of rural folk, who forced them to return to the city to face death. Here as before, Defoe is careful to separate fact from rumor. He understands how isolated incidents can be accepted as innate characteristics and is having nothing of it.
[For notes on the main themes of the novel, visit https://londonplague.com/postscript/. To see some ways in which our reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic are anticipated in the Journal, see https://londonplague.com/concordance/.]
Credits:
Podcast produced by Sam Brelsfoard.
Music from Funeral Sentences of Henry Purcell (1659-1695), performed by the Choir of Clare College at the University of Cambridge, Timothy Brown conducting. Used by permission.
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