Plague, Pox, & Disease in Shakespeare
Words like “Plague,” “Contagion” and “Pestilence” occur in Shakespeare’s works a surprising number of times, and that includes Hamlet. Because of the Covid-19 crisis, my readers may already have noticed that media outlets and Shakespeare organizations are sharing and re-publishing articles about black plague and smallpox in Shakespeare’s lifetime. [Copper engraving of Doctor Schnabel (i.e., Dr. Beak), a plague doctor in seventeenth-century Rome, circa 1656, public domain, Wikipedia ] With all of the changes in the world and in my state of Minnesota, with school closings, and conferences and sporting events canceled, I decided it was time to do a little research about Shakespeare and the plague and the pox, as well as some research about occurrences of these words often associated with them. Web Resources Among the many good web resources on plague, smallpox, and diseases mentioned in Shakespeare, here are a few of my favorites: James Shapiro: “How Shakespeare’s great escape f...