Article #376-1 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from A Journal of the Plague Year, by Daniel Defoe

  To introduce one, let me first mention that one of the most<br />
  deplorable cases in all the present calamity was that of women<br />
  with child, who, when they came to the hour of their sorrows, and<br />
  their pains come upon them, could neither have help of one kind<br />
  or another; neither midwife or neighbouring women to come near<br />
  them. Most of the midwives were dead, especially of such as<br />
  served the poor; and many, if not all the midwives of note, were<br />
  fled into the country; so that it was next to impossible for a<br />
  poor woman that could not pay an immoderate price to get any<br />
  midwife to come to her—and if they did, those they could get were<br />
  generally unskilful and ignorant creatures; and the consequence<br />
  of this was that a most unusual and incredible number of women<br />
  were reduced to the utmost distress. Some were delivered and<br />
  spoiled by the rashness and ignorance of those who pretended to<br />
  lay them. Children without number were, I might say, murdered by<br />
  the same but a more justifiable ignorance: pretending they would<br />
  save the mother, whatever became of the child; and many times<br />
  both mother and child were lost in the same manner; and<br />
  especially where the mother had the distemper, there nobody would<br />
  come near them and both sometimes perished. Sometimes the mother<br />
  has died of the plague, and the infant, it may be, half born, or<br />
  born but not parted from the mother. Some died in the very pains<br />
  of their travail, and not delivered at all; and so many were the<br />
  cases of this kind that it is hard to judge of them.

  Something of it will appear in the unusual numbers which are put<br />
  into the weekly bills (though I am far from allowing them to be<br />
  able to give anything of a full account) under the articles of—

 Child-bed. Abortive and Still-born. Chrisoms and Infants.

Explanation

Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year (1722) is a fictionalized account of the Great Plague of London (1665), presented as an eyewitness narrative by a man known only as "H.F." Though framed as a journal, the work blends historical reportage, moral reflection, and vivid storytelling to convey the horror and social collapse caused by the epidemic. The excerpt you’ve provided focuses on one of the most harrowing consequences of the plague: the suffering of pregnant women abandoned by a collapsing healthcare system. Below is a detailed breakdown of the passage, emphasizing its textual mechanics, themes, and significance.

Context of the Excerpt

The Great Plague killed roughly a quarter of London’s population, and Defoe’s Journal—written decades later—draws on official records, hearsay, and his own imaginative reconstruction to depict the chaos. This passage highlights how the plague exacerbated existing social inequalities, particularly for poor women. Midwives, who were essential to childbirth in the 17th century, either died, fled, or demanded exorbitant fees, leaving pregnant women to face labor alone or with untrained attendants. The excerpt is part of Defoe’s broader project to document the "human cost" of the plague beyond mere mortality statistics.

Themes in the Excerpt

Abandonment and Isolation The passage opens with the phrase "could neither have help of one kind or another", immediately establishing a theme of total desertion. The plague severs communal bonds, leaving women to endure childbirth—already a dangerous process in the 17th century—without support. The repetition of "neither... nor" (midwives, neighboring women) underscores the absolute lack of aid.
Class Disparity Defoe emphasizes that poor women suffered most: "a poor woman that could not pay an immoderate price" had no access to skilled midwives. Wealthier women could flee or afford care, but the poor were trapped. The phrase "midwives of note" (i.e., reputable ones) contrasts with the "unskilful and ignorant creatures" left behind, reinforcing the idea that money determined survival.
Medical Ignorance and Brutality The passage describes a cycle of violence:
- "Spoiled by the rashness and ignorance" → Women were physically harmed by untrained attendants.
- "Children... murdered by... ignorance" → Infants were sacrificed in botched deliveries, framed as a "justifiable" trade-off to save the mother (a grim reflection of the era’s medical ethics).
- "Both mother and child were lost" → The ultimate failure of the system. The word "murdered" is striking—Defoe implicates the attendants in active harm, not just neglect.
The Plague as a Social Collapse The plague doesn’t just kill; it erodes the fabric of society. The absence of midwives isn’t just a logistical problem—it’s a moral one. The phrase "nobody would come near them" (when the mother had the plague) shows how fear overrode compassion. The image of a "half born" infant still attached to a dead mother is a grotesque symbol of interrupted life and abandoned duty.
Statistical vs. Human Cost Defoe critiques the impersonal "weekly bills" (mortality lists) that reduced suffering to numbers. The categories he lists—"Child-bed. Abortive and Still-born. Chrisoms and Infants"—are cold, bureaucratic terms that fail to capture the "unusual and incredible number of women... in utmost distress." His parenthetical "though I am far from allowing them to be able to give anything of a full account" undermines the idea that data can fully represent horror.

Literary Devices and Stylistic Choices

Anaphora and Repetition
- "Some were delivered and spoiled... Some died in the very pains... Sometimes the mother has died...": The repeated "some" and "sometimes" create a litany of suffering, suggesting an endless, varied catalog of tragedies.
- "Neither... nor" (at the start) emphasizes total deprivation.
Sensory and Visceral Imagery Defoe forces the reader to visualize grotesque scenes:
- "Children without number... murdered"
- "The infant, it may be, half born, or born but not parted from the mother"
- "Died in the very pains of their travail" These images are deliberately shocking, rejecting euphemism to convey the brutality of the plague’s indirect effects.
Irony and Understatement
- "A more justifiable ignorance": The irony here is biting—sacrificing infants to save mothers is framed as "justifiable," but Defoe’s tone suggests it’s a desperate, morally bankrupt choice.
- "It is hard to judge of them": A massive understatement, given the scale of suffering described.
Cataloging and Accumulation The passage builds through a relentless listing of horrors, mirroring the overwhelming nature of the plague. The shift from individual cases ("some were delivered") to collective statistics ("unusual numbers") reflects how personal tragedies become anonymous data.
First-Person Plausibility Though fictional, the narrator’s voice is authoritative and conversational ("let me first mention," "I might say"). This creates the illusion of an eyewitness account, lending urgency to the narrative.

Significance of the Passage

Historical Documentation Defoe’s work is one of the most detailed (if fictionalized) records of the plague’s social impact. This excerpt highlights how disasters disproportionately affect the vulnerable—here, poor pregnant women—and how systemic failures (like the flight of midwives) compound crises.
Moral and Philosophical Questions The passage raises ethical dilemmas:
- Is it "justifiable" to sacrifice a child to save a mother?
- What does society owe to its most vulnerable in a crisis?
- How do we reconcile individual survival instincts with collective responsibility? Defoe doesn’t answer these but presents them as urgent questions.
Literary Influence The Journal is an early example of faction (fact + fiction) and a precursor to later plague narratives (e.g., Camus’ The Plague). Its blend of statistical data and human drama influenced how epidemics are depicted in literature—balancing the macro (societal collapse) with the micro (individual suffering).
Relevance to Modern Readers The excerpt resonates with contemporary discussions about:
- Healthcare disparities (e.g., maternal mortality rates among marginalized groups).
- The ethics of triage in crises (e.g., pandemic resource allocation).
- The dehumanizing effect of reducing suffering to statistics.

Key Takeaways from the Text Itself

The Plague as a Catalyst for Cruelty: The passage shows how fear and scarcity turn people against each other (e.g., midwives fleeing, attendants bungling deliveries). The plague doesn’t just kill—it corrupts.
The Body as a Battleground: Childbirth becomes a site of violence, where both mother and child are casualties of a broken system. The "pains of their travail" are literal and metaphorical.
The Limits of Language: Defoe struggles to convey the scale of suffering ("it is hard to judge of them"), suggesting that some horrors defy full articulation.

Final Thought

This excerpt is a masterclass in controlled horror. Defoe doesn’t sensationalize; he accumulates details methodically, forcing the reader to confront the plague’s ripple effects. The most chilling line might be the understated "and so many were the cases of this kind"—a reminder that the tragedies described are not exceptions but the norm in a world undone by disease. The passage isn’t just about the plague; it’s about what happens when society’s safety nets vanish, and the weakest are left to fend for themselves.

Questions

Question 1

The narrator’s description of midwives who "pretended to lay [women in labor]" and attendants who "pretended they would save the mother" employs a rhetorical strategy that primarily serves to:

A. expose the moral bankruptcy of a system where desperation forces unqualified individuals into roles of life-and-death consequence, rendering their "pretence" a symptom of structural collapse rather than individual malice.
B. condemn the hypocrisy of those who profited from the plague by exploiting vulnerable women under the guise of medical assistance.
C. highlight the tragic irony that even well-intentioned but untrained helpers inadvertently caused more harm than the plague itself.
D. suggest that the term "midwife" had become meaningless in the chaos, as anyone—regardless of skill—could adopt the title with impunity.
E. underscore the narrator’s personal disgust with the incompetence of lower-class women who lacked the education to perform basic medical procedures.

Question 2

The phrase "a more justifiable ignorance" carries a tone that is best described as:

A. bitterly ironic, as the narrator undermines the very notion of "justification" by framing the sacrifice of infants as a morally bankrupt necessity imposed by systemic failure.
B. clinically detached, reflecting the narrator’s acceptance of triage ethics in extreme circumstances.
C. cautiously approving, as the narrator acknowledges the difficult choices attendants faced when resources were scarce.
D. resignedly fatalistic, implying that such outcomes were inevitable and thus beyond moral judgment.
E. sarcastically indignant, directing blame at the women themselves for not securing competent help earlier.

Question 3

The structural shift from vivid, individual tragedies ("Some were delivered and spoiled...") to the impersonal "weekly bills" serves to:

A. critique the dehumanizing effect of bureaucratic abstraction, where suffering is reduced to categories that obscure the scale and specificity of human loss.
B. demonstrate the narrator’s preference for empirical data over anecdotal evidence, signaling a transition to a more objective mode of reporting.
C. illustrate the inevitability of statistical record-keeping in times of crisis, as personal stories become too numerous to document individually.
D. suggest that the true horror of the plague lies not in individual deaths but in the cumulative, unquantifiable toll on society.
E. reveal the narrator’s exhaustion with recounting gruesome details, prompting a retreat into the relative safety of numerical summaries.

Question 4

The narrator’s assertion that "it is hard to judge of them" is most plausibly interpreted as an acknowledgment of:

A. the cognitive and emotional limitations of comprehending suffering on such a scale, where the diversity and magnitude of tragedies defy neat moral or narrative resolution.
B. the lack of reliable documentation, making it impossible to verify the accuracy of the accounts he relates.
C. the narrator’s own bias, as his perspective is inherently limited by his class and gender, preventing him from fully grasping the experiences of the women.
D. the futility of assigning blame in a crisis where all participants—victims, helpers, and bystanders—were equally powerless.
E. the divine inscrutability of the plague, which operates beyond human moral frameworks and thus cannot be "judged" by mortal standards.

Question 5

Which of the following best captures the relationship between the passage’s depiction of childbirth during the plague and its broader critique of societal collapse?

A. The abandonment of pregnant women symbolizes the erosion of communal bonds, but the narrator ultimately attributes this to individual cowardice rather than systemic failure.
B. The suffering of women in labor is presented as an exceptional tragedy, distinct from the general chaos, to elicit sympathy for a particularly vulnerable group.
C. The collapse of midwifery infrastructure is framed as a temporary aberration, with the narrator implying that normalcy would return once the plague subsided.
D. The passage suggests that the plague revealed pre-existing flaws in the healthcare system, but these were limited to the treatment of women and children.
E. The horrors described are not incidental to the plague but emblematic of how disasters expose and exacerbate the fragility of social institutions, particularly for the marginalized.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: A

Why A is most correct: The narrator’s use of "pretended" is not an attack on individual malice but a critique of a system so broken that unqualified people were forced into critical roles. The passage emphasizes structural collapse ("most of the midwives were dead," "those they could get were generally unskilful"), framing the "pretence" as a symptom of desperation rather than deceit. The tone is analytical, not accusatory, focusing on the failure of the system to provide alternatives.