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Providence
Themes and Colors
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Journal of the Plague Year, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Throughout A Journal of the Plague Year, a fictional memoir of London’s 1655 bubonic plague epidemic, the narrator contrasts legitimate religion with both superstition and quackery. In the narrator’s view, legitimate religion allows for the possibility of divine intervention and supernatural occurrences but defaults to assuming that occurrences are merely natural unless there is good reason to believe otherwise. By contrast, superstition will argue for supernatural explanations without good reason. For example, the narrator disparages superstitious people who believe that God infects people with plague while discounting the role that natural, intermediate causes such as person-to-person infection play in the spread of the disease. Though the narrator himself believes that divine intervention is at work during the plague, he witnesses enough cases of apparent person-to-person infection to argue that most plague cases are due to natural cases, no supernatural explanation required. Moreover, he argues that a superstitious belief in direct divine causation of plague cases leads the superstitious to take unnecessary risks with their health (e.g., socializing with infected people because they believe they won’t catch the plague unless God wills it). Thus, the narrator distinguishes between a legitimate religion that is theoretically consistent with “natural causes” and science and a superstition that is not.
Similarly, the narrator contrasts legitimate religion with quackery by representing religious people as generally sincere in their beliefs, whereas quacks cynically con a credulous and frightened populace to make money. For example, when some religious women seem to genuinely believe that they will not catch the plague when out of Christian charity they go help plague-stricken poor people, the narrator credits them with sincerity. By contrast, he insinuates that quacks hawking supposedly invincible plague cures flee London at the height of the plague—suggesting that they do not really believe their own products. Thus, while some modern readers may associate religion with superstition and quackery, the narrator carefully distinguishes between them.
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Religion vs. Superstition and Quackery ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Religion vs. Superstition and Quackery appears in each chapter of A Journal of the Plague Year. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Religion vs. Superstition and Quackery Quotes in A Journal of the Plague Year
Below you will find the important quotes in A Journal of the Plague Year related to the theme of Religion vs. Superstition and Quackery.
Pages 3-80 Quotes
My Brother, tho’ a very Religious Man himself, laught at all I had suggested about its being an Intimation from Heaven[.]
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Circumstances hinder the narrator as he plans to flee London early in the plague. When he suggests to his brother, who also plans to flee, that these hindering circumstances might be “an Intimation from Heaven”—that is, a sign from God that the narrator should stay in London—the narrator’s brother laughs at him despite being “a very Religious Man himself.” Throughout A Journal of the Plague Year, the narrator scorns people whom he judges excessively superstitious in their religious beliefs—for example, people who think that individual plague cases come as a direct punishment from God, without any person-to-person transmission. He is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus co
These Terrors and Apprehensions of the People, led them into a Thousand weak, foolish, and wicked Things, which, they wanted not a Sort of People really wicked, to encourage them to; and this was running about to Fortune-tellers, Cunning-men, and Astrologers, to know their Fortune[.]
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The narrator is explaining how Londoners’ hysterical fear of the plague, which he calls the “Terrors and Apprehensions of the People,” causes them to seek out various “Fortune-tellers,” “Cunning-men” (i.e., folk healers or magicians), and “Astrologers” in hopes that these people will foretell what the plague will bring. The narrator condemns the people’s behavior on two possibly contradictory grounds. On the one hand, he thinks their behavior is “foolish,” which indicates that he doesn’t believe in fortune-telling, folk-healing, magic, or astrology but scorns these practices as mere superstition. On the other hand, he thinks their behavior is “wicked” or immoral, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium
I was doubtful in my Thoughts, whether the Resentment I retain’d was not all upon my own private Account, for they had given me a great deal of ill Language too, I mean Personally; but after some Pause, and having a Weight of Grief upon my Mind, I retir’d my self, as soon as I came home, for I slept not that Night, and giving God most humble Thanks for my Preservation in the eminent Danger I had been in, I set my Mind seriously, and with the utmost Earnestness, to pray for those desparate [sic] Wretches, that God would pardon them, open their Eyes, and effectually humble them.
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The narrator has just encountered some drinkers in a tavern who both verbally abuse him with “a great deal of ill Language” and insult his religious beliefs—thereby, in the narrator’s mind, insulting God. The narrator wonders the “Resentment” he feels toward these drinkers comes from “private” motives, (i.e., feeling “Personally” insulted,) or from his shocked Christian sensibilities. Implicitly, the narrator feels that it would be sinful to hold a grudge against the drinkers solely on his “own private Account”; therefore, when he returns home, he prays that God will “pardon” them—a prayer that implicitly includes a request that God not Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. D
I cannot but with some Wonder, find some People, now the Contagion is over, talk of its being an immediate Stroke from Heaven, without the Agency of Means[.]
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The narrator, having reviewed how families that fled houses containing a sick person were more likely to survive than families that quarantined with person, asserts that the plague spread by person-to-person infection and expresses “Wonder” that “some People” believe Londoners caught the plague as “an immediate Stroke from Heaven, without the Agency of Means”—in other words, the narrator is suggesting that some Londoners believe God cursed people directly with plague, a belief that discounts the intermediate step of natural person-to-person infection. The narrator’s deep skepticism that any plague case came as “an immediate Stroke from Heaven” shows that, despite his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum a
I must here take farther Notice that Nothing was more fatal to the Inhabitants of this City, than the Supine Negligence of the People themselves, who during the long Notice, or Warning they had of the Visitation, yet made no Provision for it, by laying in Store of Provisions, or of other Necessaries; by which they might have liv’d retir’d, and within their own Houses, as I have observed, others did, and who were in a great Measure preserv’d by that Caution[.]
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Here the narrator criticizes the “Supine Negligence”—the apathetic or passive failure to plan ahead—of Londoners who didn’t stockpile “Provisions” or other “Necessaries” in their homes, a stockpile that would have allowed them to have “liv’d retir’d, and within their own Houses” for the duration of the plague rather than needing to go outside and interact with other, potentially infectious people to buy food. This passage illustrates the narrator’s investment in common sense and rational foresight as tools to survive the plague: he believes people who planned ahead and took strong precautionary measures against infection were more likely to be “preserv’d Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis.
Pages 161-238 Quotes
[…] they would say, if it pleas’d God to strike them, it was all one whether they went Abroad or staid at Home, they cou’d not escape it, and therefore they went boldly about even into infected Houses, and infected Company[.]
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The narrator has just argued that people with plague can be infectious before their plague cases become symptomatic. As a result, superstitious people come to believe not in natural asymptomatic infectiousness, but in God supernaturally “strik[ing]” people with plague without the intermediate natural cause of person-to-person infection. According to the narrator, the superstitious belief that God’s direct intervention (rather than person-to-person infection) causes plague leads superstitious people to go “boldly about even into infected Houses, and infected Company,” on the assumption that it didn’t matter what they did—God could strike them anywhere and “they cou’d not escape it.” In this Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic te
But no Body can account for the Possession of Fear when it takes hold of the Mind.
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The narrator has just recounted how, as the plague was dying down in London, two people mysteriously died in a meat market—which caused a rumor that the meat itself was infected with plague, leading people to shun meat for a while. Then he notes that while the rumor seemed obviously false, “no Body can account for the Possession of Fear when it takes hold of the Mind.” By this, the narrator essentially means that fear can make people hysterical and irrational, leading them to believe in foolish superstitions or behave in bizarre ways. As such, the quotation is, in essence, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. R
Nothing, but the immediate Finger of God, nothing, but omnipotent Power could have done it; the Contagion despised all Medicine, Death rag’d in every Corner; and had it gone on as it did then, a few Weeks more would have clear’d the Town of all, and every thing that had a Soul[.]
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Near the end of his account, the narrator forcefully reiterates his belief that “Nothing, but the immediate Finger of God” could have caused the plague to end and saved London’s population from complete annihilation. This reiteration near the account’s conclusion has two important functions. First, it emphasizes that the narrator interprets as acts of God any outcome that would have been beyond human power to bring about. In this case, he believes that because “the Contagion despised all Medicine”—that is, because doctors were unable to cure the plague with any medicine they knew of—the plague’s cessation must have been due Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus
