19th Century Texts

A major cholera epidemic began in India in 1817, from India the disease spread to Russia, appearing at rapid speed and crossing all across the continent. Cholera is believed to originate in 1817 at the Ganges River in India and then later spread to other areas and regions due to poor removal of water mainly from British ships. Cholera is not particularly easy to catch. Although the microorganisms must have been plentiful during the nineteenth-century epidemics, many people probably ingested them without harm, for human stomach acids often kill the organisms before they reach the intestines where the trouble starts. As the western world expand many people became ill with cholera because of overcrowding in living space, in some cities overcrowding often involved quarters below street level, where water was constantly seeping in the living area.

This is great for historians because it allows us to see exactly what was happening at the time, for example, if a certain disease was a greater killer then another. Cholera and Influenza were most likely the biggest killers of the 19th century, with 3 major cholera epidemics (in 1832, 1848 and 1866) and regular flu epidemics. Cholera affected all ages and was contracted from contaminated water. Influenza affected all ages, especially the weak, and spread through the tiny droplets of moisture in the nose produced from sneezing or coughing. Tuberculosis was one of the worst diseases, it infected when the bacteria spread in the moisture produced when coughing, and affected all ages.

The inconsistencies were those who survived the plague, the symptoms of the disease and the stories of origin. I do not believe we can come to a definite conclusion that every disease talked about in these readings were all about the plague. One thing is for sure; fear and hysteria can certainly spread just as fast as the plague itself.

Plague is defined as a “destructive contagious bacterial disease” (Merriam–Webster). It spread just as fire captures anything dry near. The most well-know was the Black Death which swept through Asia and Europe in the medieval era. The plague did not discriminate the poor from the wealth, children from parents. Many feared that they will be no one to bury them as the deadly bacteria claimed its victims.

Today, deaths from influenza, cholera, and tuberculosis are rare in England; however, in Victorian England, these diseases and many more health problems were widespread. Victorian England was a time of great change, socially, economically, and politically. From the rise of factories to increased urbanization, the lives of many Britons changed during the Victorian era. Ultimately, many facets of change led to the transformation – both positive and negative – of one aspect of every citizen’s life: health. Deadly epidemics became widespread, and workers and average citizens died from disease caused by increased environmental pollution.

He was a dark poet who also added romance in his stories, while managing to be the captive of his stories and his fantasies too. In Poe’s stories, he began with the art of romance to truth, or just beauty. The drama of his story’s’ settings in the drama of a spectator because he greated and imagined that setting, but that isn’t all Poe could do. Secondly, Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on detective stories made him one of the most amazing authors known today. Eliot proclaims, “As for the prose, it is recognized that Poe’s tales had great influence upon some types of popular fiction” (Eliot 24).

The 1980s and early 1990s were a controversial time in U.S. history. The most notable occurrence of dispute comes from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/ Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) epidemic. There were numerous theories regarding how the sickness spread, but a well-known cause of this epidemic was a result of poor medical waste technology. In the 1980s, most medical waste management was regulated by each state. The most common disposal method of medical needles at the time was through the use of red, plastic bags marked ‘Infectious.’ As the epidemic grew, lab technicians treating infected individuals realized these bags were not useful in the prevention of the disease because the needle could break through the plastic causing contamination.

When it first appeared, it was found to be deadly in all the areas it affected. Today, with the advancements in medicine it is not deadly if treated with antibiotics. Typhoid fever is spread through food and water contaminated by people with typhoid shedding S. typhi. It is caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, which infects the blood and the intestines. Typhoid fever is commonly found in developing countries located in Asia, Africa and South America.

Beyond the six authors that I have touched upon, the 19th Century literature collection is vast, many surviving and others falling into obscurity. Although the early 20th Century writers felt revolutionary in their casting off of the old Victorian novel style, I feel that the 19th Century Novelists were equally revolutionary in what they did for the novel. They created similar novel genres to what exists today and entertained and often shocked an uptight century. They introduced the art of observance and intricacy to the novel form and have formed the basis for the inspiration of novelists ever since.

Due to the lack of preparation and knowledge of technology in 1918, the plague was easily transmitted throughout the United States at a rapid speed, threatening the lives of numerous citizens. Because it caused such a widespread of fear and sickness among the American public, it encouraged scientists and physicians to discover a cure to prevent more deaths. Upon searching for the initial cause of the plague and the cure for it, which was critical to avoid spreading and causing further harm, it influenced newer technology to be created helping prevent a similar outbreak in the future. There are many theories as to how the plague initially began. It is widely believed that the influenza originally started in Asia, since many pandemics prior to 1918 began in the Asian region.