I think what I am most excited about this class is getting to create a blog for the class since this will be my first ever blog!!!
After class on Wednesday, I became quite excited about this class. I am especially looking forward to reading Utopia and The Prince. I also enjoy the aspect of analyzing art and learning what the meaning behind it is. Overall, it will be interesting to see how culture and people’s thoughts have changed over time. When it was stated that one of the main philosophical questions we would be looking at is, “What is beauty?” I was intrigued. If I just answer that question without thinking too deeply I would say that I often connect beauty to nature and would say that it is something that brings joy and a smile. It is something that puts you in a sense of awe, especially when you focus on the One who created it!
Our first reading was Boccaccio’s “The Decameron.” I felt it gave a good perspective on what was going on during that period and how it caused various changes in society. You can see that religion played a big part in society since that was the first thing they looked to for the cause of the plague. This in turn could have caused people to turn away from religion as a result. Just as we do today, different people turned to different ways to avoid the awfulness of the plague such as music, drinking, using flowers for a better smell and comfort, and fleeing. People seemed to lose compassion and become very self-centered. It is so sad to read the part about families becoming like strangers. Maybe this same issue exists today since we often have troubles getting younger generations to care for the older generations. Then the next part makes me wonder, is this where modesty began to become obsolete? Although in this case it was only for medical reasons it makes me wonder. The last topic is how death was dealt with as a result of the plague. Since family had been really important along with spirituality I can imagine it was difficult when they were told they would no longer always get to have last rites performed by the priest or an individual burial. I was kind of surprised at still using burying the dead and coffins, I thought I had heard that they just burned the bodies because it was more sanitary and then they did not have the disease still having the possibility to be transmitted. This definitely was a crippling, devastating event in history.
Friday’s class was mostly based around the effects of the Black Plague on society. I cannot even imagine the grossness this disease caused. When people have just a small cold and are constantly sniffling and coughing I feel contaminated. But then I put myself in the shoes of those people, with the saliva being filled with specks of blood and sometimes vomit of blood. Disgusting!!! The stench would be unbearable and I am sure it was impossible to keep things very clean. I found it interesting the concepts that they thought would prevent or lessen the plague. How in the world would beating yourself up help prevent something, even if you saw it as confessing to God??? I would think the blood produced as a result would just give the disease an easier way to transfer from person to person. On the other hand, the pope’s idea of being surrounded by fire to ward off the disease actually could make a bit more sense. After thinking through it, it makes sense that the whole ordeal would lead to more of a feel of individualism. People began only caring about themselves and their own well-being. You had to fight for yourself and sometimes abandon your loved ones if you wanted to live. Just like today, people seem more concerned about their own success versus the well-being of others too.
