Episode 11: Houses Inhabited and Houses Forsaken

Here the author continues his insistence that the forced shutting up of houses is not only bad policy but actually led to the death of many more than would have succumbed if they had been able to voluntarily sequester themselves and send away the remainder of their households, who more often than not died as a result of their continued presence there. As it was, those wishing to spare their families were often forced to flee into the streets before notice could be taken of their illness, thereby infecting countless others with whom they came in contact. Defoe ends this episode with his narrator’s personal observations on the causes of the sickness and best course of treatment for its victims, from the standpoint of public health.  While he scornfully discounts theories of what sound close to our modern understanding of bacterial infections transmitted through the lungs or skin, his recommendations are otherwise sensible and sound.  [For notes on the main themes of the novel, vis