History Repeats with Covid-19
The current Coronavirus outbreak has been compared to the Black Death. In many instances, the two pandemics parallel. History seems to be repeating itself with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Decameron, Black Death, and COVID-19" assists in understanding The Decameron compared to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. In the video, the assessment of The Decameron helps to relate to the spread of the coronavirus and how we have dealt with it. The parallels such as the origin, the way it travelled from animal to human, and the way in which the characters flee the city help connect the writing to our modern day. It is interesting how each pandemic sprouted from the area of China. It is extremely intriguing that the modern responses are so similar though the time passed from the Bubonic Plague to Covid-19 is incredible. When reading The Decameron, it is perplexing to see that people were self isolating, like the 10 characters, or choosing to ignore the plague altogether and utilize the time for having fun and drinking excessively. This seems to be the current responses to the Coronavirus pandemic too. The video addresses the ethical dilemma of quarantining like the 10 characters chose to do.
In my experience and countless others’, I have been self isolating as much as possible from the social world to avoid transferring the virus to my parents, partner, and my partner’s parents who are immunocompromised, so I have very strong feelings about those who have disregarded the severity of the coronavirus. The video also sheds light upon the romantic aspects of The Decameron and how lockdown has led to more romantic connections. This is definitely something that I have come to find in my experience, as I only ever spend time with my partner now that I cannot hangout with any of my other friends, classmates, or extended family.
Secondary Source: https://canvas.ucsc.edu/courses/37339/files/2967050?module_item_id=307506
