Humor During Times of Plague - Encyclopedia of Satire

Giggles in Gloom: Humor During Times of Plague

Throughout human history, outbreaks of disease have spurred fear, loss, and social upheaval. Yet even in these darkest hours, comedic impulses have not disappeared. On the contrary, when the specter of plague hung over medieval towns or modern cities, people often found solace—and sometimes even a measure of defiance—in laughter. This approximately 3,200-word article explores how humor functioned during various plague eras, focusing on medieval Europe’s Black Death, early modern outbreaks, and later pandemics. We will look at how comedic forms—whether jokes, carnival celebrations, satirical stories, or folk rituals—helped communities cope with mortality, maintain social bonds, and occasionally challenge the authority figures who struggled to contain the crisis.

Important Link
For further historical insight into disease and societal response, see The Wellcome Collection, which provides resources on the cultural history of medicine and epidemic outbreaks.

I. Shadows of Pestilence, Flickers of Laughter

The term “plague” conjures images of claustrophobic city streets, panicked flight, and wagons piled with corpses. Yet disease outbreaks often produced contradictory responses in the societies they ravaged. While fear, superstition, and scapegoating were common, so too was a certain gallows humor. How could laughter coexist with mass death? The answer lies in the resilience of the human spirit: humor can act as an emotional release, a form of solidarity, and at times, even a subtle protest against the cruelty of fate or inept authorities.

A Universal Phenomenon

From the late antique Plague of Justinian (6th century CE) to the global pandemics of the 19th and early 20th centuries, comedic expression frequently surfaced in diaries, letters, and oral traditions. Whether rooted in denial, bravado, or philosophical acceptance of mortality, such humor underlines a fundamental human impulse: to maintain a sense of agency, no matter how dire the circumstances.

The Black Death as a Pivotal Example

Perhaps the most iconic plague outbreak in the European imagination is the Black Death of the mid-14th century. Killing an estimated one-third to half the continent’s population, it reshaped religious practices, economic structures, and cultural life. Remarkably, amid the horror, comedic anecdotes, satires, and even festival-like gatherings occurred. These episodes reveal how laughter and tragedy can converge, forging a peculiar but powerful coping mechanism.

II. Medieval Europe’s Dance with Death: The Black Death (1347–1353)

Socio-Religious Context

When the Black Death reached Europe in 1347, societies were still fundamentally shaped by feudalism and a pervasive Christian worldview. Religious institutions attempted to interpret the plague as divine punishment. Flagellant movements, intense devotional practices, and scapegoating of minorities (notably Jews) abounded. Yet for every apocalyptic vision, one might also find a carnival that soared in attendance or a comedic anecdote about a local cleric’s panic.

Tension Between Piety and Folly

The Church urged repentance, but many Europeans responded with a hedonistic “live for today” mentality. Chroniclers from that era remark on how certain townspeople, convinced the end was near, threw raucous parties. The comedic dimension surfaced in parodic songs that lampooned doomsayers or teased officials who enforced quarantines too late. While these gatherings might have accelerated infection spread, they also served as cathartic escapes from collective dread.

Boccaccio’s “Decameron”: A Canonical Example

Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron (circa 1353) offers a literary snapshot of humor and storytelling against the backdrop of the plague. In this frame narrative, ten young Florentines flee the stricken city, passing the time in a country villa by telling tales. While not all are comedic, many stories brim with satire, erotic twists, and witty jabs at social hypocrisy. The very act of storytelling becomes a means to keep despair at bay.

Contrasting Dark Reality and Comic Relief: The Decameron opens with a grim description of plague-ravaged Florence, yet swiftly shifts to lighter narratives about cunning lovers or foolish priests. Boccaccio underscores that even amid death, laughter thrives—offering fleeting but vital solace.

Carnival Traditions and “Dances of Death”

The Middle Ages were rich in festivals like carnival, where social norms inverted and comedic revelry took center stage. During plague outbreaks, these festivities sometimes grew more extreme. The “Danse Macabre,” or Dance of Death motif, emerged as visual and performative art, depicting skeletons cavorting with people from all social classes—kings, popes, merchants, peasants. Though macabre, the scenes carried a sardonic wit, suggesting that Death spares no one. In some regions, street performers enacted comedic sketches featuring a skeletal figure mocking human vanities.

Subversion of Authority: By personifying Death as a wily trickster who snatches the high and mighty, these comedic–morbid traditions subtly challenged the power structures of the era. If the plague could kill a noble just as easily as a beggar, social hierarchy lost some of its aura of invincibility.

III. Early Modern Outbreaks: Continuity and Transformation

The Black Death was not an isolated event; plague recurrences haunted Europe for centuries. Cities such as London, Venice, and Marseilles endured repeated quarantines. Each new wave sparked variations on comedic responses—ranging from scurrilous pamphlets to bawdy songs. Meanwhile, transformations in governance and communication (the spread of printing presses, the rise of centralized states) shaped how humor circulated.

London’s Plague Years

Between the 16th and 17th centuries, London suffered multiple outbreaks, notably the Great Plague of 1665–1666. Cultural documents from that period, including diaries and broadside ballads, capture how comedic expression provided a psychological buffer.

Broadside Ballads: Sold on the streets, these cheaply printed sheets featured songs or verses. Some ballads lamented the plague, while others ridiculed the flamboyant quack doctors peddling bogus cures. This comedic take on medical charlatans assured frightened readers that at least some forms of “plague remedy” deserved only laughter.
Samuel Pepys’s Diary: Though not purely comedic, Pepys’s diary offers glimpses of wry humor. He mentions humorous rumors—like false claims that certain tavern owners had discovered a plague-proof ale—and comedic mistrust of official edicts. Humor emerges as a social adhesive, uniting individuals in a city under siege.

Italian and Spanish Plague Outbursts

Italian city-states like Milan, Venice, and Naples, already shaped by carnival traditions, saw comedic festivals persist even during quarantines. Some records describe masked revellers performing sketches mocking incompetent officials who locked city gates too late or hoarded supplies. In Spain, meanwhile, comedic interludes in religious dramas hinted at a society grappling with chaos, ironically lampooning overzealous friars who claimed the plague was God’s wrath on a sinful populace.

IV. Coping Mechanisms: Jokes, Quarantines, and Communal Rituals

Quarantine Jests

As authorities experimented with public health measures (locking city gates, setting up pesthouses, quarantining ships), comedic narratives about these procedures proliferated. In port towns like Marseille or Ragusa (Dubrovnik), local wits coined jokes about how quarantines inadvertently starved the healthy while letting rats or fleas slip through. One mocking rhyme compared city officials to “gatekeepers who lock the barn after the horse is stolen,” highlighting the futility of belated interventions.

Balancing Fear and Humor: Such jokes often sprang from frustration. Quarantines, though medically sensible, disrupted livelihoods. By satirizing them, communities vented tension—maintaining a semblance of control in an otherwise helpless situation.

Communal Rituals with Comedic Undertones

In some towns, processions took on comedic elements: actors wearing plague doctor costumes (long-beaked masks) were teased or pelted with small objects, signifying popular distrust of “expert” interventions. This blurred line between mockery and reverence—since some processions were indeed religious or apotropaic (aimed at warding off evil spirits). Embedding comedic vignettes into these solemn rituals reinforced group cohesion, ensuring that participants could laugh together at the unpredictability of the plague.

V. Beyond Europe: Other Cultures’ Comedic Responses

Disease outbreaks are a global phenomenon, and comedic coping spans cultures. While the focus here is largely on medieval and early modern Europe, it’s instructive to note parallels elsewhere:

Ottoman Empire: During plague waves, coffeehouse patrons in Istanbul sometimes engaged in comedic shadow plays, featuring stock characters who ridiculed incompetent local governors or unscrupulous healers.
Mughal India: Chroniclers occasionally mention gatherings where jesters or traveling storytellers integrated plague references into comedic parables, reminding audiences that royal power meant little against disease.
Chinese Folklore: Epidemics in imperial China led to comedic puppet shows that satirized official corruption and superstitious scapegoating. The comedic frame offered a buffer for political critique.

These instances echo the universal theme: when plague disrupts society, humor emerges as an adaptive strategy for articulating frustration, forging solidarity, and, to some extent, questioning authority.

VI. The Emergence of “Gallant Humor” and Gallo-Polemic Writings

As the Enlightenment dawned (late 17th–18th centuries), comedic critique of plague measures intertwined with the era’s broader shift toward rational inquiry. Writers ridiculed older superstitions about plague’s origin, championing scientific or empirical approaches—yet they did so with playful wit aimed at incompetent officials who remained stuck in medieval thinking.

Enlightenment-Era Pamphlets

Cities like Amsterdam, Paris, and London saw the rise of a literate middle class eager for satirical pamphlets. When plagues or smaller epidemics struck (like repeated bubonic flare-ups, or smallpox waves), comedic pamphleteers castigated municipal leaders who resorted to archaic cures: burning incense in the streets, banning “evil smells,” or punishing witches. While these measures might have roots in older plague mentalities, Enlightenment wits found them ripe for comedic takedowns.

Swift, Addison, and Steel: Though not all specifically addressing plague, their comedic styles spilled into public discourse about health crises. Readers who had devoured The Spectator or Tatler now demanded witty commentary on any new epidemic.
Voltaire: French comedic polemics included jabs at quarantines that singled out foreign merchants, fueling xenophobia. Voltaire’s sharp epistolary style occasionally hammered home the irrationality behind blaming “outsiders” for disease spread, turning bigotry itself into a comedic target.

Shifting Blame to Authority

No longer were comedic barbs primarily aimed at the intangible forces of fate or divine will. Instead, they targeted local governors, city councils, or religious officials who refused modern hygiene measures. Jokes about “the mayor who can’t see fleas” or “the bishop who prays plague away but leaves the city gates open” reveal how the comedic spotlight moved from cosmic fatalism to political accountability.

VII. 19th and Early 20th Centuries: Cholera, Influenza, and Comedic Dissonance

Cholera’s Grim March

The 19th century experienced multiple cholera pandemics that devastated major urban centers. In places like London’s East End or the slums of Paris, comedic street songs lamented filthy water supplies or incompetent sanitary boards. Some ballads ironically praised the “miracle cures” hawked by quacks—reflecting a comedic tradition that had centuries of plague-time precedent.

Satirical Cartoons: Publications like Punch in London or Le Charivari in Paris frequently depicted cholera as a skeletal figure mocking aristocrats who believed themselves immune in their lavish homes. The comedic image suggested that ignoring the poor’s plight would eventually doom the rich as well. This moralizing humor pressed for social reform (like better sewage systems).

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

The so-called “Spanish Flu” struck at the tail end of World War I, compounding the tragedy of global conflict. Despite the massive death toll, comedic expressions appeared in soldier newspapers, local gazettes, and even postcards. Soldiers in the trenches made grim jokes about “the flu finishing off what the enemy bullets didn’t.” On the home front, comedic postcards might depict entire families wearing masks, with captions mocking the odd new etiquette of avoiding close contact.

Gallows Humor in War and Disease: Already steeped in the black humor of wartime, veterans found the flu outbreak “just another absurd twist.” Politically, some comedic sketches teased government censors who downplayed the flu to keep morale high. The resulting comedic cynicism shows how plague or pandemic humor can feed into broader critiques of state narratives.

VIII. Psychological and Sociological Dimensions of Plague Humor

Why do humans laugh in the face of pestilence? Contemporary sociologists and psychologists identify multiple functions:

Emotional Release: Laughter helps individuals confront fear in a socially acceptable way.
Group Cohesion: Communities unify when sharing inside jokes about incompetent officials or comedic relief events.
Identity Affirmation: By mocking external threats—real or symbolic—groups reaffirm cultural values.
Challenge to Authority: Humor often becomes a form of soft rebellion, highlighting official failings in controlling an epidemic.

The Risk of Insensitivity

Not all comedic responses were benign. Some jokes targeted scapegoats—ethnic minorities, foreigners, or alleged witches. Historical records abound with cruel comedic tales that reinforced xenophobia or class prejudice. In times of plague, “us vs. them” mentalities sometimes hijacked humor, turning it into an instrument of discrimination rather than solidarity.

IX. The Role of Art, Theater, and Literature in Shaping Plague Comedy

Theatrical Adaptations

From the late Middle Ages onward, traveling troupes and city theaters wove plague themes into comedic or tragi-comic sketches. A comedic farce might show a cunning servant outwitting a panic-stricken lord, capturing the social leveling effect of disease.

Commedia dell’arte in Italy: Stock characters like the greedy Pantalone or the boastful Il Capitano took on plague-related plots, often featuring farcical attempts at quarantines or bogus cures. Laughter undercut the gravity of the disease, poking fun at society’s confusion.

Literary Reflections

As printing technology advanced, plague references permeated satirical novels and short stories. Authors like Daniel Defoe, in A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), mostly employed a serious tone. But scattered comedic anecdotes appear, such as people cracking jokes about “plague tokens” or mocking friends who hoarded bizarre remedies. The comedic slivers underscore the complexity of everyday life during an epidemic: even while tragedies unfolded, comedic episodes intruded.

X. Case Study: Dance Macabre and Morbid Wit

The “Danse Macabre” concept, initially medieval, endured through early modern times as a motif in visual art, poetry, and carnival plays. While it might appear purely grim—skeletons leading the living to the grave—Dance Macabre scenes often contained comedic details: a skeleton humorously tugging a bishop’s mitre off, or whispering a jest in a king’s ear. This was comedic subversion of rank, reminding viewers that plague unifies all under the banner of mortality.

Allegorical Laughter

Dance Macabre imagery reached new heights during plague waves, reappearing in chapbooks with rhyming verses that teased each social estate. For instance, a noblewoman might protest, “Death, I have new gowns yet to wear!” and Death retorts with a pun about moths and the fleeting nature of earthly vanity. Such comedic couplets, while reinforcing spiritual lessons, also offered a sense of playful irreverence in the face of unstoppable doom.

XI. Authority, Superstition, and Comedic Skepticism

During plague times, official responses ranged from quarantine to public prayer, from banning gatherings to mandating collective processions. While some measures were medically sound, others dripped with superstition. Jokers seized on the latter.

Mocking Folkloric Remedies

From onions hung on doors to loud bell-ringing in the streets, communities tried everything to ward off “miasmas” or “evil spirits.” Skeptical wits penned comedic dialogues lampooning neighbors who recited nonsense charms. One 17th-century English pamphlet depicts two rustics, Ned and Tom, comically boasting of “guaranteed cures” (like pig fat rubbed on the nose) that obviously fail. The comedic punchline urges readers toward a more rational approach—foreshadowing an Enlightenment stance.

Church vs. Popular Humor

Where religious authorities insisted on increased tithes or processions, satirical ballads might question whether churchmen were just capitalizing on plague fears. Some comedic verses portray bishops as incompetent generals waging war against a foe they do not understand. This comedic inversion stung: it equated high clerical authority with buffoonery, reinforcing skepticism about the Church’s capacity to handle a natural disaster.

XII. The Legacy of Plague Humor in Contemporary Culture

Though modern medicine and germ theory have changed how societies handle epidemics, comedic instincts remain. The COVID-19 pandemic (2020s) sparked a wave of memes, jokes, and satirical videos, echoing earlier patterns. People stuck in lockdown filmed humorous parodies of official guidelines or mocked “miracle cures” pushed by conspiracy theorists. Just as in the medieval or early modern plague eras, comedic commentary today often walks the line between comedic relief and moral critique.

The “Memetic” Evolution

Social media allows humor to spread faster than any plague virus in history. On platforms like Twitter, Facebook, or TikTok, comedic content mocking official missteps or bizarre folk remedies can go viral within hours. Observing these modern parallels underscores how deeply rooted comedic coping is in times of crisis.

Historiographic Awareness

Scholars studying medieval or early modern plagues increasingly highlight comedic sources—pamphlets, ballads, diaries—to get a fuller picture of communal mentalities. These comedic artifacts remind us that widespread fear does not negate laughter. Indeed, comedic expression may flourish precisely because it offers psychological respite and fosters group identity against an invisible enemy.

XIII. Critiques, Dangers, and Ethical Dilemmas

While plague-era humor often served communal or reformist ends, it also carried ethical pitfalls:

Scapegoating: Some comedic texts punch down at marginalized groups, reinforcing harmful stereotypes.
Undermining Effective Measures: Mocking quarantines might comfort the anxious, but it could also discourage compliance with medically beneficial restrictions.
Commercial Exploitation: Publishers profited from plague-based humor, sometimes sensationalizing tragedy for entertainment. Critics argue this trivialized real suffering.

These moral complexities echo present-day debates: is comedic commentary on a deadly pandemic a healthy outlet or a risk that might undercut public health campaigns?

XIV. Conclusion: Enduring Lessons of Laughter Amid Catastrophe

From the Black Death’s medieval gloom to the global pandemics of modern times, humor has persistently flared as a coping mechanism, social adhesive, and subtle instrument of critique. Whether voiced in bawdy street ballads, etched into Dance Macabre motifs, or pressed into clandestine pamphlets, comedic expression broke through the gloom to remind people of their humanity.

Key Takeaways

Humor in plague times is often a paradox: how can one laugh while so many die? The paradox dissolves upon recognizing laughter’s emotional necessity.
Comedic expression frequently targeted authorities or quacks, highlighting official failures and profiteering. This subversive edge occasionally paved the way for more rational, secular approaches to disease management.
The comedic impetus to question, mock, or invert social hierarchies during pandemics contributed to broader cultural shifts—be it the decline of feudal illusions about nobility’s invulnerability or the Enlightenment push for empirical solutions.

Ultimately, “giggles in gloom” reflect a timeless human impulse: when stricken by forces beyond control, we cling to laughter as both shield and sword. It is a shield that defends mental well-being by defusing terror, and a sword that jabs at incompetent or exploitative systems. Studying plague humor across centuries affirms that, even as an epidemic can fracture society, comedic solidarity can help patch it back together—providing a communal catharsis and, often, sowing seeds of change.