Proletariat of the plague year : Defoe’s description of seventeenth century capitalism

Abstract

This thesis will look at how in his book, A Journal of the Plague Year, Daniel Defoe portrays the effects of one’s socio-economic status on their life in the plague-ridden city of London in the year 1665. This thesis will mainly rely on Marxist theory and concepts which are applicable to both past and present forms of the capitalist economic system. This enables the results to be compared to those of different eras. Due to restrictions on length in a thesis of this level, the focus will be on only a select few Marxist concepts: Labour power, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. Additionally, the thesis will consider the role of overpopulation and unemployment in a capitalist system according to Marxist theory.

The first research question is: How much can Marxist concepts be applied to Defoe’s depiction of London? The society of plague era London differs greatly from the societal structures of Marx’s own time. It is therefore possible that his concepts and ideas do not necessarily fit into a book describing a much older period. The second research question is: How did the plague affect the socio-economic development of the city and the manifestation of Marxist concepts? The effects of a deadly epidemic on societal roles and class status provide fertile ground for discussion even in today’s world.

As becomes evident in the thesis, Marxist concept can indeed be applied to Defoe’s London rather effortlessly. The significant differences in opportunities between the different classes, the total collapse of the value of labour power and the importance of the unemployed as the fuel of a capitalist machine are all on show in Defoe’s writings, even 200 years before the emergence of Marxist theory. The impact of the plague on these socio-economic concepts is also observable in the book. London’s national emergency created an extreme manifestation of a capitalist dystopia where the bourgeoisie observed from afar while the proletariat was forced to work under deadly conditions to make a living, or else wait for the inevitable death by starvation.