Abstract
This thesis explores the presentation of plague in Daniel Defoe’s (1661?-1731) A Journal of the Plague Year (1722). Defoe begins to develop a realistic approach to the subject of plague, forming a contrast to sixteenth- and seventeenth-century plague writers steeped in an analogical use of plague in narrative. Early modern English plague accounts generally affirm the concept of plague as an instrument of punishment, and the theme of sin and repentance constitutes the majority of these accounts. In consequence, narratives tend to focus on who should be responsible for provoking God into sending a plague, revealing social instability. In this tradition, plague writers make wise use of plague as a trope, calling the source of social injustice “plague”. However, the Journal indicates a deviance from the analogical rhetoric of plague.
Chapter One commences with a literature review of the Journal, and then proceeds to frame my thesis and outline the process by which plague grows into a trope. The subsequent chapters examine plague accounts in early modern England, exploring Bullein, Dekker, and Defoe’s way to address plague in the literary world. Chapter Two begins by establishing the literary lineage of Bullein, Dekker, and Defoe as faction writers, and proceeds with a specific focus on the plague accounts of Bullein and Dekker. Chapter Three spotlights the commencement of a realistic approach to plague in the Journal, and explores the link between the shift from the metaphorical to the realistic and the rise of the novel. The final chapter concludes by illuminating the value of the Journal as an important work for plague literature. Absorbing contemporary demands from journalism and especially the novel, the Journal displays a new approach to writing on plague, and as a consequence, marks a significant stage in the development of plague literature.

摘要
本論文旨在研究丹尼爾•狄福《大疫年日誌》一書中的瘟疫書寫。英國十六、十七世紀的瘟疫敘述充滿了政治性與宗教性，瘟疫在此類書寫中擔任了隱喻的功用，暗藏作者的社會批判與觀察。然而，狄福在十八世紀初所寫的瘟疫小說展現了不同於前人的企圖，將瘟疫小說帶入十八世紀初寫實小說的框架，進而擴展、豐富了瘟疫文學的面貌。
本文第一章為導論，藉由文獻回顧指出過去《大疫年日誌》的研究偏重於文類的界定而忽略了瘟疫這一中心議題，並進一步指出，狄福的書寫方式是值得關注的一大方向。本文的第二章探討在狄福之前英國近現代的瘟疫敘述，重點在於闡明瘟疫如何在當時的政治角力與宗教紛爭中被轉化為一符碼，暗嵌作者的社會視角與批判。第三章研究狄福在《大疫年日誌》中的書寫方式。由於當時社會、文化、文學環境的轉變與社會期待，狄福企圖以一種不同以往的方式書寫瘟疫，轉入寫實的方向，以往隱喻式的書寫顯見收斂。最後一章指出本文對狄福《大疫年日誌》研究的貢獻。

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
I. Literature Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
II. Framing My Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
III. Plague Metaphor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IV. Structure . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter Two: The Usage of Plague as a Trope in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries: William Bullein and Thomas Dekker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
I. Lineage . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .19
II. Contextualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
III. Textual analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
I Bullein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
II Dekker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
IV. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Chapter Three: Defoe’s Realistic Treatment of Plague . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
I. The Interpretations of the Plague in the Journal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
II. The Journal as Journalistic and Novelistic Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Conclusion: The Journal’s Historical Significance in Relation to Plague
Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

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