Literary Chronicles of Survival: Endurance, Creativity, and the Human Spirit

Abstract

The recent global pestilence of COVID-19 has profoundly reshaped the contours of twenty-first-century human experience. The collective sorrow and shared adversity engendered by this event have underscored the essentiality of human solidarity and concerted action. Simultaneously, this period of crisis has catalysed a profound introspection on the delicate and often obscured strata of human experience that typically inform our quotidian existence. In this context, literary expression has provided humanity with an alternate epistemic space, transcending geographical and cultural divides to forge a shared understanding of collective suffering. This paper posits that literature has, in effect, functioned as a hermeneutic antidote to the ravages of pestilential outbreaks, with a particular focus on the oeuvre of William Shakespeare. The Shakespearean genius, having himself endured the calamitous impact on his theatrical enterprise, left behind a rich repository of insights and reflections on the plague that maintain a striking resonance with the challenges posed by COVID-19 centuries later. By examining these historical narratives, the analysis will highlight how preeminent thinkers of past eras not only persevered through devastating plagues but emerged with intellectual triumphs, demonstrating the profound capacity for survival and creative fortitude in the face of human agony.