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The Dancing Plague of 1815

 Hysteria  : A behavior exhibiting overwhelming or unimaginable fear or emotional excess (" Definition of HYSTERIA" para. 2).

''' What Happened? '''

The Dancing Plague occurred in 1815 from August to September. A woman named Frau Troffea started the dancing plaque as she danced on a cobbled street. On July 14, Troffea danced for hours and hours all day long. Eventually, the woman collapse of exhaustion. While she danced, no music played and there was no expression on her face. The next day, she was up and dancing again. After she was sent away to be “healed” of the dancing curse, many people began to join (" The Dancing Plaque of 1518" para. 3). As the plague continued, many people went unconscious or died as the author exclaims, “Ragged clothes and pinched faces are saturated in sweat. Their eyes are glassy, distant. Blood seeps from swollen feet into leather boots and wooden clogs” (“The Dancing Plague of 1815” para. 1). People also suffered from heart attacks, exhaustion, and strokes (Edrick para.2) 0. The Dancing Plague was so intenset that the article“Dancing Plague of 1815” declares, “A marathon runner could not have lasted the intense workout that the men and women died from hundreds of years ago” (Edrick para. 4).

''' Why Label the “Dancing Plague” as Hysteria? '''

The Dancing plague was a phenomenon that spreaded from person to person. There was no supported evidence as to what actually caused it. Many theories were developed as to what caused this incident. During the time, malnutrition and famine occurred ("What Was The Dancing Plague of 1815" para.3). There was said to be infected rye that led to seizures due to egotism. Ergot is similar to the modern day LSD drug("The Dancing Plague: Choreomania" para. 9). Many connected the dancing plague to religious point of views as Doug MacGowan states, “ [The Dancing Plague was] some kind of religious ecstasy caused by veneration of Saint Vitus, the patron saint of epilepsy” (“ The Dancing Plague of 1518” para. 9).

 "Curing" the Dancing Plague 

Believe it or not, many thought that the cure to the dancing plague would be more dancing! The city built a wooden stage and hired musicians (Edrick para. 4). Some physicians thought that one had to be healed from the dancing plague by going to Saint Vitus and perform a series of steps to be truly cleaned as the author states, “They put small crosses in their hands and red shoes on their feet. On the soles and tops of these shoes, they sprinkled holy watered and painted crosses of consecrated oil” (“The Dancing Plague 1815” para. 7).

Reference

"Commonlit | The Dancing Plague Of 1518". Commonlit, 2018, https://www.commonlit.org/texts/the-dancing-plague-of-1518. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.

"Definition Of HYSTERIA". Merriam-Webster.Com, 2018, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hysteria?utm_campaign=sd&utm_medium=serp&utm_source=jsonld. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.

"The Dancing Plague Of 1518". The Public Domain Review, 2018, https://publicdomainreview.org/2018/07/10/the-dancing-plague-of-1518/. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.

"The Dancing Plague: Choreomania". Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, 2018, https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/dancing-plague-choreomania/. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.

"What Was The Dancing Plague Of 1518?". HISTORY, 2018, https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-dancing-plague-of-1518. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.

Edrick, Vann. "Dancing Plague Of 1518". Stunninginterestingfacts.Blogspot.Com, 2018, http://stunninginterestingfacts.blogspot.com/2014/08/dancing-plague-of-1518.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2018.