Times of Contagion: The Social(ist) Politics of Plague in Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare

Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare (1995) was inspired by Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year and the LA riots that followed the acquittal of four policemen after they had beaten Rodney King. To her, these events became linked, because spatial barriers broke down, obliging the rich and poor to share a common space. The play is set in 17th-century London at a time when the city is ravaged by the plague. Four characters are quarantined together against their will, which leads to extraordinary situations. Several critics have noted that the plague can be seen as a leveller but I would actually like to qualify this idea, in that the disease mainly kills the poor in the play and the power shift it portrays seems to be temporary at best. At the same time, I want to explore the text’s hidden layers of radicalism, which it could be argued are a by-product of catastrophe.