Dansing Around Some Topics

With the entirety of history to choose from, I find myself struggling with what I should research for my EH305 research paper. I have one other research paper to write as well as two annotated bibliographies due by the end of the semester. Because this class covers as much of history as possible, I am excited to write about a topic I find interesting. My other research assignments are based on a specific time. For the moment, my goal is to research how the Black Death changed and influenced the arts in the Late Middle Ages. I am hoping to look at the Danse Macabre and research why it became such a popular theme in art. Also, I want to include poetry, music, and other forms of art other than just paintings. I find it fascinating how the societies of the Late Middle Ages dealt with the atrocities of the Bubonic Plague through artistic expression. This period as a whole is very interesting to me especially because it had such a lasting effect on the future. Because much of the European population was wiped out in the pandemic, new economic opportunities arose and social mobility became more attainable than ever before. However, at the time people were too worried about their health and the health of their loved ones to think about how they may be better of if they survived the Plague. Instead, death became a normal part of their lives and eventually became a normal and reoccurring theme in art.