Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London: Trauma and Emotion, Private and Public

Abstract

This essay reads Samuel Pepys’ account of the 1666 fire in London as a test case for the study of ‘literary’ texts in the history of emotions and of disasters. Journals and diaries are invaluable evidence for the history of trauma and disaster, but as self-conscious texts written for an uncertain future their testimony is not always straightforward. Pepys interweaves a mixture of private and public emotions in his diary, which testifies to the important mediating role of language in the history of emotions. He also tracks his own emotional state after the trauma of the fire: one of the reasons his account remains so compelling for modern readers. Pepys’ account of the fire is paradoxical as a trauma narrative: it is deeply personal and yet offers invaluable insights into the behaviour of the people of London as they confront the destruction of their city.