Piers Plowman
CONTENT
Abstract..........................................................................................2
Introduction....................................................................................3
History of the title...........................................................................4
Editorial, publication and reception history....................................7
Concluding remarks.....................................................................12
References..................................................................................13
Abstract
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman (William 's Vision of Piers Plowman) is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus". Piers is considered by many critics to be one of the early great works of English literature along with Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight during the Middle Ages.
The poem- part theological allegory, part social satire- concerns the narrator 's intense quest for the true Christian life, from the perspective of mediaval Catholicism. This quest entails a series of dream-visions and an examination into the lives of three allegorical characters, Dowel ("Do-Well"), Dobet ("Do-Better"), and Dobest ("Do-Best").
Key words 1. Middle English poem 2. Allegorical narrative poem 3. Early great work
Introduction
The poem begins in the Malvern Hills in Malvern, Worcestershire. A man named Will falls asleep and has a vision of a tower set upon a hill and a fortress in a deep valley; between these symbols of heaven and hell is a "fair field full of folk", representing the world of mankind. In the early part of the poem Piers, the humble plowman of the title, appears and offers himself as the narrator 's guide to Truth. The latter part of the work, however, is concerned with the narrator 's search for
Abstract..........................................................................................2
Introduction....................................................................................3
History of the title...........................................................................4
Editorial, publication and reception history....................................7
Concluding remarks.....................................................................12
References..................................................................................13
Abstract
Piers Plowman or Visio Willelmi de Petro Plowman (William 's Vision of Piers Plowman) is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus". Piers is considered by many critics to be one of the early great works of English literature along with Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight during the Middle Ages.
The poem- part theological allegory, part social satire- concerns the narrator 's intense quest for the true Christian life, from the perspective of mediaval Catholicism. This quest entails a series of dream-visions and an examination into the lives of three allegorical characters, Dowel ("Do-Well"), Dobet ("Do-Better"), and Dobest ("Do-Best").
Key words 1. Middle English poem 2. Allegorical narrative poem 3. Early great work
Introduction
The poem begins in the Malvern Hills in Malvern, Worcestershire. A man named Will falls asleep and has a vision of a tower set upon a hill and a fortress in a deep valley; between these symbols of heaven and hell is a "fair field full of folk", representing the world of mankind. In the early part of the poem Piers, the humble plowman of the title, appears and offers himself as the narrator 's guide to Truth. The latter part of the work, however, is concerned with the narrator 's search for
References: 1. Anthology of English Literature 2. http://www.piersplowman.org/