Piers Ploughman: Focus, Content and Style:
CLOSE READING OR COMPARISON:
* In Sir Orfeo and Chaucer, we expect narrative traits of adventure, structure, etc. Here, we don’t.
* Langland was born and educated in the West Midlands and had a high level of clerical and literary knowledge, but never earned (learned?) through the church. He then moved to London, writing from 14th C London.
* Ploughman is an honest worker, providing food, as in Chaucer. Chauser may have taken this from Langland, yet didn’t write a tale for him.
* Chaucer would have seen the courts, the wealthy. The poor are figures of humour and mockery. Langland saw the tensions between the King’s London and the people’s London. Merchant classes. Willing to open to more rebellious ideas, challenges to authority and London was not a comfortable place – violent, dirty – he will focus on the poor and not see them as a literary device.
* Langland said services, discussions etc. within London crowds. He presents himself as detatched, alienated and very poor, yet able to ’see though the facade of 14th C London.’ (RF)
* Bunyan, Milton, Swift, Blake – many influences. Orwell (fantasy worlds ‘that speak to our understanding of our own society.’)
* DREAM POEM! Fashionable form of writing. Granted a vision – garden, Heaven, Hell, universe, real world with changes – dreams can’t go anywhere.
* Doesn’t invent what he write, he dreams it – freedom, visionary figure and allows for protest without rebellion. Dreams with interpretation.
* Allegory different level with translation, personification eg. ‘Reason’, ‘Conscience’.
* Note of authority in voice.
* Sprinkle Latin throughout quotations. Adding authoritative and a trigger for those with the same education to ask questions and explore further. Latin undermines argument of English.
* Alliterative verse.
* No rhyme! Not expected to. Lines held together by alliterations.
* Lines longer than in Chaucer or Sir Orfeo.
* Often a break in the middle of the line.
* Northern/Western languages, yet softened for a London audience.
Passus 6:
* Lady Mede (money) corrupting the court. Moves into field of folk for a symbolic view as the field as a microcosm of Medieval society.
* Quest, but no idea where to go. Ploughman comes to the field – he knows ‘Truth’ – knows how to find it!
* Ploughman:
o LITERAL:
+ Village community.
+ Not very poor – employs others, make money.
+ Some status and authority.
+ Physical labour for survival.
o METAPHORICAL:
+ Biblical parallels – sowing, weeds, harvest – country audience.
+ Not just literal harvest but also Day of Judgement.
+ How to live a good life.
Passus 7b:
* Authority figuer, organises society so that everyone fits into a place and everyone will be fed. Fear of famine both here and in the real world.
* Lasts about 100 lines, before collapsing under the threat of laziness and violence. Then plays on the threats – lawlessness vs. famine.
* He cannot change this – social voice leads to disaster.
* Knight = authority figure, accepts Piers and the social ordering.
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* Langland is drawing a model of society in symbolic language due to dream narrative.
* Piers is a stereotypical figure of the ploughman.
* Attempts to organise people into a structure.
* Pilgrimage to develop characters – many different people placed together to explore relationships. Chaucer sends them away on holiday, but ‘journey of life’ suggestion. Langland doesn’t start the pilgrimage – ‘his pilgrimage is the ploughing of the fields.’
* Chaucer and Langland both within society’s framework -
o CHURCH: Spiritual sustenance.
o FIGHT-KING = neighbourhood knight. Protectional.
o WORKERS : Physical sustenance.
* Problem of the rising middle classes – powerful, educated and wealthy. Langland is aware that this doesn’t work and is setting up a model to break it down.
o Authority of peers: leader of village/honest work – seriously challenged by Waster.
o Knight: he is not strong enough by waster.
o Church: Very absent.
* Piers summons (key!) the figure of Hunger.
* Personification and cannot reach beyond their identities (like Mr. Men!)
* Represent themselves only!
* Three types of inequality
o Rich vs. poor (rich always has the food)
o Economic cycle between famine and plenty.
o Annual movement of harvests – point of danger was early summer, not winter.
* Anxious society – socially disrupted with plague and hunger.
* Langland is exposing problems, and seeking a solution – not necessarily getting there.
* Action of Hunger. Piers asks for vengeance in line 170.
* Hunger affects Wasters, but still exists and has presence to cause problems.
* Repeated ‘f’ sounds and strong verbs.
* Worried liberal with feelings for hunger – wants him to leave. Asks for hunger’s advice in 215-220. They all work for hunger, not for love!
* How can you get people to work wihtout threatening them – not for love but fear.
* Sermoning hunger – more Latin.
* DRAMATIC PRINCIPLE: What voice and why speaking? Not just what they are saying…
* Piers uses far less Latin – normally ecclesiastical links. e.g. Talents, Lazarus
* (hunger = rich — poor).
* PANIC – SERMON – FRANTIC ACTIVITY
* Chaucer’s detail lies in places and objects to give authenticity. Langland does so to make readers focus on the reality and larger pattern of 14th C life.
* Criminals and Gluttons return despite previous events. Cycle starts again.
* Can dramatise questions of society and explore their possible answers.
Part credit to Dr. Kennedy.
