Chapter 2: Section B study of texts: William Langland’s Piers Plowman

Essential reading

Schmidt, A.V.C. The Vision of Piers Plowman: A Critical Edition of the B Text. (London: Everyman, 1995) second edition [ISBN 0460875094]. This is the recommended text for this topic. Passages set in the examination will be taken from this edition.

Recommended secondary reading

You will find the following extremely useful:

Simpson, James Piers Plowman: An Introduction to the B-Text. (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2007) [ISBN 0859898034].

Other useful texts are:

Alford, John (ed.) A Companion to Piers Plowman. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992) [ISBN 0520060074].

Baldwin, Anna P. The Theme of Government in Piers Plowman. (Cambridge: Brewer, 1981) [ISBN 0859910733].

Baldwin, Anna P. A Guidebook to Piers Plowman. (London: Macmillan, 2007) [ISBN 0230507159].

On dream poetry, see:

Spearing, A.C. Medieval Dream-Poetry. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976) [ISBN 0521290694].

For estates satire, see:

Mann, Jill Chaucer and Medieval Estates Satire. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973) [ISBN 0521097959].

See the general reading list in the Introduction for further suggestions.

A note on the set text

In view of the length and difficulty of the poem, the examination requires only that you read the Prologue and passus 1–4, which cover the whole of the first dream. It is a good idea to try to read the whole poem in a modern English translation, such as the Penguin or Everyman editions, before starting to study the set extract. This will familiarise you with the poem’s overall development and the general themes. But if you cannot do so, there is a summary of the poem in the recommended edition by Schmidt, which you should read before starting to study the set extract.

Introduction

This chapter will discuss Langland’s Piers Plowman, focusing on the Prologue and passus 1–4. It will look at the form of the poem, considering such aspects as estates satire, moral allegory and the dream-vision genre.

There are four different versions of the poem Piers Plowman. The poet appears to have worked intermittently on the work, expanding and revising it over a considerable period of time. The different versions are as follows:

The ‘B’ version is the best known and has therefore been selected as the set text for the examination. It is essential that you have the correct text, as they vary so significantly. The ‘B’ version consists of a series of dreams, eight in all, plus two ‘inner’ dreams. The examination will require only a knowledge of the Prologue and passus 1–4.

It is not known for certain who wrote Piers Plowman, but the poem is generally attributed to William Langland (?1330–?1386), who seems to have been a clerk in minor holy orders. Critics have identified what they believe to be the author’s cryptic inclusion of his name, in a coded form, in passus XV, l.152:

I have lyved in londe…My name is Longe Wille.

Knowing virtually nothing of the author’s life, we are forced to concentrate on the poem itself.

The poem seems to have been enormously popular in the Middle Ages, as it survives in 52 different manuscripts, almost as many as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (which is extant in 82 MSS). Modern readers tend to find Piers Plowman ‘difficult’, both in its language and subject matter. This may be due partly to its West Midlands dialect and, also, its highly idiosyncratic style. The sheer length and complexity of the poem can be daunting, and critics have argued for a bewildering variety of interpretations. However, this richness should be seen as a positive feature. The poem certainly provides a wealth of challenging ideas and startling transformations and is of enormous value for the student of the Middle Ages.

The Prologue

Begin by reading just the Prologue. The poem opens with Will describing his first dream vision, of the famous ‘fair field full of folk’ between two castles.

Activity

What do you think of this ‘I’ figure? Does the voice of the narrator seem to you clear in its viewpoint? Is it a consistent voice?

It is only much later in the poem we learn the speaker is called ‘Will’. This name hints at various levels of meaning (is Will the poet, the faculty, the dreamer, or all of these at once?).

Activity

How do you interpret the clearly symbolic landscape?

Satire

Much of the description of the ‘fair field full of folk’ in the Prologue can be considered satirical, focusing on society’s flaws and shortcomings.

Activity

What particular faults would you identify as being targeted for criticism?

Notice how the people described come from different social strata. Traditionally, society in the medieval period was seen as comprising three ‘estates’ or classes:

Activity

You can probably think of ways in which this simplified model was inadequate to fully contain the actual social order. For instance, how do women fit into the model? What of the newly wealthy ‘middle’ classes, the town-dwellers who sold their services or traded?

Professional classes were developing, such as lawyers and merchants, who did not fit into the traditional model.

Activity

Try to identify tensions in the presentation of society in the Prologue.

This kind of satire is known as estates satire. A very useful book to read on this subject is Jill Mann’s Chaucer and Medieval Estates Satire.

The historical context is discussed more fully below, in Chapter 5.

Activity

Find out about the late fourteenth-century unrest in every area of life, considering among other important events: the impact of the Hundred Years’ War; the weaknesses and folly of the monarchs (both Edward III and Richard II alienated many of the nobility by their favouritism and extravagance, and aroused opposition in parliament); the Papal Schism in 1378; the Wycliffites – followers of John Wycliffe, expelled from Oxford in 1382 – and the growing mistrust of ‘Lollard’ dissenters.

The episode of ‘Belling the Cat’, which is placed carefully in the narrative at ll.146–208, is another kind of satire, using the beast fable form.

Activity

How effective do you find such veiled political commentary?

Remember that Richard II came to the throne in 1377 aged only 11.
The dangers of a royal minority were very pertinent issues at the time.

Activity

What do you think is the effect of ll.209–10?

The same fable was used by others in issuing advice and warning to over-powerful kings; for instance, Deschamps used it, and it was part of a sermon delivered to the king in 1377. Unease about the royal power was manifested in 1386, when Richard was threatened with deposition (later, of course, after Langland had died, the threat was fulfilled).

Style

As well as the political aspects of the narrative, you will need to consider what is so far revealed of Langland’s style.

Activity

The use of plentiful Latin quotations, mainly from the Vulgate version of the Bible, is something to think about. Look at the variety of usage and effects.

Sometimes the Latin merely rephrases something already expressed, sometimes it works to qualify or emphasise an idea; it can be briefly incorporated into a line, or it can take over for many lines!

Activity

Find out about the different languages in use in England at the time and the status of Latin.

Latin was less unfamiliar then than it generally is today. Notice how little of the sense is lost if you do not understand the Latin. Do not be concerned if you do not know Latin, as the Latin is always fully explained in editions of the text, and in the examination any Latin will always be translated for you.

From your reading so far, you should be forming an impression of Langland’s characteristic style. The energy and shifting qualities of Langland’s poetry engage different readers in different ways.

Activity

What do you like about Langland’s style? What do you dislike? Ask yourself why you respond in this way.

Passus 1

Now read passus 1. There is a distinct shift in this first passus, after the introductory, scene-setting Prologue.

Activity

Are you surprised by the change in tone and style? Identify in detail what the changes are.

Holy Church comes down from the castle and answers Will’s questions. We now move into the exploratory section of the poem, where the question of how one ought to live is brought to the fore and carries the rest of the poem into a series of potential answers, none of which, however, seems to provide an entirely satisfactory response. Holy Church delivers a kind of sermon, instructing Will how to live. In the manner of contemporary sermons, she states her main theme, ‘Whan alle tresors arn tried…Treuthe is the beste’ (l.85) and repeats it at intervals (ll.135, 207). This notion of ‘truth’ is extremely important in the Middle Ages, in its different senses of ‘faithfulness’ (towards one’s fellow Christians, towards God), ‘loyalty’, ‘honesty’, ‘justice’.

Activity

Consider the importance of ‘Truth’ in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, for example. What do you think Holy Church is using the word to mean?

The difficulty in assigning meaning to words, the slippery inadequacy of language, is one of the poem’s wider themes, which it is worth exploring. (See the Suggestions for further study at the end of this chapter.)

Note how the narrative is now formal, replacing description with explanation. The whole episode is didactic, designed to teach; Holy Church provides a lengthy lesson, based on a series of six questions and answers.

Activity

Identify some of these questions and answers.

Do you find this section more or less interesting than the Prologue? Whatever your personal view, it is important to note how Langland is manipulating tone and style for different ends.

Passus 2–4

Now read passus 2–4. A new extended episode develops in these passus, focused on Lady Mede and the trial of Wrong. Carefully follow the development of the plot, whereby Mede travels to Westminster to defend herself against charges of bribery and corruption.

At the king’s court, it is proposed that Mede be married to Conscience, but Conscience objects. Trace his arguments against the marriage, which, on the surface, appears to be a reasonable proposal. At this point in the narrative, there is a new development, when Peace comes to accuse Wrong of criminal offences. Throughout these passus, Langland’s major technique of using personification allegory becomes dominant. We will discuss this in more detail below.

Activity

For the moment, try to identify the main protagonists and what they represent.

There are different levels to be analysed here:

Activity

Try to identify where and how Langland is insinuating criticism.

Much of the effect of this section could be described as humorous, despite the seriousness of the moral message. This is an aspect of Langland’s art that can be studied further. In addition to the pervasive use of irony, there are moments of pithy, colloquial jocularity (e.g. passus 2, l.98), as well as sometimes subtle, sometimes startling effects of incongruity and juxtaposition to look out for. Langland particularly likes slipping in a last-minute detail that alters the whole tone of a passage – for example, passus 3, ll.90–91, where the last two words of Mede’s appealing entreaty undercut all our sympathy.

Activity

If you would like to see how Langland’s comedy can be vividly employed in a ‘low’ style for serious moral purposes, do try to read the Seven Deadly Sins episode in passus 5, especially ll.297–385, detailing how Glutton tries to repent and fails miserably.

Some critics see passus 2–4 as continuing Holy Church’s discussion of Truth, in that two of the prime meanings of Truth, ‘loyalty’ and ‘justice’, are being explored. The following passus (passus 5–20) will go on to explore religious Truth, and the figure of Piers the Plowman, who does not even appear in our set extract, comes to assume a complex role as moral authority and model Christian. For the purposes of the examination you do not need to read any more, but if you are interested in following through the rest of the poem, then reading it in translation will help to set this first part of the poem in its full context.

The Alliterative Revival

Piers Plowman is generally considered to be an important example of poetry written as part of the so-called ‘Alliterative Revival’ of the latter half of the fourteenth century. This title is given to describe various works that come mainly from the north and west of England, and that share a poetic form based on alliterating letters rather than on rhyme. ‘Alliterating’ means sharing the same letter, usually at the beginning of the word (note that all vowels alliterate with one another). For example, the opening line of Piers Plowman, ‘In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne’, shows four words alliterating.

Activity

Pick some other lines from the poem at random, and consider how the alliteration is working.

It might be light or emphatic; it may draw attention to key words or it may work to suggest interconnections or contrasts. Try to be sensitive to poetic effects as you read, for this kind of poetry can achieve very dense suggestiveness.

This style of verse contrasts sharply with that used by Chaucer and his contemporaries in the southern half of the country. As a court poet, Chaucer was exploring newly fashionable forms originating in France, such as rhyming couplets, and various stanzaic forms, such as the Chaucerian stanza (also known as rhyme royal). Chaucer uses alliterative effects very rarely and, in the Parson’s Prologue (X, l.43), speaks slightingly of telling tales ‘“rum, ram, ruf” by lettre’. The alliterative verse form was closer to native English traditions than Chaucer. Before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Old English poetry was ‘alliterative’, with a regular pattern of three alliterating stresses per line. As the example above from Piers shows, this three-stress pattern was not strictly followed by the poets of the late fourteenth century. The verse of Piers has been analysed as employing a long line of varying length, containing between two and five stressed syllables, with a varying number of alliterating syllables. It is very loose and flexible.

Activity

Find some examples of very short and very long lines to illustrate this range.

Sometimes the verse alliterates on more than one letter, which is not at all traditional. In many ways Piers is not typical of the alliterative style. It does not use the specialised poetic diction associated with other alliterative poetry, other than for occasional special effect (e.g. the ‘courtly’ diction used to describe Mede at various times). Nor is it usual in its subject matter, dealing as it does with serious issues of politics, philosophy and theology.

It is not known, since we do not have enough texts from the period surviving, whether the alliterative style continued in use after the Conquest, or whether it ceased to be used. The word ‘Revival’ in the term ‘Alliterative Revival’ implies that the style had fallen into disuse and that poets like Langland were part of a rediscovery of the old tradition. But this is far from certain. All we know for sure is that a considerable amount of verse written in the alliterative style survives from the late fourteenth century. Other examples are:

Dream vision

Piers Plowman is cast as a series of dream visions. ‘Thanne gan I metten a merveillous swevene’ (Prologue, l.10) introduces the first in the series of dreams. The dream vision was an extremely popular genre in the Middle Ages. Chaucer wrote several dream vision poems (The Book of the Duchess; The Parliament of Fowls; The House of Fame; The Legend of Good Women). The question of the nature of dreams comes up in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, among others.

The prime source for models of dream visions was the Bible. Numerous figures experience divine guidance or prophetic insight through dreams, including Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, Job and Moses (important examples can be found in the books of Ezekiel, Zachariah and Revelation).

Among the most influential literary texts spreading the popularity of the dream vision were:

Macrobius classified dreams as being of five types, subdivided into the ‘true’ (the somnium – allegorical; the visio – a plain vision; the oraculum – with an authoritative figure) and ‘false’ (the insomnium – having a physical cause such as indigestion; the visium – half-conscious). Piers contains different words to describe the dreams it depicts.

Activity

Which category do you think the first dream falls into?

Conventions of the dream vision

The main elements of the dream vision can be itemised as follows:

Activity

Consider which aspects of Piers Plowman conform to this model. In particular, think about the figure of Will.

Small touches can suggest certain traits – for instance, when the Dreamer comments cryptically upon the action (Prologue, l.111) or, when he scrupulously admits to lacking a basic knowledge about what he is seeing (passus 3, l.3). The Dreamer acts as the reader’s representative within the poem, asking questions, seeking to understand, commenting upon the action. In this way, the reader is brought into the poem, as if a present witness to the unfolding events. It is part of the technique of dream visions to offer the reader a privileged point of view, often allowing the reader to feel superior to the Dreamer, to come to independent conclusions about the meaning of events. In short, the persona of the Dreamer facilitates a kind of personal involvement in the poem on the part of the reader.

Activity

The dream vision genre obviously had enormous appeal to writers in the medieval period and beyond. Can you think of recent examples?

The genre allowed writers to be highly imaginative and to consider matters from a different perspective, even to broach serious subjects in such a way that they could not be held responsible for their ideas and images: they were only dreams! In an age when it was dangerous to write critically of those in power, the opportunity to explore ideas with the excuse of fictionality was very useful. For example, when Will states in the Prologue ll.209–10 that he dare not speculate as to the meaning of the vision of the rats and mice, it draws attention to the fact that direct criticism is dangerous, while at the same time taking advantage of the ‘dream’ premise as a protective veil behind which to propose suggestive interpretations.

There is also the freedom to create a shifting narrative, which Langland takes full advantage of, playing with time and space in a way that is extremely dream-like.

Activity

Try to assess how Langland makes the fluid dream-world work in Piers Plowman. Notice the speed of events in the Prologue. Does the same time scheme operate uniformly throughout, or does time ‘collapse’, speed up and slow down?

Personification allegory

Personification allegory is a major device in medieval literature in general, and particularly in Piers Plowman, and an understanding of it will considerably enhance your reading of the poem. Allegory (from the Greek, meaning, ‘speaking otherwise’) originates as a literary device in the classical period (you will find a detailed discussion of allegory in Chapter 3 below). Personification allegory is a sub-type, whereby abstract concepts and inanimate objects are described as if they were people. They are represented as ‘persons’, given voices (‘prosopopoeia’) and a degree of characterisation. Their names are written with capital letters to distinguish them from the simple nouns (e.g. False, Conscience, Reason). In Piers Plowman, there is a range of such figures, from those representing individual moral values (Wrong) to others embodying institutions (Holy Church), or aspects of life (Hunger).

Activity

Note down what other kinds of personification you can find.

A particularly influential text in popularising this kind of literary expression was Prudentius’s Psychomachia (c.ad 400). In this Latin work, an internal struggle between good and bad impulses is depicted as a battle between personified virtues and vices. Much of medieval drama uses similar notions of representing inner conflict as external combat (for example, the morality play Everyman). Langland has a similar siege of virtues by vices later on in the poem (passus 20).

Just as there were held to be seven deadly sins, so there developed the concept of seven virtues, the ‘theological’ virtues taken from St Paul – Faith, Hope and Charity – and the ‘cardinal’ virtues, originating with Plato – Prudence, Temperance, Courage and Justice. Perhaps because these nouns were gendered female in Greek and Latin, these virtues were usually personified as female figures. Notice how the names of many of these virtues still exist in modern English as girls’ names (Faith, Charity, Prudence; also, similar virtuous concepts, such as Constance).

Activity

What results do you think this representation of vices and virtues as female might have, both in terms of the literary effects and in terms of the moral implications? Imagine, for instance, how different the effect might be if Holy Church and Mede were shown as male instead of female.

The figure of Lady Mede is especially useful to consider. She seems to be the embodiment of a host of misogynistic clichés, about female sexuality, moral depravity and fundamentally dangerous allurement. It is instructive at this point to read an influential part of the Bible, which in many ways underlies this portrait of Mede.

Activity

Read Revelation, Chapters 17 and 18, and compare them to the first 19 lines of passus 2.

By describing Mede in terms reminiscent of the Great Whore of Babylon, Langland is drawing a clear contrast with the figure of Holy Church, setting up a dichotomy between good and bad female figures. But is it really that straightforward? There are moments when Holy Church sounds quite peevish and irritable (for example, passus 1, l.140; passus 2, ll.20–28) and Mede has some attractive features (such as her vitality, and her sympathy for the accused Wrong).

Activity

This is one aspect of personifying notions that could be explored further: when the figures are given vivid personalities like Mede, are the moral lessons made more or less ambiguous? Or, to put it another way, is it the case that the fuller the portrait, the less ‘contained’ the message?

It is useful to consider how far concepts embodied in personified figures can be used to convey clear messages.

Activity

What does ‘Mede’ mean? From your reading of the poem, note what your impression of the meaning of the word ‘mede’ is.

The word itself had many meanings in medieval English. They may be summarised as follows:

If you try to assign one particular meaning to ‘mede’ that will explain the figure in Piers Plowman, it will soon become clear that it is impossible to do so. She means different things at different times to different people. She takes pains to confuse these potential meanings, by conflating several positive and negative aspects at once (see passus 3, ll.175–227), and succeeds in convincing the king of her value. It is Conscience who finally unravels the potential meanings to distinguish between two main ones: namely, one given by God (passus 3, ll.230–245) and one acting as a corrupting influence on earth (l.246 ff.).

Ambiguities of meaning

The difficulty in assigning specific, unambiguous meaning to words, which modern literary theory is currently concerned with, was a live issue in the Middle Ages. Although Langland may be seen to be trying to fix firm meanings, in practice, it proves impossible. The kind of allegorical approach he uses only enhances the ambiguities and, as the poem progresses, the confusion and lack of clarity as to who people are and what they mean increase, so it must be part of Langland’s purpose to highlight such problems. This shifting, changeable world created by Langland is complex and confusing by design. It forces the reader to question the very notion of stable meaning. Perhaps such stability can only be found with God. Certainly, the effect of Langland’s allegorical personifications is to multiply meanings, to dissolve any illusion of fixity. You might wish to explore this proposition further.

Learning outcomes

Having completed this chapter, and the relevant reading and activities, you should be able to:

Sample examination questions

1. How far would you agree that Piers Plowman is ‘beyond the reach of traditional generic categories’?

2. ‘The dream gives poets a detachment from everyday reality which fuels incisive satirical analysis.’ Discuss.

3. ‘Piers Plowman has the peculiar force of something only half-understood.’ Discuss.

4. With particular reference to Lady Holy Church and Lady Mede, consider some of the ways in which Langland brings his allegory to life and renders it meaningful.

Suggestions for further study

After reading Chapter 5 below on the historical context of Chaucer’s General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, you might like to compare Chaucer’s General Prologue with Langland’s Prologue. A useful article to read is:

Helen Cooper, ‘Langland’s and Chaucer’s Prologues’, Yearbook of Langland Studies (1987) 1.

Consider how Langland’s satire, like Chaucer’s, exploits the tension between the ideal and the actual.

For a very full treatment of words and wordplay in Piers Plowman, you might try to get hold of a copy of:

Mary Clemente Davlin’s A Game of Heuene: Word Play and the Meaning of Piers Plowman. (Brewer, 1989), although it is now out of print.

Another aspect to consider is Langland’s use of the beast fable. After reading Chapter 3 below, you may wish to compare this fable of the rats and mice with Henryson’s Fables.