Piers Plowman C Version - Full Summary + Lecture Notes
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Course
Langland’s Piers Plowman (LEO049M05)
Institution
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RuG)
Book
Piers Plowman
This document contains a full summary + explanatory notes of William Langland'S Piers Plowman: A New Annotated Edition of the C-text by Derek Pearsall. it also contains lecture notes & summaries of various secondary sources. Please note that this document discusses the C-version of the text only, w...
Piers Plowman
Contents
Piers Plowman......................................................................................................................................... 7
Prologue .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Passus I – Holy Church ........................................................................................................................ 9
Passus II – The Marriage Plans of Meed the Maid ............................................................................ 10
Passus III – Meed the Maid at Westminster ..................................................................................... 12
waiting room ................................................................................................................................. 12
trial ................................................................................................................................................ 12
Passus IV – Meed the Maid on Trial [tw: rape] ................................................................................. 14
Passus V – The Author’s Apologia and the Sermon of Reason ......................................................... 15
will’s rant ....................................................................................................................................... 15
reason’s sermon ............................................................................................................................ 15
Passus VI – The Confessions of the Sins ............................................................................................ 16
pride .............................................................................................................................................. 16
envy ............................................................................................................................................... 16
wrath ............................................................................................................................................. 16
lechery........................................................................................................................................... 17
avarice ........................................................................................................................................... 17
Glutton [tw: food, alcohol & purging]........................................................................................... 18
Passus VII – The Shriving of the Folk, Piers Plowman’s Guide to Truth ............................................ 19
sloth .............................................................................................................................................. 19
off on a hero’s journey .................................................................................................... 20
directions ...................................................................................................................................... 20
Passus VIII – The Ploughing of the Half-Acre [tw: hunger/food mention]........................................ 21
all in a day’s work .......................................................................................................................... 21
piers............................................................................................................................................... 21
ploughing ...................................................................................................................................... 21
hunger ........................................................................................................................................... 21
Passus IX – The Pardon Sent from Truth ........................................................................................... 23
beggars .......................................................................................................................................... 23
hermits .......................................................................................................................................... 23
the pardon .................................................................................................................................... 23
awake ............................................................................................................................................ 23
,Table of Contents 2
Passus X – The Search for Dowel: The Discourse of the Friars, Thought and Wit [tw:
alcohol/drunkenness mention]......................................................................................................... 25
thought.......................................................................................................................................... 25
wit ................................................................................................................................................. 25
Passus XI – Learning and Salvation: the Discourse of Study, Clergy and Rechelesnesse.................. 27
study.............................................................................................................................................. 27
clergie ............................................................................................................................................ 28
fortune .......................................................................................................................................... 28
Passus XII – The Debate about Salvation Continued: Discourse of Rechelesnesse on Humility and
Patient Poverty (tw: brief mention of anxiety attack) ...................................................................... 30
Passus XIII – Rechelesnesse Concludes: The mirror of Middle-Earth ............................................... 32
rechelesnesse ................................................................................................................................ 32
mirror ............................................................................................................................................ 32
reason ........................................................................................................................................... 32
awake ............................................................................................................................................ 33
Passus XIV – Imaginatif ..................................................................................................................... 34
learning ......................................................................................................................................... 34
salvation ........................................................................................................................................ 34
re: will’s objections with the natural order of creation ................................................................ 35
Passus XV – The Feast of Patience and the Meeting with Activa Vita (tw: food mention) .............. 36
dinner @ reason’s ......................................................................................................................... 36
patience & actiua vita ................................................................................................................... 37
Passus XVI – Patience and Liberum Arbitrium .................................................................................. 39
seven sins ...................................................................................................................................... 39
the perks of poverty ...................................................................................................................... 39
free will ......................................................................................................................................... 40
Passus XVII – Liberum Arbitrium on Charity and the Church............................................................ 42
charity ........................................................................................................................................... 42
bless me, what do they teach them at these schools? ................................................................. 42
good christianity 101 .................................................................................................................... 43
islamophobia 101 .......................................................................................................................... 43
storm the palace vatican............................................................................................................... 43
Passus XVIII – The Tree of Charity and the Meeting with Faith ........................................................ 44
hortus ............................................................................................................................................ 44
fruit................................................................................................................................................ 44
got a taste of your cherry i just need to take a bite ......................................................... 44
,Table of Contents 3
abraham ........................................................................................................................................ 45
Passus XIX – Hope and the Good Samaritan ..................................................................................... 46
spes ............................................................................................................................................... 46
samaritan ...................................................................................................................................... 46
Passus XX – The Crucifixion and the Harrowing of Hell [tw: death, bullying, all the horror that
comes with the crucifixion story]...................................................................................................... 48
entering jerusalem ........................................................................................................................ 48
crucifixion ...................................................................................................................................... 48
............................................................................................ 49
sisterly get-together...................................................................................................................... 49
meanwhile in hell: sadly enough not david tennant in a bathtub. ............................................... 50
..................................................................................................... 50
Passus XXI – The Founding of Holy Church [tw; blood] .................................................................... 52
jesus vs christ ................................................................................................................................ 52
grace/holy spirit ............................................................................................................................ 52
gifts for piers ................................................................................................................................. 53
pride’s evil plan ............................................................................................................................. 53
moat .............................................................................................................................................. 53
revolution / get the guillotines ..................................................................................................... 53
Passus XXII – The Coming of the Antichrist [tw: battle, death, injuries, plague] .............................. 55
need’s lecture ............................................................................................................................... 55
antichrist ....................................................................................................................................... 55
armageddon / it’s the end of the world as we know it / 2020 ........................................ 55
this poem is sponsored by keeps. two to three guys will experience some form of male pattern
baldness by the time that they’re— ............................................................................................. 56
back to the show ........................................................................................................................... 56
medicine........................................................................................................................................ 57
Lecture Notes ........................................................................................................................................ 59
, Table of Contents 4
Lecture I – Passus I-IV ....................................................................................................................... 59
disclaimer ...................................................................................................................................... 59
general information ...................................................................................................................... 59
estates satire ................................................................................................................................. 59
revolt ............................................................................................................................................. 60
black death .................................................................................................................................... 60
meed ............................................................................................................................................. 61
conscience ..................................................................................................................................... 62
holy church.................................................................................................................................... 63
Lecture II – Passus V-X ...................................................................................................................... 64
theology ........................................................................................................................................ 64
affect ............................................................................................................................................. 64
knight ............................................................................................................................................ 64
pardon ........................................................................................................................................... 65
1381 .............................................................................................................................................. 66
knight ............................................................................................................................................ 67
Lecture III – Passus XI-XVI ................................................................................................................. 68
mirrors........................................................................................................................................... 68
aristotle ......................................................................................................................................... 68
ymaginatif ..................................................................................................................................... 68
kynde ............................................................................................................................................. 69
the lesson ...................................................................................................................................... 69
shame ............................................................................................................................................ 70
clergy ............................................................................................................................................. 71
illustrated ...................................................................................................................................... 71
Lecture IV – Passus XVII-XXII ............................................................................................................. 72
free will ......................................................................................................................................... 72
charity ........................................................................................................................................... 72
virgin-widow-married ................................................................................................................... 73
danger men at work ......................................................................................................... 73
audience ........................................................................................................................................ 74
ending ........................................................................................................................................... 74
Academic Articles .................................................................................................................................. 76
“Vox Populi and the Literature of 1381” in The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature –
David Aers ......................................................................................................................................... 76
the situation .................................................................................................................................. 76
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