19-) English Literature
William Langland
William
Langland (/ˈlæŋlənd/; Latin: Willielmus de Langland; c. 1332 – c. 1386) is the
presumed author of a work of Middle English alliterative verse generally known
as Piers Plowman, an allegory with a complex variety of religious themes , the
greatest examples of Middle English alliterative poetry, , an allegorical work
with a complex variety of religious themes.. One of the major achievements of
Piers Plowman is that it translates the language and conceptions of the
cloister into symbols and images that could be understood by the layman. In
general, the language of the poem is simple and colloquial, but some of the
author’s imagery is powerful and direct.
Life
Little
is known of Langland’s life: he is thought to have been born somewhere in the
region of the Malvern Hills, in Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England
around 1330, according to internal evidence in Piers Plowman , and if he is to
be identified with the “dreamer” of the poem, he may have been educated at the
Benedictine school in Great Malvern. The narrator in Piers Plowman receives his
first vision while sleeping in the Malvern Hills (between Herefordshire and
Worcestershire), which suggests some connection to the area. The dialect of the
poem is also consistent with this part of the country. Piers Plowman was
written c. 1377, as the character's imagination says he has followed him for
"five and forty winters."
References
in the poem suggest that he knew London and Westminster as well as Shropshire,
and he may have been a cleric in minor orders in London.
Langland
clearly had a deep knowledge of medieval theology and was fully committed to
all the implications of Christian doctrine. He was interested in the asceticism
of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and his comments on the defects of churchmen and
the religious in his day are nonetheless concomitant with his orthodoxy. A fifteenth-century
note in the Dublin manuscript of Piers Plowman says that Langland was the son
of Stacy de Rokayle.
Langland
is believed to have been born in Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire, although
Ledbury, Herefordshire, and Great Malvern, Worcestershire also have strong
claims to being his birthplace. There is a plaque to that effect in the porch
of Cleobury Mortimer's parish church , which also contains a memorial window,
placed in 1875, depicting the Piers Plowman vision. Langland is thought to have
been a novitiate of Woodhouse Friary located nearby.
There
are strong indications that Langland died in 1385 or 1386. A note written by
"Iohan but" (John But) in a fourteenth-century manuscript of the poem
(Rawlinson 137) makes direct reference to the death of its author: "whan
this werke was wrouyt, ere Wille myte aspie/ Deth delt him a dent and drof him
to the erthe/ And is closed vnder clom" ("once this work was made,
before Will was aware/ Death struck him a blow and knocked him to the ground/
And now he is buried under the soil"). According to Edith Rickert, John
But himself seems to have died in 1387, indicating that Langland died shortly
before this date. Nonetheless some scholars believe Langland was the author of
a 1399 work, Richard the Redeless. It is believed that William Langland was born in the year 1332
in the Worcestershire town of Ledbury, close to the Welsh border. It is quite
likely that he went to school at nearby Great Malvern Priory. He was writing
poetry at an early age and had a strong religious inclination which almost led
to the priesthood. He didn’t quite manage that though as he only took minor
orders.
At
some point after completing his education he moved to London to seek his
fortune. His talent for writing enabled him to make some kind of income copying
documents. He supplemented this by singing at masses and, although it is
unconfirmed, he may also have made money by reciting prayers for the dead.
Indeed a lot of what is “known” about Langland comes directly from his Piers
Plowman work as scholars have suggested that it is an autobiographical piece of
work.
William
Langland is the conjectured author of the fourteenth-century English poem Piers
Plowman. Almost nothing is known of Langland himself, and if he authored any
other works of literature they are no longer known to us. Nonetheless, on the
basis of Piers Plowman alone, Langland is one of the most important figures in
Middle English literature. Langland was writing during a period of significant
cultural and linguistic change in England. The English language itself had been
rapidly changing as a result of the Norman Conquest and increased interaction
with the European continent; and English culture had entered a period of
significant strife. The rampant corruption of medieval Roman Catholicism had
incited a great deal of unrest among the English populace, and a number of
authors, Langland among them, would directly address their own thoughts on
Christianity, the Church, and the state of England as a whole through the
medium of poetic allegory. In so doing, Piers Plowman became (intentionally or
not) a rallying-point for one of the largest revolts in medieval history, and
the poem would be appropriated by a number of radicals throughout England.
Conjectured
Life
Almost
nothing is known of William Langland the man, and even his authorship of the
widely influential Piers Plowman is only scantily documented. The attribution
of Piers to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a manuscript held at
Trinity College, Dublin. This document directly ascribes "Perys
Ploughman" to one "Willielmi de Langlond", son of "Stacy de
Rokayle, who died in Shipton-under-Wichwood, a tenant of the Lord Spenser in
the county of Oxfordshire." Other manuscripts also name the author as
"Robert or William Langland," or "Wilhelmus W." (most
likely shorthand for “William of Wichwood”). The poem itself also seems to
point towards Langland's authorship. At one stage the narrator remarks: “I have
lyved in londe...my name is longe wille” (B.XV.152). This can be taken as a
coded reference to the poet's name, in the style of much late-medieval
literature. Although the evidence may appear slender, Langland's authorship has
been widely accepted by commentators since the 1920s. It is not, however,
entirely beyond dispute, as recent work by Stella Pates and C. David Benson has
demonstrated.
Langland's
entire identity rests on a string of conjectures and vague hints. It would seem
that he was born in the West Midlands: Langland's narrator receives his first
vision while sleeping in the Malvern Hills, between Herefordshire and
Worcestershire, which suggests some level of attachment to this area. The
dialect of the poem also implies that its author originated from this part of
the country. Although his date of birth is unknown, there is a strong
indication that he died in c.1385-1386. A note written by one "Iohan
but" ("John But") in a fourteenth-century manuscript of the poem
(Rawlinson 137) makes direct reference to the death of its author: whan this werke
was wrouyt, ere Wille myte aspie/ Deth delt him a dent and drof him to the
erthe / And is closed vnder clom ("once this work was made, before Will
was aware / Death struck him a blow and knocked him to the ground / And now he
is buried under the soil"). Since But himself, according to records, seems
to have died in 1387, Langland must have died shortly before this date.
The
rest of our knowledge of the poet can only be reconstructed from Piers itself.
There is in fact a wealth of ostensibly biographical data in the poem, but it
is difficult to know how this should be treated. The C-text of Piers contains a
passage in which Will describes himself as a “loller” living in the Cornhill
area of London, and refers directly to his wife and child: it also suggests
that he was well above average height, and made a living reciting prayers for
the dead. However, it would be rash to take this episode at face value. The
distinction between allegory and real-life in Piers is by no means absolute,
and the entire passage, as some have observed, is suspiciously reminiscent of
the false confession tradition in medieval literature (represented elsewhere by
the Confessio Goliae and by Fals-Semblaunt in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose).
A similar passage in the final Passus of the B- and C-texts provides further
ambiguous details. This also refers to Will's wife, and describes his torments
by Elde (Old Age), as he complains of baldness, gout and impotence. This may
well indicate that the poet had already reached middle age by the 1370s: but
once again suspicions are aroused by the conventional nature of this
description, and the fact that it occurs towards the end of the poem, when
Will's personal development is reaching its logical conclusion.
Further
details can be inferred from the poem, but these are also far from
unproblematic. For instance, the detailed and highly sophisticated level of
religious knowledge in the poem indicates that Langland had some connection to
the clergy, but the nature of this relationship is uncertain. The poem shows no
obvious bias towards any particular group or order of churchmen, but is rather
even-handed in its anticlericalism, attacking the regular and secular clergy
indiscriminately. This makes it difficult to align Langland with any specific
order. He is probably best regarded, as John Bowers writes, as a member of
"that sizable group of unbeneficed clerks who formed the radical fringe of
contemporary society...the poorly shod Will is portrayed 'y-robed in russet'
traveling about the countryside, a crazed dissident showing no respect to his
superiors". Piers-scholar Malcom Godden has proposed that Langland lived
as an itinerant hermit, attaching himself to a patron temporarily, exchanging
writing services for shelter and food.
The
tradition that Langland was a Wycliffite—an early English form of Protestantism
before Martin Luther's Reformation—is an idea promoted by Robert Crowley's 1550
edition of Piers and complicated by early appropriation of the Plowman-figure,
and it is almost certainly incorrect. It is true that Langland and Wyclif
shared many concerns: both question the value of indulgences and pilgrimage,
promote the use of the vernacular in preaching, attack clerical corruption, and
even advocate disendowment. But these topics were widely discussed throughout the
late fourteenth century, only becoming typically associated with Wyclif after
Langland's death.
Attribution
The
attribution of Piers Plowman to Langland rests principally on the evidence of a
manuscript held at Trinity College, Dublin (MS 212). This manuscript ascribes
Piers Plowman to Willielmi de Langland, son of Stacy de Rokayle, "who died
in Shipton-under-Wychwood, a tenant of the Lord Spenser in the county of
Oxfordshire". Other manuscripts name the author as Robert or William
Langland, or Wilhelms W. (most likely shorthand for William of Wychwood).
The
poem itself also seems to point to Langland's authorship. At one point, the
narrator remarks: "I have lived in londe [...] my name is longe
wille" (B XV.152). This can be taken as a coded reference to the poet's
name, in the style of much late-medieval literature (see, for instance,
Villon's acrostics in Le Testament). However, it has also been suggested that
medieval scribes and readers may have understood this line as referring to a
"William Longwille", the pseudonym used by a Norfolk rebel in
1381.[8]
Although
there is little other evidence, Langland's authorship has been widely accepted
since the 1920s. It is not, however, entirely beyond dispute, as recent work by
Stella Pates and C. David Benson has demonstrated.
All
the way through it though are sometimes veiled attacks on all disciplines of
the clergy. It seems that he was not afraid to satirise religion which could,
of course, have been a dangerous path to take at that time. Perhaps the fact that
he favoured neither one side or another of the main religions saved him there –
he could not be accused by any of the factions of being against them, and them
alone.
The
exact date of his death is ambiguous but most records suggest that William
Langland died in the year 1390 which would have made him 58 years old.
Piers Plowman
Themes and Summary
William
Langland was a 14th century English poet who is most famous for his epic tale
of The Vision of Piers Plowman, a long poem written in unrhymed, alliterative
verse. Critics have compared this work favourably with the poetry of Geoffrey
Chaucer who was alive at about the same time. The main problem with this piece
of work though is the very size of it – some 47 separate manuscripts. Plowman
was split into three different sections, or “dream visions” as they have become
known. It was written in “Middle English” and is, as such, difficult to follow
but here is an extract from the Prologue which at least gives a flavour of this
significant piece of work: Some have suggested that not all of it was written
by Langland. Scholars of the work have more or less agreed that Langland was
responsible for at least two of the three sections, if not all of them. Some
arguments point to as many as five other writers being involved. The absolute
truth will probably never be discovered. After such a long passage of time it
is difficult to prove it one way or the other.
In
addition to Piers Plowman's political role in its own times, the poem is still
influential today due to its outstanding literary qualities. The poem is
difficult for modern readers; Langland's Middle English is too archaic to be
understood without the aid of a glossary or translation. Nevertheless, whether
read in translation or in the original, it is clear that the poem is one of the
finest works of literature to emerge out of the fourteenth century. Langland's
elegant imagery and straight-forward style make the poem one of the most unique
of its age. With the exception of a handful of other works written near the
same era, Piers Plowman is one of the earliest poems in the English language to
be written for a general audience rather than a member of the educated elite.
As a result, it is an early example of literary realism, and its plain style
would be adopted by a number of other poets in the succeeding decades of the
fifteenth century.
Unfortunately
much of what is written might not be strictly true. Rather than recording
factual accounts of a life the piece may have been of a largely fanciful,
fictitious nature. The full title of it was, in fact, The Vision of William
concerning Piers the Plowman. There was something called a tradition of “false
confession” found in literature written during the middle ages in England and
other parts of medieval Europe. What is found there though is interesting in
parts, with descriptions of the life of a man called “Will” with details of
life’s trials and tribulations, and descriptions of his wife. There are many
religious references which allude, in some ways, to Langland’s tenuous links
with the priesthood.
Piers
Plowman (written circa 1360–1399) or Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman
(William's Vision of Piers Plowman) is the title of Langland's Middle English
epic. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called
passus (Latin for "steps"). Piers is considered one of the early
great works of English literature. It is one of only a few Middle English poems
that can stand comparison with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The poem—part
theological allegory, part social satire—concerns the narrator's intense quest
for the true Christian life, which is told from the point of view of a medieval
Catholic narrator who falls asleep in the English Midlands and experiences a
series of visions. The poem consists of the narrator's visions, as he is guided
by the virtuous plowman, Piers, of the title, and also includes an examination
into the lives of three allegorical characters, Dowel ("Do-Well"),
Dobet ("Do-Better"), and Dobest ("Do-Best").
There
were originally thought to be three versions of Piers Plowman: the A version of
the text, which was the earliest, followed by the B and C versions that
consisted of revisions and further amplifications of the major themes of A.
However, a fourth version, called Z, has been suggested and the order of issue
questioned. The version described here is from the B text, which consists of
(1) a prologue and seven passus (divisions) concerned primarily with the life
of man in society, the dangers of Meed (love of gain), and manifestations of
the seven capital sins; and 13 passus ostensibly dealing with the lives of
Do-wel, Do-bet, and Do-best; in effect, with the growth of the individual
Christian in self-knowledge, grace, and charity.
In
its general structure the poem mirrors the complexity of the themes with which
it deals, particularly in the recurring concepts of Do-wel, Do-bet, and
Do-best, all in the end seen as embodied in Christ. They are usually identified
with the active, contemplative, and “mixed” religious life, but the allegory of
the poem is often susceptible to more than one interpretation, and some critics
have related it to the traditional exegetical way of interpreting the
Scriptures historically, allegorically, anagogically, and topologically.
The
poem begins in the Malvern Hills, Worcestershire. The poet falls asleep and has
a vision of a tower set high upon a hill and a fortress (dongeon) lying deep in
a valley; the tower, in keeping with medieval allegory, is a symbol of Heaven,
and the "dungeon" is a symbol of Hell. Between these two symbolic
places, there 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 Dowel,
("Do-Well") Dobet ("Do-Better") and Dobest
("Do-best"), three allegorical figures who, as their names suggest,
illustrate the ways of virtue. In particular, Dowel illustrates the virtue of
conscience, Dobet the virtue of grace, and Dobest the virtue of charity. A
sample of the poem's language and style can be heard in the following excerpt,
from the poem's prologue:
In a summer season • when soft was the sun,
I clothed myself in a cloak as I shepherd were,
Habit like a hermit's • unholy in works,
And went wide in the world • wonders to hear.
But on a May morning • on Malvern hills,
A marvel befell me • of fairy, methought.
I was weary with wandering • and went me to rest
Under a broad bank • by a brook's side,
And as I lay and leaned over • and looked into the
waters
I fell into a sleep • for it sounded so merry.
Then began I to dream • a marvellous dream,
That I was in a wilderness • wist I not where.
As I looked to the east • right into the sun,
I saw a tower on a toft • worthily built;
A deep dale beneath • a dungeon therein,
With deep ditches and dark • and dreadful of sight
A fair field full of folk • found I in between,
Of all manner of men • the rich and the poor,
Working and wandering • as the world asketh.
Some put them to plow • and played little enough,
At setting and sowing • they sweated right hard
And won that which wasters • by gluttony destroy.
Some put them to pride • and apparelled themselves so
In a display of clothing • they came disguised.
To prayer and penance • put themselves many,
All for love of our Lord • living hard lives,
In hope for to have • heavenly bliss.
Such as anchorites and hermits • that kept them in
their cells,
And desired not the country • around to roam;
Nor with luxurious living • their body to please.
And some chose trade • they fared the better,
As it seemeth to our sight • that such men thrive.
In a somer seson, whan softe was the sonne,
I shoop me into shroudes as I a sheep were,
In habite as an heremite unholy of werkes,
Wente wide in this world wondres to here.
Ac on a May morwenynge on Malverne hilles
Me bifel a ferly, of Fairye me thoghte.
I was wery forwandred and wente me to reste
Under a brood bank by a bourne syde;
And as I lay and lenede and loked on the watres,
I slombred into a slepyng, it sweyed so murye.
Thanne gan I meten a merveillous swevene —
That I was in a wildernesse, wiste I nevere where.
Ac as I biheeld into the eest an heigh to the sonne,
I seigh a tour on a toft trieliche ymaked,
A deep dale bynethe, a dongeon therinne,
With depe diches and derke and dredfulle of sighte.
A fair feeld ful of folk fond I ther bitwene —
Of alle manere of men, the meene and the riche,
Werchynge and wandrynge as the world asketh.
Somme putten hem to the plough, pleiden ful selde,
In settynge and sowynge swonken ful harde,
And wonnen that thise wastours with glotonye
destruyeth
And somme putten hem to pride, apparailed hem
therafter,
In contenaunce of clothynge comen disgised-
In preieres and penaunce putten hem manye,
Al for the love of Oure Lord lyveden ful streyte
In hope to have heveneriche blisse —
As ancres and heremites that holden hem in hire
selles,
Coveiten noght in contree to cairen aboute
For no likerous liflode hire likame to plese.
And somme chosen chaffare; they cheveden the bettre —
As it semeth to oure sight that swiche men thryveth.
The
poem is extremely difficult to summarize, due to in part to its nature as a
densely allegorical series of dream-visions. The poem has no clear narrative to
speak of; although there is a clear protagonist, Piers, and the poem does
indeed follow his development as a Christian,. Piers Plowman is more an
instructional poem rather than an epic story in the vein of Dante Alighieri or
Geoffrey Chaucer. Moreover, Langland's style is somewhat erratic, and the poem
frequently diverges into various tangents on political and theological
subjects.
Langland's
technique in Piers Plowman, however, is exemplary. Unlike Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales, or indeed most literature of the fourteenth- and fifteenth-centuries
which has survived to the present day, Piers Plowman is written in an
alliterative verse style reminiscent of Old English poetry, such as Beowulf.
Langland's use of alliterative verse, however, is flexible, integrating a
number of aspects of more modern verse styles; the poem is thus a bridge
between the medieval poetry of the Anglo-Saxons and the Latinized poetry of
latter centuries.
Moreover,
the language of Piers Plowman is remarkably plain; Langland went to extensive
lengths to ensure that his poem was not bogged down by a dense vocabulary and
obscure allusions, and it is quite clear that the poem was intended to be read
and understood by a general audience of English-speakers. In this respect, the
poem, although very difficult for modern readers, was one of the clearest and
most accessible works of literature in its day.
Most
of what is believed about Langland has been reconstructed from Piers Plowman.
The C text of the poem contains a passage in which the narrator describes
himself as a "loller" or "idler" living in the Cornhill
area of London, and refers to his wife and child, who are respectively named
Katherine and Nicolette.[6] It also suggests that he was well above average
height and made a living reciting prayers for the dead in chantries at St
Paul's Cathedral.[6] However, the distinction between allegory and reality in
Piers Plowman is blurred, and the entire passage, as Wendy Scase observes, is
reminiscent of the false confession tradition in medieval literature (also seen
in the Confessio Goliae and in Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose).
A
similar passage in the final Passus of the B and C texts provides further
ambiguous details on the poet's wife and his torments by Elde (Old Age),
including baldness, gout, and impotence. This may indicate that the poet had
reached middle age by the 1370s, but the accuracy of the passage is called into
question by the conventional nature of the description (see, for instance,
Walter Kennedy's "In Praise of Aige" and The Parliament of the Three
Ages) and the fact that it occurs near the end of the poem, when Will's
personal development is reaching its logical conclusion.
The
detailed and highly sophisticated religious knowledge displayed in the poem
indicates that Langland had some connection to the clergy, but the nature of
this relationship is uncertain. The poem shows no obvious bias towards any
particular group or order of churchmen, but is even-handed in its
anticlericalism. This makes it difficult to align Langland with any specific
order. He is probably best regarded, John Bowers writes, as a member of
"that sizable group of unbeneficed clerks who formed the radical fringe of
contemporary society ... the poorly shod Will is portrayed 'y-robed in russet'
traveling about the countryside, a crazed dissident showing no respect to his
superiors". Malcolm Godden has proposed that he lived as an itinerant
hermit, attaching himself to a patron temporarily and exchanging writing
services for shelter and food.
Robert
Crowley's 1550 edition of Piers Plowman promoted the idea that Langland was a
follower of John Wycliffe. However, this conclusion is challenged by early
Lollard appropriation of the Plowman figure (see, for instance, Pierce the
Ploughman's Crede and The Plowman's Tale). It is true that Langland and
Wycliffe shared many concerns: Both questioned the value of indulgences and
pilgrimages, promoted the use of the vernacular in preaching, attacked clerical
corruption, and even advocated disendowment. However, these topics were widely
discussed throughout the late 14th century and were not specifically associated
with Wycliffe until after the presumed time of Langland's death. Also, as
Pamela Gradon observes, at no point does Langland echo Wycliffe's
characteristic teachings on the sacraments.
Textual
Aspects
Piers
Plowman is considered to be the biggest challenge in Middle English textual
criticism, on par with the Greek New Testament. There are 50-56 surviving
manuscripts, depending on the number deemed to be fragments. None of these
texts are in the author's own hand, and none of them derive directly from any
of the others. All differ from each other.
All
modern discussion of the text revolves around the classifications made by
Walter William Skeat. Skeat argued that there are as many as ten forms of the
poem, but only three are to be considered "authoritative"—the A, B,
and C-texts—although the definition of "authoritative" in this
context has been rather problematic. According to the three-version hypothesis,
each version represents different manuscript traditions deriving from three
distinct and successive stages of authorial revision. Although precise dating
is debated, the A, B, and C texts are now commonly thought of as the
progressive (20-25 yrs.) work of a single author.
According
to the three versions hypothesis, the A-text was written c. 1367-1370 and is
the earliest. It is considered unfinished and runs to about 2,500 lines. The
B-text was written c. 1377-1379; it revises A, adds new material, and is three
times the length of A. It runs to about 7,300 lines. The C-text was written in
the 1380s as a major revision of B, except the final sections. There is some
debate over whether it can be regarded as finished or not. It entails
additions, omissions, and transpositions; it is not significantly different in
size from B. Some scholars see it as a conservative revision of B that aims at
disassociating the poem from radical views expressed by Langland on religious
subjects, but there is little actual evidence for this proposal.
Skeat
believed that the A-text was incomplete, basing his editions on a B-text
manuscript (Oxford, MS. Laud Misc. 581) that he wrongly thought was probably a
holograph—that is, written entirely in Langland's own hand. Modern editors
following Skeat, such as George Kane and E. Talbot Donaldson, have maintained
the basic tenets of Skeat's work: there were three final authorial texts, now
lost, that can be reconstructed, albeit imperfectly and without certainty, by
rooting out the "corruption" and "damage" done by scribes.
Other scholars have hypothesized the existence of a Z-text predecessor to A
which contains elements of both A and C. It is the shortest version of the
poem, and its authenticity remains disputed.
There
are some scholars who dispute the ABC chronology of the texts altogether. There
is also a minority school of thought that two authors contributed to the three
versions of the poem. Neither of these reappraisals of the textual tradition of
the poem are generally seen as very robust. Nevertheless, the troubled textual
history of Piers Plowman is necessary to keep in mind when attempting to
analyze and describe the poem as a literary work.
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