English: Piers Plowman

Topics examining Medieval literature in various intellectual, historical, and aesthetic contexts. Representative topics: Medieval Drama; Daughters of Mary/Daughters of Eve. May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years. Prerequisites: Three hours in English numbered 1010 to 1990; minimum Sophomore standing.

Prerequisites: Three hours in English numbered 1010 to 1990; minimum Sophomore standing. PACE students with permission and override

William Langland’s Piers Plowman is one of the most important and influential texts of the late fourteenth century (the period often referred to as “the age of Chaucer”). Langland was Chaucer’s contemporary, but he wrote poetry quite unlike Chaucer’s, and for that matter quite unlike that of any other English poet before him. Although some poets attempted to imitate his style in later generations, none succeeded in producing anything as deeply searching and as eloquently monumental as Piers Plowman. The poem is structured around the narration of a series of dream visions experienced by the speaker, a man named Will, who in one sense is a stand-in for the poet, but who also represents the quality of the human will (as in free will, willing, and willpower). Described by a twentieth-century medievalist as “hallucinogenic,” the poem depicts Will’s dreams as psychedelic and enigmatic, not always resolving into clear sense. Their riddling quality causes Will to ask questions of the figures he meets—allegorical interlocutors who represent the institutions of authority in Will’s world (such as Holy Church) as well as the faculties of his own mind (Thought, Conscience, etc.). For Will, his series of dreams amounts to a kind of pilgrimage, and his quest is of the profoundest significance: he wants to save his soul by learning what it really means to live life *well* in a complicated and confusing world. In his search for this truth, he confronts--sometimes with righteous outrage--both individual and institutional failings and the most deeply rooted problems of his society. _Piers Plowman_ is protest poetry, medieval style. In this course you will • gain familiarity with one of the most important and difficult polygeneric texts from the Middle English period, • develop critical perspectives from which to study it, • learn to situate it in relation to its historical contexts (literary, political, economic, and religious), • consider its relevance to ethical questions that animate our 21st-century world, • develop skills at closely reading and analyzing temporally distant literature , • and improve participatory skills in class and small-group discussions. REQUIRED TEXTS: --Piers Plowman, Norton Critical edition, ed. Elizabeth Robertson and Stephen Shepherd ISBN 978-0-393-97559-8 --Michael Calabrese, An Introduction to Piers Plowman, U of Florida Press ISBN 978-0-813-06457-4

_Piers Plowman_ is a famously difficult poem that SHOULD perplex us and make us ask questions. Our efforts to work through it together will depend on everyone’s curiosity and active engagement with the material both in and out of the classroom. Our class time will sometimes be devoted to lectures and sometimes to discussions or group activities. Exemplary class participation, which will greatly benefit your final grade, will consist of careful preparation of the assigned reading (I highly recommend marking up your text with notes—and questions!—as you read), active involvement in class discussions and activities, and close attention to the lectures. It follows that regular attendance is very important.

Final grades are based on class participation, short writing assignments, and a final group project.