Piers Plowman

1. The Field of Folk in the Prologue is an allegorical representation of the world, but the description
    of the folk is also a satire of different trades and professions, and the episode ends with a realistic market scene where vendors cry out their wares. Trace the many varieties and shadings of allegory form in Piers Plowman.  Find examples to support your answers. 
2. Passus 5, "The Confession of the Seven Deadly Sins," is an example of "personification" allegory, in which the sins are personified as allegorical agents who describe themselves and act out their natures.  Give some sketches of these " allegorical agents."
3. Some actual/realistic elements are also manifested in the work. For instance, the tavern scene in which Glutton, on his way to Confession, is enticed into a drinking party, although an allegory, is also the most graphic picture we have of medieval London lowlife, not even excluding Chaucer's works.  Please find some more examples to present the juxtaposition of vision and actuality in Piers Plowman.
4. Pilgrimage was a traditional metaphor for the journey of life, and the idea that the pilgrims are a representative group, exemplifying the virtues and vices on the human pilgrimage, is presented in Piers Plowman. How is the group of folk different from the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales?
5. Compare the treatment of the Crucifixion in The Dream of the Rood with that either The York Play of the Crucifixion or Piers Plowman.  Can you draw any conclusion about the differences between Old and Middle English culture?
6. What do Chaucer and Langland have in common to lump their works together and refer to them as "medieval" literature? 

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English Literature I: the Medieval Period

English Literature and Culture From Medieval Period to the Eighteenth Century