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Article: The Vision of Piers Plowman.
- Article from:
- The American Enterprise
- Article date:
- July 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 The American Enterprise, a national magazine of politics, business and culture (TEAmag.com). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Vision of Piers Plowman By William Langland, c.1379 Edited by A. V. C. Schmidt, Everyman's
Library, 1995, 550 pages, $9.95
Within its first 1,000 lines, William Langland's Piers Plowman explores money's influence on politics, the problem of able-bodied people who are unwilling to work, the state's role in restraining popular impulses, and the need for religious leaders to practice what they preach. In other words, the poem, written in the late 14th century, speaks to the waning years of the 20th century.
The poem centers on the dream visions of a narrator named Will. The narrator, who many scholars believe represents Langland himself, ...