Piers Plowman

E11707

Piers Plowman is a major Middle English allegorical poem, attributed to William Langland, that explores social justice and Christian spirituality through a series of dream visions.

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Observed surface forms (4)


Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Middle English poem
allegorical poem
dream vision poem
approximateCompositionDate late 14th century
associatedWith Lollardy
author William Langland
canonicalStatus major work of Middle English literature
comparedWith The Canterbury Tales
containsCharacter Conscience
Lady Holy Church
Reason
countryOfOrigin England
criticizes abuses in the medieval Church
corrupt clergy
social inequality
explores relationship between work and faith
role of the laity in Christian life
focusesOn search for Dowel, Dobet, Dobest
form alliterative verse
genre allegory
religious literature
visionary literature
hasVersion A-text
B-text
C-text
influenced English religious reform movements
William Morris
modern social Christianity
language Middle English
literaryPeriod Middle English
surface form: Middle English literature
literaryTradition alliterative revival
mainCharacter Piers Plowman self-linksurface differs
surface form: Piers the Plowman

Will
manuscriptTradition complex and variable
meter alliterative long line
narrativeVoice first-person dreamer
originalVerseForm unrhymed alliterative verse
setting Middle Ages
surface form: medieval England
structure series of dream visions
studiedIn medieval English literature courses
theme Christian spirituality
church corruption
grace
salvation
sin
social justice
true Christian life

Referenced by (18)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Conscience allegoricalRoleIn Piers Plowman
subject surface form: Conscience (Piers Plowman)
Conscience appearsIn Piers Plowman
subject surface form: Conscience (Piers Plowman)
Lady Holy Church appearsIn Piers Plowman
Ricardian poets associatedWithWork Piers Plowman
A-text associatedWork Piers Plowman
C-text hasAlternativeName Piers Plowman
this entity surface form: C-text of Piers Plowman
Middle English hasNotableWork Piers Plowman
C-text isPrincipalVersionOf Piers Plowman
A-text isVersionOf Piers Plowman
William Langland knownFor Piers Plowman
Piers Plowman mainCharacter Piers Plowman self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Piers the Plowman
William Langland notableWork Piers Plowman
C-text partOf Piers Plowman
this entity surface form: Piers Plowman textual tradition
William Langland portraysCharacter Piers Plowman
this entity surface form: Piers the Plowman
William Langland probableAuthorOf Piers Plowman
Alliterative Revival producedWork Piers Plowman
C-text workTitle Piers Plowman
Lady Holy Church workTitleFull Piers Plowman
this entity surface form: The Vision of Piers Plowman