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Piers Plowman Contents Piers Plowman ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Prologue .............................................................................................................................................. 7 Passus I – Holy Church ........................................................................................................................ 9 Passus II – The Marriage Plans of Meed the Maid ............................................................................ 10 Passus III – Meed the Maid at Westminster ..................................................................................... 12 waiting room ................................................................................................................................. 12 trial ................................................................................................................................................ 12 Passus IV – Meed the Maid on Trial [tw: rape] ................................................................................. 14 Passus V – The Author’s Apologia and the Sermon of Reason ......................................................... 15 will’s rant ....................................................................................................................................... 15 reason’s sermon ............................................................................................................................ 15 Passus VI – The Confessions of the Sins ............................................................................................ 16 pride .............................................................................................................................................. 16 envy ............................................................................................................................................... 16 wrath ............................................................................................................................................. 16 lechery ........................................................................................................................................... 17 avarice ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Glutton [tw: food, alcohol & purging] ........................................................................................... 18 Passus VII – The Shriving of the Folk, Piers Plowman’s Guide to Truth ............................................ 19 sloth .............................................................................................................................................. 19 off on a hero’s journey .................................................................................................... 20 directions ...................................................................................................................................... 20 Passus VIII – The Ploughing of the Half-Acre [tw: hunger/food mention] ........................................ 21 all in a day’s work .......................................................................................................................... 21 piers............................................................................................................................................... 21 ploughing ...................................................................................................................................... 21 hunger ........................................................................................................................................... 21 Passus IX – The Pardon Sent from Truth ........................................................................................... 23 beggars .......................................................................................................................................... 23 hermits .......................................................................................................................................... 23 the pardon .................................................................................................................................... 23 awake ............................................................................................................................................ 23 1 / 4
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Passus X – The Search for Dowel: The Discourse of the Friars, Thought and Wit [tw: alcohol/drunkenness mention] ......................................................................................................... 25 thought .......................................................................................................................................... 25 wit ................................................................................................................................................. 25 Passus XI – Learning and Salvation: the Discourse of Study, Clergy and Rechelesnesse .................. 27 study .............................................................................................................................................. 27 clergie ............................................................................................................................................ 28 fortune .......................................................................................................................................... 28 Passus XII – The Debate about Salvation Continued: Discourse of Rechelesnesse on Humility and Patient Poverty (tw: brief mention of anxiety attack) ...................................................................... 30 Passus XIII – Rechelesnesse Concludes: The mirror of Middle-Earth ............................................... 32 rechelesnesse ................................................................................................................................ 32 mirror ............................................................................................................................................ 32 reason ........................................................................................................................................... 32 awake ............................................................................................................................................ 33 Passus XIV – Imaginatif ..................................................................................................................... 34 learning ......................................................................................................................................... 34 salvation ........................................................................................................................................ 34 re: will’s objections with the natural order of creation ................................................................ 35 Passus XV – The Feast of Patience and the Meeting with Activa Vita (tw: food mention) .............. 36 dinner @ reason’s ......................................................................................................................... 36 patience & actiua vita ................................................................................................................... 37 Passus XVI – Patience and Liberum Arbitrium .................................................................................. 39 seven sins ...................................................................................................................................... 39 the perks of poverty ...................................................................................................................... 39 free will ......................................................................................................................................... 40 Passus XVII – Liberum Arbitrium on Charity and the Church ............................................................ 42 charity ........................................................................................................................................... 42 bless me, what do they teach them at these schools? ................................................................. 42 good christianity 101 .................................................................................................................... 43 islamophobia 101 .......................................................................................................................... 43 storm the palace vatican ............................................................................................................... 43 Passus XVIII – The Tree of Charity and the Meeting with Faith ........................................................ 44 hortus ............................................................................................................................................ 44 fruit................................................................................................................................................ 44 got a taste of your cherry i just need to take a bite ......................................................... 44 2 / 4
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abraham ........................................................................................................................................ 45 Passus XIX – Hope and the Good Samaritan ..................................................................................... 46 spes ............................................................................................................................................... 46 samaritan ...................................................................................................................................... 46 Passus XX – The Crucifixion and the Harrowing of Hell [tw: death, bullying, all the horror that comes with the crucifixion story] ...................................................................................................... 48 entering jerusalem ........................................................................................................................ 48 crucifixion ...................................................................................................................................... 48
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sisterly get-together ...................................................................................................................... 49 meanwhile in hell: sadly enough not david tennant in a bathtub. ............................................... 50 ..................................................................................................... 50 Passus XXI – The Founding of Holy Church [tw; blood] .................................................................... 52 jesus vs christ ................................................................................................................................ 52 grace/holy spirit ............................................................................................................................ 52 gifts for piers ................................................................................................................................. 53 pride’s evil plan ............................................................................................................................. 53 moat .............................................................................................................................................. 53 revolution / get the guillotines ..................................................................................................... 53 Passus XXII – The Coming of the Antichrist [tw: battle, death, injuries, plague] .............................. 55 need’s lecture ............................................................................................................................... 55 antichrist ....................................................................................................................................... 55 armageddon / it’s the end of the world as we know it / 2020 ........................................ 55 this poem is sponsored by keeps. two to three guys will experience some form of male pattern baldness by the time that they’re— ............................................................................................. 56 back to the show ........................................................................................................................... 56 medicine ........................................................................................................................................ 57 Lecture Notes ........................................................................................................................................ 59 3 / 4
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Lecture I – Passus I-IV ....................................................................................................................... 59 disclaimer ...................................................................................................................................... 59 general information ...................................................................................................................... 59 estates satire ................................................................................................................................. 59 revolt ............................................................................................................................................. 60 black death .................................................................................................................................... 60 meed ............................................................................................................................................. 61 conscience ..................................................................................................................................... 62 holy church .................................................................................................................................... 63 Lecture II – Passus V-X ...................................................................................................................... 64 theology ........................................................................................................................................ 64 affect ............................................................................................................................................. 64 knight ............................................................................................................................................ 64 pardon ........................................................................................................................................... 65 1381 .............................................................................................................................................. 66 knight ............................................................................................................................................ 67 Lecture III – Passus XI-XVI ................................................................................................................. 68 mirrors ........................................................................................................................................... 68 aristotle ......................................................................................................................................... 68 ymaginatif ..................................................................................................................................... 68 kynde ............................................................................................................................................. 69 the lesson ...................................................................................................................................... 69 shame ............................................................................................................................................ 70 clergy ............................................................................................................................................. 71 illustrated ...................................................................................................................................... 71 Lecture IV – Passus XVII-XXII ............................................................................................................. 72 free will ......................................................................................................................................... 72 charity ........................................................................................................................................... 72 virgin-widow-married ................................................................................................................... 73 danger men at work ......................................................................................................... 73 audience ........................................................................................................................................ 74 ending ........................................................................................................................................... 74 Academic Articles .................................................................................................................................. 76 “Vox Populi and the Literature of 1381” in The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature – David Aers ......................................................................................................................................... 76 the situation .................................................................................................................................. 76
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