William Shakespeare: Historical Interpretation #3

William Shakespeare: Historical Interpretation #3

 

Shakespeare certainly wrote his plays more than four hundred years ago. So how much should we reckon the past?

I have received a comment from under “A Frame of William Shakespeare's Life: Timeline”:

“Nothing. "Probably". "Would have". "Could have". Ridiculous myths, speculation and wishful thinking pawned off as biography. Nonsense. If you have evidence this man was a writer, please post it. We've been waiting for 400 years.”

As well as literature, I'm interested in history. I'd rather read and research about history. In fact, this comment touches on a good point to understand. Surely, history is a science. However, we need proof and documents to make history. Otherwise, we can't convince anyone of anything. In this context, most people believe that history is fiction. For instance, a historicist critic is someone who seeks to place a text in its context, revealing the embeddedness of, for example, Shakespeare's Macbeth in the witch-hunting mania of King James I's early reign. A historicist critic tries to understand a text by examining the time and place it was written, showing how, for example, Shakespeare's Macbeth reflects the widespread fear of witches during the early rule of King James I. (I will mention "New Historicism" that pertains to this issue). They might also conduct primary research in a historical archive, uncovering documents that shed new light on aspects of the text that readers removed by several centuries from its original publication could not previously see.

'The Enchanted Island Before the Cell of Prospero - Prospero, Miranda, Caliban and Ariel (Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2)', engraved after Henry Fuseli by Peter Simon

We know very little about the time between the birth of Hamnet and Judith Shakespeare, the twins, and the moment when Shakespeare is first mentioned in the theatre scene in London. This intervening period, often referred to as the lost years of Shakespeare, remains largely mysterious. However, it is certain that he somehow made his way from Stratford-upon-Avon to London. Whether he joined a traveling theatre company in need of an extra actor or fled due to trouble with a local landowner for poaching deer, remains unknown. Despite numerous stories circulating since the 18th century about why Shakespeare left Stratford, no concrete records exist from Shakespeare's lifetime or shortly after to clarify the circumstances surrounding his move to London with three young children and no clear career prospects. Nonetheless, Shakespeare did make this daring move and began establishing himself in the London world from the early 1590s onwards.

As a young boy, Shakespeare would have witnessed actors in Stratford-upon-Avon, as touring acting companies frequently visited the town. These companies would seek permission from the town's bailiff, the administrative leader, before performing. In 1569, when Shakespeare was five, this would have been his father. It's likely that permission was granted, and the first performance, known as the mayor's play, would have taken place. The mayor and his family were expected to attend, and even a curious 5-year-old Shakespeare might have witnessed his first play not far from where he grew up. Touring companies continued to visit Stratford, and in Shakespeare's early 20s, the renowned Queen's Men came to town. While we don't know what they performed, we do know that shortly before their visit, two of their actors were involved in a serious brawl, resulting in one fatality. This incident might have created an opportunity for Shakespeare to enter the professional theatre world, as the troupe may have been in need of additional talent. Thus, despite his humble origins as the son of a glover in Stratford, Shakespeare likely demonstrated enough promise to be recruited into the world of professional theatre.

Shakespeare's house, New Place, the Chapel and Grammar School, Stratford-on-Avon. From Samuel Ireland "Picturesque Views on the Upper or Warwickshire Avon"

Stephen Greenblatt describes the area we are currently in, on the south bank of the Thames in London, as a vibrant entertainment zone. People from different parts of the city would visit, knowing they had various activities to choose from. They could hire a boatman to ferry them across the river and then attend theaters like The Globe or The Swan. Alternatively, they could engage in other pastimes such as archery practice, visiting brothels, or patronizing taverns. Additionally, they could watch bull baiting and bear baiting exhibitions, where savage dogs attacked these animals, providing excitement for spectators. However, during the English Civil War, Puritan soldiers killed most of the bears, leading to the decline of this practice.

The area's history as the center of monasteries in the Middle Ages meant it had different legal arrangements from the rest of the city, allowing activities that the city authorities disapproved of but couldn't prevent. The city fathers had various concerns about the theatres, including traffic congestion, people skipping work, the potential for prostitution, and the spread of diseases like bubonic plague. Due to outbreaks of plague, the theatres would periodically be shut down until the death rates decreased. This caused economic difficulties for theatre companies, like Shakespeare's, who had to find ways to pass the time until the theatres reopened.

Stephen Greenblatt 

The Globe, where we're currently positioned, stands as the most renowned among England's grand amphitheatres during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It emerged from a groundbreaking initiative in 1576 by James Burbage, a builder and entrepreneur originating from the carpentry trade. Burbage ventured to invest his resources in a groundbreaking endeavour: a purpose-built, freestanding theatre—an unprecedented concept not seen since late antiquity. This endeavour involved substantial risk capital, banking on the idea of attracting large audiences willing to pay upfront for entertainment, rather than relying on post-performance donations as customary in inn yards. The model operated on a system of admission fees, with patrons paying a penny for entry or more for premium seating, ensuring performers received their due applause after the show.

However, The Globe wasn't the sole venue for Shakespearean or contemporary playwrights' performances. Officially, acting as a profession was forbidden, categorized as vagrancy, and punishable by whipping. To circumvent this restriction, actors claimed to be servants of nobility or royalty, thus legitimizing their performances as entertainment for their employers. While court appearances provided prestige, theatres like The Globe and others generated the bulk of their revenue from ticket sales. Performances also took place at venues like the Inns of Court, and legal institutions in 16th-century London, with known productions of Shakespeare's works such as Comedy of Errors at Gray's Inn in 1594 and Twelfth Night at The Middle Temple in 1602. Additionally, plays were staged at universities like Oxford and Cambridge. The necessity for mobility was ingrained in theatre practice; companies had to adapt to closures due to plague outbreaks and relocate for various reasons, reflecting the transient nature of theatrical performances during Shakespeare's era and continuing into modern times.

George Eliot: A Journey into 19th-Century British Literature

George Eliot: A Journey into 19th-Century British Literature

In this blog, I will continue studying 19th-century British novelists. In the previous entry, I introduced Charles Dickens, one of the most distinctive novelists of Victorian England. That entry does not include much detail because I plan to examine deeper into his novels, such as David Copperfield and Hard Times (which I am currently reading). After discussing Dickens' short biography and literary style, I will introduce George Eliot, another renowned novelist of the Victorian era.

Eliot, along with other British novelists, started writing novels at an early age. Her first novel, Adam Bede (1859), was a tremendously popular work, published when she was forty years old. I have mentioned that Dickens's depiction of characters in his novels reflects his personal experiences and relationships. Similarly, Eliot's characters' lives are viewed from the perspective of maturity and extensive experience. This perspective is further emphasized by her practice of setting her stories in the past, during her own childhood, or even earlier periods. For instance, in most of her novels, Eliot evokes a pre-industrial rural scene or the small-town life of the English Midlands. She views this setting with a combination of nostalgia and candid awareness of its limitations.

In her true identity as Marian Evans, she spent her early years at Arbury Farm, where her father Robert Evans served as the overseer and land agent. During her youth, Marian Evans (George Eliot) read extensively both in and out of school and was strongly influenced by Evangelism. Her mother's death led her to leave school at sixteen, and in the next few years, she experienced bouts of depression and self-doubt. Marian Evans' intellectual horizons were greatly expanded when she moved with her father to Coventry at the age of twenty-one. Because of her connections with a community of forward-thinking intellectuals and her own examination of theology, she reluctantly reached the conclusion that she could no longer adhere to the Christian faith. Her decision caused a painful rift with her father, which was eventually reconciled when she consented to accompany him to church as a formality. In return, he accepted that during these church visits, she was free to choose her own thoughts.

Marian Evans' deep inclination to theological matters aroused her to release her debut book in 1846, a translation of The Life of Jesus by D.F. Strauss, a prominent figure in the Higher Criticism movement in Germany. Modern research methods were used in this approach to test the historical authenticity of biblical narratives. Evans never stopped reading extensively in English and Continental philosophy throughout her life. Upon relocating to London in 1851 following her father's passing, Marian Evans' remarkable intellectual qualifications earned her the position of assistant editor at the Westminster Review, a prestigious scholarly journal formerly managed by John Stuart Mill. Marian Evans' time at the Westminster Review provided her with opportunities to engage with many notable writers and thinkers. One such individual was George Henry Lewes, a renowned critic of literature and philosophy, with whom she fell deeply in love. However, Lewes was already married and unable to obtain a divorce. Despite this obstacle, Evans made the decision to live with him as his common-law wife, and their relationship brought them both happiness until Lewes's passing in 1878. In her final year, Evans entered into marriage with J.W. Cross, a friend and admirer who eventually became her biographer.

Her decision to live with Lewes was not taken lightly, as she expressed:

"Light and easily broken ties are what I neither desire theoretically nor could live for practically. Women who are satisfied with such ties do not act as I have done—they obtain what they desire and are still invited to dinner."

Evans expresses her disdain for "light and easily broken ties," indicating her rejection of superficial or fleeting connections. She values deeper, more meaningful relationships that endure over time. Moreover, she expresses her disdain for "light and easily broken ties," indicating her rejection of superficial or fleeting connections. She values deeper, more meaningful relationships that endure over time. These choices, as depicted in works such as The Mill on the Floss (1860), are often fraught with painful dilemmas. Although she was familiar with fiction before, it was only after establishing her relationship with Lewes that she fully embraced this literary form. "Scenes from Clerical Life" was serialized in magazines in 1857 under a pen name that, except for Dickens, led most readers to assume the author was male—a misconception that both amused and satisfied Eliot. When Eliot began writing fiction, she and Lewes were reading to each other the novels of Jane Austen. Eliot's fiction is heavily influenced by Austen's, with its concern with provincial society, satire of human motives, and emphasis on courtship. There are no rules, which is why Eliot chose to write fiction rather than moral treatises. Eliot's characters are different from the novel of manners', but he brings a philosophical and psychological depth to these subjects. Eliot's fiction usually combines extensive philosophical meditation with a thorough examination of her characters' motives and feelings. 

She often compared herself not just to a historian, but also to a scientist who, like using a microscope, meticulously observes and analyses the intricate interplay of character and circumstance that shapes human history. These comparisons suggest Eliot's aim to present her fiction as a mirror reflecting our life experiences without distortion. However, her insistence on art's transparency is frequently challenged by her awareness of its fictitious nature and by her understanding of how our shared egoism distorts our perceptions. Eliot's claim to be a historian suggests that her novels will provide significant insight into contemporary issues. Eliot seems sympathetic to a feminist point of view. George Eliot wrote, "My function is that of the aesthetic, not the doctrinal, teacher." The impressive vision that allows Eliot to look into the consciousness of all her characters renders the perspective of her novels on many issues complex. Ultimately, it is the way these issues are refracted through the lens of human character that captivates her interest.

Once the good and the truth disappear, everything is permitted. Beauty is hardly an afterthought. This critique depends oddly on assumptions that are both cynical and reactionary. Namely, that people only believe in behaving morally out of hope for heaven and fear of hell or fire.

For Eliot, few things could be more inimical to morality. In her sarcastic early essay on the religious poet Young, she wrote:

“It is quite possible that you would be a knave and love yourself alone, were it not for your belief in immortality, but you are not to force on me what would result from your own utter want of moral emotion. If you feel no motive to common morality but your fear of a criminal bar in heaven, you're decidedly a man for the police on earth to keep their eye on.' Since it's a matter of worldly experience, the fear of distant consequences is a very insufficient barrier against the rush of immediate desire.”

She is quietly young, known. As well as it's an incredibly scathing thing to write. From Eliot's perspective, anyone who is motivated to be decent solely by traditional religion is driven not by morality but by desire and fear. The implication, spelled out in her later work, is clear: few of us possess the kind of criminal mentality that can only be restrained by a vision of the torments of the damned. However common it may be to claim today that nothing truly moves us besides desire and fear. Few of us actually behave that way in practice, our motives for everything, as Elliott shows, are usually mixed. Eliot deeply believes that the majority of human beings possess natural moral sentiments. However, it is just as natural for us to disregard these sentiments with clever rationalizations when other interests intervene. In truth, we feel sorrow and pity for others' suffering and, occasionally, even gladness for others' joy. There are plenty of studies from primatology to social psychology that demonstrate this. Eliot's work is too rich to be reduced to any single theme or thought. Her works have mythological reverberations, yet they are expanded by her commitment to realism, which obscures myths entirely. More importantly, she maintains a constant awareness of one central truth: the world is not mindful of us. She observes that examining the world to find a constellation is very much like looking carefully over the pages of a great book to find our own name.

To sum up, her remarkable talent and insight are the reason why George Eliot's legacy in literature is enduring. She sets herself apart as an exceptional writer by her ability to explore the complexities of human nature, while simultaneously incorporating mythological elements and staying committed to realism. Her works encourage us to contemplate our place in the world by reminding us of the profound truths of existence. Through our continued engagement with her novels, essays, and observations, we gain a deeper understanding of the human condition and the timeless relevance of her storytelling. One of the most influential voices in literary history, George Eliot continues to enrich our lives and inspire readers around the world through her contributions to literature.

A Frame of William Shakespeare's Life: Style of his works and Sonnets #2

 William Shakespeare 

 

In the late 16th century, William Shakespeare began his career as a playwright by writing such as tragedies, comedies, and historical plays. He was inspired by Holinshed's Chronicles, his plays based on Holinshed. These chronicles are vital for a theatre of this time.  

  

Most of the plays by Shakespeare are historical characters written by Shakespeare which represent real persons. There are many examples such as Henry IV, Henry V, and King Lear, but at the same time, he published romantic comedies such as As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Shakespeare is famous for tragedies. Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear and Othello can be good examples. These works had themes, such as honour, revenge, death, betrayal etc. His comedies are quite different, they are related to romanticism, happiness and love. However, we can say that his comedies as "problem plays" or "dark comedies." 

 

Shakespeare developed a poetic style which was a remarkably fluid, dreamlike sense of plot and a poetic style. Now it is commonly known as "romances." These plays depict interest in moral and emotional life. Thanks to his contributions, English developed noticeably, so his works and endeavours are vital in terms of the history of the English language. He was a master of vocab and he derived many new words. Even today, he has quite an importance and contribution to modern English. 

Shakespeare himself apparently had no interest in preserving for posterity the sum of his writings, let alone in clarifying the chronology of his works or in specifying which plays he wrote alone and which with collaborators. He wrote plays for performance by his company, and his scripts existed in his own handwritten manuscripts or in scribal copies, in playhouse prompt books, and probably in pirated texts based on shorthand reports of performance or on reconstructions from memory by an actor or spectator. None of these manuscript versions has survived. Eighteen of his plays were published during his lifetime in the small-format, inexpensive books called quartos; to these were added eighteen other plays, never before printed, in the large, expensive folio volume of Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, Tragedies (1623) 

  

Sonnets 

In Elizabethan England aristocratic patronage, with the money, protection, and prestige it alone could provide, was probably a professional writer's most important asset. This patronage, or at least Shakespeare's quest for it, is most visible in his dedication in 1593 and 1594 of his narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, to the wealthy young nobleman Henry Wriothesley, earl of Southampton. What return the poet got for his exquisite offerings is unknown. We do know that among wits and gallants the narrative poems won Shakespeare a fine reputation as an immensely stylish and accomplished poet. This reputation was enhanced as well by manuscript circulation of his sonnets, which were mentioned admiringly in print more than ten years before they were published in 1609 (apparently without his personal supervision and perhaps without his consent). 

 

Shakespeare's sonnets are quite unlike the other sonnet sequences of his day, notably in his almost unprecedented choice of a beautiful young man (rather than a lady) as the principal object of praise, love, and idealizing devotion and in his portrait of a dark, sensuous, and sexually promiscuous mistress (rather than the usual chaste and aloof blond beauty). Nor are the moods confined to what the Renaissance thought were those of the despairing Petrarchan lover: they include delight, pride, melancholy, shame, disgust, and fear. Shakespeare's sequence suggests a story, although the details are vague, and there is even doubt whether the sonnets as published are in an order established by the poet himself. Though there are many variations, Shakespeare's most frequent rhyme scheme in the sonnets is abab cdcd efef gg. This so-called Shakespearean pattern often (though not always) calls attention to three distinct quatrains (each of which may develop a separate metaphor), followed by a closing couplet that may either confirm or pull sharply against what has gone before. They are also remarkably dense, written with a daunting energy, concentration, and compression. Often the main idea of the poem may be grasped quickly, but the precise movement of thought and feeling, the links among the shifting images, the syntax, tone, and rhetorical structure prove immensely challenging. These are poems that famously reward rereading. 

William Langland: Piers Plowman Prologue

 William Langland: Piers Plowman Prologue 

Abstract

This article examines William Langland and his work Piers Plowman. This study aims to explain Piers Plowman and Prologue, William Langland produced successive versions of Piers Plowman over something like a twenty-five year period in the second half of the fourteenth century. The poem was written during a period of unprecedented literary activity in the English language. This study provides us that the reasons for its popularity. In Piers Plowman the quest for Christian salvation cannot be separate from the issues of the historical moment. To understand the poem, it becomes necessary to understand something about these times. The mid to late fourteenth century was a time of great social and political upheaval, when both church and secular government came under great investigation and pressure to reform. Piers Plowman not only commented on affairs of the moment, it also became caught up in them. Therefore, this research will hopefully contribute to the study of William Langland and Piers Plowman by bringing new perspectives to English Literature. 

Keywords: Piers Plowman, William Langland, poem, English literature. 

 

Introduction 

The author of Piers Plowman is not exactly known. Only one or two assumptions about the man behind the poem are held to be non-controversial. Only one or two assumptions about the man behind the poem are held to be non-controversial. The poet’s connection with the West Midlands is suggested by the famous opening description of May morning sunshine on the Malvern Hills and confirmed by the dialect of Middle English in which the poem is written. Similarly, the poet’s description of himself as someone who was sent to school to be educated for a career in the Church was born out by the text’s extensive use of Latin quotations and its detailed discussion of theological and religious issues. Only one manuscript copy of the text offers any information about William Langland. The medieval English poem known as Piers Plowman is a moving, disturbing and often amusing commentary on corruption and greed that is still apposite today. From the historical references in the poem, it is thought that the author, William Langland, wrote the earliest version in the mid– the 1360s, and longer, revised versions in the late 1370s and the mid– 1380s. This was a period of political and religious upheaval and burgeoning literary activity when the French of the Norman elite and the Old English of the Anglo- Saxon lower classes had only recently been melded into one language, now termed Middle English. 

 

William Langland 

Nobody knows when or where William Langland was born or died, and no one knows for sure when he wrote the poem for which he is famous. There are three well-known sources for the identity of the author. One is a note appended in Latin to an ancient manuscript of the poem held in Trinity College Library, Dublin. This states that the father of “Willielmus de Lang - lond” was Stacy de Rokayle, a gentleman who held land in Oxfordshire from the Despensers. The second is the 1550 printed edition, the preface to which says that the author was “Roberte Langelande, born in Cleybirie about 8 miles from Malverne hills.” The third source is the poem itself, in which the narrator says he is called Will -often punning on the name- places his opening vision on the Malvern H., refers to himself as a poet who is no respecter of persons, names his wife and daughter describes himself as balding and may imply that he once led a dissolute life. He has much to say about trade, learnt presumably from observation, and he has some knowledge of the law. He may also know French, since he complains that students no longer learn any language other than English and Latin. He says that his father and friends paid for his early education and that he has always had a clerical occupation. It is not known when he died, although the period 1385–87 is likely from a reference in a poem by John B. to the death of the author of Piers Plowman, but himself having died in 1387. 

The Prologue of Piers Plowman 

 

In a summer season when the sun was mild 

I clad myself in clothes as I'd become a sheep; 

In the habit of a hermit unholy of works, 

Walked wide in this world, watching for wonders. 

And on a Ma y morning, on Malvern Hills, 

There befell me as by magica marvelous thing: 

I was weary of wandering and went to rest 

 

In Malvern Hill a summer, a shepherd walks and looks around, then he feels tired and he wants to sit somewhere. He sleeps and starts to dream. He is in a place that he has never seen before. He sees a village where there are many people, such as women, men, poor, and rich. Some wear garish clothes to look rich, and others pursue pride. 

 

To prayers and penance many put themselves, 

All for love of our Lord lived hard lives,  

Hoping thereafter to have Heaven's bliss—  

Such as hermits and anchorites that hold to their cells,  

Don't care to go cavorting about the countryside. 

 

They dedicate to religion themselves, they do not care real life, and think just heaven. But Some of them use the religion to be rich and noble.  

 

But jokers and word jugglers, Judas's children, 

Invent fantasies to tell about and make fools of themselves, 

And have whatever wits they need to work if they wanted.  

What Paul preaches of them I don't dare repeat here: 

Qui loquitur turpiloquium” 4 is Lucifer's henchman. 

 

He compares these people to Judas. They trick the people by selling innocent. They make fool of the people, yet they are smart. If they want, they can work well.  

 

Pilgrims and palmers made pacts with each other 

To seek Saint James and saints at Rome.  

They went on their way with many wise stories, 

And had leave to lie all their lives after. 

I saw some that said they'd sought after saints: 

In every tale they told their tongues were tuned to lie 

More than to tell the truth—such talk was theirs. 

A heap of hermits with hooked staffs. 

 

The author criticizes the religious man in this part of the poem. They voyage to find St. James in Rome. During the voyage, they tell religious stories to believe people themselves. The author highlighted that. Everyone believes in their stories and nobody objects. They have the possibilities to tell the truth, but they keep on lying. These people are similar to each other.  

 

Went off to Walsingham, with their wenches behind them. 

Great long lubbers that don't like to work 

Dressed up in cleric's dress to look different from other men 

And behaved as the)' were hermits, to have an easy life. 

I found friars there —all four of the orders — 

Preaching to the people for their own paunches' welfare, 

 

They set off the Walsingham with loose women, to make the pilgrimage, and are sluggish and do not know what to do. They wear cloaks to be different from other men and expect respect from people. These people act like Monks to live prosperously. The priests tell the Bible to people, yet their intention is not for people to understand the Bible, their intention is not for people to understand the Bible, they consider their luxurious life. 

 

A pardoner preached there as if he had priest's rights,  

Brought out a bull with bishop's seals, 

And said he himself could absolve them all 

Of failure to fast, of vows they'd broken. 

Unlearned men believed him and liked his words, 

Came crowding up on knees to kiss his bulls. 

He banged them with his brevet and bleared their eyes, 

And raked in with his parchment-roll rings and brooches 

 

One of them preaches about religion as though a priest, and he says that I can save your life both in this world and afterlife, I can save your sins such as not fasting and breaking vows. Ignorant people believe and like his saying. They try to kiss his seal. He dazzles and deceives everyone, and this is how he steals people's gold. 

 

If the bishop were blessed and worth both his ears,  

His seal should not be sent out to deceive the people, 

—It's nothing to the bishop that the blackguard preaches, 

And the parish priest and the pardoner split the money 

That the poor people of the parish would have but for them. 

Parsons and parish priests complained to the bishop 

That their parishes were poor since the pestilence-time, 

 

If he were a real religious man, he would not have used the seal to deceive people. The priest and monks divided the money among themselves. 

 

 

Conclusion  

 

Piers Plowman not only commented on affairs of the moment, but it also became caught up in them. Readers of the poem were apparently just as keen to appropriate the poem for purposes of religious dissent. Recent research on the manuscript copies of Piers has shown that owners and scribes were by no means always happy to admit their connection with the text. Piers Plowman was also responsible for establishing its own literary tradition and some of the later poems which have very definite stylistic and thematic affinities with Piers Plowman confirm the idea that the poem was appropriated by religious dissenters. 

References 

Abrams, M.H., Greenblatt, Stephen, David, Alfred and Lewalski, Barbara K. (1987). The Norton Anthology of English Literature. The Major Athuors (6 ed.). London: Norton & Company Ltd. 

 

Michael Bennett, “William Called Long Will,” in Fiona Somerset and Lawrence Warner, eds., The Yearbook of Langland Studies vol. 26 (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2012), 1–25. 

 

A.V.C. Schmidt, Earthly Honest Things: Collected Essays on Piers Plowman (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012), 63–67. 
 

Anne Middleton, “The Passion of Saint Averoys: ‘Deuynyng’ and Divinity in the Banquet Scene,” in John A. Alford and M. Teresa Taormina, eds., Yearbook of the International Piers Plowman Society vol. 1 (East Lansing, MI: Colleagues Press, 1987), 31–40. 

 

Lawrence Warner, The Myth of Piers Plowman. Constructing a Medieval Literary Archive (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014) 
 

Ronald Bryer, Not the Least: The Story of Little Malvern (Hanley Swan, Worcs: SelfPublishing Association, 1993), 24, citing an earlier work by W.J.C. Berington, owner of the neighboring Little Malvern Court. 

 

Myra Stokes, Justice and Mercy in Piers Plowman: A Reading of the B Text Visio (London: Croom Helm, 1984); Rosemary Woolf, “The Tearing of the Pardon,” in S.S. Hussey, ed., Piers Plowman: Critical Approaches (London: Methuen, 1969), 50–75. 

 

Priscilla Martin, Piers Plowman: The Field and the Tower (London: Macmillan, 1979); A.V.C. Schmidt, Earthly Honest Things: Collected Essays on Piers Plowman (Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012).