Includes bibliographical references (pages 247-270) and index.
Acknowledgments -- List of illustrations -- Introduction -- Part one. "Piers Plowman" and modern scholarship. The history of the Langland myth - Beyond the myth of the poem : is there a test in these manuscripts? - Beyond the myth of the poet : looking for the Langland in all the wrong places -- Part two. "Piers Plowman" and the public culture of late Medieval England. Public writing : Mandeville's travels and the book of Margery Kempe - Public art : parish wall paintings - Public life : London civic practices -- Bibliography -- Index.
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"Public Piers Plowman is divided into two parts. The first is an extended essay on what Benson calls the "Langland myth." He traces the evolution of Piers scholarship and demonstrates the limitations of treating Piers as a direct expression of the poet's experience and intellectual views." "In the second part Benson offers an alternative history for the poem. Benson approaches it from a broader public context, using representative examples from vernacular writing, parish art, and civic practices. He argues that Piers reached a wide contemporary audience because, far from being an account only of the author's own life and opinions, it was securely rooted in the common culture of its time and place."--Jacket.
Langland, William,1330?-1400?, Piers Plowman.
Langland, William,1330?-1400?., Piers Plowman.
Langland, William, 1332-1400, Piers Plowman
Langland, William,1330?-1400?, Piers Plowman.
Langland, William.
Piers Plowman (Langland, William)
Piers Plowman.
Art and literature-- England-- History-- To 1500.
English literature-- Middle English, 1100-1500-- History and criticism.
Literature and history-- England-- History-- To 1500.
Literature and society-- England-- History-- To 1500.
Art and literature-- Great Britain-- History.
Art and literature.
English literature-- Middle English, 1100-1500-- History and criticism.