Description

Who is the Pearl-poet? How do ideas about his life and interpretations of his poems shape our understanding of his work in late-medieval England—and beyond? In Becoming the Pearl-Poet: Perceptions, Connections, Receptions, readers can explore the world of this extraordinary, fourteenth-century writer. In Part I, “Perceptions,” five scholars give insightful literary analyses of the narrative poems attributed to the poet: Pearl, Cleanness, Patience, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and St. Erkenwald. In Part II, “Connections,” six scholars examine connections between these diverse poems, focusing on authorship, ecology, material culture, sartorial adornment, shields, and the poet’s pastoral theology. In Part III, “Receptions,” scholars consider the illustrations of the Pearl Manuscript (British Library MS Cotton Nero A.x), the poet’s cultural situatedness in the Northwest Midlands and Ricardian court, his religious contexts, later translations and paraphrases of his work, and his medieval and modern audiences. Intended for students and scholars alike, this book encourages readers to gain a deeper understanding of the Pearl-poet and his world, learning many new things and enjoying old things in a new way.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Becoming the Pearl-Poet, Jane Beal
Part I: Perceptions
Chapter One: The Dreamer's Contemplative Experience of a Mappamundi in Pearl, Jane Beal
Chapter Two: Temperance and the Evolution of Concupiscible Vice in Cleanness, Corey Owen
Chapter Three: “Þay ar happen also þat con her hert stere”: Virtue and Nautical Metaphor in Patience, M. W. Brumit
Chapter Four: The Failure of Perfection in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , Mickey Sweeney
Chapter Five: St. Erkenwald, Michael D.C. Drout, Jonathan B. Gerkin, and Scott Kleinman
Part II: Connections
Chapter Six: Authorship: What Does the Pearl-Poet Tell Us About Himself?, Ethan Campbell
Chapter Seven: Ecology in the Pearl-Poet, Elizabeth Allen
Chapter Eight: Material Culture of the Pearl-Poet, Jonathan Quick
Chapter Nine: Sartorial Adornment in the Pearl Poems, Kimberly Jack
Chapter Ten: Switching Shields in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Kristin Bovaird-Abbo
Chapter Eleven: The Pastoral Theology of the Pearl-Poet, Grace

Product details

Published 28 Oct 2022
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 304
ISBN 9781793646767
Imprint Lexington Books
Illustrations 15 b/w illustrations; 9 tables;
Series Studies in Medieval Literature
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Jane Beal

Contributor

Kristin Abbo

Contributor

Elizabeth Allen

Contributor

Jane Beal

Contributor

John M. Bowers

Contributor

M. W. Brumit

Contributor

Ethan Campbell

Contributor

Nancy Ciccone

Contributor

David Coley

Contributor

Michael Drout

Contributor

Joel Fredell

Contributor

Jonathan Gerkin

Contributor

Grace Hamman

Contributor

Kimberly Jack

Contributor

Scott Kleinman

Contributor

Kenna Olsen

Contributor

Corey Owen

Contributor

Jonathan Quick

Contributor

Mickey Sweeney

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