The politics of Pearl

About this book

"This is an entirely new and original reading of Pearl, placing the anonymous masterpiece in the context of the Cheshire coterie that flourished at the court of Richard II during the 1390s. The brilliance of its poetic construction has long been acknowledged, but here Pearl is also shown to engage with the social, religious and political events of the late fourteenth century. John Bowers reveals the extensive political allusions of the poem: to Lollard criticism of the sacraments, to the Statute of Labourers, to the magnificence of Richard's court, and to much else besides. The fall of the king not only brought to an end Cheshire privilege at court, but also a dazzling poetic tradition which included two of the finest works of Middle English literature, Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."--Jacket.