“The Phoenix and Turtle” does not fi t any particular
genre, though the narrator’s rhetoric on love alludes at
times to a BEAST FABLE, wherein animal characters con-
nect to allegorical representations of people known to
Shakespeare. Most critics acknowledge the poem’s
tribute to love, and most agree that the Phoenix repre-
sents Queen ELIZABETH I, but few agree about the alle-
gorical identity of the Turtledove. Suggestions include
the earl of Essex, the duke of Anjou, Sir John Salisbury,
and Anne Lyne (executed for harboring Catholic
priests). The poem attracts scholarly debates over alle-
gorical identities, and recent studies situate “The Phoe-
nix and Turtle” against the context of the entire
collection of Love’s Martyr poems. Other studies have
studied the infl uence of earlier authors such as JOHN
SKELTON or examined the poem for what it reveals
about religion and burial rites in Elizabethan England.
See also ALLEGORY.
FURTHER READING
Asquith, Clare. “The Phoenix and the Turtle.” Shakespeare
Newsletter 50, no. 1 (2000): 3, 10, 24, 26.
Tipton, Alzada. “The Transformation of the Earl of Essex:
Poet-Execution Ballads and ‘The Phoenix and the Turtle.’ ”
Studies in Philology 99 (2002): 57–80.
James N. Ortego II
PHYSIOGNOMY Physiognomy is the medieval
belief that the physical appearance of the body refl ected
the purity (or impurity) of one’s soul, or at least insight
into an individual’s character. Physiognomy was a
common university subject, and its tropes were almost
universally understood—so much so that they were
used throughout British literature. It is particularly
important in GEOFFREY CHAUCER’s GENERAL PROLOGUE TO
THE CANTERBURY TALES, wherein the pilgrims’ true
natures are revealed through their physical descrip-
tions. For instance, the Pardoner’s yellow ringlets,
beardless face, and high voice (like a goat’s), indicate
he is effeminate, and the Wife of Bath’s gapped teeth
indicate that she is lustful.
See also FOUR HUMORS.
FURTHER READING
Brasswell-Means, Laurel. “A New Look at an Old Patient:
Chaucer’s Summoner and Medieval Physiognomia.” The
Chaucer Review 25, no. 3 (1991): 266–275.
Friedman, John Block. “Another Look at Chaucer and the
Physiognomists.” Studies in Philology 78, no. 2 (1981):
138–152.
Stimilli, Davide. The Face of Immortality: Physiognomy and
Criticism. Albany: State University of New York Press,
2005.PIERCE THE PLOUGHMAN’S CREDE
ANONYMOUS (1393–1401) The early 15th-century
Middle English alliterative poem Pierce the Ploughman’s
Crede is a social and religious SATIRE of 850 lines in the
tradition of WILLIAM LANGLAND’s PIERS PLOWMAN. The
poem survives in a printed edition from 1553 and two
16th-century manuscripts, as well as a fragment dating
from the 15th century. It is remarkable for its vigorous
satire of mendicant friars (begging orders) and for the
sympathies to LOLLARDISM that the poet displays.
The poem depicts a narrator who starts off on a spiri-
tual quest to learn the Apostles’ Creed (statement of
Christian faith). Searching for someone to teach him, he
visits each of the four orders of friars in turn, beginning
with a Franciscan. He tells the Franciscan that a Carmel-
ite has promised to teach him the creed; the Franciscan
condemns all Carmelites as whoremongers and liars
who have no rule at all, unlike the Franciscans, who live
like the fi rst apostles. For a contribution, the Franciscan
promises to absolve the narrator of his sins, creed or no
creed. Next the narrator visits a Dominican, who is “fat
as a barrel” and dressed in rich robes. The narrator tells
the Dominican that an Austin (Augustinian) friar prom-
ised to teach him the creed, and the Dominican com-
plains that Austins do nothing but associate with
prostitutes and thieves. When the Dominican goes on to
boast about the virtues of his own order, the narrator
muses on the sin of pride, one of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS,
and leaves to fi nd an Austin friar.
When he tells the Austin that a Franciscan has
offered to teach him the creed, the Austin berates the
Franciscans for their wealth, their avarice, and their
hypocrisy. The Austin then asks the narrator to donate
to his order and become a “lay brother,” after which
the Austins will absolve his sins whether he knows the
creed or not. Concluding that the Austins’ only creed is
greed, the narrator fi nds a Carmelite. He says that a
Dominican has promised to help him, but the Carmel-
ite condemns the pride of the Dominicans, claimingPIERCE THE PLOUGHMAN’S CREDE 319