bottom up here? Some good, however, has been
accomplished because a general lawlessness has been
held in check, even if it is only momentarily.
Human needs, wants, desires, and motivations are
at the center of Langland’s contemplation of society in
Piers Plowman, and the plowing of the half-acre epi-
sode presents the fi rst installment of that question with
its potential answer. Human need can blind people to
personal actions and ethics; human need can thwart
social responsibility. Reactivity can provide only par-
tial answers. Herein lies Piers’s problem in not being
able to anticipate the problems of various social
schemes. He remains an enigma that demonstrates lack
of comprehension.
See also ALLEGORY, PIERS PLOWMAN (OVERVIEW).
FURTHER READING
Alford, John. A. “The Design of the Poem.” In A Companion
to Piers Plowman, edited by John A. Alford, 29–65. Berke-
ley: University of California Press, 1988.
Daniel F. Pigg
Piers Plowman: Passus 7 WILLIAM LANGLAND (ca.
1381–1382) As Passus 7 opens, Truth decides to
give a pardon to Piers and his heirs. Kings, bishops,
merchants, laborers, and even lawyers and beggars
have the opportunity to receive the pardon, if they
have lived justly. A priest demands to read the pardon
because he is familiar with them; however, the priest
fails to recognize the exact words as a pardon, after
which Piers tears up the document out of “pure tene”
(l. 115). Piers and the priest start arguing, which in
turn awakes the Dreamer, Will.
Passus 7 is the last PASSUS of the second vision, which
started with Reason’s sermon to the “fi eld full of folk,”
the confession of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS (Passus 5) and
was followed by the attempt to go on pilgrimage to
“Saint Truth,” leading the pilgrims to the plowing of
the half-acre under Piers Plowman’s guidance (Passus
6). Some critics have interpreted this vision as the logi-
cal pre-Reformation Christian sequence of sermon,
confession, repentance, pilgrimage, and pardon.
The climax of this passus occurs when Piers tears up
the pardon, a dramatic scene that has led to an overfl ow
of interpretations. The B-text shows subtle changes
from the A-text; however, the C-text has a signifi cant
change: It omits the tearing of the pardon. Most agree
that WILLIAM LANGLAND feared the misinterpretation of
this scene, especially after the PEASANTS’ REVOLT, and
because of LOLLARDISM, which found inspiration in
Langland’s work.
Pre-Reformation Christianity taught that sins were
forgiven through sacramental confession—only canoni-
cal temporal punishment could be remitted through a
pardon; however, most people believed that a pardon
could do both. The pardon reads as follows: Et qui bona
egerunt ibunt in vitam eternam; / Qui vero mala, in ignem
eternum. (And those who have done well shall go into
eternal life, but those who have done evil will go into
eternal fi re, ll. 110–111). Scholars have debated who is
going to be saved: The pilgrims confess and work hard;
the Sins confess, but insincerely; the “wastours” are
indolent about both. Most scholars accept the pardon’s
validity because it comes from Truth, who represents
God, making its tearing even more confusing. Is it Lang-
land’s way of showing his contempt for the corrupt sell-
ing of papal indulgences? Does Piers recognize himself
as a failure and throw himself on God’s mercy? Or does
he tear the pardon because he realizes that it lacks
mercy? Whatever the case, the tearing brings the con-
nection between good works and mercy into question.
See also PIERS PLOWMAN (OVERVIEW).
FURTHER READING
Woolf, Rosemary. “The Tearing of the Pardon.” Piers Plow-
man: Critical Approaches. Edited by S. S. Hussey. London:
Methuen, 1969.
Annemarie ThijmsPiers Plowman: Passus 17 WILLIAM LANGLAND
(1377–1379?) PASSUS 17 (from the B-text of Piers
Plowman) concludes the fi fth DREAM VISION that began in
Passus 15. This three-part section of the poem centers
on the meaning of charity (or love), the greatest of the
three Christian VIRTUES. Charity fi rst appears in Passus
15 as the virtue the dreamer fi nds most absent in a world
of self-interested individuals. The true nature and mean-
ing of charity as a redemptive force then becomes the
object of his quest. It is identifi ed with the church, the
Gospel, the Trinity, and Christ in particular. Passus 17PIERS PLOWMAN: PASSUS 17 327