Cato, Christ, and Piers: the Disticha Catonis and Christian literacy in Piers Plowman
| dc.contributor.author | Baer, Patricia Ann | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Kerby-Fulton, Kathryn | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2015-08-18T16:37:37Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2015-08-18T16:37:37Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 1995 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2015-08-18 | |
| dc.degree.department | Interdisciplinary Graduate Program | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of English | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Greek and Roman Studies | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts M.A. | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Langland's use of moral distichs from the medieval text known as the Disticha Catonis has been noted but never critically examined as a whole. The figure of 'Cato' and the distichs attributed to him stand out in Piers Plowman. I will begin by placing both Piers and the Disticha in their medieval literary context. Questions of audience and literacy have always been central to Piers, and I will look at the way in which Langland's use of Latin quotations from the Disticha relates to these issues. I will also examine the role of ' Cato' and the distichs in Piers in order to dispell the prevailing critical view that 'Cato' represented a pagan authority. The medieval Christian commentaries which accompanied the Disticha illuminate Piers as well. Critics have often wondered why Langland choose to write in a mixture of languages. 'Cato' and the Disticha are part of the answer. | en_US |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1828/6458 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en_US |
| dc.subject | Langland, William, 1330?-1400? | en_US |
| dc.subject | Catonis disticha | en_US |
| dc.subject | Piers Plowman | en_US |
| dc.title | Cato, Christ, and Piers: the Disticha Catonis and Christian literacy in Piers Plowman | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |