Third Assignment: The Moral Issues in
Books 4 and 5 of Piers Ploughman
Please read Books 4 and 5. Think about how the moral issues
raised in these (and earlier) books are posed within the book, then
receive a resolution of sorts at the end of each book, only to be
posed again in different terms in the next book.
* Is Langland suggesting that there are well-known, traditional answers
to the moral questions he poses?
* Is he suggesting that these answers,
though they are all that exist, are not sufficient?
* Is he suggesting
that these sufficient answers are accepted less and less?
Pick one or two examples of these moral issues and examine how
they are resolved; and how they remain UNresolved. "Lady Fee" is one
example; can you find others?