The Rise of London Literature: Chaucer, Gower, Langland and the Poetics of the City in Late Medieval English PoetryBertolet, Craig E.. "The Rise of London Literature: Chaucer, Gower, Langland and the Poetics of the City in Late Medieval English Poetry." PhD thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 1995. Review"This dissertation demonstrates that a number of economic, social, and political elements came together in the late fourteenth century to provide a moment in English literature where London acquired a significant cultural presence in the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer and his contemporaries. . . . Using the market values of the city, Langland's Piers Plowman becomes as much an exploration of the value of the soul as it is a quest for the soul's redemption. As a result, Langland's poem critiques more than just the moral aspects of his society but the economic and social elements as well. Gower's Confessio Amantis concerns the role of truth in human society; many of the tales show that characters who seek truth prosper, while those who do not perish." [JGN 15.1]
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