Gower's Confessio Amantis and the Penitentials.

Review

Two penitential manuals, Handlyng Synne and Myrc's Instructions for Parish Priests are compared to CA in order "to point out the extensive use of penitential material in the poem--too extensive to be ignored." A didactic reading of the poem permits many of the 'digressions' (like Book VII and the extensive courtly elements) to be seen as parts of a consistent whole, the purpose of which is to show that "proper Christian behavior leads to a reasoned, ordered universe." [PN. Copyright the John Gower Society. JGN 4.2]