Gower, Business, and Economy.
- Author/Editor
- Ladd, Roger A.
- Title
- Gower, Business, and Economy.
- Published
- Ladd, Roger A. "Gower, Business, and Economy." In Ana Sáez-Hidalgo, Brian Gastle, and R. F. Yeager, eds. The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower (Oxford and New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 158-71.
- Review
- Gower engaged with "business . . . merchants and trade" all across his corpus, but especially in the extended estates satire of the MO (158). Gower's economics are interwoven with his politics, as seen in his reference to the wool trade in "In Praise of Peace" (161-62). His critique of the estates is aimed at achieving social harmony through a hierarchical system that includes fair trade (162-63). In exempla using exchange terminology more broadly, Gower highlights the "moral risks" involved (163-64), such as "love" seeking its own advantage (165-66), and even defines his own poetry as a kind of merchandise (164). He referenced the economy of London in detail (164-65), as he wrote "specific and well-informed attacks" on mercantile abuses by the trade guilds and others (165). [LBB. Copyright. The John Gower Society. eJGN 37.2.]
- Date
- 2017
- Gower Subjects
- Biography of Gower
Mirour de l'Omme (Speculum Meditantis)
In Praise of Peace