The French Works: Mirour de l'Omme.
- Author/Editor
- Bertolet, Craig E.
- Title
- The French Works: Mirour de l'Omme.
- Published
- Bertolet, Craig E. "The French Works: Mirour de l'Omme." 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. 321-27.
- Review
- Surviving in a single manuscript, the 30,000 line MO describes . . . the Seven Deadly Sins and their corresponding virtues, applications of these Virtues and Vices to contemporary England, and . . . [in conclusion] recounts the life of the Virgin" (321). Dating and intended audience are uncertain, with all or most of the poem appearing to predate the Rising of 1381 (322). In a context of "sophisticated social commentary" (323), Gower supports fair trade as necessary for the common good (323-24), while excoriating fraudulent practices with an expert focus on London (324). Nowhere else in his oeuvre would the poet devote so much attention to mercantile theory (324). The Life of Mary provides the "Antidote of sin" (323). [LBB. Copyright. The John Gower Society. eJGN 37.2.]
- Date
- 2017
- Gower Subjects
- Mirour de l'Omme (Speculum Meditantis)