Balti state university a. Russo chair of english philology

William Langland
(1332?-1400?) 
William Langland was born in the Malvern region of Worcestershire, probably around 
1330. Little is known about his life which he seems to have spent mainly in London. He earned 
his living as a Psalter-clerk. William Langland was a priest who believed in the grace of hard 
work. He considered that everyone had to work, having in mind the clergymen and the French 
barons who lived on the account of poor people who were working their guts and living in 

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misery and privations. His name is remembered for the poem The Visions of William 
Concerning Piers the Ploughman .
Pears the Ploughman is an allegory. Allegory is a story describing some ideas in which 
such qualities as patience, purity or truth stand for the characters of the story. 
There are three versions of this poem. One of them contains about 25000 lines, another 
40000 lines, the third being a revision of the second. The name of Langland is often associated 
with the latter but it is not clear whether all the three versions belong to Langland. If so, one can 
say that his opinions and interests have changed while writing the work, since there are some 
divergences in it.
Piers the Ploughman has the form of a dream vision which was a common medieval type 
in which the author presents his story as a guise of having seen it in a dream. The dream vision 
involves allegory. This work is considered the greatest of all English allegories actually 
containing a series of visions separated by brief intervals when the narrator is awake. The first 
passage presents the fourteenth century English society, which failed to live in accord with 
Christian principles. Langland pours out indignant satire about the corruption of the church. 
This poem had a strong impact of the later generations who made the reforms of the church. 
Virtue, Truth, Honesty, Mercy, Peace, Conscience, Reason are the main characters, being 
opposed to Envy, Gluttony, Adultry and other characters personifying the seven deadly sins. In 
his dream he saw false beggars, shaming for food and fighting at the alehouse, pardoners 
deceiving people, lawyers ready to do any wrong for money, churchmen making money. Piers 
the Ploughman was a poor peasant who told him about the hard life of the common people 
opening his eyes concerning the situation in the country. The author realizes that only peasants 
work their guts, while the others enjoy life, living on their account and cheating them in all 
possible ways. The part of Envy is the most eloquent: 
“ Envy with heavy heart asked for shift 
And grieving for his guilt, began his confession. 
…When I come to church and kneel before Christ‟s cross 
And ought to pray for the people as the priest teaches, 
For the pilgrims, for palmers, for all the people after… 
Away from the altar I turn my eyes 
And see how Heinie has a new coat; 
Then I wish it were mine, and all the web it came from. 
And when he loses I laugh – that lightens my heart; 
But when he wins I weep and wail the time. .. 

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And if any man has more than I that angers my heart…”
 
Langland attacked the evils of the Church which was an act of great courage for that time. 
This poem helped the people to concentrate their minds on the necessity of fighting for their 
rights. 
The characters are not simply puppets, but they are ultimately the author‟s mouthpieces. They 
have a life of their own and act being moved by the impulses of their own will.
Another representative of the literature of the age was John Wicliffe