Christian Notions Of Sin example essay topic

One of the characteristics of medieval English literature is its high allegorist. It also applies to the whole European literature of Dark Ages, as well. This is because Christian dogma could not satisfy peoples spiritual needs any longer, being unable to correspond to the realities of their everyday lives. It is not a secret that Church used to resist any attempts to translate Bible from Latin into contemporary European languages, as it posed the danger of people being able to learn about nonsense of Christianity on their own. The Vision of Piers Plowman is a good example of medieval narrator trying to adapt Christian notions of sin, redemption and virtue to his own convictions. In it, the poet (commonly referred to as William) falls asleep in the Malvern Hills and after this; he begins his symbolic journey through the wilderness, where he comes upon a tower of truth with deep dungeon inside and the sight of many people in the distance.

There he is approached by the lady, who tells him about the meaning of his dream. Apparently, the tower represents God and the dungeon is a personification of Devil, while fair lady is nothing but a Holy Roman Church. The poet begins to encounter allegorical characters of Conscience, Liar, Reason and many others. By interacting with them, author is able to come to certain moral conclusions. Every of his vision is heavily affected by Christian symbolism and therefore, it is quite hard for us to interpret poets original intentions. Nevertheless, we can be positive, when it comes to interpreting authors ideas about Deadly Sins.

It comes as quite a surprise that William Langland considers the gluttony as the worst of all sins and not the pride, as it described in the Bible: So for his Glo tome and his greece Sleuth e he hath a grievous penance, That is what he wake th and for cold -- And som time for his syn nes -- so he is never marie Without among and mes chief to both (Vision Four, Passus XIV). We need to remember that it was a very turbulent time in England, when this poem was being written. There used to three famines in the beginning of 14th century in Yorkshire area alone. Also, author was being influenced by the peasants riots, which were very common back than. One of Williams visions involves encounter with the Greed. The psychological traits of this character point out to the fact that author was probably referring to the Catholic high clergy.

Just like in our times, Holy Fathers in fourteenth century England were willing to share their riches with no one else, but God, who never demanded their declarations of income. It is a trademark of the whole poem that it is basically an anti-clerical piece, under disguise of highly pious work of medieval mind. In the end, narrator also refers to a Pride, the man who guards the gates of heaven. Even some Saints proved themselves as no match for him, while being confronted with a temptations to attain Earthly fame, because of their good deeds. Prides arguments sound strikingly reasonable, in the scene where he argues with poet. Why deny itself a pleasure of being respected by people, while there is no guarantee that virtuous men will get into the Kingdom of Heaven, as only Jesus can decide that in the end?

There are traces of Protestantism can be found in The Vision of Piers Plowman, because author bases his faith in God on the principle of grace rather then on the notion of covenant.