William Langland

"William Langland's Piers Plowman ranks, with the works of Chaucer and the Gawain poet, among the most engaging to emerge from that extraordinary flowering of Middle English literature in the second half of the fourteenth century." Joseph Wittig in his study of this staple of medieval literature courses brings forth the powerful language, the structural complexity, and the vibrant energy of Piers Plowman. Wittig's aim is to introduce the "rich and complex text to the serious reader who is not a specialist in the Middle Ages, " and it is this aim that makes Wittig's study unique. In William Langland, Wittig successfully provides a thorough and engaging introduction to the poem for the first-time reader. Wittig's survey includes a biographical introduction to the poet, an overview of the poem, and seven chapters of in-depth analysis covering each section of the poem. Students will be especially well served by the detailed chronology and the selected bibliography that accompany the text.