Passus Five
While reading Passus Five, there were a few things I noticed that stuck out to me.
The first is in lines 25 and 26, it says that, "And wynne that he had wasted with som maner craft. He prayde to Peronel hure purfyl to leve." At first, I thought that "he" refered to the personification of Wastour, since the lines said he had wasted. However, as I continued to read on to the next page, "he" begins to preach and advise merchants, priests, and bishops. I would think that Conciens would be the personification to advise those sorts of people, especially when he was preaching starting on line 11. Since "Piers Plowman" does make a case to point out the flaws of the Church I could not be certain if it was Wastour or Conciens preaching to people.
Secondly, what I believe to be an allusion to the Ten Commandments in line 74. In this line, the personification of Envye is confessing his sins and says that he has a neighbor that he has said bad things about behind his back to make him look bad. This immediately made me think of the Ninth Commandment, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Line 74 made me think of this because of the word neighbor and the fact the Envye purposely says bad things about his neighbor.
Throughout Passus Five there are obvious references to six of the Seven Deadly Sins. In Catholicism there are two types of sins, venial and mortal. Venial sins are minor setbacks in one's spiritual life while mortal sins, if unrepented, will lead to damnation. The Seven Deadly Sins are not classified as venial or mortal since, depending on the circumstance, they can be either. If done accidentally or in a small scale they are venial. However, the Seven Deadly Sins usually lead directly to a mortal sin. To hear the confessions of some of the Deadly Sins means that there is hope for those personification's redemption.
I find the Seven deadly Sins to be very interesting because of how easily they can be committed and how natural they can be. The Seven Deadly Sins can be emotions or general ideas that most people have. Who hasn't wanted to be rich, or enjoyed food until they ate too much, and who can truthfully say they never had a day they just wanted to spend in bed?
Dante's "Divine Comedy" relies on the Seven Deadly Sins in Inferno and Purgatorio when talking about the placement of souls in the afterlife. (Here's a link to a test to see which layer of hell you would be in: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv )
The first is in lines 25 and 26, it says that, "And wynne that he had wasted with som maner craft. He prayde to Peronel hure purfyl to leve." At first, I thought that "he" refered to the personification of Wastour, since the lines said he had wasted. However, as I continued to read on to the next page, "he" begins to preach and advise merchants, priests, and bishops. I would think that Conciens would be the personification to advise those sorts of people, especially when he was preaching starting on line 11. Since "Piers Plowman" does make a case to point out the flaws of the Church I could not be certain if it was Wastour or Conciens preaching to people.
Secondly, what I believe to be an allusion to the Ten Commandments in line 74. In this line, the personification of Envye is confessing his sins and says that he has a neighbor that he has said bad things about behind his back to make him look bad. This immediately made me think of the Ninth Commandment, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Line 74 made me think of this because of the word neighbor and the fact the Envye purposely says bad things about his neighbor.
Throughout Passus Five there are obvious references to six of the Seven Deadly Sins. In Catholicism there are two types of sins, venial and mortal. Venial sins are minor setbacks in one's spiritual life while mortal sins, if unrepented, will lead to damnation. The Seven Deadly Sins are not classified as venial or mortal since, depending on the circumstance, they can be either. If done accidentally or in a small scale they are venial. However, the Seven Deadly Sins usually lead directly to a mortal sin. To hear the confessions of some of the Deadly Sins means that there is hope for those personification's redemption.
I find the Seven deadly Sins to be very interesting because of how easily they can be committed and how natural they can be. The Seven Deadly Sins can be emotions or general ideas that most people have. Who hasn't wanted to be rich, or enjoyed food until they ate too much, and who can truthfully say they never had a day they just wanted to spend in bed?
Dante's "Divine Comedy" relies on the Seven Deadly Sins in Inferno and Purgatorio when talking about the placement of souls in the afterlife. (Here's a link to a test to see which layer of hell you would be in: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv )
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