The Development and Decline of British Antifraternal Literature.
- Author/Editor
- Brim, Constance E.
- Title
- The Development and Decline of British Antifraternal Literature.
- Published
- Brim, Constance E. The Development and Decline of British Antifraternal Literature. Ph.D. Dissertation. McMaster University, 1990. x, [343] pp. Dissertation Abstracts International 53.01. Fully accessible via ProQuest Dissertations &Theses Global.
- Review
- "This thesis presents the results of an investigation of antifraternal materials produced in France during the thirteenth century and in England during the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and early seventeenth centuries. Primary materials include theological tracts such as William of Saint Amour's 'De periculis novissimorum temporum' and 'De pharisaeo et publicano' and Richard FitzRalph's 'Defensio curatorum' and vernacular works such as several of Rutebeuf's 'dits,' Jean de Meun's continuation of 'The Romance of the Rose,' John Gower's 'Vox clamantis,' Chaucer's 'Summoner's Tale,' John Skelton's 'Collyn Clout,' Thomas More's 'Utopia,' John Heywood's 'The Pardonner and The Friar,' Robert Greene's 'Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay,' William Shakespeare's 'Measure for Measure,' and Thomas Fuller's 'Chaucer'. These materials collectively confirm that, during the late Middle Ages following FitzRalph's influential attack on friars, a particularly British body of antifraternal literature, distinct from its French progenitor, emerged. The distinctly British treatment of friars, marked by its emphasis on fraternal oratories and friars as peddlers, continued until the Reformation when it faded away as the friars themselves silently dissolved into the rapidly changing British religious landscape. Despite the appearance of antifraternal motifs and images in post-Reformation literature, this body of literature lacks a particularly British colouring." Brim's section on Gower's VC (pp.149-79) observes his interest in polemical issues rather than historical details. She focuses on his continuation of earlier motifs derived from his predecessors—with the exception of their emphasis on "apocalyptic trappings" (156)—and his particularly British critique of fraternal fixation with "ornate churches" (170) and "graven images" (171). Later in her discussion, Brim comments recurrently on resemblances between VC and later English antifraternal literature.
- Date
- 1990
- Gower Subjects
- Vox Clamantis
Sources, Analogues, and Literary Relations
Influence and Later Allusion