The “ploughman” is introduced as the brother and accompaniment of the Parson, the pilgrim who directly precedes him in Chaucer’s General Prologue. He is described by the narrator as a “trewe swynkere,” or a ‘true laborer’ as clarified in the Riverside Chaucer Explanatory Notes (Chaucer 26). His occupation as a plowman is to dig for various purposes, but particularly for that of farming (although he ostensibly undertakes other forms of labor such as hauling carts of dung). He demonstrates an ideal work ethic, humility within his trade, and surprising generosity for the stereotypical, negative perceptions of peasant laborers at the time. For these reasons, he is considered by many scholars as an archetype of a good Christian life, and specifically modeled after the allegorical dream vision by William Langland titled, Piers Ploughman. As noted by Paul Hardwick in an article titled “Chaucer: The Poet as Ploughman,” the lines of the General Prologue dedicated to the Ploughman, although few, are replete with direct references to biblical teaching on the ideal Christian lifestyle, such as Christ’s description of the greatest command (to love God and to love one’s neighbor as oneself), embracing the work that God has given, generous tithing, as well as the many biblical metaphors of sewing, reaping, and laboring in a field of lost souls as representative acts of spiritual growth and salvation. Hardwick relates the Ploughman’s character to Chaucer himself, as the Ploughman is brother to the Parson, so Chaucer takes on a brotherly relationship toward the church, modeling himself after it and humbly laboring for the sake of others, but notably separate from it (its strict doctrines and traditions) as well. Whether or not this relationship is accurate, the Ploughman would have stood out among the pilgrims as an idealistic Christian character, the antithesis of what would have been expected of peasant laborers at the time. Chaucer likely formed the Ploughman’s character in this strategic manner to encourage others toward such an example. He is, after all, a stark contrast to the rest of the pilgrims—the most poor in status and possession, yet the richest in moral and spiritual wealth.
February 5, 2020
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Riverside Chaucer, 3rd Edition. Ed. Benson, Larry et al., Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Hardwick, Paul. “Chaucer: The Poet as Ploughman.” The Chaucer Review, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 146-156, 1998.
Bibliography
Ellison, Darryl. “‘Take it as a tale’: Reading the Plowman’s Tale As If It Were.” The Chaucer Review, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 77-101, 2014.
Greenberg, Rachel. “From Subject to Earthly Matter: The Plowman’s Argument and Popular Discourse in ‘Gentleness and Nobility.’” Early Theatre, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 13-42, 2012.
O’Connell, Brendan. “Putting the Plowman in His Place: Order and Genre in the Early Modern Canterbury Tales.” The Chaucer Review, Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 428-448, 2018.
Stillwell, Gardiner. “Chaucer’s Plowman and the Contemporary English Peasant.” ELH, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 285-290, 1939.