Mon mai longe liues wene,
Ac ofte him lieth the wrench.
Feir weder turneth ofte into reine
And wunderliche hit maketh his blench.
Tharuore mon, thu the bi-thench,
Al schal falewi thi grene,
Weilawei, nis king ne quene,
That ne schal drinche of deathes drench.
Mon, er thu falle of thi bench,
Thine sunne thu aquench.
(Lisle, “The Three Living and The Three Dead”)
Having revised the concept of childhood from the Antique period up to the later Middle Ages, with special attention paid to the opinion articulated by the Church on the same subject, having compared the persona of the Pearl-Maiden with her ‘contemporaries’, and finally, having found a possible parallel with the persona of the maiden and an antique topos, there is one more issue that is worth addressing. The topic of Death came up several times, especially when the works of the contemporaries of the Poet were scrutinized. However, it can be safely pointed out that there are hardly any works discussed in this paper where Death plays such a dominant role as it does in Pearl. Therefore, in order to get a more precise picture of the structure and traditions that are exploited in the poem, this topic should be also addressed briefly. The awareness of the presence of Death in the everyday life of the people was an intense one throughout the Middle Ages, and this observation is all the more valid for the 13-14th centuries. …show more content…
Obviously, this fact decided and formed the beliefs, thoughts and actions of these people. The question is how medieval people, especially that of the 13-14th centuries coped with the Inevitable. Since there are no clear notions articulated concerning life after death in the Bible, people were left to guess about their final destination. Up to 1254, when Pope Innocent IV accepted Purgatory as an official doctrine of the Church, the general conception regarding afterlife was that one could either end up in Heaven, provided he had led a life of a saint, but more probably, if he was a mere ‘human’ being, he would find himself in Hell. Through the teachings of the Catholic Church, medieval people were aware that they existed of a mortal physical body and an eternal soul, and so, the threat of Hell was, for them, a real one. The result of all this was anxiety, which penetrated and decided their lives. However, having accepted the existence of Purgatory, the Church managed to ease the burden on her believers. Purgatory was imagined as an in-between space, placed between Heaven and Hell, but as for its qualities, it resembled Hell, only Purgatory was transitory. Although the time one was supposed to spend there atoning for his sins was thought to be in proportion with the sins that had been committed earlier in life, it could be shortened in numerous ways. First, by leading a good and virtuous life. But if that did not work out, the living could provide assistance through saying prayers and masses for the deceased one. Masses were regarded as the most helpful of all the methods , since through transubstantiation, they were indeed the “repetitions of Christ’s sacrifice on Earth” (Castor, Helen Medieval Lives). Even if one was late in repentance, there was still hope; he could confess his sins, receive the last rites, and could leave behind a will that would take care of his being remembered long after his departure. In one of the earliest now available testaments written in Middle English, Robert Corn, who could have been a contemporary to the Pearl-Poet, bequeathed not only a considerable amount of money to various church members , thereby ensuring that his soul would be commemorated, but he also emphasised that he “wiƚƚ þat it be do of massys and of almes dedys þere most nedful ys” (Corn, Robert “1387”). Caring about the needy was not an unusual act; indeed, it was believed that it was not the rich, but the poor who could enter the kingdom of Heaven more easily, a belief that most probably originates from the biblical ‘Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus’ (Luke 16:19-31) . Therefore, supporting the ones in need was not mere generosity, but was mutually advantageous to the parties concerned. The will
Ac ofte him lieth the wrench.
Feir weder turneth ofte into reine
And wunderliche hit maketh his blench.
Tharuore mon, thu the bi-thench,
Al schal falewi thi grene,
Weilawei, nis king ne quene,
That ne schal drinche of deathes drench.
Mon, er thu falle of thi bench,
Thine sunne thu aquench.
(Lisle, “The Three Living and The Three Dead”)
Having revised the concept of childhood from the Antique period up to the later Middle Ages, with special attention paid to the opinion articulated by the Church on the same subject, having compared the persona of the Pearl-Maiden with her ‘contemporaries’, and finally, having found a possible parallel with the persona of the maiden and an antique topos, there is one more issue that is worth addressing. The topic of Death came up several times, especially when the works of the contemporaries of the Poet were scrutinized. However, it can be safely pointed out that there are hardly any works discussed in this paper where Death plays such a dominant role as it does in Pearl. Therefore, in order to get a more precise picture of the structure and traditions that are exploited in the poem, this topic should be also addressed briefly. The awareness of the presence of Death in the everyday life of the people was an intense one throughout the Middle Ages, and this observation is all the more valid for the 13-14th centuries. …show more content…
Obviously, this fact decided and formed the beliefs, thoughts and actions of these people. The question is how medieval people, especially that of the 13-14th centuries coped with the Inevitable. Since there are no clear notions articulated concerning life after death in the Bible, people were left to guess about their final destination. Up to 1254, when Pope Innocent IV accepted Purgatory as an official doctrine of the Church, the general conception regarding afterlife was that one could either end up in Heaven, provided he had led a life of a saint, but more probably, if he was a mere ‘human’ being, he would find himself in Hell. Through the teachings of the Catholic Church, medieval people were aware that they existed of a mortal physical body and an eternal soul, and so, the threat of Hell was, for them, a real one. The result of all this was anxiety, which penetrated and decided their lives. However, having accepted the existence of Purgatory, the Church managed to ease the burden on her believers. Purgatory was imagined as an in-between space, placed between Heaven and Hell, but as for its qualities, it resembled Hell, only Purgatory was transitory. Although the time one was supposed to spend there atoning for his sins was thought to be in proportion with the sins that had been committed earlier in life, it could be shortened in numerous ways. First, by leading a good and virtuous life. But if that did not work out, the living could provide assistance through saying prayers and masses for the deceased one. Masses were regarded as the most helpful of all the methods , since through transubstantiation, they were indeed the “repetitions of Christ’s sacrifice on Earth” (Castor, Helen Medieval Lives). Even if one was late in repentance, there was still hope; he could confess his sins, receive the last rites, and could leave behind a will that would take care of his being remembered long after his departure. In one of the earliest now available testaments written in Middle English, Robert Corn, who could have been a contemporary to the Pearl-Poet, bequeathed not only a considerable amount of money to various church members , thereby ensuring that his soul would be commemorated, but he also emphasised that he “wiƚƚ þat it be do of massys and of almes dedys þere most nedful ys” (Corn, Robert “1387”). Caring about the needy was not an unusual act; indeed, it was believed that it was not the rich, but the poor who could enter the kingdom of Heaven more easily, a belief that most probably originates from the biblical ‘Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus’ (Luke 16:19-31) . Therefore, supporting the ones in need was not mere generosity, but was mutually advantageous to the parties concerned. The will