Pearl's Middle Class Mourner

This thesis is an historical examination of the jeweler's mourning in Pearl. I view the mourner as a middle class tradesman situated within a late fourteenth-century English culture. I argue that his religious beliefs reflect his status within that society and guide his actions while mourning. While the jeweler's grief leads to a crisis of faith, the Pearl-poet seeks to comfort his pain through instruction in biblical text. As the Pearl-maiden educates the mourner in biblical knowledge, she contradicts his traditional understanding of the Christian afterlife. His responsibilities as mourner are simplified and his relationship to the dead is redefined by the maiden. The middle class mourner is also found to be lacking in courtesy, which is defined by the Pearl-maiden as a metaphor for the grace of God. A comparison of the uncourteous jeweler with the courtly Black Knight in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess reveals how a rejection of courtesy disempowers the tradesman throughout the mourning process. Although the jeweler's grief is painful, the Pearl-maiden's instruction offers hope. The poet suggests that if he will obey God's will and conform to the ways of courtesy, the mourner may yet reunite with his beloved in Paradise.

Author dc:creator

• Swarey, April Reid

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dr. Charlotte Gross, Committee Chair

• courtesy
• medieval mourning

Statement dc:rights

• I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Dc Identifier Other

etd-03152008-121611

OAI record oai:identifier

https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Arepository.lib.ncsu.edu%3A1840.16%2F919