1. 'Now Kynde me avenge'
- Author
-
Andrew Pfrenger
- Subjects
Literature ,Retributive justice ,Psychoanalysis ,Literature and Literary Theory ,Poetry ,Restorative justice ,business.industry ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Philosophy ,Ambiguity ,Anger ,Hatred ,Justice (virtue) ,business ,Conscience ,media_common - Abstract
This article considers the ambiguity underlying Conscience's call for vengeance in the final lines of Piers Plowman (B.20.385–86). Thorough analysis of Langland's treatment of vengeance as a form of justice elsewhere in the poem reveals a process of redefinition that transforms vengeance from a violent act of retributive justice to a tempered act of restorative justice. By contextualizing this process within the popular literature and influential moral theology of Langland's day, one discovers a theory of justice that includes a considered awareness of human psychology, specifically the influence of negative emotions like hatred and anger. Viewed in light of these factors, Conscience's call for vengeance becomes a cry for mercy and love in society.
- Published
- 2015
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