ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Piers Plowman is written in alliterative verse, a poetic form which was popular in the West Midlands in the 14th century.

Detailed explanation-2: -Piers Plowman (written c. 1370–86; possibly c. 1377) or Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman (William’s Vision of Piers Plowman) is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland.

Detailed explanation-3: -Three versions of Piers Plowman are extant: A, the poem’s short early form, dating from the 1360s; B, a major revision and extension of A made in the late 1370s; and C, a less “literary” version of B dating from the 1380s and apparently intended to focus the work’s doctrinal issues.

Detailed explanation-4: -The author, William Langland, is critical of late medieval society and uses Piers Plowman to explore the sinful nature of humanity and the challenges faced by those trying to live virtuously in late medieval England. The poem is an often-humorous satire with a serious point.