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Piers Plowman is a humble peasant who is a follower of Truth, a husband to Dame-Work-When-It’s-Time-To, and a father to Do-Just-So-Or-Your-Dame-Will-Beat-You and Suffer-Your-Sovereigns-To-Have-Their-Will-Condemn-Them-Not-For-If-You-Do-You’ll-Pay-A-Dear-Price-Let-God-Have-His-Way-With-All-Things-For-So-His-Word-Teaches. Piers tries to show society how to follow Truth through honest, hard labor, but he frequently grows discouraged by the laziness and disobedience that crops up among the people. Piers Plowman also briefly serves as a teacher to Will, teaching him about the tree of Patience (the Christian community) and the three wooden poles (the Trinity) that he uses to defend the tree from the Devil. Eventually, Piers Plowman comes to represent Christ, underscoring the humble, human side of Jesus.
Piers Plowman Quotes in Piers Plowman
The Piers Plowman quotes below are all either spoken by Piers Plowman or refer to Piers Plowman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Passus V Quotes
He’s the promptest payer that poor men know.
He withholds no worker’s wages so he’s without them by evening.
He’s as lowly as a lamb and lovely of speech.
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Passus VI Quotes
I shall sweat and strain and sow for us both,
And also labor for your love all my lifetime,
In exchange for your championing Holy Church and me
Against waters and wicked men who would destroy me.
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Passus VII Quotes
…I can find no pardon here—
Only, “Do well, and have well,” and God will have your soul.
And “Do evil, and have evil,” and hope nothing else
But that after your death-day the Devil will have your soul.
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Passus XV Quotes
Therefore by color nor by clergy, you’ll never come to know him,
Neither through words nor works, but through will alone,
And no clerk knows that, nor creature on earth
But Piers the Plowman, Petrus id est Christus.
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Passus XVI Quotes
…Piers’s fruit flowered and befell to be ripe.
And then Jesus should joust for it by judgment of arms
Which one should fetch the fruit, the Fiend or himself.
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Passus XX Quotes
…I will become a pilgrim,
…To seek Piers the Plowman, who might expunge Pride,
And see that friars had funds who flatter for need
And contradict me, Conscience; now Kind avenge me,
And send me heart and health till I have Piers the Plowman.
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Piers Plowman Character Timeline in Piers Plowman
The timeline below shows where the character Piers Plowman appears in Piers Plowman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Passus V
A peasant named Piers Plowman suddenly appears, claiming to know Truth intimately. As Truth’s follower, Piers works in Truth’s fields,...
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Piers Plowman gives the crowd an overview of the directions to Truth. The crowd must first go...
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...made of Love-And-Lowness-As-Brothers-Of-One-Womb. The gatekeeper is a man named Grace, and his assistant is Amend-Yourself. Piers Plowman tells the crowd that to enter the gates, they must recite a specific sentence of...
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Piers Plowman warns the people to be on the lookout for Anger, who may try to ambush...
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A pickpocket, ape-trainer, cake-seller, pardoner, and common woman all object to Piers Plowman ’s complicated directions. The pardoner and common woman run off in search of a papal...
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Passus VI
The crowd says that Piers Plowman ’s directions to Truth are too complicated to follow on their own—they need a guide...
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Piers Plowman instructs the women to sew clothing for the workers and sacks to hold grain while...
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Piers Plowman promises that whoever helps him work will be provided for. His wife is Dame-Work-When-It’s-Time-To, his...
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Although most people help Piers Plowman work, some people pretend to be blind or crippled to be excused from labor. Their...
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As a last resort, Piers Plowman calls upon a man named Hunger for help. Hunger punishes the fakers harshly, and they...
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Hunger refuses to leave until he is fed, forcing Piers Plowman and the other poor peasants to scrape together what food they can find and work...
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Passus VII
Truth sends Piers Plowman a pardon “For him and for his heirs” that allows all those who faithfully help...
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A priest asks Piers Plowman for the opportunity to read the pardon and explain it to the people in English....
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Passus XIII
...about Do-Well. Clergy admits that he doesn’t know how to define Do-Well, although he heard Piers Plowman once say, “…no study is worth a straw except for love alone.” Conscience and Clergy...
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Passus XV
Will wishes he could meet Charity, but Anima says that without Piers Plowman ’s help, Will has no hope of meeting Charity. Piers Plowman knows Charity better than...
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Passus XVI
...in a garden “that God made himself”—the heart of the human body. Anima mentions that Piers Plowman oversees the garden. At the sound of Piers Plowman’s name, Will “swoon[s]” with “pure joy,”...
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Piers Plowman appears to Will and shows him the tree called Patience. Will notices the tree is...
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Will asks Piers Plowman about the three wooden poles, noting that they all seem to have come from the...
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...from his dream—but is still in the midst of another. He can no longer find Piers Plowman , so he wanders through the country looking for him. One day, he meets a...
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Passus XVIII
...Palm Sunday. In his dream, he sees Jesus, who looks like both the Samaritan and Piers Plowman , riding barefoot on a mule’s back into town. The crowds sing joyfully that Jesus...
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Passus XIX
...the middle of Mass, however, he falls asleep once more. In his dream, he sees Piers Plowman coated in blood, carrying a cross. Will calls out to Conscience to ask if the...
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...“put Do-Best in train.” Conscience explains that in doing so, Jesus also gave power to Piers Plowman to absolve people of their sins, “To bind and unbind both here and elsewhere.”
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Will witnesses the Holy Ghost descending upon Piers Plowman and his companions at Pentecost. The men begin to “speak and understand all sorts of...
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Grace counsels Piers Plowman and Conscience to gather up the common people so that Grace can distribute among them...
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...or pride,” and Grace assigns a multitude of skills, including wisdom, understanding, and courage. To Piers Plowman , Grace gives four oxen—a large ox named Luke, two “mighty” oxen named Mark and...
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Along with these gifts, Grace also gives Piers Plowman four types of seeds: the cardinal virtues, to sow in mankind’s soul. The seeds are...
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Grace instructs Piers Plowman to build a house to store his crops in. When Piers asks for wood with...
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Once construction is complete, Piers Plowman and Grace depart to plow the entire earth. Seeing his chance, Pride gathers his followers...
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Passus XX
...“softer compresses.” Someone recommends Friar Flatterer, but Conscience objects, declaring that the best doctor is Piers Plowman . Conscience eventually complies, and Friar Flatterer is sent for.
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Conscience vows to become a pilgrim and search for Piers Plowman , for he is the only one who can destroy Pride and “see the friars...
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