John Gower

1. John Gower b.1330

2. John Gower • Relatively little known about his personal life • Landowner in Kent, later resided in Southwark • Wrote in three languages (Anglo-Norman, English, and Latin) • Contemporary of and had “close relations” with Chaucer • At Chaucer’s request, read Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde for “correction”

3. Historical Context • Born during the reign of Edward III but… • Produced two of his three main works were during reign of Richard II and Henry IV (the dedication of the third revision of Confessio was changed from Richard II to Henry IV) • Writing during the Hundred Year’s War • Alive during the establishment of the Parliament of England • Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 • Survived the recurring Black Death through the latter half of the 14th and early 15th centuries

4. Three Major Works • Mirour de l’omme (Mirror of Man) • Written in Anglo-Norman • Addressed to upper class audience able to read French and English • Estate satire • Around 30,000 lines • Survives in fragments

5. Three Majors Works (cont.) • Vox Clamantis (Voice of the Crier) • Written in Latin • Name of poem refers to saint for whom Gower was named, John the Baptist • Gower identified with John the Baptist as the “the voice of one crying out in the wilderness” and with the apocalyptic writer of Revelation, John. • Estate satire (addresses the peasantry for their part in the Peasants’ Uprising of 1381)

6. Three Majors Works (cont.) • Confessio Amantis (The Lover’s Confession) • Written in English • Divided into eight books • Gower draws from many secular and classical texts, but particularly Ovid • Norton characterizes it as “moral discourse.”

7. John Gower d.1408