Political Allegory in Later Medieval England (review)

154 Reviews Astell, A n n W., Political Allegory in Later Medieval England, Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press, 1999; cloth; pp. xi, 218; R.R.P.£25.95; ISBN 0801435609. The rise of New Historicist criticism in literary studies has encoura appropriation of medieval texts as witnesses to historical events, and as direct or indirect commentaries on contemporary issues. Following in the path of recent scholars such as Paul Strohm, David Bevington and John M. Bowers, A n n Astell argues persuasively for readings of major fourteenthandfifteenth -centurytexts as allegories of contemporary political events. Thus Piers Plowman and the letters of John Ball are claimed to be directly concerned with the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, Gower's Confessio Amantis with the Merciless Parliament of 1388, Chaucer's work with the troubled reign of Richard II, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with the events leading up to the deposition of Richard II in 1399, and, finally, Malory's Morte Darthur (specifically Book 8) with the death of Joan of Arc. Some of these connections are more original than others but, with a chapter assigned to each text, an historical context is confidently outlined, providing a clear vision of h o w these texts m a y havefittedin to a larger cultural and political landscape. Despite some striking and well-assembled congruences between text and context, there are theoretical and methodological problems. Apart from a confusing section on Augustine in the Introduction, there is little attempt to define allegory and therefore to distinguish it from other types of text. There is no satisfactory explanation as to w h y allegorical meanings might have been 'hidden' (as Astell says) within texts which otherwise discursively proclaim themselves to be courtly romances or beast fables or anything else except allegories. Issues of intentionality and audience—whether these texts were meant to be allegories, and if so, w h o was supposed to decode the hidden meanings and w h o was supposed to be oblivious to them—are relevant to Astell's project but are not sufficiently addressed. Though Astell does not theorise her understanding of allegory, the model she uses is that of the coded message, where authentic meanings can be 'read off' from the allegory, providing one has the correct key to the code. For scholars such as D. W . Robertson, the key to most medieval texts is the Bible and its associated commentaries. For Astell, on the other hand, the key is the historical record provided by contemporary Reviews 155 chroniclers and even by poets themselves. The possibility that more than one key can be used to read off equally valid meanings undermines the model. Thus a Robertsonian reading of Chaucer's Nun's Priest's Tale sees Chauntecleer as a flawed cleric like the Nun's Priest himself, whereas Astell sees him as representing Richard II in his vulnerable youth, prey to pride, flattery and self-ignorance, w h o yet managed to outface the angry mob in 1381 just as Chauntecleer escaped from the fox through his own wit. Which of these meanings is the 'right' decoding? Another problem lies with Astell's use of history as the key to the code. Before arriving at her ingenious and often attractive readings, Astell must first construct a singular version of historical 'truth', from a very selective range of sources, in order to match it to the literary texts. There is more than a hint of circularity in this process. Caxton's reference to Joan of Arc's pregnancy leads Astell to conclude that there was 'considerable anxiety about the English treatment ofJoan ofArc' (in prison), which then becomes the historical 'fact' which prompted Malory to invent, some thirty years later, a more noble fate for the penitent Guenevere, whose identification with Joan of Arc is unconvincingly traced through Margaret of Anjou. Astell's reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight treats it as an allegory of the last years of Richard II's reign, in which Arthur represents Richard, Gawain represents Richard's close friend Robert de Vere and Bertilak represents the earl of Arundel, beheaded for treason in 1397. This is based on some suggestive parallels, but...