Caritas: Ihre figurative Darstellung in der englischen Literatur des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts by Birgit Möske (review)

STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER address herself to the subject.But there is a flaw in her procedure, one she shares with other editors.She says that "it is interesting to note some of the author's sound patterns and the effect they have on the rate and pulse of the prose....the sentences immediately following are again quick­ moving passages with soft sounds that blend together and ripple out quickly and softly....the replies coming quickly and smoothly impress the reader...." Clearly, the pace of the prose is an issue here, yet Moon has punctuated the text (as an editorial prerogative)--overriding the punctuation in the manuscript.For the manuscript is thoroughly punc­ tuated.It is not controversial to say that little is known about ME prose rhythm, nor should it be too much to hope that one day something might be known of it-and that knowledge will have to take into account the punctuation in the manuscripts.Editions such as these will be read by relative experts. For myself, I would be happier with a diplomatic rendering of the texts.Our understanding of ME prose would be, at least potentially, much improved thereby. It is not enough to override the evidence of the manuscript simply because the evidence is not fully understood. CLIFFORD PETERSON Arizona State University BIRGIT M6SKE. Caritas: Ihrefigurative Darstellung in der englischen Literatur des 14. bis 16. Jahrhunderts. Bonn: Bouvier, 1977. Pp. 208. DM 33. This monograph, the author's dissertation, surveys the poetic means by which the theological virtue caritas is presented in English literature from about 1300 to 1600.Individual works are discussed in chronologi­ cal order.They represent devotional and didactic literature, sermon, and religious allegory, but the author declines to treat dramatic genres systematically because of the non-figurative character of the actions in which personifications of caritas occur.One may argue with this exclu­ sion. In justifying it the author suggests the richness of perspective which might be gained by the opposite decision: "Der Gesamtkontext, in dem sich die Abstrakta bewegen, ist zwar figurativ, das Leitbild, unter dem das jeweilige Thema der Moralitat aktualisiert wird, steht 194 REVIEWS einer allegorischen Ausdeutung offen; die Aktionen aber, in denen sich die Abstrakta jeweils manifestieren, sind nicht figurativ" (pp. 9-10). Greater breadth would be welcome in this study, for the majority of works treated show little that is innovative or imaginative in their figurative presentation of charity. Dr. Moske is well aware that in medieval literature the dark side of moral theology was far more stimu­ lating than the light, and that in consequence the literary history ofthe virtues is far lesssubstantial than that ofthe vices ("Das Fehlen symbolis­ cher, auch tiersymbolischer Beigaben, damit der Verzicht auf eine gestaltliche Konturierung, die durchgehende Statik der Tugendprasen­ tation, hebt diese vom bunt und lebhaft geschilderten Konzept der Siinden ab" p. 144). The main text ofher survey runs to about 115 rather short pages; of these, a full half is devoted to two major works, Piers Plowman and The Faerie Queene. Rather than suspect Dr. Moske of treating the other workssuperficially, one concludes that there is just not a great deal to say. Even her discussions ofLangland and Spenser would be considerably shorter did she not dwell at length on the concept of charity and its relationship to the argument in each poem, rather than restricting herself to the analysis and classification of literary devices ("die in einem Text verwendeten Bildstrukturen und Prasentations­ methoden" p. 9), which she claims as her main purpose. These are criticisms more ofProblemstellung than ofexecution, for the author organizes and writes clearly, never presses the evidence, and draws together the details with helpful conciseness. She concludes that handbooks and tracts popularized graphic depictions of charity which were rooted in exegetical and scholastic tradition and were then assimi­ lated by allegorical poetry. Important examples are the images of the tree, the ladder, and the fortress, and the metaphorical complex of "remedy" and "healing." Down through the early fifteenth century, the literary treatment of charity is more diagrammatic than visual or con­ crete, serving to make plain "[die] rein geistigen Beziehungen des Abstraktums Caritas zu seinen Unteraspekten, den sich im...