Introduction: Reading the Riddles of Public Silences

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments ix
4. Editorial Practices, Translations, and Abbreviations x
5. Introduction: Reading the Riddles of Public Silences 1
6. 1 Why Public Silences Matter: Albertano da Brescia and Clerical Texts 14
7. 2 The Art of Political Silence: The Prudent King of Hoccleve’s Regiment of Princes 30
8. 3 Corrupt Political Silences: Mum and the Sothsegger 45
9. 4 Patient Silences Under Interrogation: Jesus in the York Cycle and William Thorpe 69
10. 5 The Limitations of Silence in Social Life: Thomas Hoccleve’s “My Complaint” and “Dialogue” 100
11. 6 Wise Silences in the Life of Learning: Will and the Philosophers in Piers Plowman 123
12. Postscript: Literary Invention, Power Differentials, and Ethical Multiplicity 150
13. Notes 155
14. Bibliography 176
15. Index 189