Miraculous Revelation in the Middle English Pearl
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Jane Beal
Abstract
The exquisitely beautiful, fourteenth-century, Middle English dream vision called Pearl is full of miraculous revelation. The genre of the poem is the first indication for the reader that the poem will be about the miraculous. As a dream vision, Pearl draws on both biblical and classical antecedents, but particularly on medieval conventions of amour courtois and on the imagery of the Apocalypse of St. John. When the poem’s Dreamer meets a beautiful woman, clothed in white, wearing a crown of pearls and a large, luminous “wonder perle” (l. 221) and begins conversing with her in his dream, readers may perceive that he has met a saint within the spiritual otherworld of the dream-vision. When viewed as a saint, the Pearl-Maiden bears a striking resemblance to the saints described in the Apocalypse. When listened to as a saint, she clearly has a miraculous, indeed, prophetic voice that reveals Christian doctrine. Her many long speeches in response to the Dreamer’s questions echo both biblical prophecy and the parables of Jesus himself. In section XIV of the poem, the Maiden describes the Crucifixion of Jesus, a powerful retelling of the gospel passion narrative that prepares the Dreamer for the next stage of his dream, a vision of the New Jerusalem and, in the midst of the heavenly city, a vision of the Lamb Who Was Slain (cf. Rev. 5:9). The appearance of Jesus in the form of the Lamb of God in the poem can be compared to a miraculous icon: an open window to heaven. Through it, the Dreamer sees the holy. The miraculous revelation of Pearl takes the Dreamer – and readers with him – on a spiritual pilgrimage that leads to Jesus so that, upon awakening, he realizes his own inner transformation and invites readers to participate in it with him through the miracle of the Eucharist, the bread and wine transubstantiated in the hands of a priest, each day.
Abstract
The exquisitely beautiful, fourteenth-century, Middle English dream vision called Pearl is full of miraculous revelation. The genre of the poem is the first indication for the reader that the poem will be about the miraculous. As a dream vision, Pearl draws on both biblical and classical antecedents, but particularly on medieval conventions of amour courtois and on the imagery of the Apocalypse of St. John. When the poem’s Dreamer meets a beautiful woman, clothed in white, wearing a crown of pearls and a large, luminous “wonder perle” (l. 221) and begins conversing with her in his dream, readers may perceive that he has met a saint within the spiritual otherworld of the dream-vision. When viewed as a saint, the Pearl-Maiden bears a striking resemblance to the saints described in the Apocalypse. When listened to as a saint, she clearly has a miraculous, indeed, prophetic voice that reveals Christian doctrine. Her many long speeches in response to the Dreamer’s questions echo both biblical prophecy and the parables of Jesus himself. In section XIV of the poem, the Maiden describes the Crucifixion of Jesus, a powerful retelling of the gospel passion narrative that prepares the Dreamer for the next stage of his dream, a vision of the New Jerusalem and, in the midst of the heavenly city, a vision of the Lamb Who Was Slain (cf. Rev. 5:9). The appearance of Jesus in the form of the Lamb of God in the poem can be compared to a miraculous icon: an open window to heaven. Through it, the Dreamer sees the holy. The miraculous revelation of Pearl takes the Dreamer – and readers with him – on a spiritual pilgrimage that leads to Jesus so that, upon awakening, he realizes his own inner transformation and invites readers to participate in it with him through the miracle of the Eucharist, the bread and wine transubstantiated in the hands of a priest, each day.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Miracles, Wonders, and Human Existence Globally and in the Pre-Modern Age: Also an Introduction 1
- (False) Miracles, Doctors and the potentia of Saints in the Gaul of Gregory of Tours 107
- Apostle’s Miracles and Kings’ Authority in West Francia (ca. 850–ca. 1050) 127
- Fecundity, Motherhood and Healing Karāmāt (Miracles): A Comparative Study of Sayyidah Nafīsah and Christian Women Saints 161
- Intertextuality and the Transcendental Miracle of Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī’s Risālat al-Ghufrān (The Epistle of Forgiveness) (1033 C.E.) 189
- The Miracles of Solomon: A Comparative Study of Al-Thaʿlabī’s Qiṣaṣ Al-Anbiyāʾ and “The City of Brass,” a Tale in the Arabian Nights Collection 215
- Miracle Accounts as Teaching Aids and Learning Tools: Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogus Miraculorum as a Mirror of Everyday Life and the History of Mentality 241
- The Ultimate Miracle: Revival of the Dead in Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa Maria 275
- Miracle of Miracles: Improbable Choices and Impossible Outcomes in Dante’s Paradiso 299
- Miraculosa gratia: Discerning the Spirit, Discerning the Body in the Liber of Angela of Foligno and in the Vita of Clare of Montefalco 337
- Miraculous Revelation in the Middle English Pearl 375
- The Miracles of the Immaculate Conceptions in the St. Anne’s Legend and the Middle English Joseph of Aramathie 405
- “Many ferlis han fallen in a fewe ȝeris”: Debt, Obligation, Godly Presence, and Grasping the Miraculous in Piers Plowman 427
- Margery Kempe and Miracles: Guarding Understanding and Interpretation of Experience 459
- Where Has God Gone in the Vernacular Renderings of Lanfranc’s Chirurgia magna? 477
- Non vidit, sed firmiter credit – The Many Roles of Jews in Christian Miracle Narratives 505
- “Never of Myselff”: Failure and Interiority in Malory’s “The Healing of Sir Urry” 555
- Between Wonders and Miracles. The Use and Abuse of Natural Substances in the Healing Rituals of Late Medieval and Early Modern Popular Culture 581
- Between Wonder and Science: Alchemy in Augurello’s Mini-Epic Chryrsopoeia (1515) 619
- “Miraculous Light” – Natural Phenomena and Divine Salvation in the Medieval and Early Modern World 647
- Biographies of the Contributors
- Index
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Miracles, Wonders, and Human Existence Globally and in the Pre-Modern Age: Also an Introduction 1
- (False) Miracles, Doctors and the potentia of Saints in the Gaul of Gregory of Tours 107
- Apostle’s Miracles and Kings’ Authority in West Francia (ca. 850–ca. 1050) 127
- Fecundity, Motherhood and Healing Karāmāt (Miracles): A Comparative Study of Sayyidah Nafīsah and Christian Women Saints 161
- Intertextuality and the Transcendental Miracle of Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī’s Risālat al-Ghufrān (The Epistle of Forgiveness) (1033 C.E.) 189
- The Miracles of Solomon: A Comparative Study of Al-Thaʿlabī’s Qiṣaṣ Al-Anbiyāʾ and “The City of Brass,” a Tale in the Arabian Nights Collection 215
- Miracle Accounts as Teaching Aids and Learning Tools: Caesarius of Heisterbach’s Dialogus Miraculorum as a Mirror of Everyday Life and the History of Mentality 241
- The Ultimate Miracle: Revival of the Dead in Alfonso X’s Cantigas de Santa Maria 275
- Miracle of Miracles: Improbable Choices and Impossible Outcomes in Dante’s Paradiso 299
- Miraculosa gratia: Discerning the Spirit, Discerning the Body in the Liber of Angela of Foligno and in the Vita of Clare of Montefalco 337
- Miraculous Revelation in the Middle English Pearl 375
- The Miracles of the Immaculate Conceptions in the St. Anne’s Legend and the Middle English Joseph of Aramathie 405
- “Many ferlis han fallen in a fewe ȝeris”: Debt, Obligation, Godly Presence, and Grasping the Miraculous in Piers Plowman 427
- Margery Kempe and Miracles: Guarding Understanding and Interpretation of Experience 459
- Where Has God Gone in the Vernacular Renderings of Lanfranc’s Chirurgia magna? 477
- Non vidit, sed firmiter credit – The Many Roles of Jews in Christian Miracle Narratives 505
- “Never of Myselff”: Failure and Interiority in Malory’s “The Healing of Sir Urry” 555
- Between Wonders and Miracles. The Use and Abuse of Natural Substances in the Healing Rituals of Late Medieval and Early Modern Popular Culture 581
- Between Wonder and Science: Alchemy in Augurello’s Mini-Epic Chryrsopoeia (1515) 619
- “Miraculous Light” – Natural Phenomena and Divine Salvation in the Medieval and Early Modern World 647
- Biographies of the Contributors
- Index
