Title Background

Patterns in Middle English Dialogues.

Patterns in Middle English Dialogues.

In a survey of ME dialogues and their classical antecedents, compares WW with The Conflict of Wit and Will in the use of imagery and diction of contending forces within a framework of moral purpose. Compares PPl B.3 with Death and Life as “framed contrasts” in which the alternating speeches of the debating figures develop the contrasts of the prologue and lead to a kind of resolution. With regard to “uneven” contrasts, e.g., dialogues of teacher and pupil, WL excels in his invigorating change of teachers and his mixing of teacher/student dialogues with one-to-one contests.