ABSTRACT
Derek Pearsall describes the vision of Lady Meed as ‘a brilliant allegorical portrayal of the corruption of every estate and activity of society through the influence of money’. When William Langland first describes Lady Meed, in Passus II of Piers Plowman, he portrays her as a modern version of the Scarlet Woman, set in opposition to Holy Church, that other lady from the Book of Revelation. Money has always suited the purposes of those who wish to influence others improperly. Modern money consists of materials in themselves considered valueless; but in Langland’s day money was made from the same precious metals as many other ‘richesses’; so a ‘piece of silver’ can be either a coin or a cup, according to context. The chapter concludes that, in the Meed episode, Langland betrays no specific anxiety about money as such, as against other ‘richesses'.
