ABSTRACT
Scholars who trace the poem's rich indebtedness to late medieval contexts have long noted its supple texture: the opulent trappings of the pearl-maiden recall Ricardian ornamental luxuries; the indignant complaints of the Vineyard workers summon up late medieval labor disputes; the presentation of the heavenly city evokes contemporary artistic renderings of the biblical Apocalypse. The pearl-maiden's condescending manner indicates to many that the dreamer is limited by his attitude toward the physical world. George Edmondson notes the pearl-maiden's status as barred not lost object. The source of prohibition, however, is not a prince—heavenly or earthly—but the maiden herself. She puts herself off limits to the dreamer, refusing the role of courtly beloved elevated as a source of suffering for the elite masculine subject. Modern scholars often think of medieval virtues as distinct elements in a highly developed moral taxonomy, and for good reason.
