John Gower, Confessio amantis, 1386–1390
John Gower, Confessio amantis, 1386–1390
This chapter discusses Confessio amantis, a poem composed by John Gower around 1386–1390. Confessio amantis is primarily based on the seven deadly sins, exemplified by a series of tales drawn from classical and medieval sources. Gower imposes a classification of knowledge on his material and elevates rhetoric from the status of an individual science to that of a governing epistemological category. The category of rhetoric encompasses the trivium. Gower also treats grammar and logic in a perfunctory manner.
Keywords: poem, Confessio amantis, John Gower, seven deadly sins, classification of knowledge, rhetoric, trivium, grammar, logic
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