Nature in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Times

Waste, Excess, and Profligacy as Critiques of Authority in Fourteenth-Century English Literature

Warren Tormey

Abstract

Drawing from the recent work of scholars in the realm of “waste studies,” this essay attempts to refine the depiction of the medieval allegorical figure of the “waster.” Building on the portrayals depicted in the allegorical poems of Wynnere and Wastoure and Piers Plowman, this essay establishes the waster as an aristocratic landholder prone to habits of destruction and ruination of the landscapes under his control. These habits conjoin with his arbitrary exercise of authority over the social subordinates residing within his domains. The essay then argues that these characteristics are embodied in a pair of central characters ...