piers plowman is one of the most significant works of medieval literature. astonishing in its cultural and theological scope, william langland's iconoclastic masterpiece is at once a historical relic and a deeply spiritual vision, probing not only the social and religious aristocracy but also the day-to-day realities of a largely voiceless proletariat class. 　　e. talbot donaldson's translation of the text has been selected for this norton critical edition because of its skillful emulation of the original poem's distinct alliterative verse. selections of the authoritative middle english text are also included for comparative analysis. 　　"sources and backgrounds" includes a large collection of contemporary religious and historical documents pertaining to the poem, including selections from the douai bible, accounts of the plague, and legal statutes. 　　"criticism" includes twenty interpretive essays by leading medievalists, among them e. talbot donaldson, george kane, jill mann, derek pearsall, c. david benson, and elizabeth d. kirk. 　　a glossary and selected bibliography are also included. 　　 作者简介： 　　 elizabeth robertson is professor of english at the university f colorado at boulder. she is a co-founder of the medieval feminist newsletter (now the medieval feminist forum) and the society for medieval feminist scholarship. she is the author of early english devotional prose and the female audience and, forthcoming, chaucerian consent. she is co-author of chaucer's religious tales (with c. david benson) and representing rape in medieval and early modern literature (with christine rose). her edition of the katherine group is forthcoming from teams. the primary focus of her research is on gender and religion in medieval english literature and she has published essays on that topic in collections and in speculum and studies in the age of chaucer.