The Defence of Religious Orthodoxy in John Heywood's The Pardoner and the Frere

Author: Caputo, Nicoletta¹

Source: The Yearbook of English Studies, Volume 38, Numbers 1-2, 1 July 2008 , pp. 34-48(15)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

In The Pardoner and the Frere an attack on religious abuses is combined with a positive belief in the Church and a defence of the Catholic faith. Corrupt churchmen are satirized and the need for religious reform is stressed, an issue in which King Henry VIII is called upon for support in a way that, on closer examination, appears ambiguous and not without a hint of criticism. Thus the interlude is not only `an exercise in persuasion', but, in keeping with the dynamics of Tudor household drama, it is also `a vehicle for persuasion', and its various, subtle, persuasive strategies arise from the dramatist's desire to see the abuses in the ecclesiastical institution amended.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Siena

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