(no subject)
The more I research Pearl the more complicated it gets and the less I'm certain of my topic. When I read it the first time, I thought they only called it "paradise" and never "heaven", but it turns out they do mention heaven several times. So it looks like it isn't a depiction of the "new creation"--or at least, not entirely. It seems to be a heaven concept with a lot of Eden-esque descriptions thrown in. The only thing that makes it seem like the new creation is the fact that the heavenly Jerusalem is "descending" on it--or has descended. Or something. I can't tell; I'm no expert in Middle English. And everybody's so busy writing verse translations that they're not always very accurate. Grr rawr.
Pretty much the biggest thing I have to say about the poem right now that would make a good paper is that it isn't an interim paradise and it doesn't mention purgatory. That it sends the saved directly to the greatest fulfillment of heavenly joys in the new Jerusalem. New Jerusalem seems to have descended already, in which case they don't have to wait for the destruction and renewal of the earth--or, possibly, it is still in heaven and hasn't descended on earth yet, which really amounts to the same thing. *shakes head* I want to talk to Dr. Dean, but I'm home on break, so no talking to him in person until next week. Maybe I should email him. I guess I'll sleep on it and take a look at it again on Monday.
EDIT: After MUCH thought and some more research, I've come to the conclusion that the topic still works, but I have to frame it differently. Instead of attempting to locate the Pearl paradise, I'm instead going to focus on what is unusual about this depiction of paradise (no mention of purgatory, for instance) that furthers the theme of the poem. Yeesh.
Pretty much the biggest thing I have to say about the poem right now that would make a good paper is that it isn't an interim paradise and it doesn't mention purgatory. That it sends the saved directly to the greatest fulfillment of heavenly joys in the new Jerusalem. New Jerusalem seems to have descended already, in which case they don't have to wait for the destruction and renewal of the earth--or, possibly, it is still in heaven and hasn't descended on earth yet, which really amounts to the same thing. *shakes head* I want to talk to Dr. Dean, but I'm home on break, so no talking to him in person until next week. Maybe I should email him. I guess I'll sleep on it and take a look at it again on Monday.
EDIT: After MUCH thought and some more research, I've come to the conclusion that the topic still works, but I have to frame it differently. Instead of attempting to locate the Pearl paradise, I'm instead going to focus on what is unusual about this depiction of paradise (no mention of purgatory, for instance) that furthers the theme of the poem. Yeesh.