Piers Plowman

by

William Langland

Grace Character Analysis

Grace is God’s messenger, as well as the gatekeeper at Truth’s palace. Grace reveals himself to be extremely generous, as he distributes the gifts and talents to the common people to prepare them for an attack by Antichrist and gives Piers Plowman the considerable gift of four oxen, four horses, two harrows, and four types of seeds.
Get the entire Piers Plowman LitChart as a printable PDF.
Piers Plowman PDF

Grace Character Timeline in Piers Plowman

The timeline below shows where the character Grace appears in Piers Plowman. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Passus V
Penance and Repentance Theme Icon
...buttress called Believe-So-Or-You-Won’t-Be-Saved and a roof made of Love-And-Lowness-As-Brothers-Of-One-Womb. The gatekeeper is a man named Grace, and his assistant is Amend-Yourself. Piers Plowman tells the crowd that to enter the gates,... (full context)
Love Theme Icon
Good Works and Salvation Theme Icon
...on the lookout for Anger, who may try to ambush them. Piers says that besides Grace and Amend-Yourself, there are also seven sisters who guard the gates: Abstinence, Humility, Charity, Chastity,... (full context)
Passus XIX
Social Hierarchy, Community, and Selfishness Theme Icon
...light, but Conscience explains that what he is witnessing is a messenger of Christ, named Grace. (full context)
Corruption Theme Icon
Grace counsels Piers Plowman and Conscience to gather up the common people so that Grace can... (full context)
Good Works and Salvation Theme Icon
Social Hierarchy, Community, and Selfishness Theme Icon
Grace gives all people “…a grace to guide himself with / So that idleness would not... (full context)
Love Theme Icon
Good Works and Salvation Theme Icon
Labor vs. Idleness Theme Icon
Along with these gifts, Grace also gives Piers Plowman four types of seeds: the cardinal virtues, to sow in mankind’s... (full context)
Labor vs. Idleness Theme Icon
Grace instructs Piers Plowman to build a house to store his crops in. When Piers asks... (full context)
Corruption Theme Icon
Penance and Repentance Theme Icon
Social Hierarchy, Community, and Selfishness Theme Icon
Once construction is complete, Piers Plowman and Grace depart to plow the entire earth. Seeing his chance, Pride gathers his followers and prepares... (full context)
Corruption Theme Icon
...Unity, since the group isn’t strong enough to fight against Pride and his followers without Grace there. Kind Wit instructs the people to dig a moat around Unity. Conscience instructs the... (full context)
Passus XX
Corruption Theme Icon
Penance and Repentance Theme Icon
...Pride and “see the friars had funds who flatter for need.” Conscience cries out for Grace, and Will wakes up. (full context)