Hi, Cathy--
Although I'm not particularly an expert in medieval labor, I'd say that for
13th-15th century England the answer is "no". "Work"--especially working class
labor after the Black Death in 1347-48--became a huge source of concern that led
to the Statute of Laborers (1349), which set wages and the terms of work back to
pre-Plague levels. Another indicator might be the centrality of workaday
figures in Piers Plowman and other texts in the Piers tradition, in plays like
Mankind or the mystery cycles (especially York, where "work" is a central
trope), and most obviously in a text like the Canterbury Tales where a pilgrim's
social station and subjectivity is inextricably entwined with his or her "work."
I've always puzzled myself over Aries sources and how his fairly limited range
of material was taken to represent the entire pre-modern period (though as a
medievalist I hate that kind of temporal & teleological term!)
Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.
Dan Kline
U of Alaska Anchorage
Cathy Burke wrote:
>
> Greetings List ,
>
> Coming back to renew my aquaintence with Aries, Centuries of Childhood,
> I noticed his comment that in the past ( pre-modern times) work was not
> so significant 'did not have so much importance in the public mind'- it
> took up less time than in the modern period, and it allowed for more
> leisure and play. It did not carry such a weight of existential value as
> in the modern period.
> I find this interesting - Is it true ?
>
> Cathy
>
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