MUM AND THE SOTHSEGGER

(Richard the Redeles)

(15th century)

Mum and the Sothseggeris an early 15th-century English alliterative poem in thePIERS PLOWMANtradition of social commentary. The poem survives in a single manuscript (British Museum MS Additional 41666), from which are missing the beginning and ending of the poem. The extant text includes 1,751 lines. The poem was formerly known by scholars asRichard the Redeles. Allusions in the text to contemporary events during the reign of Henry IV suggest that the poem was written shortly after 1409. The title, conferred by the scribe, names the poem after its two chief personified abstractions: Mum (the personification of self-interested silence), and Sothsegger (one that speaks out and tells the truth).The main action of the poem begins with a debate between the two: Truthtelling is necessary within the state, so that honest criticism can be heard. But Mum argues that flattering those in power is much more profitable. Clearly the Sothsegger is in the right, while Mum, embodying selfinterest and hypocrisy, represents everything that is wrong in society. Yet the narrator is undecided about which path to choose, and wanders off to examine the world and find which of the two qualities is best. He discovers that while Mum is easy to find everywhere, it is much more difficult to find truthtellers. The poem turns into an example of ESTATES SATIRE, as the narrator visits with personified Liberal Arts at the university, with the friars, a parish priest, and finally the town. LikePiers, the poem also involves a DREAM VISION. Here, the narrator is shown a hive of bees that represent the perfect commonwealth, in which the beekeeper (in the role of sovereign) exterminates those who do not contribute to the good of the hive.

Ultimately the poem criticizes the religious establishment in ways that suggest the author held some LOLLARD sympathies, and it suggests that in a well-run kingdom, a good king will listen to the constructive criticism of his subjects. Interestingly, the poem’s Narrator presents himself, finally, as one of those truthtellers so hard to find.

■ Dean, James M., ed.Richard the Redeless and Mum and the Sothsegger. Kalamazoo, Mich.: Western Michigan University for TEAMS, 2000.

■ Barr, Helen, ed.The Piers Plowman Tradition: A Critical Edition of Pierce the Ploughman’s Crede, Richard the Redeless,Mum and the Sothsegger, and The Crowned King. London: J.M. Dent, 1993.