Colour as Rhetorical ductus in the Middle English Pearl

Abstract

In this essay, I investigate the use of colour as a rhetorical device in the Middle English Pearl in an effort to shift the focus away from traditional discussions of colour symbolism in the poem and provide an alternative framework with which to understand the poet’s imaginative world. My work analyses the poet’s systematic deployment of colour in Pearl in terms of the rhetorical device of ductus, which pertains to the flow, or ‘way through’ a composition, showing how colours structure Pearl’s three landscapes and determine the outcome of the Dreamer’s spiritual quest.