The Chaucer Review: An Indexed Bibliography (Vols. 1-30)

Donner, Morton. "Agent Nouns in Piers Plowman." 21 (1987): 374-82.
In Piers Plowman Langland's use of a proportionally large number of suffixed agent nouns demonstrates a recognition of the importance of the relationship between linguistic forms and content. These nouns assert Langland's conception of the world as working people performing varied tasks, andagent nouns express the evils of society and church corruption particularly well. The nouns also show how each different task has a different place within the church. In addition, agent nouns give life to allegorical figures.