SOURCE: McGuiness, Ilona M. “John Skelton's Phyllyp Sparowe as Satire: A Revaluation.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 20, No. 2 (Summer 1991): 215-31.

In the following essay, McGuiness argues that Phillip Sparrow is a satire reflecting the debates between the humanists and conservative Catholics on the issue of liturgical reform and claims that the fact that the protagonist finds solace in the traditional liturgy illustrates Skelton's conservative Catholic stance.

From the moment Alexander Barclay listed Skelton among those “relygious men” who “abuseth their relygion” by allowing Jane Scrope to recite the Office for the Dead for her deceased pet, thus labeling him as one of those “wylde people” who “love wantoness” in celebrating her maiden charms so openly, readers have ignored the historical context in which Phyllyp Sparowe was written.¹ Most have concentrated on a kind of biographical criticism which does little more than explore the personal relationship between the poet and...