English Literature 2
From Beowulf to Chaucer
Old English/Anglo-Saxon Period: 499-1066
Content:
? strong belief in fate
? juxtaposition of church and pagan worlds ? admiration of heroic warriors who prevail in battle
? express religious faith and give moral instruction through literature Style/Genres:
? oral tradition of literature ? poetry dominant genre ? unique verse form: (p. 8) · caesura · alliteration · repetition · 4 beat rhythm Historical Context:
? life centered around ancestral tribes or clans that ruled themselves ? at first the people were warriors from invading outlying areas: Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Danes ? later they were agricultural Key Works/Authors:
Beowulf: The national epic of the Anglo-Saxons, the greatest surviving
epic by Germanic peoples.
? Plot: Hrothgar, king of the Danes, his hall Heorot---Grendal and his mother harrying them for 12 years---Beowulf went to help, killed Grendal and his mother---returned home to become king and ruled for 50 years---fought the firedrake, received fatal wound and died. ? Length: 3182
? Background: 6th century
? Date: probably written between 700-750
? Spirit: a dark world, no love. Men seem seldom to relax. Clothed always in their armor, they are ready to go forth and test their courage against fate.
? Their heroic ideal: excellence. The king or chieftain must excel in everything, esp. fighting. Skill and courage are the most important qualities. Beowulf is such a hero. Middle English Period: 1066-1485 Content:
? chivalric code of honor ? romances ? religious devotion
Note: the year 1485 is important because King Henry VII, first monarch of the Tudor family, succeeded to the throne, ushering in a new era.
Style/Genres:
? oral tradition continues ? folk ballads
? kennings (metaphors, e.g. “swan road” for the sea ) ? frame stories ? moral tales
? Romance: large number, little value, borrowing from French writers. Exception: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. (p. 17-18) The literature of this period lacks originality. Many voices, but just one thing: salvation. E.g. William Langland’s Piers the Plowman. But there is one exception, that is Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)
? Father of English poetry. The greatest poet in Middle English and one of the greatest in the English language. (p. 29-320)
? Chaucer’s art: variety of subjects, double vision, vivid characterization, truthful description, satire, humor, the heroic couplet The Canterbury Tales
? Plot: One day in April, 30 pilgrims at Tabard Inn, Southwark, Near London---the Shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury: each was to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two more back.
Judge: the innkeeper Reward: a free supper
Structure
General Prologue The Knight’s Tale The Pardoner’s Tale The Wife of Bath’s Tale The Miller’s Tale Significance of The Canterbury Tales See p. 30-32
1. It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer’s time.
2. The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commanded by critics.
3. Chaucer’s humour.
4. Chaucer’s contribution to the English language: greatly increased the prestige of the English language. Excerpt from the General Prologue See p. 34-35
Prologue Tale Prologue Tale Prologue Tale Prologue Tale ? There also was a Nun, a Prioress ? Simple her way of smiling was and coy ? Her greatest oath was only ‘By St Loy!” ? And she was known as Madam Eglantyne’. ? And well she sang a service’, with a fine ? Intoning through her nose, as was most seemly, ? And she spoke daintily in French, extremely, ? After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe,” ? French in the Paris style she did not know. ? At meat her manners were well taught withal; ? No morsel from her lips did she let fall, ? Nor dipped her fingers in the sauce too deep; ? But she could carry a morsel up and keep ? The smallest drop from falling on her breast. ? For courtliness she had a special zest. ? And she would wipe her upper lip so clean ? That not a trace of grease was to be seen ? Upon the cup when she had drunk; to eat, ? She reached a hand sedately for the meat. ? She certainly was very entertaining,
? Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining ? To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace,