English Literature in the Old English and Middle E.docx

English Literature in the Old English and Middle E.docx

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EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishandMiddleE

EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishandMiddleEnglishPeriods（fromthe5thcenturyto1400）

Majorpoints

●ABriefIntroductiontoEnglishLiterature

●EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishandMiddleEnglishperiods（500-1400）

⏹EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishorAnglo-Saxonperiod（fromthe5thcenturyto1066）

⏹EnglishLiteratureintheMiddleEnglishorAnglo-Normanperiod（1066-1400）

I.ABriefIntroductiontoEnglishLiterature

▪EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishandMiddleEnglishperiods（fromthe5thcenturyto1400）

EnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishorAnglo-Saxonperiod（fromthe5thcenturyto1066）

EnglishliteratureintheMiddleEnglishorAnglo-Normanperiod（1066-1400）

▪EnglishliteratureinthePre-ElizabethanPeriod（from1400to1557）

▪EnglishLiteratureintheElizabethanperiod（1558-1625）

Englishliteratureinthefirststage（1557-1579）

Englishliteratureinthesecondstage（1580-1599）

Englishliteratureinthethirdstage（1599-1625）

▪EnglishLiteratureintheMiddleandLate17thCentury

Metaphysicalpoetry

Othermajorpoets:

JohnMilton,JohnDrydenandJohnBunyan

▪EnglishLiteratureinthe18thCentury

Poetry,proseandfictionintheearly18thcentury

Fictioninthemiddleandlate18thcentury

Dramainthe18thcentury

Neo-classicismandPre-Romanticisminthemiddleandlate18thcentury

▪EnglishLiteratureinthe19thCentury

Englishliteratureintheearly19thcentury

Englishliteratureinthemid-19thcentury

Englishliteratureinthelate19thcentury

▪EnglishLiteratureinthe20thCentury

Englishpoetry,fictionanddramabefore1945

Englishpoetry,fictionanddramasince1945

II.EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishandMiddleEnglishPeriods（500-1400）

Majorpoints:

▪Oralliterature

▪Folkliteratureandreligiousliterature

▪AlliterativeepicandBeowulf

▪RomancesandSirGawainandtheGreenKnight

▪WilliamLanglandandPiersthePlouman

▪GeoffreyChaucerandTheCanterburyTales

Britons/Romans/Normans:

▪TheStonehenge（1400-1800BC）asonesignoftheBritishcivilization,oneoftheoldestintheworld.

▪TheCeltsasthefirstinhabitantsoftheBritishIsles.

▪TheBritons,oneoftheCeltictribes,cametotheBritishIslesinthe5thcenturyBC,stayingforsome500years,andcalledtheplace“Britain”whichmeans“thelandoftheBritons.”

▪TheRomansoldiersofJuliusCaesarconqueredtheBritonsinabout55BC.

▪TheAnglo-Saxons,onetheGermanictribes,conqueredtheBritonsandRomansinthe5thcenturyandstayeduntil1066.Anglo-SaxonbecameEnglishand“Britain”became“England.”

▪TheFrench-speakingNormansconqueredEnglandin1066andtheOldEnglishperiod（Anglo-Saxonperiod）endedandtheMiddleEnglishperiod（Anglo-Normanperiod）began.

A.EnglishLiteratureintheOldEnglishorAnglo-Saxonperiod（500-1066）

Majorpoints:

▪Beowulf

▪Majorfeatures

Beowulf

TheearliestliteratureoftheEnglishpeople,likethatofmanyotherpeoples,originatedfromthecollectiveeffortsofthepeople,usuallywhentheywereworkingorrestingfromtheirlabors.Storiesbasedonhistoryorlegendorcontemporaryeventswerenarratedorallyandoftensungduringfestivitiesandotheroccasions,chieflyforentertainment.Someofthemoreinterestingofthesenarrativeswerepassedfrommouthtomouthandfromgenerationtogeneration,andastheyweretoldandsungbydifferentsingersatdifferenttimes,additionsweremadetothemordeletionsweretakenfromthem.

ThemostmonumentalliteraryworkinEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishorAnglo-Saxonperiod（fromthe5thcenturyto1066）isBeowulf.Itistheonlyimportantsinglepoemhandeddowninthewrittenformandispreservedintact.Probablyexistinginoralforminthe6thcentury,itisbelievedtohavebeenwritteninthe7thor8thcenturyalthoughitsmanuscriptextantnowcanbedatedbacktothe10thcentury.Composedof3183linesofalliterativeverse（Alliteration,alsoknownas“headrhyme”or“initialrhyme,”isaverseformwhichmeanstherepetitionofthesamesounds,usu.initialconsonantsofwordsorofstressedsyllablesinanysequenceofneighboringwords,e.g.“lordoflanguage.”Alliterativeverseisaverseinwhichthechiefprincipleofrepetitionisalliterationratherthanrhyme）,itisthelongestoftheearlyEnglishpoemspreservedtoday.

Beowulfisanepic,tellingthestoryofBeowulf,anationalhero,whowenttofightagainsttheenemiesindefenseofhiscountry.（Anepicisalongnarrativepoemcelebratingthegreatdeedsofoneormorelegendaryheroesinagrandceremoniousstyle,whowasusu.protectedordescendedfromgods,performedsupernaturalexploitsinbattleorinmarvelousvoyagesinsavingorfoundinganation）.Itsmajorthemes,amongothers,arereligiousbelief,heroism,andhonor,ascanbeseeninthefollowingremarks:

“Itisbetterforamantoavengehisfriendthantorefreshhissorrow.Aswemustallexpecttoleaveoutlifeonthisearth,wemustearnsomerenown,ifwecan,beforedeath;daringisthethingforafightingmantoberememberedby”（LL133-1388）.（Beowulf’swords）

“OurstrifehadendedatitsverybeginningifGodhadnotsavedme”（LL1658-1659）（Hrothgar’swords）

“Everyman’sactionwasundertheswayofGod’sjudgment”（LL2858-2859）（thenarrator’swords）

“Deathisbetterforanyearlthananexistenceofdisgrace!

”（LL2890-2891）（Wiglaf’swords）

MajorFeaturesofEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishperiod:

1）MostofEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishperiodexistedinoralform;

2）ThemostimportantliteraryformofEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishperiodistheepic;

3）AlliterationisthebasicverseforminEnglishliteratureintheOldEnglishperiod;

4）TheonlyworkinwrittenformintheOldEnglishperiodisBeowulf,whosemajorfeatureistheuseofalliteration.

B.EnglishLiteratureintheMiddleEnglishorAnglo-Normanperiod（1066-1400）

Majorpoints:

▪Folkliterature

▪Religiousliterature

▪Romance（thebulkofliteratureofthisperiod）andSirGawainandtheGreenKnight

▪WilliamLangland（1332-1400）andPiersthePlouman

▪GeoffreyChaucer（1340-1400）andTheCanterburyTales

Romance

Definition:

Aromanceisaversenarrativethatsingsofknightlyadventuresorotherheroicdeeds,andusu.emphasizesthechivalricloveoftheMiddleAgesEurope.

Themes:

“TheMatterofBritain:

”RomanceswhichdealwiththeArthurianlegend（6thcentury,asemi-legendarykingoftheBritonsandnationalherowhomayoriginallyhavebeensomeRomano-BritishwarleaderinthewestofEnglandcalledArthurus,butisrepresentedashavingunitedtheBritishtribesagainsttheinvadingSaxons,andashavingbeenthechampionnotonlyofhispeoplebutofChristendomaswell.）

“TheMatterofFrance:

”RomanceswhichtellstoriesconcerningCharlemagne（747-814,kingoftheFranksandChristianemperorofthewest）andhisknights

“TheMatterofRose:

”RomanceswhicharetalesofantiquityfromtheTrojanWar（theten-yearwarwagedagainstTroybytheGreeksinordertogetbackKingMenelaus’wife,Helen,whohadbeenabductedbyParis,kingofTroy）tothefeatsofAlexandertheGreat（356-323B.C.）

Form:

AlthoughmostoftheEnglishromancesofthisperiodweremetrical,meterandrhymebeingadoptedfromFrenchpoetrytotaketheplaceofalliterationinAnglo-Saxonpoetry,intheearly14thcentury,however,therewasacuriousrevivalofalliterativeverseinanumberofromanceswrittenintheWestMidlanddialectofMiddleEnglish.

Representativeworks:

SirGawainandtheGreenKnight

Anonymouslywrittenin1360-1370,SirGawainandtheGreenKnightisthemostoutstandingsingleromanceontheArthurianlegend.Consistingoffoursections,itismainlyconcernedwiththetestsoffaith,courageandpurity,andthehumanweaknessforself-preservation----allofthemaretraitsofchivalricromances.

C.EnglishLiteratureintheSecondHalfofthe14thCentury

Background

Althoughromanceswerestillwritteninthesecondhalfofthe14thcenturytocelebratetheknightlydeedsofthepast,chivalrywasrapidlylosingitsglamour.TheearlyfloweringoftheRenaissance,whichbeganfirstinItalyinthe14thcentury,soonspreadtoFranceandbytheendofthe14thcenturythewritingsof（FrancescoPetrarca）Petrarch（1304-74,poetandscholar）and（Giovanni）Boccaccio（1313-75,writer）alreadystartedtoexerttheirinfluenceonmanyEnglishwriters.SuperstitionprevalentthroughtheMiddleAgeswasbeginningtolosegroundinthemindsofthepeoplewiththegradualdawningofscienceinEurope.Thesecondhalfofthe14thcenturymarkedthedeteriorationanddeclineoffeudalisminEnglandandthegreateconomicandpoliticalchangeshadtheirimpactonliterature,andEnglishliteratureflourishedafterthreecenturiesofcomparativelull.

Majorwritersandtheirworks

1.JohnWycliff（1324?

-1384）:

JohnWycliffhasmadesomecontributiontoEnglishliteraturebytakingtheresponsibilityfortheearliesttranslationoftheentireBiblefromLatinintoEnglish.

2.JohnGower（1330-1405）:

JohnGowerisknownforthreeworkswritteninthreedifferentlanguages:

“SpeculumMeditantis”or“Mirourdel’Omme”inFrench（“TheMirrorofMankind:

”areligiousallegoryinthreepartsonthesinsofman）（1376-1379）;“VoxClamantis”inLatin（“TheVoiceofClamants:

”apoemattackingthepeasants’risingof1381）（c.1382）;and“ConfessioAmantis”inEnglish（“ALover’sConfession:

”alongpoemillustratingthesevendeadlysins）（1390-1393）.

3.WilliamLangland（1332-1400）:

WilliamLanglandiswellrememberedforhiswork,PiersthePlouman,（whichhebeganprobablyin1362andwaspreoccupiedinhislastt