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