THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD(1066-1485)
*changes In lg
Divided into 3 Stages:
1.early ME stage= pre-Chaucerian stage
2.middle stage= the Chaucerian stage
3.late ME stage=the past-Chaucerian
Ad.1 early ME stage= pre-Chaucerian S.
POETRY: rhyming, didactic religious,
romances, lyric
a)rhyming Chronicles
-“Brut” by Layaman
^long poem, history mixed with legends
*title->proper name Brutus (1st British dynasty)
*legendary version of English history
*hero->descendant of Aeneas-king of Troy
*Hero->killed his father by mistake
*he arrived in Britain-> made new Troy=London
b)didactic/religious poetry
#ALEGORY-means a double nature of poem,
it involves 2 layers of meaning: literal/surface;
figurative/deep/hidden meaning; didactic,
moralistic with religious messages.
-“The Owl and the Nightingale” Nicholas Guildford
*argument between owl-wisdom and nightingale-
trivial pleasures
*contest, contention of which beard sings better.
*Nightingale(emptiness) calls owl monster, ugly
looking which can't sing
* Owl-her song are useful for humans- it regulates
time of the day
^moral meaning: “Not all that glitters is gold”
=we shouldn't judge by appearance
-“The Pearl” unknown poet- Pearl poet
3 more: “Patience”, “Cleanness”, “Pearl”
^very religious poem
*speaker lost his pearl and he is sad
*pearl- (symbolizes the precious) woman-daughter,
died as a child
*speaker has a dream lying in a mound of his
daughter -> sees a pretty maiden ->his daughter
not longer child
*she is in Paradise, she is happy
*her eyes-> Grey in ME the symbol of beauty
*speaker wants to join her when he plunges the
river -dream gone
*the vision gives him comfort
#STANSATE, the stances are rythmed
c)metrical romances
#ROMANCE-came from French,
Metrical romance- is a long narrative story-poem,
cumulate in construction, with a strong martial
element and with the addition of supernatural aparates/
phenomena. Motive of Journey
or Quest. Characters are high social rank and of
fixed type eg
King. Romances differ from Rhymed couplet to a
complex 20
line stanza such as we find in “Sir Tristem”
So many romances that they are grouped according to
the subject:
I.Romances dealing with Early English History:
“Horn”, “Havelock the Dane”
II.Romances starring with KING ARTHUR and the
Knights of the Round Table, romances known as ARTURIAN
eg. “Arthur and Merlin”, “Sir Tristem”
III.Romances Glorifying CHARLEMANGE - the
King Charles the Great, king of Franks. His knight-
Roland, eg. “Sir Ferumbrus”, “Fauf Coilyear”
IV.R. Classical Themes- heroes from Ancien history
eg. “King Alexander”
V. R. Contemporary themes (modern themes) eg
about love “Amis and Amiloun”
d)Lyric poetry
^brought from France
*short poem of a musical and rhythmical nature
expressing directly the poets. 3 kinds of lyric
I.Nature lyric- “Cuckoo Song” the earliest lyric
poem about the rebirth of nature.
II.Love lyric-“Alison” poet describes the coming
of spring, happy nature, the poet falls in love, he
describes his beloved, beautiful; poet suffers he
cant sleep at night he want her to take pity on him
and want her to love him
III.Religious lyric- “I sing of a Maiden”- poem
of virgin Mary, the mystery of Christ's birth
PROSE:
`Goeffrey of Monmouth-> wrote in Latin
*mixed true history with legends
*as first presented King Arthur as a Romantic hero
`Richard Poor-> “the Rule of Anchoresses” it's a kind
of manual or guide book, was written for a small
community of nuns. It's a Metaphor Anchoresses
to the birds
Ad2 middle stage= the Chaucerian stage
^Chaucer the greatest author, not an aristocrat,
travelled a lot, knew foreign languages, employed
by king as a diplomate.
III STAGES OF CHAUCERE'S ACTIVITY:
1st -> French, imitated the French masters->
“the romance of the Rose”
2nd -> Italian-> influenced by Italian masters
(Boccaccio- “Decameron”) “Trailus and Criseyde”
Criseyde first heroine.
*written in Rhyme Royal- a kind of stanza- deca syllabic
7 lined verse stanza rhymed.
3rd-> English stage-> the greatest works
-”The Canterbury Tales” city near London, cathedra->
with tomb of saint
^starts with PROLOGUE in which (29) pilgrims are presented
~Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress, Nun, Monk,
Friar, Merchant, Clerk from Oxford, Sergeant of the law,
Franklin, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer,
Tapestry maker, Cook, Shipman, Doctor of physic,
A good wife from Bath, Parson, Ploughman, Reeve,
Miller, Summoner, Pardoner, Manciple, Chaucer,
Host of Tabard Irin.
*the selection of Pilgrims is Not casual, not accidental.
They offer a cross-section of the contemporary
society, there are representatives of Secular and
Ecclesiastical walks of life.
*we can find men and women, young and old,
there are differentiated according the age, this
selection was conscious.
*Body: Pilgrims tells 4 tales each (2 on way to
London, 2 on the way back) to kill the time.
*Chaucer completed 24 tales of 116 because he died.
*Some pilgrims had no chance to tell the tale,
one tale told by pilgrim not mentioned on the list:
-“The canon's yeoman's tale”
*there are only 2 tales written in prose: Chaucer's
and Parson's other tales are composed in verse.
*there are several romances of different kind:
The Knight tells a “Courtly Romance” the Squire tells
The wife of Bath tells a quasi-Arthurian romance
*Several tales are FABLIAV (a tale in verse,
realistic in subject and humorous, satiric in style) e.g.
the Miller's tale, Reever's, Shipman tale
#EXEMPLUM- there are several of them; it's a
parabole in verse, which is strongly didacting and
moralizing in nature -> Doctor's tale and the
Pardoner's tale
*the best fable Fairy tale with animal-> work in which
animals appear as masks of typical human virtues and
vices, eg. the Nun's tale, the Manciple's tale
*Chaucer's tales represent a WIDE RANGE OF
CONTEMPORARY LITERARY GENERES.
POETS APART FROM CHAUCER:
^William Langland-
“Piers the Plowman”=”Peter the Ploughman”
there are 3 different parts of this poem marked A B C.
1st is original other 2 were composed be different poets(worst)
*it's allegorical poem
*human virtues are exposed e.g. Wit, Study, Faith.
*Those virtues characters are oppressed by officious one.
*hero plays the role of the Messianic deliverer. He restores
the balance.
*Poem criticize the clergy.
^ John Barbour- scot, composed long historical poem
“Bruce” Scottish king
#BALLAD- was originally mend to be sung. It was from
plebian origin. In contrast to aristocratic romance. Ballad is
also short, and deals with one event- romance is culmination.
In ballad there is alos suspense which increases as the ballad
progresses. It's cast in the form of the dialogue. It's composed
in QUATRAIN- a stanza of 4 lines, rhymed with rhythmical pattern.
*Many medieval ballads presented the folk hero Robin Hood
who was taking money from the rich and gave it to poor,
because purity was used by rich people.
-“How Robin Hood Rescued the Widow's Sons”
*R.H tries to rescue sons who were poachers they killed fallow-deer
which belonged to king. They were poachers, because they had
nothing to eat. Poachering was a big problem that times.
To punishment for doing that was death.
*R. arrives to the Nothingham, dressed up as an old pilgrim,
and meets the Sheriff about becoming the hangman. He blew
horn and gave his company a sign to arrive. 60 people
arrived Sheriff asked him who were that people. They took
the gallows off the beaten track and hung him there instead of sons.
PROSE:
^Sir John Mandaville “Mandaville”
^John Wycliffe “De Domino Divino”
Ad.3.late ME stage=the past-Chaucerian
Poets who were not as talented as Chaucer tried to imitate him:
^John Lydgate “The Temple of glass” allegorical poetry
^John Skelton- wrote satire against clergy, political character
^Alexander Barclay- composed PASTORAL POETRY
-“Certain Eclogues”
*dialogue
*central characters: shepherd/ess
*setting: flower meadow, they are not presented at work
*they flirt and discuss political and philosophical issues.
DRAMA:
*the earliest dramatic works appeared in the Chaucer's/Middle stage
*Introduced to England from France
*3 kinds of plays:
I.MIRACLES-> the earliest types of drama, it involves of
all kinds biblical stories; DRAMATIC REPRESENTATIONS
OF BIBLICAL EVENTS or OF THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS.
-“The Harrowing of Hell” the earliest of miracles, many kind of this
plays presented in MANUSCRIPTS, 4 big collections of such miracles
plays, named after the towns where they were performed: York,
Chester, Coventry, Wakefield
*Miracles short, numbered from180-800 lines.
*the performances were managed by handycrafts and guilds- no
professional actors or permanent theaters. Performances were
arranged in a wheeled wagons- which were moved from one
place to another, performances were taking place in an open area.
*stages during religious holidays
II.MYSTERIES/MYSTERY PLAYS-> they were dramatic,
dealing with Gospel events only- part of the Bible, New
Testament containing the life and teaching of Christ. Plays
mentioned energy, seriousness.
III.MORALITY PLAYS/MORALITIES-> in those plays
appeared personified representation of human virtues and vices.
The best known medieval play is:
- “EVERYMAN” the author is unknown
*subject: the summoning of Everyman by Devil;
*characters: Knowledge, Goods, Fellowship, Kindred, Good Deeds
*everyman representative of human
*Everyman finds out that no one of these, except Good deeds is
willing to accompany him
*message: Memento mory-> men is mortal, things connected to
Church are more important than moral life, material goods.
People should pray and confess.
PROSE:
1)Wiliam Caxton- he was a translator from French
-“The Troy Book” action set during Troyan War
*the interest with that book was so huge that there was not
enough copies.
*First printed book in English
2)Sir Thomas Malory- knight, committed some crimes and
was imprisoned. During his long stay in prison he wrote very
famous romance in prose:
-“Le Morte d'Arthur”
*typical Arthurian romance-> chivalric romance praising
virtues such as bravery, loyalty
*it's also untypical -> it's more realistic knights presented
as ordinary humans
*King Arthur is betrayed by his own wife-Guinevere and
by Sir Lancelot- his knight.
*Sir Gawain urges King to punish Lancelot
^Malory treats supernatural elements in realistic way
^he wrote his poetry in a very straight, graphic style
*there are dialogues in text
*his greatest contribution was to present human as a
mixture of virtues and vices
THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD
-“Brut” by Layaman
ALEGORY
-“The Pearl” unknown poet- Pearl poet
-“The Owl and the Nightingale” Nicholas Guildford
STANSATE
ROMANCE
-”The Canterbury Tales” Chaucer
EXEMPLUM
BALLAD
-“How Robin Hood Rescued the Widow's Sons”
DRAMA: 3 kinds of play:
I.MIRACLES
II.MYSTERIES/MYSTERY PLAYS
III.MORALITY PLAYS/MORALITIES
- “Everyman”
-“The Troy Book”
-“Le Morte d'Arthur”