Summary of Three Major Poets in 14th-Century England
Chapter one
1. Historical Background
? The Normans conquered in 1066
In 1066, William the Conqueror and his Norman warriors defeated the Anglo-Saxons and made themselves masters of England. The Norman Conquest ended the purely Anglo-Saxon period and started a new period in English history ---- the Medieval Period in England (1066-1485).
In the medieval period, chivalry was the important code of behavior for the knights. It served as a law that bound the often-lawless warriors. Violating the code of chivalry could mean the loss of honor.
2. Middle English
For three centuries after the Norman Conquest, three languages were used side by side in England. Latin and French were the languages of the upper classes, spoken at courts and used in churches and schools.
In the 14th century thousands of words and expressions were borrowed from French and Latin and Greek, and many inflectional forms of the words were dropped and formal grammar simplified.
3. Religious Literature
By far the largest proportion of surviving Middle English literature is religious.
4. Romance and the Influence of French Literature
Medieval romance was a type of literature that became a popular form of literature in the Middle Ages.
Romance, in the original sense of the word, means the vernacular (native) language, as opposed to Lain, and later it means a tale in verse, embodying the life and adventures of knights.
In subject matters, romance naturally falls under three categories:
(1) The matter of France
(2) The matter of Rome
(3) The matter of Britain
The influence of the Norman Conquest upon English language and literature: After the conquest, the body of customs and ideals known as chivalry was introduced by the Normans into England. The knightly code, the romantic interest in women, tenderness and reverence paid to Virgin Mary were reflected in the literature.
With the coming of the Normans, the Anglo-Saxons sank to a position of abjectness. Their language was mad a despised thing. French words of Warfare and chivalry, art and luxury, science and law, began to come into the English language. Thus three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke French, the lower class spoke English, and the scholars and clergymen used Latin.
The literature was varied in interest and extensive in range. The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of them were written in Latin or French. The prevailing form of literature in the feudal England was the Romance.
5. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)
5.1 Historical background
(1) The Hundred Years’ War
(2) The peasant uprising of 1381
5.2 John Wycliff (1324? -1384)
He was important because he was one of the first figures who demanded to reform the church in order to do away with the corruption and rottenness. He was also important because he was the man who translated the Bible into Standard English.
5.3 Geoffrey Chaucer’s Life
Chaucer opened a brilliant page in English literature and had a profound influence on many important English poets. Chaucer is the father of modern English poetry. Chaucer’s poetry belongs to both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
5.4 Geoffrey Chaucer’s Major Poems
The works of Chaucer are roughly divided into three periods, corresponding to the three periods in his life: the French period, the Italian period and the mature period.
The French period refers to the period of French influence and it extends from 1360 to 1372. The outstanding poem of this period is The Book of the Duchess.
The second period is from 1372 to 1386 when he wrote under the influence of the Italian literature. The most outstanding work is Troilus and Criseyde. Other poems of this period are The Parliament of Fowls, The House of Fame and The legend of Good Women.
The third period covers the last fifteen years of his life. The Canterbury Tales was written in the years between 1387 and 1400. It has a general prologue and twenty-four tales that are connected by “links”. The Canterbury Tales (1378-1400) is Chaucer’s monumental success.
5.5 The Function of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
The General Prologue is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature. It is largely composed of a series of sketches differing widely in length and method, and blending the individual and the typical in varying degrees. The purpose of the General Prologue is not only to present a vivid collection of character sketches, but also to reveal the author’s intention in bringing together a great variety of people and narrative materials to unite the diversity of the tales by allotting them to a diversity of tellers engaged in a common endeavor, to set the tone for the story-telling ---- one of jollity which accords with the tone of the whole work; that of grateful acceptance of life, to make clear the plan for the tales, to motivate the telling of tales and to introduce the pilgrims and the time and occasion of the pilgrimage. The pilgrims are people from various parts of England. They serve as the representatives of various sides of life and social groups. Each of the pilgrims or narrators is presented vividly in the Prologue. Ranging in status from a knight to a humble plowman, the pilgrims are a microcosm of 14th century English society. On the other hand, there is also an intimate connection between the tales and the Prologue, both complementing each other. The Prologue provides a framework for the tales.
5.6 The Significance of The Canterbury Tales
(1) It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer’s time.
(2) The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics.
(3) Chaucer’s humor.
(4) Chaucer’s contribution to the English language.
5.7 Read and Discuss the first 18 lines of the General Prologue
Two topics for discussion
(1) What is expressed in these opening lines of The Canterbury Tales?
The magnificent eighteen-line sentence that opens the General Prologue is a superb expression of a double view of the Canterbury pilgrimage. The first eleven lines are a chant of welcome to the spring with its harmonious marriage between heaven and earth which mellows vegetations, pricks fouls and stirs the heart of man with a renewing power of nature. Thus the pilgrimage is treated as an event in the calendar of nature, an aspect of the general springtime surge of human energy which wakens man’s love of nature. But spring is also the season of Easter and is allegorically regarded as the time of the Redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with its connotations of religious rebirth, which wakens man’s love of God (divine love). Therefore, the pilgrimage is also treated as an event in the calendars of divinity, an aspect of religious piety, which draws pilgrims to holy places.
(2) How does the author emphasize the transition from nature to divinity?
The structure of this opening passage can be regarded as one from the whole Western tradition of the celebration of spring to a local event of English society, from natural forces in their general operation to a specific Christian manifestation. The transition from nature to divinity is emphasized by contrast between the physical vitality which conditions the pilgrimage and the spiritual sickness which occasions the pilgrimage, as well as by parallelism between the renewal power of nature and the restorative power of super nature (divinity).
6. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written about 1375-1400 and the poem
lasts about 2,500 lines. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight brings the reader into a more remote world, a world that belongs to the Celtic legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
The story is a chivalrous romance based on an ancient legend of a Green Knight who challenges the courage of King Arthur’s knights.
Artistically, the poem is a brilliant example of the wisdom of the minstrels of the Middle Ages. It contains several elements, which prepared ground for a new culture. These elements are:
(1) A vivid portrayal of the hero Gawain and a fine analysis of his psychology.
(2) A well-unified and exciting plot full of climaxes and surprises.
(3) The three hunting scenes and the three bedchamber scenes are closely related with each other. The deer, the Boar and the fox is a cunning animal, so is Gawain as he takes the belt from the hostess in order to protect his own life, and in so doing, he violates the chivalric code of honesty.
(4) Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a mixture of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight combines alliterative verse with metrical verse.
The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. It has two main motifs in the story, one is the testing of faith, courage and purity, the other is the proving of human weakness for self-preservation. The two motifs provide the poem with unmistakable traits of chivalric romances, plus some strong Christian coloring. The poem reflects the ideal of feudal knighthood. A true knight should not only dedicate himself to the church but also possess the virtues of great courage, of fidelity to his promise, and of physical chastity and purity.
7. William Langland (1332-1400)
Piers Plowman has three versions. The A text has 2,567 lines. The B text, a revision and extension of the A text, is commonly accepted as the best form of the poem. It has about 7,277 lines. The C text is a substantial revision of the B text, but they are about the same length. Though the poem was popular, its author is little known.
The poem consists of a series of dream visions interrupted with occasional wake-ups.
The poem is a rich and realistic representation of the unhappy side of the life in feudal England at the second half of the 14th century: social injustices, the corruption of the church, the meaningless power struggle in the court, and the sufferings of the poor peasants.
The poem is both allegorical and satirical. In the poem, the poet has several dream visions in which different religious and moral issues are brought into discussion. The poet suggests that honest work and devotion to religion is the way to lead one to heaven. The common people, through their hard work and religious observance, can become better individuals than those corrupt lords and rich people. With vivid imagination, the poet divides the way to Truth into three stages ---- Do Well, Do bet(ter), and Do Best.
7.3 The Writing Features of the Poem
The writing features are:
(1) Pier the Plowman is written in the form of a dream vision. The author tells his story under the guise of having dreamed of it.
(2) The poem is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.
(3) The poet uses indignant satire in his description of social abuses caused by the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular.
(4) The poem is written in alliteration.
(5) Its language is plain and direct, its images are clear as well as familiar.