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Lecture 1 OE and ME

English literature<br>

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Lecture 1 OE and ME

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  1. UzSWLU Name of the module: History of English and American literature Lecturer:MakhmudovaNargizaAlimovna, Associate Professor, PhD, Department of Linguistics and English Literature THE OLD AND MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE 450/600–1485

  2. Introduction • Why do you think English literature is an inseparable part of your education? • What is the attitude of our government to study of literature in general? • Are you familiar with any English or American writer? • Who is your favorite one? Why? • What do you expect from this module?

  3. Plan • Introduction • Key terminology and Abbreviations • Context and conditions • Old English Literature – the Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem Beowulf • Middle English literature – Geoffrey Chaucer-”The Father of English Literature”

  4. The old English (Anglo-Saxon) period I. Historical background • The Celts or the Britons • The Roman Conquest • The English (Anglo-Saxon) Conquest • The influence of Anglo-Saxons’ religious beliefs and Christianity on English literature II. Literature in this period • Representatives • Literary masterwork in this period: Beowulf

  5. Key terms and abbreviations • OE (AD 450 to 1100) – epic poem Beowulf • ME (1100–1500) - G. Chaucer • ModE(1500-present) - WilliamCaxton’sintroductionofthe printing press in about 1476 is an important factor in suggesting the beginning of Modern English: printing helped promote a national standard for written English. W. Shakespeare • EModE (1500-1750) • LModE(1750 -present) • Epic poem(primary and secondary types) • kennings

  6. Context and Conditions • c.410 Roman legions withdrew from Britain (in Latin:Britannia) • 449 Jutes (from Denmark) occupied Kent(south-east England) under Hengest • 477- 495 F invasion of England by Saxons (from northern Germany) under Aelle: south • 537 Death of King Arthur, leader of the early sixth-century revolt by the native Britons against continental colonisers: retreat of many Britons in this period to Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The geographical term ‘Great Britain’ originates in the sixth century, as later rulers from France were obliged to distinguish between Brittany (‘Bretagne’) and the island of ‘Britannia’, which theycalled ‘Grande Bretagne’ • 547 Norwegians (Vikings), under Ida, established the colony of Northumbria, in northern England • 565 Introduction of Christianity to Britain by Saint Columba • 597 Saint Augustine established the first Catholic mission in England, at Canterbury • 802 Egbert of Wessex became leader of the ‘heptarchy’: in the next few years, Wessex subjected Essex, Kent, and Sussex, thereby controlling the whole of southern England. Egbert is sometimes called the first King of England; certainly, the establishment of an Anglo-Saxon national identity can be dated to the early ninth century, as the old colonisers became fully integrated with the native English • 866 The Danish ‘Great Army’ (also called Vikings) landed in East Anglia, taking control of East Anglia, Northumbria, and much of Mercia • 871 Alfred (the Great) became King of Wessex: he led Anglo-Saxon revolt against Scandinavian invaders • 1040 Macbeth became king of Scotland on the death of Duncan • 1042 Death of Hardicanute, the last Danish king of England. Peaceful restoration of the English monarchy, with Edward(‘the Confessor’), son of Ethelred and Emma, who had been brought up in northern France (Normandy) • 1066 The Norman Conquest: William, Duke of Normandy, Edward’s nominated successor, invaded England, and Haroldwas killed at the Battle of Hastings. William was recognised as king. (The arrival of William of Normandy’s armies, to claim the throne of England from Harold Godwinson, is claimed to be the last time that foreign powers have successfully invaded British shores/ • 1087 William I died; succeeded as King of England by his second son, William II (the first son, Robert, became Duke of Normandy) • 1095 Beginning of the ‘Crusades’: so-called ‘Holy Wars’ in the eastern Mediterranean region to establish the dominance of Christianity over other faiths (principally Islam)

  7. Context and Conditions • 1210 English colonisation of Ireland began • 1215 Pope Innocent III convoked the fourth Lateran Council of the Roman Catholic church, to • give new moral guidelines to thirteenth-century Europe • 1215 King John signed the Magna Carta at Runnymede; this document transferred many of the King’s political powers to landowning noblemen. A new distinction between ‘government’ • (which remained at the royal court) and ‘parliament’ (which was the • prerogative of the aristocracy) emerged at this time. This new division of power was not changed until the First Reform Bill of 1832 • 1305 The Scottish nationalist William Wallace (‘Braveheart’) killed by English forces • 1339 England invaded France, wishing to reassert the English king’s authority and power in the continental lands which he owned; the dispute with French royalist forces continued until 1453 (the so-called ‘Hundred Years’ War’) • c.1348 Bubonic plague – ‘the Black Death’ – strikes England • 1362 The English language becomes the official language ofthe Law Courts • 1380 First translation of the Christian Bible into English, by John Wycliff • 1415 Battle of Agincourt: the peakof English supremacy in the Hundred Years’ War. English forces were led by King Henry V (‘Prince Hal’) who succeeded his father as monarch in 1413. Alsoin this year, Henry established English as the language of the court • c.1440 Invention of printing in Europe • 1453 End of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France; England lost political authority over most of its former French colonies • 1455 Beginning of ‘The War of the Roses’ – so called after the emblems of the royal houses of Lancaster (the red rose) and York (the white rose). This civil dispute returns to the succession of 1377; King Henry VI (a Lancastrian) was challenged for the Crown by Richard, Duke of York • 1476 William Caxton, who served an apprenticeship in Holland, established the first printing press in England, at Westminster. His first ‘bestseller’, in 1485, was Sir Thomas Malory’s Le MorteD’Arthur • 1483 Death of King Edward IV; succession passes to his 12-year-old son, Edward V. But the new king and his younger brother Richard (‘the Princes in the Tower’) are imprisoned in London, and later executed. Thismay have been ordered by their uncle, who became King Richard III, the last Yorkist king

  8. The development of English language

  9. Historical background • The Celts or the Britons: 1.The earliest settlers of the British Isles ; 2.About 600 B.C. About 400 B.C., a branch of Celts, the Brythons (Bretons/Britons); 3.The island got its name Britain, the land of Britons

  10. The Roman conquest About 55B.C, Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar, the great Roman conqueror In 43 A.D. Claudius, another Roman conqueror conquered it and stayed there till the beginning of the 5th century. The English (Anglo-Saxon) Conquest About 450 A.D., the tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes (later known simply as Anglo-Saxons) migrated from the continent, established many small kingdoms. By the 7th century, there were 3 larger kingdoms

  11. 3. They themselves into a united kingdom .To settle down constant wars, the kingdoms England, or, the land of Angles, because the Angles were the most numerous of the three. 4.These three tribes mixed into a whole people called English. And the language they used was called Anglo-Saxon, or, Old English. The influence of Anglo-Saxons’ religious beliefs and Christianity on English literature 1. The Anglo-Saxons were heathen people (pagan). They believed in the old mythology of Northern Europe.

  12. 3.Form of literature is orally passed on. 4.In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons. 5. England was Christianized. With the fast spread of Christian influence and classic learning, heathen poetry was slowly and steadily maneuvered out of the scene. 6. The earliest English books were written down by monks in monasteries. They wrote down works passed on orally, they tinged them with some Christian color.

  13. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were pagans, they believed in many gods. • Their Pagan Gods. • The gods of the Anglo-Saxons were: • Tu, or Tuesco, — god of Darkness, • Woden— god of War, • Thor —the Thunderer, • and Freia— goddess of Prosperity. • When people learned to divide up time into weeks and the week into seven days, they gave the days the names of their gods. It is not hard to guess that • Sundayis theday of the sun, • Monday —theday of the moon, • Tuesday —theday of the god Tuesco, • Wednesday—Woden's day, • Thursday — Thor's day, • Friday — Freia's day, • and Saturday — Saturn's day • (Saturn was the god of Time worshipped by the ancient Romans).

  14. English Literature Prose –”Ecclesiastical History of the English People”, 731, by Bede Poetry - the epic poem Beowulf The first prose Anglo -Saxon Chronicle, by King Alfred the Great OLD ENGLISH, OR ANGLO-SAXON, ERA, (about 450 to 1066) Cynewulf (flourished ad750), Anglo-Saxon poet, possibly a Northumbrian minstrel. “The Consolation of Philosophy”, by Boethius, trans., by King Alfred the Great Bard, highly trained Celtic poet, composer, singer, and harpist . “Ascension”, “The Fates of the Apostles”, “Juliana”, and “Elene”

  15. What is epic? • is a long narrative poem, about the deeds- of warriors and heroes. It is a 'heroic' story incorporating myth, legend, folk tale and history. Basically, there are two kinds of epic: • (a) primary - also known as oral or primitive; • (b) secondary - also known as literary. The first belongs to the oral tradition (q.o.) and is thus composed orally and recited; only much later, in some cases, is it written down. The second is written down at the start. • These primary epics have features in common: a central figure of heroic, even superhuman, a strong element of the supernatural, repetition of fairly long passages of narrative or dialogue, elaborate greetings, digressions, epic similes long speeches, vivid and direct descriptions of the kind favoured by the ballad-maker and, in general, a lofty tone; the tone of Classical tragedy. An important characteristic of primary epic is the use of the stock epithet, known as the Homeric epithet and the kenning (qq.a.). • Primary epic is, in many cases, the result of a number of lays ballads being gradually joined together by a poet or bard.

  16. Literature in this period There was a highlight in the development of the Anglo-Saxon literature, the Northumbrian School. Its centre was the monasteries and abbeys (Anglo-Saxon literature) in the kingdom of Northumbria. • Representatives • The Venerable Bede (673-735) A monk wrote in Latin and his work The Ecclesiastical History of England earned him for the title of “father of English history” • Caedmon (670 AD_. ) He turned the stories in the Bible into verse form. The title of the work isParaphrase, for which he is called “Father of English Song”. His other nine-line poem is called Hymn.

  17. Literary masterwork in this period: Beowulf Brief introduction of the epic: It probably existed in its oral form as early as the 6th century and was written down in the 7th or 8th century, though the manuscript of it now extant dated back to the 10th century. It contains altogether 3182 lines and the story in it based on partly historical and partly legendary materials. The story takes place in Scandinavia rather than in England. The literary style: It is an Epic, or the Heroic. *An epic (a term) is a long narrative poem, composed in an elevated style, dealing with the trials and achievements of a great hero or heroes. The epic celebrates virtues of national, military, religious, cultural, political, or historical significance.

  18. 3. The literary position: It is the national epic of Anglo-Saxons and the English people. 4. Poetic features (device) This poem is a mixture of paganism and Christian element. The use of alliteration The use of assonance The use of kenning 5. Language used: Anglo-Saxon or Old English, very different from modern English

  19. Old English Literature – the Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem Beowulf • In English, the first signs of oral literature tend to have three kinds of subject matter – religion, war, and the trials of dailylife – all of which continue as themes of a great deal of writing

  20. THE EPIC ANGLO-SAXON POEM “SONG OF BEOWULF” •  This is the greatest monument of Anglo-Saxon poetry. There is only one manuscript of it found at the beginning of the 18th century. It consists of 2 parts and interpolation between two parts. The whole epic consists of 3,182 lines. The scholars say that only two parts are of importance, are of scientific value. The whole song is completely pagan (heathen) in spirit while the interpolation must have been added by the Latin scribes.

  21. Part I • The story of the song opens with a description of the Danish king Hrothgar. • a sea-monster who lived in a near-by swamp broke the door open and appeared in the doorway. His name was Grendel. • The news of the disaster which had been fallen the Danes reached the ears of Beowulf - a nephew of king Higelac of Jutes. • monster’s mother

  22. Part II • After king Higelac’s death Beowulf was elected the king of Jutland. He ruled his country for 50 happy years at the end of which a disaster happened. • Not far from the sea, in the mountains there lived a dragon, a firedrake who breathed fire and smoke. He went there almost alone, but of all his warriors only young Wiglaf, a brave warrior, had the courage to stand by him. The dragon had three heads which were breathing fire. But Beowulf was dying himself because the fire entered his lungs.

  23. Beowulf • Beowulf can be read in many ways: as myth; as territorial history of the Baltic kingdoms in which it is set; as forward-looking reassurance. Questions of history, time and humanity are at the heart of it: it moves between past, present, and hope for the future, and shows its origins in oral tradition. It is full of human speech and sonorous images, and of the need to resolve and bring to fruition a proper human order, against the enemy – whatever it be – here symbolised by a monster and a dragon, among literature’s earliest ‘outsiders’.

  24. Beowulf –historical background..\Beowulf Background History Channel Part1-cO2KSqiP3N4-MP4 720p.mp4Anglo-Saxon Literature Beowulf-qmrCpef4kyw-Download.mp4

  25. Beowulf Beowulf spoke, the son of Ecgtheow: • ‘My dear lord Hygelac, many have heard • Of that famous grapple ’twixt Grendel and me, • The bitter struggle and strife in the hall • Where he formerly wrought such ruin and wrong, • Such lasting sorrow for Scylding men! • All that I avenged! …’

  26. Beowulf Beowulf suggests what a hero is, and how important the hero is as a focus of public attention and admiration. • For he was of all men the worthiest warrior • In all the earth, while he still might rule • And wield the wealth of his lordly land.

  27. The End • But the poem looks to the future as well, as power passes to ‘Wiglaf, the lad’, the kinsman who fought at Beowulf’s side. • The old hero dies; long live the young hero • That was the last fight Beowulf fought • That was the end of his work in the world

  28. Figurative language in Beowulf KENNINGS. Old English poetry is characterised by a number of poetic tropes Kennings often occur in compounds: for example, hronrad(whale-road) or swanrad(swan– road) meaning ‘the sea’; banhus(bone-house) meaning the ‘human body’. Some kennings involve borrowing or inventing words; others appear to be chosen to meet the alliterative requirement of a poetic line, and as a result some kennings are difficult to decode, leading to disputes in critical interpretation. But kennings do allow more abstract concepts to becommunicated by using more familiar words: for example, God is often described as moncynnesweard(‘guardian of mankind’). Old English poetry also contained a wide range of conventional poetic diction, many of the words being created to allow alliterative patterns to be made. There are therefore numerous alternatives for key words like battle, warrior, horse, ship, the sea, prince, and so on. Some are decorative periphrases: a kingcan be a ‘giver of rings’ or a ‘giver of treasure’ (literally, a king was expected to provide his warriors with gifts after they had fought for him).

  29. Conclusion • The world of Old English literature is a world of warriors and battles, a world where the individual, if not under the protection of his local lord, is a solitary outsider in a harsh and difficult society.

  30. Questions on OE: • 1. What can you tell about Britons and their language? • 2. When was Britain conquered by the Roman Empire and what was its result? • 3. Why did Angles, Saxons and Jutes fight with one another? • 4. Why is the Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf” called the foundation-stone of all British poetry? • 5. Name the main heroes of the poem “Beowulf”. • 6. Characterize Beowulf. • 7. What is the merit of the poem? • 8. Does the poem “Beowulf” remind you of any Russian or Uzbek epic poems?

  31. Middle English literature • Secular • Geoffrey Chaucer – his life and three periods of his creative work. • Chaucer’s masterpiece “Canterbury Tales”. • Religious • William Langland – a priest/poet. • “The Vision of Pier the Plowman”

  32. English Literature of ME period

  33. Romance – “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight “ (late 1300s) Malory, Sir Thomas (?-1471?), English translator and compiler. Langland, William (1330?-1400?), English poet, MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (1066 to 1485) the religious allegory “Piers Plowman” prose epic - “The Death of Arthur” (1469-1470) a collection of stories - “The Canterbury Tales”, a poem -“ Troilus” Chaucer, Geoffrey (1343?-1400), English poet

  34. GEOFFREY CHAUCER(1340-1400) • Chaucer’s writings are divided into 3 periods: • The French period. Chaucer’s earliest poems were written in imitation of the French romances. • The second period of Chaucer’s writings was that of the Italian influence. He is justly called the last writer of the Middle Ages and the first of the Renaissance. • The third period of Chaucer’s creative work begins from the year (1384) when he left behind the Italian influence and became entirely English. “Canterbury Tales”

  35. GEOFFREY CHAUCER(1340-1400) • Three works set him apart as a great poet in the history of poetry in general. These three works are: “Troilus and Criseyde” 1385-87, “The Legend of Good Women” 1385 and the unfinished “Canterbury Tales”. Of these, the most ambitious as a complete work is “Troilus and Criseyde”.

  36. The Canterbury Tales • He probably began writing it around 1387 and the work was uncompleted at his death in 1400. • Originally, 120 tales were planned, with each of thirty pilgrims from Southwark to Canterbury telling two tales on the way there and two on the way back. Rather less than a quarter of the project was realised, but the whole range of genres, styles, and subjects which history and tradition, England and Europe offered Chaucer were exploited in these tales.

  37. Why Canterbury? Why Southwark? • Canterbury and Southwark bring together the religious and the secular. • Canterbury Cathedral was the site of the martyrdom of Saint Thomas à Becket in 1170, it became a shrine, the object of pilgrimage in a British sense

  38. But there is a new social order here, with people of all levels of modern society apart from the aristocracy and the lowest peasants – the very highest and the very lowest in the land – sharing an undertaking which combines duty and pleasure.

  39. “Canterbury Tales” • In Southwark, at The Tabard, as I lay • Ready to go on pilgrimage and start • For Canterbury, most devout at heart, • At night there came into that hostelry • Some nine and twenty in a company • Of sundry folk happening then to fall • In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all • That towards Canterbury meant to ride. • (The General Prologue– in modern English)

  40. “Canterbury Tales” • Duty, war, reconciliation, consolation, love (and the pains of love), honour, suffering, history, religious doubt; all of these and more had beenfamiliar subjects. But, just as authors became more individualistic, so did the members of this society. • The knight, the miller, the wife of Bath, the prioress, the cleric, and others are all identified by their occupation or marital status, but the narrator’s descriptions of them as individuals – and their tales and the telling of them – not only bring out individual differences and characteristics, but invite the reader to recognise and identify the pilgrims as stereotypical characters.

  41. “Canterbury Tales” • Chaucer himself (or his narratorial persona) prefers not to take sides and does not overtly judge the characters he presents, but he allowsthe reader a new degree of interpretative freedom, based on the recognition of an ironic gap between how the characters see themselves and how others see them. This is new to English literature.

  42. Why, indeed, April, in the famous opening lines of the prologue? • Why April? April is the spring month when the showers bring new fertility to the earth, when there is a reawakening, a rebirth, and the rigours of winter are overcome.

  43. “Canterbury Tales” • Chaucer’s world in The Canterbury Tales brings together, for the first time, a diversity of characters, social levels, attitudes, and ways of life. The tales themselves make use of a similarly wide range of forms and styles, which show the diversity of cultural influences which the author had at his disposal. • Literature, with Chaucer, has taken on a new role: as well as affirming a developing language, it is a mirror of its times – but a mirror which teases as it reveals, which questions while it narrates, and which opens up a range of issues and questions, instead of providing simple, easy answers.

  44. William Langland Piers Plowman • ‘Then by Christ!’ cried Conscience, ‘I will become a pilgrim, and walk to the ends of the earth in search of Piers the Ploughman. For he candestroy Pride, and find an honest livelihood for these Friars who live by flattery and set themselves against me. Now may Nature avenge me, and send me His help and healing, until I have found Piers the Ploughman!’Then he cried aloud for Grace, and I awoke. • (Prose translation of Piers Plowmaninto modern English)

  45. "Piers the Plowman" • Amid the darkness and barrenness of the Middle Ages, there was one work which shows the existence of English popular literature. It was "Piers the Plowman", a long poem of over 7,000 lines, written by William Langland (1332-1400). It was written in the old alliterative verse.

  46. Piers is a peasant, whose simple, honest, and straight-forward character. • Piers the Plowman "is one of the greatest of English poems. 1.It is written in the form of a dream vision, and the author, tells his story under the guise of having dreamed it. 2.The poem is also an allegory which uses symbolism to relate truth. 3. It is a realistic picture of medieval England. Its artistic merit may be shown by its portraits of the Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Lechery, Envy, Wrath, Avarice, Sloth, Glutton.

  47. Part VII Outline of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains four “fits” or sections. • In the first fit, King Arthur is holding at Camelot his Christmas feast of 15 days with all his knights of the Round Table. • The second fit begins with a lengthy description of the passing of the four seasons, from spring through summer and autumn and back to winter again, and Arthur makes a feast to send Gawain off on his journey. • The third fit tells of the three days of Gawain’s sojourn at the castle. • The fourth fit begins with a description of the stormy snow weather on the New Year’s Day as Gawain gets ready to go to the Green Chapel.

  48. the two main motifs in the story: the tests of faith, courage and purity; the human weakness for self-preservation. However, the heroic adventures of sir Gawain and King Arthur as related in the poem were sought after and carried out rather for adventures’ sake than any truly worthy cause.

  49. Test The Norman-French period in England began in the year … • 1075 • 1066 • 1065 • 1076 • What is the name of the king who calls Beowulf to kill the monster? • Arthur • Lear • Hrothgar • Alfred • This king translated Latin works into the Old English language. • William the Conqueror • Alfred the Great • Charles I • Henry VIII • This genre is a long narrative poem about deeds of warriors and heroes. • a novel • a blank verse • an epic poem • a tragedy • The Anglo Saxon epic poem Beowulf belongs to … • Secondary epic • Primary epic • Common epic • Blank epic • The printing press was invented by… • G. Chaucer • W. Caxton • T. Malory • I. Newton • Who is known as a “Farther of the English language and literature”? • Christopher Marlow • Geoffrey Chaucer • William Shakespeare • Thomas More • What work shows the panorama of social life in England in the Middle Ages? • Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage • The Canterbury Tales • Beowulf • Paradise Lost • Who is the author of the book “Death of Arthur”? • Geoffrey Chaucer • Thomas Malory • William Shakespeare • Thomas More • Literature of Pre Renaissance in England was divided into the following types: … • Lower class and upper class literature • Puritan and quaker • Religious and secular literature • Generic and specific • An allegorical poem “Piers a Plowman” is written by… • Thomas Malory • William Langland • Geoffrey Chaucer • William Shakespeare

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