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Anglo-Saxon literature （449-1066）Historical background1. Anglo-Saxon ConquestFrom 449 AD, after the Romans withdrew, the Jutes, Angles and Saxons began to invade Britain and finally conquered the British Isles. The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic language and culture.2. The conversionIn 597 the Pope of Rome sent Augustine to England to convert the AS and within a century all England was christianized. The conversion is the second important event because it brought a new life, a new culture and a new civilization to England.The Anglo-Saxon literaturePagan and Christian; the pagan lit refers to the songs, legends which the AS brought from their original home in the form of oral sagas, This kind of poetry is bold and strong, mournful and elegiac in spirit; in alliterative verse; Christian lit refers to the writings developed under the teachings of the monks.AlliterationThe Song of BeowulfThe national epic of the A_S people.The story: how Beowulf, the Swedish prince, a noble, brave and powerful young man, first helps the Danish king get rid of a terrible sea monster named Grendel, and 50 years later how he saves his own people by fighting a fire dragon and sacrifices his life.The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. Their life was hard and they had to fight with wild beasts and against the forces of nature. The chief significance is the portrayal of a great national hero in the grand epic style.A true hero, a warrior of great prowess, a king generous with his treasures, a ruler who defends and protects his people at the cost of his own life. Noble qualities are praised: bravery, wisdom, generosity, prowess and selflessness. It reflects a heroic age.Epic (Heroic Peotry): usually a long narrative poem telling about the great deeds of a great hero or the history of a nation; majestic both in theme and style. It usually deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of grandeur.Alliteration: A repeated initial consonant to successive accented words; (Certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound); The most striking feature of Beowulf in its poetic form is the use of alliteration.Questions:1. Who Christianized the English people?2 . Tell the story of Beowulf3. Say something about the theme and characterization of Beowulf.4. What are the general features of Anglo-Saxon poetry?Anglo-Norman period (1066-1350)(King Alfred the Great,Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)Historical backgroundNorman conquest(1066) and its effects:1. Feudalism firmly established;(Rulers and serfs; Norman nobility and clergy vs ordinary AS)2.The Rome-backed Catholic church dominating;3. Tri-lingual society for almost 200 years; old English developed into Middle English.Literature; The Normans brought a new language and new civilization, the Mediterranean civilization which includes Greek culture, Roman law, and the Christian religion. The new culture and new language gave rise to a new literature which is a combination of French and AS elements. Compared with Old English literature, Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects and in a greater diversity of styles, tones and genres. It strongly reflects the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine.1. Romance—the most popular literary form in this period; a tale (in verse or prose) that deals with knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. The hero is usually a knight (a page or a squire),chivalrous.Characteristics of the romance-- mysteries, fantasies, romantic love, and standardized characterization; loose structure, simple and straightforward language; set in an idealized world, containing unlikely or supernatural happenings, reflecting a chivalric age.Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—the best of the medieval romances; written in the 14th C; author unknown. Sir Gawain is the nephew of King Arthur and the most eminent of the knights of round table. It relates the very fantastic adventures of Gawain, the challenges, risks, the temptations, the trials he goes through. It is an account of a symbolic trial of the medieval courtly virtues. He undergoes a series of moral tests: the tests of faith, courage, purity and proves his nobility.2. Popular literaturePiers the Plowman by Langland; A Classic of popular lit during this period; It gives a realistic picture of feudal, medieval England in the form of a dream vision; The exaltation of the toiling peasants, the exposure of the corruption of the ruling classes, the sympathy for the poor and the downtrodden are all best exemplifiedthrough the use of symbolism and in the allegorical form.3. Folk Literature—The BalladsThe most important department of English folk lit is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and the fourth lines rhymed. The subjects of ballads are various in kind: (historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humourous.)Border ballads: a number of ballads narrating incidents happening on the English border, esp. those bloody battles fought on the border of England and Scotland.Of all the ballads, the ballads of Robin Hood are of paramount importance.Summary: The AS brought Germanic language and culture; the Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization. The cultural influences of the two conquests provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature. Beowulf and those romances about King Arthur, (esp. Sir Gawain) are important works of literature in the old and medieval English literature.Questions:1. How did the Norman Conquest affect the life and literature of the English people?2. What are the chief characteristics of the romance?3. Tell the story of Sir Gawain and the Green KnightGeoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)Life1.Rich life experience: a royal page, a soldier, a diplomat, a government official, acourtier.2.Wide range of learning: familiar with European languages, literature and culture,Latin, French and Italian, had excellent knowledge of literature, law, science and medicine.Literary career1.French period (1360s-1372)Chiefly under the influence of Medieval French literature;“Romance of the Rose”2.Italian period (1373-1385)Influenced by Italian literature of early Renaissance; Dante (Divine Comedy), Boccaccio ( Decameron), PetrarchTriolus and Cressie, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Wemen3.English period (1386-1400)The Canterbury Tales, his masterpieceChaucer’s WorldChaucer lived in the later part of the 14thC; a transitional period; the old feudal system, where social position was determined by the amount of land a an held from the king, was giving way to a more open and mercantile economic pattern, especially in London. The new class, the bourgeoisie, which represented the advanced culture, was rising.1.The medieval society was hierarchical, with the king and pope at the top and theserfs at the bottom.2.The Catholic Church dominated people’s minds and every aspect of human life;there was no secular vision of life yet. The church was corrupt.The Canterbury Tales (Chaucer’s masterpiece, one of the most famous works in all literature.)I. Plot overview see 刘炳善P22II. General PrologueFramework, pilgrimage, the Tabard Inn, the Shrine of St. Thomas,The pilgrims: from all walks of life, different in social position, personality, appearance, habit, manner, interest--—nearly all English classes are represented except the very highest (i.e. the king and the top nobility) and lowest (i.e. the very poor laboring folk) in social rank at the time.The story-telling game,The portraits of the pilgrims, an excellent masterpiece of realistic character portrayal, the father of English realism;The tales as diverse as the pilgrims: pious, profane, tender, rude and obscene, serious, humorous and funny;Types of the tales: romances, moral stories, comedies, animal fables—Taken as a whole they represent practically the whole range of literary genres in medieval and early Renaissance EuropeIII. Social significance see刘炳善P24IV.Chaucer’s language: late Middle English, simple and plain, vivid and exact Whan that Aprille with his showers swooteThe drought of Marche hath perced to the root,Chaucer as forerunner of English Renaissance:a)free thinkingb)belief in the right of man to earthly happinessc)praise man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love for life,d)opposed to the dogma of asceticismChaucer as father of Engli sh poetry (Chaucer’s contribution to English peotry): 1.He contributed a great deal to the establishment of English as the literary languageof England, based on London dialect.2.He introduced from French poetry various rhymed metrical forms (especially theheroic couplet” to English poetry.Poetic form: heroic couplet (英雄双韵体)----rhyming pairs in iambic pentameter（抑扬格五音步）As soon /as A/pril pier/ces to/ the root/The drought /of March/ and bathes/ each bud/ and shoot/Foot（音步）: basic unit in metrical poetry, iambic foot( above, defeat) trochaicfoot( welcome, empty)Anapaestic foot (understand, introduce)Metre（格律）: a fixed arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables; the number of feet in a line determines its meter: trimeter, tetrameter, pentameterRhyme: the use of similar-sounding words in poetryQuestions:1.Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry2.The social significance of the Canterbury TalesOpening passage of the General PrologueStudy of the opening passage(吴伟仁P45--46)1．In spring when flowers grow and birds sing，people long to go on pilgrimage and the English particularly go to Canterbury，the shrine of St. Thomas.2. The Ram (白羊宫): One of the signs of the zodiac (黄道带) through whose housethe sun passes between the middle of March and middle of April. (At another place the narrator gives the date as 18 April.)3. So nature pricks them: so strongly are they moved by natural impulse.4. Palmers (后来指Pilgrims): Pilgrims who wore a palm-leaf or branch in their hats,in token of having visited the holy land.April’s sweet showers have penetrated the dry earth of Ma, moistening the roots, which in turn coax flowers out of ground; Zephers, the warm gentle west wind, has breathed life into the fields; and the birds chirp merrily. We have a picture of the reawakening of the natural world, budding flowers, growing crops, singing birds. After a long sleep of winter, people began to stir, feeling the need to go on pilgrimage, a travel to holy place as a means of spiritual cleansing and renewal; people feel the need to get up, stretch their legs and see the world outside the window; pilgrimage combined spring vacations with religious purification.The keynote is established in the opening passage: joyful, cheerful, light-hearted, optimistic, hopeful, lively.The imagery in the opening passage is of spring’s renewal and rebirth.The portrait of the nun: (吴伟仁P48--51)1. Whose smile gentle and full of guilelessness: quiet and innocent. Her expressionshould have been sober and withdrawn, perhaps even forbidding.2. By St. Loy: It was contrary to the rules of the nun’s order to swear (By Christ) all but as S t. Loy himself refused to swear, to swear by him is considered as a “ white ” oath, an innocent oath.She never uses rude language: showing her good breeding, being polite, cultured, refined.3.With comely air….: gracefully, without straining or grabbing.4.She was a great delight: The gayest company, very merry and nice.5.Had her pride, both amiable: She is friendly and gracious in her ways, but shedoes not unbend far enough to lose her dignity, whether as a prioress or as a lady.6.The example of her charity r eveals Chaucer’s ironic purpose. It shows how badlythe nun’s charity and pity are misdirected.Amour: earthly love. No sympathy for the suffering people. Rosery: well-formed, well-shaped.A nun is a religious woman who vows to poverty, purity and obedience, a womanwho dedicates herself to the service of God, who vows to live a life of……Poverty: not pursuing any material wealth.Purity-- chastityObedience--having to obey the rules set by God.Chaucer shows us a woman whose real interests lie not with her religious vocation, the service of God, but in a fashionable world, which she knows only by hearsay. There is comic incongruity (disagreement) in the nun, disagreement between her behavior and her sacred calling. She appears more like a fashionable lady than a nun. She is vain, affected, hypocritical, too worldly, failing to live out her oath.Here Chaucer’s tone in portraying the nun is humorously satirical.By revealing this, Chaucer satirized the nun in the disguise of approving observations. Depicting the nun in the humourous way.Gentle, mild satire (mocking).Vain: superior social position, follow (imitate) the trends practiced by the upper-class society.She is vain, affected, hypocritical, worldly, more like a fashionable lady than a nun.Here Cha ucer’s tone in portraying the nun is humourously satirical.Poetic form: heroic couplets.Rhyming pairs: in iambic pentameter (抑扬格五音步)As soon/ as A/pril pier/ces to/ the root/The drought/ of March/, and bathes/ each bud/ and shoot/As soon as April pierces to the rootThe drought of March, and bathes each bud and shootThrough every vein of sap with gentle showersFrom whose engendering liqour spring the flowers;When zephyrs have breathed softly all aboutInspiring every wood and field to sprout,And in the zodiac the youthful sunHis journey halfway through the Ram has run;When little birds are busy with their songWho sleep with open eyes the whole night longLife stirs their hearts and tingles in them so,Then off pilgrims people long to go,And palmers to set out for distant strandsAnd foreign shrines renowned in many lands.And specially in England people rideTo Canterbury from every countrysideTo visit there the blessed martyred saintWho gave them strength when they were sick and faint.In Southwark at the Tabard one spring dayIt happened, as I stopped there on my way,Myself a pilgrim with a heart devoutReady for Canterbury to set out,At night came all of twenty-nine assortedTravelers, and to that same inn resorted,Who by a turn of fortune chanced to fallIn fellowship together, and they were allPilgrims who had it in their minds to rideToward Canterbury. The stable doors were wide,The rooms were large, and we enjoyed the best,And shortly, when the sun had gone to rest,I had so talked with each that presentlyI was a member of their companyAnd promised to rise early the next dayTo start, as I shall show, upon our way.But none the less, while I have time and space,Before this tale has gone a further pace,I should in reason tell you the conditionOf each of them, his rank and his position,And also what array they all were in;And so then, with a knight I will begin.Questions:1. For the quotations listed above please give the name of the author and the title ofthe literary work from which it is taken, and point out the metrical form, then givea brief analysis.2. From which places can you see the nun is treated in an ironic manner? Try toillustrate them.乔叟（约1343─1400）是英国诗人，生于伦敦一中产阶级家庭。