Medieval Literature: an overview
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Transcript of Medieval Literature: an overview
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
1066
The Dark Ages
William The ConquerorFrom French Province of Normandy
Fief of the Kingdom of France
French influence over Middle English
Feudal system
French became the language of
the Elite
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Feudalism (feudal system)
Feudal lord/
Serf/ Villein
Vassal
Fief
§The Oath of Fealty
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Medieval Knighthood
• Lived by very strong values & code of
conduct
• The code of chivalry or knightly
conduct
• Chivalrous conduct = bravery, truth,
honour & gallantry towards women
• Courtly love
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
7 Deadly Sins 7 Heavenly Virtues
Lust Chastity
Gluttony Temperance
Greed Charity
Sloth Diligence
Wrath Patience
Envy Kindness
Pride Humility
Christianity
Good v/s Evil Christ Figure Genesis
Middle Ages (Medieval Era)
Fall of Satan/ Lucifer:
disobedience v/s pride
Jesus Christ: epitome of
selfless love & self-sacrifice
Fall of Man: Disobedience
(Sacred feminine)
Medieval Literature
Mystery, Miracle,
Passion & Morality
Plays
(Christian Ideals)
Medieval
Romance
(Knighthood;
Chivalry & Courtly
Love)
Folks Tales ,
Myths & Legends
Animal Fables:
Bestiaries
Religious
writings: non-
fiction by female
mystiques
Medieval Literature
• Allegorical
• Religious v/s Secular
Literature
• Alliterative
• Translations from other
languages
• Inspired by the past
(Arthurian legends, Greek,
Roman & Celtic Mythology,
Folk Tales)
• Christian values & morals
• Paganism v/s Christianity
Characteristics
Medieval LiteratureAndreas Capellanus, The Art of Courtly Love (1184-6)
1. Marriage is no excuse for not loving.2. He who is not jealous cannot love.3. No one can be bound by two loves.4. Love is always growing or diminishing.5. A lover shouldn’t take anything against the will of the other.6. A male cannot love until he has fully reached puberty.7. Two years of mourning for a dead lover.8. No one should be deprived of love without a valid reason.9. One cannot love who is not driven by the power of love.10. Love always departs from the dwelling place of avarice.11. One cannot love whom one would be ashamed to marry.12. True lover never desires the embraces of any other lover.13. Love rarely lasts when it is revealed.14. An easy attainment makes love contemptible.15. Every lover turns pale in the presence of his beloved.16. When a lover has sight of his love, his heart beats wildly.17. A new love expels an old one.18. Moral integrity alone makes one worthy of love.
19. If love diminishes, it quickly leaves and rarely revives.20. A lover is always fearful.21. Jealousy always increases the effects of love.22. If a lover suspects another, the effects of love increase.23. He who is vexed by love eats little and seldom sleeps.24. Every action of a lover ends in the thought of his beloved.25. True lover only believes that which will please his beloved.26. Love can deny nothing to love.27. A lover never has enough of the embraces of his beloved.28. The slightest suspicion incites suspicion of the worst.29. He who suffers from excessive passion cannot love.30. The true lover is obsessed with the image of his beloved.31. Nothing prevents a woman from being loved by two men, or a man from being loved by two women.
Medieval LiteratureRomance & Arthurian Legends
Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight
William Longland: The
Vision of the Pier’s
Plowman
Sir Thomas Malory: Le
Morte D’Arthur
(Chanson de geste)
Medieval LiteratureBestiaries or Beast Fables
• John Gower (medieval poetry): e.g.
The Tale of Phoebus and the Crow
• Medieval translations of Aesop’s
Fables (Greek)
• The Book of Beasts (Latin)
• Exemplum – Exempla (didacticism)
• Robert Henryson: The Morall
Fabillis of Esope the Phrygian
The Wolfe and the Lambe
The lambe, þe wolfe, contrary
of nature,
Euer diuerse & noþyng oon
þey þynke.
Boþe at onys of soden auenture
To a fresshe ryuer þey came
downe to drynke:
At þe hede spryng hy opon þe
brynke
Stondeþ þe wolfe, a forward
beste of kynde;
The sely lambe stood fer abak
behynde.
Lydgate
Medieval LiteratureFemale Mysticism
Excerpt from:
The Book of Margery Kempe
The fyrst two yer whan this creatur was thus drawyn to owyr Lord, sche had gretqwiete of spyryt as for ony temptacyons. Sche mygth wel dure to fastyn, it grevyd hir not. Sche hatyd the joys of the world. Sche felt no rebellyon in hyr flesch. Sche was strong, as hir thowt, that sche dred no devylle in helle, for sche dede so gret bodyly penawnce. Sche thowt that sche lovyd God mor than he hir. Sche was smet wyth the dedly wownd of veynglory and felt it not, for sche desyryd many tymes that the crucifix schuld losyn hys handys fro the crosse and halsyn hir in tokyn of lofe.
Julian of Norwich Margery Kempe
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400)• The Book of the Duchess: Allegorical Romance (poet + knight)
• The House of Fame: Epic poem (characters from Greek + Roman mythology)
• The Legend of Good Women: Short Stories of virtuous women (from mythology)
• Troilus and Criseyde: Courtly Romance (translation of Robert Henryson’s Scots poem)
• The Parlement of Foules: Beast Fable
• The Romaunt of the Rose: Allegorical Romance (translation from French)
"See yonder, lo, the Galaxyë
Which men clepeth the Milky Wey,
For hit is whyt."
Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
Narrator
Knight
Squire
- 29 pilgrims representing all classes, all professions in medieval England
- 22 Tales, 2 Fragments
Friar
Prioress
Two nuns
Summoner
Pardoner
Parson
Monk
Nun’s Priest
Clerk
MillerManciple
Yeoman
Shipman
Physician
Merchant
Franklin
Reeve
Cook
Lawyer “Man of Law”
Wife of Bath
Geoffrey Chaucer: Canterbury Tales
The Miller’s Tale
Fabliau
Parody of Romance
The Wife of Bath’s Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale
Bestiary