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1. Middle English Period Prepared By Mr. Anirban Singha State Aided College Teacher Department of English Krishna Chandra College, Hetampur,Birbhum

2. THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD Extends from Norman Conquest(1066) to the Renaissance Three phases in Europe: Early Middle Ages ( 5 th c to 10 th c; in England, this is old English Period) High Middle Ages(11 th to 13 th c) Late Middle Ages (14 th to 16 th c) French influence in culture and society Feudalism; Strict social hierarchy Three Social classes( Called Estates) Aristocracy( King,barons and knights) Episcopacy( Clergy) Peasantry

3. The Aristocracy The kings ruled by “ Divine Right” theory The right to rule Is granted by God Is passed on by Heredity Barons were the king’s direct subordinates Aristocracy spoke French and read poetry Associated with the ideals of Chivalary

4. Chivalry Knights constituted the lower nobility who became identified with the ideals of chivalry during the late Middle ages. A boy under training as a knight was called a squire. Chivalry was a knight’s code of behaviour Songs about knights were sung by troubadours

5. The Episcopacy The clergy were divided into High clergy( who were like the Barons) Low clergy( who were like the serfs) The church leaders held great power and were active in politics and governments A diocese was like a spiritual manor headed by a bishop Many bishops also governed real manors Spoke and wrote in Latin( prose)

6. The Peasantry The serfs/peasants Live in bondage and were treated mercilessly by the nobility and high clergy Were treated like animals,and were sold along land The peasants believed that their after-life would be in heaven The peasants lived a life of squalor, superstition and ignorance.

7. Early Middle English Period (11th to 13th c) Transformation of the English language • Simplified in spelling, grammar • Influence of Norman French • London became the administrative centre • This later determined the spoken and written forms of standard English • Aristocratic society and taste for French Literature • This affected the nature and scope of English literature • Militaristic culture • England became aggressive, confident and militaristic, which later determined the boundaries of a vast empire. • England entered the full current of European life; enriched by cosmopolitan cultures and literatures

8. England in the 14th century Population increased, leading to calamities like the Black Death in the Late Middle Ages • Economy prospered Intellectual, spiritual and artistic flowering in the Christian monasteries

9. Late Middle English Period 14th to 16th century, following High Middle Ages • Beset with famines, plague and revolts • Great Famine (1315-17) • Black Death (1348 onwards) • Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453) • Peasants’ Revolt (1381) • Fall of Constantinople (1453) • Invention of printing by movable types (1456) • Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) • Awakenings of Renaissance and Reformation

10. Middle English Literature: An Overview Extensive influence of French literature Major genres • Allegory (Piers the Plowman) • Tales of Chivalry and Adventure (Gawain and the Green Knight) • Arthurian Legends ( Morte d’Arthur ) Period of Chaucer

11. Dream Allegory: Famous Examples Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose, French) • Guillaume de Lorris (c. 1230) • Jean de Meung (c. 1270) • Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy, Latin, 1321) • Dante Alighieri • The Pearl (English) • 14th century elegy • Anonymous • Piers Plowman (English, c. 1394) • William Langland • The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame and The Parliament of Fowls (English) • Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century)

12. Later works with elements of Dream Allegories Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan, 1678) • The Triumph of Life (P.B. Shelley, 1824) • The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream (John Keats, 1819) • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Caroll , 1865) • News from Nowhere (William Morris, 1890) • Finnegan’s Wake (James Joyce, 1939)

13. Chivalric Romances Knighthood and chivalry were favourite themes in medieval literature • Originated in France. • Chivalric romances were written in prose or verse and concerned adventure, romance and courtly love

14. Elements of chivalric romance Idealization of the hero • Hero’s identity is mysterious • Hero’s willingness to comply with the lady’s caprices • Use of the supernatural to generate suspense • Emphasis on dangerous and dramatic events • Encounters with dragons • Jousting tournaments • Magical enchantments

15. Famous Chivalric Romances Lancelot and Perceval (2 romances) • Chrétien de Troye • 12th century • French King Horn • Anonymous • 13th century • English Parzifal • Wolfram von Eschenbach • 13th century • German

16. Famous Chivalric Romances Sir Gawain and the Green Knight • Anonymous • 14th century • English Le Morte D’Arthur • Sir Thomas Malory • 15th century • English

17. Alliterative Revival (c. 1350-c.1500) Resurgence of alliterative verse which was popular in the Old English period • Probably due to the nationalistic spirit of the post-Black Death years, and a reaction against French poetic styles • Examples • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (by the Pearl poet) • The Alliterative Morte Arthure (anonymous) • Piers Plowman (by William Langland) • The Destruction of Troy (John Clerk from Lancashire) • Poetry by William Dunbar

18. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Born in Florence, in Italy • Belonged to the Florentine political group called White Guelphs • Works helped establish the Tuscan dialect of Latin, upon which standard Italian is based. • Fell in love with Beatrice Portinari at age nine • Wrote the first sonnets in world litt addressed to her • She died in 1290 • Dante turned to writing

19. Dante’s Works Convivio (The Banquet) – long philosophical poems • Monarchia – political philosophy • On Eloquence in the vernacular – Latin essay supported the use of vernacular language in poetry • Eclogues • Le Rime (The Rhymes, a collection of lyric poems) • Vita Nouva (The New Life) – collection of courtly verse on his love for Beatrice

20. The Divine Comedy Three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio , Paradiso • Written in three-lined terza rima stanzas, rhyming aba bcb cdc etc. • 100 cantos: 34 in Inferno, 33 each in Purgatorio & Paradiso • The number three is part of the numerical symbolism of the Divine Comedy • Three is the number of the Holy Trinity • There are nine circles of Hell (3 times 3); nine levels of Paradise (with the Garden of Eden at the summit as a 10th level) • Dante’s Satan is a three-headed monster.

21. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-75) First great writer of prose in any modern language • Initiated several literary forms • Filocolo is the first Italian prose romance • Filostrato is the first Italian verse romance other than those written by minstrels • He also wrote the first Italian idyll • Teseida a poem on the story of Theseus , Palamon and Arcite (retold by Chaucer, Shakespeare, etc) • Wrote a life (biography) of Dante • Wrote a number of encyclopedic works in Latin which were widely read in England • (Probably) invented ottava rima

22. Decameron (1349-53) 100 stories told over a period of 10 days • 7 young women and 3 young men flee Florence during the Black Death and take refuge for two weeks in the countryside • They spend hot afternoons by telling stories • Each day the group selects a king or queen who determines the general theme of stories of that day

23. Francisco Petrarch (1304-74) Influential scholar who was crowned the Poet Laureate in Rome • Travelled widely to discover manuscripts of works by classical writers • Father of Humanism • Established that there is no essential conflict between classical and Christian thought • Fell in love with Laura, whose beauty he describes throughout his poetry. This later takes on a Christian dimension

24. Works by Petrarch Wrote more than 400 poems, mostly sonnets, in Italian • 366 of these are in the sonnet sequence Canzoniere • Themes Beauty of Laura Haunting sense of the passage of time The vanity of earthly endeavours Conflict between spiritual and earthly values • Familiar Letters is one of the many volumes of letters (epistles) written by Petrarch in Latin

25. Petrarchan or Italian Sonnet The sonnet originated in Italy in the 13th c. • Petrarch perfected the sonnet • 14 lines of iambic pentameter divided into an octave (two quatrains) and a sestet • Caesura in between • Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdc cdc / cde cde • Employed artificial love-theme and Petrarchan conceits: • Far-fetched images • Idealized and exaggerated comparisons applied to the disdainful mistress (cold, cruel and beautiful) and to the distresses of her worshipful lover • Blason convention: detailed description of the body

26. Other English works of this period Layamon’s Brut (c. 1190) • Long poem about the history of Britain • Named after Britain’s mythical founder Brutus of Troy • Based on Wace’s Roman de Brut • Last alliterative poem before the Alliterative Revival

27. Other English works of this period The Owl and the Nightingale • Poet overhears an owl and a nightingale debating on which is better, happiness or sorrow • One of the earliest examples of “debate poetry” • Ancrene Riwle (or Ancrene Wisse ) • Guide for anchoresses (a monastic profession) • Anchorite life was popular in Europe, esp. England, at this time

28. Thank You Everyone.