The major features of Middle English Literature

'''2. THE MAJOR FEATURES OF MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE'''

1066 - theNorman Conquest - 1500 Middle English
 * decline of literature, Normans spoke French, clergy spoke Latin, in Europe cultural life was ruled by the Church (learning) and Latin, very cosmopolitan, educated classes were connected by Latin, French language was in a privileged position

- had no literary tradition, had to be constituted form the Old English, it lost suffixes, it resulted in more fixed word order
 * many Old English words disappeared, many French words regarding the subject maters of hunting, luxury, arts, and war were adopted. Similarly Latin words regarding religion, law, and science were adopted by English.
 * ME had no standard, existed in various dialects
 * ===English language changed from highly inflected to less inflected. The grammer was simplified.===
 * a lot of dialects – 4 – 5 dialects, one of them – East Midland dialect (between the Thames, including London), became the official dialect of English, this was the dialect spoken by royalty and of course Chaucer.
 * This consolidation of English dialects came to fruit in the 13th century

11th and 12th centuries
 * 3 states – nobility, clergy, people - this was reflected in linguistic division
 * literature written in 3 languages : Norman French, Latin, Middle English
 * The first works in Middle English appeared, French and Latin works contributed English literature
 * there was no literature worth mentioning
 * cultural life was influence by the church, schools were attached to monasteries
 * Latin was used mainly for didactic and official purposes
 * the common people clung to their tradition and continued singing their songs and narrating ballads
 * in poetry the end rhyme was introduced

mythology,  tales of chivalry and adventure, chevaliers romance

the character of Brut – according to legends he was the fist king of England, founded London

Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote of Brut and other heros in his History of the Kings of Britains, in 1135. Shakespeare’s King Lear is based on his work.

Around 1200 this work was translated into Middle English by Layamon – 12th cent. poet, priest, it was a very free translation, known as '' Layamon’s Brut.  Laymon didn’t give much space to Brut himself, other heroes are: King Arthur, Robin Hood'', it is the first truly English version of the story of Arthur, it signifies a nationalistic trend.

Arthurian legends – group of tales, characters Merlin, knight Lancelot, who fought with Arthur for his wife

13th century genres:

fable, allegorical fable, animal epic, secular lyrics, exemplum – tale in verse about miracles

The Owl and the Nightingale ' - allegorical debate 

the owl represents asceticism a satire and the other represents joy of life, argument which of them sings better, it mirrors the growth o Norman legal disputation

Cuckoo song

secular lyrics, poem speaking about the arrival of spring, the cuckoo can be heard as the first bird in the spring, the author hopes to hear the cuckoo for many more years

 The Fox and the Wolf 

a fable, anticipating Chaucer in its satirical attitude toward social ills

14th century 
 * the middle class people spoke better English, English spread, and was used in schools, law courts, the middle class grew, they were better educated than the poor. The growth of middle class is significant, the middle class spoke English, English as a written language started to develop rapidly
 * social upheaval against the corruption of nobility and clergy, Church gathered a lot of power and money, criticism against corruption in the Church, against education in Church.
 * spokesman of critics – John Wycliff 1320 – 1384 around
 * Wycliff attacked the rights claimed by the church. He proposed radical changes in Church: secular power should be independent of the Church. He condemned of ownership of the possessions by Church. He beleived that all people should have opportunity to read the Bible.
 * he rejected the biblical basis of papal authority and insisted on the primacy of the Bible
 * he translated  parts of the Bible  – 1st translation
 * his death – he was burnt at the stake. The ashes thrown into the river
 * his followers - Lollards – were also burnt
 * The 14th century saw many new genres: travelogue, dream vision, cycle of tales, romance, chronicle, hymn, elegy, ballad, allegory
 * time of Chaucer

ballads  - became to be recorded:  Outlaw Ballads , the legendary Robin Hood is the central figure

first English travelbook - The Travels of Sir J. Mandeville
 * translated to many languages, popular, lots were invented, tales about cannibals, fantastic elements
 * the author is tolerant to other religions
 * the Earth is said to be round!

a dream vision
 * very popular genre of Middle Ages

William Langland

 * probably a country priest who was upset by the bad things of his time, he was very popular at his time and after his death, at least up to Elizabethan period
 * one of the three Middle English writers of sustained genius, he criticizes the current state of the church and government

The Vision of William Concerning Piers Ploughman

 * (Vidění Petra oráče), written in old alliterative verse, allegorical dream by a poor man – describing the sorrows of the poor, it is a work of social criticism. It moves from social satire to religious allegory
 * the narrator dreams of a field full of folk, describes them individually, critical description of society, corruption, people are selfish, bad government, conclusion – lies in honest life, in the belief of Christ, he presents his image of Christian society and how different in English society, it puts him to later Puritan tradition of Milton and John Bunyan

unknown author

Sir Gawain and the Green knight

 * a romance – mythology, King Arthur, hero defeated by the magic power of his enemies
 * in alliterative verse too, it was not fashionable any more, compared to Chaucer he is much further from today's reader
 * story about king Arthur’s knights, a court romance, archetypes of folk legends and religion, mythological features
 * Morality about what a man should do as a knight, lover and Christian

Pearl

 * a moving poem, alliterative verse, pearl – the author’s daughter who died when she was 2 years old, laments of his daughter’s death, author says she is happy in heaven, litany, very artistic