- INTRODUCTION
- THE MIDDLE AGES
- THE 16TH CENTURY
- THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY
- RESTORATION AND 18TH CENTURY LITERATURE
- THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
- THE VICTORIAN AGE
- THE 20TH CENTURY AND AFTER
1
Ella Van Sprengel
, THE MIDDLE AGES (43 to ca. 1485)
Introduction
The Middle Ages = time period from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, to the European
Renaissance and Reformation of the 16th century.
Renaissance: rebirth / revival of Latin and Greek learning and literature (started in Italy, then
Europe)
Reformation: movement that repudiated the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church
(started in Germany, then Europe)
➔ Ideas of renaissance and reformation: fixing whatever was lacking in the preceding era
Some people say 16th-century writers created (demonized) the Middle Ages, by highlighting the
brilliance of their own time period. But medieval authors didn’t feel like they were “in the
middle”; art, literature and science flourished and medieval Europe even invented the
parliament and university!
The middle ages are divided into 3 categories:
Literature of the early middle ages (8th-11th) (Anglo-Saxon period)
= product of the displacement of the Celtics by Saxons, Angles and Jutes
Institutions for literary production: royal courts and monasteries
The Saxons and Angles spoke a Germanic language (now “old English” = ancestor of Modern
English), thus has features with other Germanic languages of the period (Dutch, German,
Norwegian)
→ 7th-11th century: that was the language of law, philosophy, spiritual instruction and lit
Product of military occupations
Literature of the 12th-13th centuries (Anglo-Norman period)
= product of the Norman Conquest of 1066
Institutions for literary production: royal courts, feudal castles, houses of regular religious
The Norman Conquest produced a new language, which we now call Anglo-Norman (= dialect
of French). It was spoken by upper classes, used in legal and administration contexts, but also
for spiritual instructions, historiography and literary writings.
Influence of the Anglo-Norman language on the syntax of English is uncertain; syntax of English
remained fundamentally Germanic. However Anglo-Norman had a big impact on English
vocabulary!
Middle English is a mix of Old English, Anglo-Norman, Latin and a little bit of Celtic and
Norwegian → by 1400 it was the main and significant language of lit, parliament,
historiography, encyclopedism and spiritual instruction
Literature of the 14th-15th centuries (middle English period)
= product of the Hundred Years’ War (long period of welfare)
Institutions for literary production: royal courts, bureaucracies, religious houses, gentry families,
urban organizations
Book production in the medieval period was expensive: they were initially produced by hand in
manuscript (written on animal skin, which was called “parchment” or “vellum”)
→ more expensive books could be recognized by colors, calligraphy, visual images
2
Ella Van Sprengel
,Institutions of book production changed across the period (see above). Also commercial book-
making enterprises appeared in 14th century; these included binders, scribes, flourishers, …
There were also booksellers / dealers, who produced books for wealthier patrons.
But also the market for books changed across the period; books were produced for (and by)
noble and gentry households, and for wealthy patrons
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD (450-1066)
1st – 5th century: Roman conquest of the Celtic Britain; so England was then a province of the
Roman Empire (named “Brittania”), inhabitants were the Britons (those were the Celtic-
speaking inhabitants who adapted themselves to the Roman occupation). Christianization
happened in 4th century, and so Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire, thus
the Britons had become Christians.
Later (around 450) came the occupation by the Saxons and Angles, which didn’t happen
suddenly, but extended over decades. About 150 years later, Christianity only maintained in the
regions were the Saxons and Angles had failed to completely occupy (the remote areas, since
the Celtics were ‘pushed to the sides/fringes’).
There is a heptarchy (7 kingdoms).
In 597, St. Augustine arrives in Kent, bringing Christianity with him; which was the beginning of
the Angles’ and Saxons’ conversion to Christianity.
From 790’s, the Saxons and Angles were subjected to new Germanic invasions by Vikings (=
Danes pulling in from Scandinavia)
From 871 to 899, King Alfred reigned and he stopped these Viking raids.
From 1016-1035: King Canute reigned (king of both England, Denmark and Norway).
So there were three periods in which the promotion of learning was monastic, royal or both:
1) during the time of the Islamic occupation, when Benedictine monasteries were founded
2) during the reign of King Alfred (he translated lots of key works, necessary to know in the period
of English conversion and consolidation)
3) the Benedictine Reform (= a movement that wanted to reaffirm the Benedictine practice)
Old English poetry (e.g. Beowulf)
The invading Angles and Saxons brought a tradition of oral poetry with them (sung or intoned).
However, there was also written manuscript, but not a lot of this kind of poetry has been found
of this time period, since nothing was written down before the conversion to Christianity and
because it was expensive to write things down on manuscripts (so it was unique).
In 1731, a lot of manuscripts were damaged by fire (so we almost lost Beowulf). Afterwards,
transcriptions were made.
Usually it was about religious subjects, since literacy was mostly restricted to servants of the
church. It also described current events.
These poems show the values of Germanic society (such as heroic, aristocratic, kinship).
Nations are reckoned by kinship (not by geography). The tribe is ruled by a king (“chieftain”).
There’s also a lord, who protects his retainers, and in return they have to fight to the death for
their lord. Blood vengeance is a sacred duty, and in poetry, everlasting shame waits on those
who fail to observe it.
3
Ella Van Sprengel
,• Pagan values: based on heroism and revenge BUT few references to heathen deities
(idolatry)
• Christian values: based on forgiveness (OT)
→ “forgive those who trespass against us” and ‘all they that take the sword, shall perish by
the sword”
Oral Written
Pagan hero invokes the heroic code Christian poet invokes God Almighty/Lord
The Christian poet Beowulf (8th-10th century) was conflicted between the “heroic code” and the
fact that “you should forgive those who trespass against us”.
In Old English poetry, it can be hard to draw the line between heroic and Christian poetry. Much
of Christian poetry is however cast in the heroic mode.
Therefore, old English poetry is also often elegiac; cheerful men were often still thinking about
war and possible failure; romantic love almost never appeared at all.
Poetic language is usually constructed by a special vocabulary (a lot of synonyms for words), or
by figurative use of language (e.g. “sea” becomes “whale-road”), or by bringing objects to life
and even letting them speak. Poetry is not straightforward, it moves slowly.
Beowulf
= Christian, who wrote Germanic heroic poetry,
- he wrote Old English poetry
- he was reviving the heroic language, style and pagan world
- takes place in Scandinavia (Heorot, between Denmark and Sweden)
The language of Beowulf is not really English, it’s mostly Germanic dialects.
His poem does NOT deal with the Germanic inhabitants, but with the Danes and Geats (tribes
from Scandinavia)
The Danes and the Geats come together to fight the monster Grendel (a descendant of Cain)
There are 3 great fights in Beowulf
1) Beowulf fights against Grendel (to save the Danes)
2) fight against Grendel’s mother
3) fight against the Dragon (because there is no other way to save his own people)
Narrative techniques in Beowulf
Traces of oral tradition (p. 42-43)
- call to attention (yelling “Hwaet” in the beginning)
- insider perspective (3-4, 19, 57)
- tendency to digress (1-60)
- tendency to foreshadow (7, 81-83)
- circular structure > funerals (3137-3182)
- parallel and appositive expressions (4-5)
Stylistic features
- alliteration (4, 16)
- verse form: 2 balancing halves with a break and a change of rhythm after the break, no rhyme!
- litotes: ironic understatement (43)
- synecdoche (32)
- elegiac: sad, mournful (3148-3155)
- kenning and compound words (3147: “bone-house” means body)
4
Ella Van Sprengel
,ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (1066-14th century)
After the Battle of the Hastings (Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror) in 1066, the
Normans invaded England. They were also descendants of Germanic adventurers (like the
Angles and Saxons).
The Normans were great builders of castles (in which they enforced their political dominance
and beautiful churches).
From 1154-1189 Henry II reigned.
Around 1200 started the beginnings of Middle English lit
Poets in this century e.g. Thomas of England, Marie de France, Chrétien de Troyes
→ they innovated the genre of romance!
Romance was the principal narrative genre for late medieval readers
The ‘British’ Nation
First stanza: origin story of ‘Britain’ (II. 1-26)
- destruction of Troy by Greeks (cfr. Homer’s Iliad)
- Aeneas flees Troy, reaches Italy (cfr. Virgil’s Aeneid)
- Romulus (Trojan acestry) founds city of Rome
- Brutus (Roman) is ‘founding father’ of Britain
- Arthur is ‘most regal of rulers in the royal line’
Geoffrey of Monmouth – Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136)
→ very popular (215 manuscripts)
→ pseudohistory
Myth of King Arthur
Origin: Celtic oral stories
= last ‘Celtic’ king (Britons)
→ defends ‘England’ against Anglo-Saxon invaders
→ Round Table, Camelot etc.
Sir Thomas Mallory
- Morte Darthur
- printed by William Caxton
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1375-4000)
As said before, there was an anonymous writer in the late 14th century. He was thought to have
lived in the northwest midlands, but yet nothing is known about this poet, except what we can
assume from his works. He wrote this finest Arthurian romance, which was only found in one
manuscript (which also contained 3 other poems Pearl, Patience and Purity).
He belongs to the “Alliterative Revival” (= refers to the revival/reflowering of alliterative poetry).
The poem is written in Midlands dialect (difficult!). It’s based on French romans (about love and
adventure). At the beginning of the poem, the poet pretends that it’s oral poetry, saying that the
audience needs to ‘listen’ to the story he ‘heard’.
The poem is about Sir Gawain (Walewein), who is King Arthur’s sister’s son, and becomes the
most important knight of the Round Table (meanwhile in earlier French romances, Arthur’s best
knight was made out to be Sir Lancelot, yet in this poem, he’s simply just a name in a list of
Arthur’s knights).
5
Ella Van Sprengel
, In the poem, King Arthur and his knights are celebrating Christmas and New Years, when
suddenly a supernatural challenger (the Green Knight) appears with a challenge (“Beheading
Game”). He has holly in his one hand and an axe in his other hand. The challenge is that
someone has to strike him once using the axe (cutting his head off), and that person receives
the cleaver and the axe. Yet in return the Green Knight may struck that person as well, a year
later. After a while, King Arthur rises up to the challenge but as he’s ready to strike, Sir Gawain
rises up from his chair and takes on the challenge. He cuts the Green Knight’s head off, who
then just walks around with his head in his hand, and reminds Gawain of the fact that in one
year, he needs to come and find him so he can get struck as well (otherwise he is a coward).
The word “truth” here means not only as how we know it, but means ‘faith pledged by one’s
word to a lord or spouse or someone he has an obligation to’, a ‘promise(?)’
→ Sir Gawain is thus measured against a moral and Christian ideal of chivalry.
Narrative, formal and stylistic features
- Late example of Arthurian ‘romance’ genre (key terms: chivalrous and courteous)
- 3-part structure (‘new sound’, I.132)
- integration, disintegration, reintegration
- Oral tradition > ‘inked’ (narrator: II.26-36)
- Alliterative revival (II.4, 7, 12, 161)
- long lines, caesura, no fixed number of stresses
- Final 5 lines of stanza: ‘bob’ & ‘wheel’ > ababa
- single-stress vs. three-stress
- cfr. II.15-19
The poem is written in Middle English verse form
→ alliteration e.g. Sithen the sege and the assaut / was sesed at Troye
Comparison with Beowulf
• Christian vs. Pagan (BUT: not a monster!)
- I.37, I.51, II.136-145, II.197-198, I.399
• Chivalry & courtesy vs. barbarity & bloodshed
- I.263-270, II.343-347, I.424-433, II.467-477
• Psychological/symbolic, not physical/fighting
- I.233-235 (‘what did it mean?’), I.274 (‘game’)
• Gawain = more cheerful and refined
- ‘happiness’ & ‘joy’ (II.40-49) <> elegiac, mournful
- Anglo-Norman Christian court culture
Ending and ‘morale’
- Quest for the Green Chapel > castle in the woods
- Lord Bertilak’s hunting game
- Lady Bertilak’s seduction of Gawain (hug/kiss > he lies about green garter)
- Fight with the Green Knight
- Gawain is punished for untruth
- ‘pentangle’ on shield (II.619-669)
- wears green garter as token of shame
6
Ella Van Sprengel
- THE MIDDLE AGES
- THE 16TH CENTURY
- THE EARLY 17TH CENTURY
- RESTORATION AND 18TH CENTURY LITERATURE
- THE ROMANTIC PERIOD
- THE VICTORIAN AGE
- THE 20TH CENTURY AND AFTER
1
Ella Van Sprengel
, THE MIDDLE AGES (43 to ca. 1485)
Introduction
The Middle Ages = time period from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, to the European
Renaissance and Reformation of the 16th century.
Renaissance: rebirth / revival of Latin and Greek learning and literature (started in Italy, then
Europe)
Reformation: movement that repudiated the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church
(started in Germany, then Europe)
➔ Ideas of renaissance and reformation: fixing whatever was lacking in the preceding era
Some people say 16th-century writers created (demonized) the Middle Ages, by highlighting the
brilliance of their own time period. But medieval authors didn’t feel like they were “in the
middle”; art, literature and science flourished and medieval Europe even invented the
parliament and university!
The middle ages are divided into 3 categories:
Literature of the early middle ages (8th-11th) (Anglo-Saxon period)
= product of the displacement of the Celtics by Saxons, Angles and Jutes
Institutions for literary production: royal courts and monasteries
The Saxons and Angles spoke a Germanic language (now “old English” = ancestor of Modern
English), thus has features with other Germanic languages of the period (Dutch, German,
Norwegian)
→ 7th-11th century: that was the language of law, philosophy, spiritual instruction and lit
Product of military occupations
Literature of the 12th-13th centuries (Anglo-Norman period)
= product of the Norman Conquest of 1066
Institutions for literary production: royal courts, feudal castles, houses of regular religious
The Norman Conquest produced a new language, which we now call Anglo-Norman (= dialect
of French). It was spoken by upper classes, used in legal and administration contexts, but also
for spiritual instructions, historiography and literary writings.
Influence of the Anglo-Norman language on the syntax of English is uncertain; syntax of English
remained fundamentally Germanic. However Anglo-Norman had a big impact on English
vocabulary!
Middle English is a mix of Old English, Anglo-Norman, Latin and a little bit of Celtic and
Norwegian → by 1400 it was the main and significant language of lit, parliament,
historiography, encyclopedism and spiritual instruction
Literature of the 14th-15th centuries (middle English period)
= product of the Hundred Years’ War (long period of welfare)
Institutions for literary production: royal courts, bureaucracies, religious houses, gentry families,
urban organizations
Book production in the medieval period was expensive: they were initially produced by hand in
manuscript (written on animal skin, which was called “parchment” or “vellum”)
→ more expensive books could be recognized by colors, calligraphy, visual images
2
Ella Van Sprengel
,Institutions of book production changed across the period (see above). Also commercial book-
making enterprises appeared in 14th century; these included binders, scribes, flourishers, …
There were also booksellers / dealers, who produced books for wealthier patrons.
But also the market for books changed across the period; books were produced for (and by)
noble and gentry households, and for wealthy patrons
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD (450-1066)
1st – 5th century: Roman conquest of the Celtic Britain; so England was then a province of the
Roman Empire (named “Brittania”), inhabitants were the Britons (those were the Celtic-
speaking inhabitants who adapted themselves to the Roman occupation). Christianization
happened in 4th century, and so Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire, thus
the Britons had become Christians.
Later (around 450) came the occupation by the Saxons and Angles, which didn’t happen
suddenly, but extended over decades. About 150 years later, Christianity only maintained in the
regions were the Saxons and Angles had failed to completely occupy (the remote areas, since
the Celtics were ‘pushed to the sides/fringes’).
There is a heptarchy (7 kingdoms).
In 597, St. Augustine arrives in Kent, bringing Christianity with him; which was the beginning of
the Angles’ and Saxons’ conversion to Christianity.
From 790’s, the Saxons and Angles were subjected to new Germanic invasions by Vikings (=
Danes pulling in from Scandinavia)
From 871 to 899, King Alfred reigned and he stopped these Viking raids.
From 1016-1035: King Canute reigned (king of both England, Denmark and Norway).
So there were three periods in which the promotion of learning was monastic, royal or both:
1) during the time of the Islamic occupation, when Benedictine monasteries were founded
2) during the reign of King Alfred (he translated lots of key works, necessary to know in the period
of English conversion and consolidation)
3) the Benedictine Reform (= a movement that wanted to reaffirm the Benedictine practice)
Old English poetry (e.g. Beowulf)
The invading Angles and Saxons brought a tradition of oral poetry with them (sung or intoned).
However, there was also written manuscript, but not a lot of this kind of poetry has been found
of this time period, since nothing was written down before the conversion to Christianity and
because it was expensive to write things down on manuscripts (so it was unique).
In 1731, a lot of manuscripts were damaged by fire (so we almost lost Beowulf). Afterwards,
transcriptions were made.
Usually it was about religious subjects, since literacy was mostly restricted to servants of the
church. It also described current events.
These poems show the values of Germanic society (such as heroic, aristocratic, kinship).
Nations are reckoned by kinship (not by geography). The tribe is ruled by a king (“chieftain”).
There’s also a lord, who protects his retainers, and in return they have to fight to the death for
their lord. Blood vengeance is a sacred duty, and in poetry, everlasting shame waits on those
who fail to observe it.
3
Ella Van Sprengel
,• Pagan values: based on heroism and revenge BUT few references to heathen deities
(idolatry)
• Christian values: based on forgiveness (OT)
→ “forgive those who trespass against us” and ‘all they that take the sword, shall perish by
the sword”
Oral Written
Pagan hero invokes the heroic code Christian poet invokes God Almighty/Lord
The Christian poet Beowulf (8th-10th century) was conflicted between the “heroic code” and the
fact that “you should forgive those who trespass against us”.
In Old English poetry, it can be hard to draw the line between heroic and Christian poetry. Much
of Christian poetry is however cast in the heroic mode.
Therefore, old English poetry is also often elegiac; cheerful men were often still thinking about
war and possible failure; romantic love almost never appeared at all.
Poetic language is usually constructed by a special vocabulary (a lot of synonyms for words), or
by figurative use of language (e.g. “sea” becomes “whale-road”), or by bringing objects to life
and even letting them speak. Poetry is not straightforward, it moves slowly.
Beowulf
= Christian, who wrote Germanic heroic poetry,
- he wrote Old English poetry
- he was reviving the heroic language, style and pagan world
- takes place in Scandinavia (Heorot, between Denmark and Sweden)
The language of Beowulf is not really English, it’s mostly Germanic dialects.
His poem does NOT deal with the Germanic inhabitants, but with the Danes and Geats (tribes
from Scandinavia)
The Danes and the Geats come together to fight the monster Grendel (a descendant of Cain)
There are 3 great fights in Beowulf
1) Beowulf fights against Grendel (to save the Danes)
2) fight against Grendel’s mother
3) fight against the Dragon (because there is no other way to save his own people)
Narrative techniques in Beowulf
Traces of oral tradition (p. 42-43)
- call to attention (yelling “Hwaet” in the beginning)
- insider perspective (3-4, 19, 57)
- tendency to digress (1-60)
- tendency to foreshadow (7, 81-83)
- circular structure > funerals (3137-3182)
- parallel and appositive expressions (4-5)
Stylistic features
- alliteration (4, 16)
- verse form: 2 balancing halves with a break and a change of rhythm after the break, no rhyme!
- litotes: ironic understatement (43)
- synecdoche (32)
- elegiac: sad, mournful (3148-3155)
- kenning and compound words (3147: “bone-house” means body)
4
Ella Van Sprengel
,ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (1066-14th century)
After the Battle of the Hastings (Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror) in 1066, the
Normans invaded England. They were also descendants of Germanic adventurers (like the
Angles and Saxons).
The Normans were great builders of castles (in which they enforced their political dominance
and beautiful churches).
From 1154-1189 Henry II reigned.
Around 1200 started the beginnings of Middle English lit
Poets in this century e.g. Thomas of England, Marie de France, Chrétien de Troyes
→ they innovated the genre of romance!
Romance was the principal narrative genre for late medieval readers
The ‘British’ Nation
First stanza: origin story of ‘Britain’ (II. 1-26)
- destruction of Troy by Greeks (cfr. Homer’s Iliad)
- Aeneas flees Troy, reaches Italy (cfr. Virgil’s Aeneid)
- Romulus (Trojan acestry) founds city of Rome
- Brutus (Roman) is ‘founding father’ of Britain
- Arthur is ‘most regal of rulers in the royal line’
Geoffrey of Monmouth – Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain, 1136)
→ very popular (215 manuscripts)
→ pseudohistory
Myth of King Arthur
Origin: Celtic oral stories
= last ‘Celtic’ king (Britons)
→ defends ‘England’ against Anglo-Saxon invaders
→ Round Table, Camelot etc.
Sir Thomas Mallory
- Morte Darthur
- printed by William Caxton
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1375-4000)
As said before, there was an anonymous writer in the late 14th century. He was thought to have
lived in the northwest midlands, but yet nothing is known about this poet, except what we can
assume from his works. He wrote this finest Arthurian romance, which was only found in one
manuscript (which also contained 3 other poems Pearl, Patience and Purity).
He belongs to the “Alliterative Revival” (= refers to the revival/reflowering of alliterative poetry).
The poem is written in Midlands dialect (difficult!). It’s based on French romans (about love and
adventure). At the beginning of the poem, the poet pretends that it’s oral poetry, saying that the
audience needs to ‘listen’ to the story he ‘heard’.
The poem is about Sir Gawain (Walewein), who is King Arthur’s sister’s son, and becomes the
most important knight of the Round Table (meanwhile in earlier French romances, Arthur’s best
knight was made out to be Sir Lancelot, yet in this poem, he’s simply just a name in a list of
Arthur’s knights).
5
Ella Van Sprengel
, In the poem, King Arthur and his knights are celebrating Christmas and New Years, when
suddenly a supernatural challenger (the Green Knight) appears with a challenge (“Beheading
Game”). He has holly in his one hand and an axe in his other hand. The challenge is that
someone has to strike him once using the axe (cutting his head off), and that person receives
the cleaver and the axe. Yet in return the Green Knight may struck that person as well, a year
later. After a while, King Arthur rises up to the challenge but as he’s ready to strike, Sir Gawain
rises up from his chair and takes on the challenge. He cuts the Green Knight’s head off, who
then just walks around with his head in his hand, and reminds Gawain of the fact that in one
year, he needs to come and find him so he can get struck as well (otherwise he is a coward).
The word “truth” here means not only as how we know it, but means ‘faith pledged by one’s
word to a lord or spouse or someone he has an obligation to’, a ‘promise(?)’
→ Sir Gawain is thus measured against a moral and Christian ideal of chivalry.
Narrative, formal and stylistic features
- Late example of Arthurian ‘romance’ genre (key terms: chivalrous and courteous)
- 3-part structure (‘new sound’, I.132)
- integration, disintegration, reintegration
- Oral tradition > ‘inked’ (narrator: II.26-36)
- Alliterative revival (II.4, 7, 12, 161)
- long lines, caesura, no fixed number of stresses
- Final 5 lines of stanza: ‘bob’ & ‘wheel’ > ababa
- single-stress vs. three-stress
- cfr. II.15-19
The poem is written in Middle English verse form
→ alliteration e.g. Sithen the sege and the assaut / was sesed at Troye
Comparison with Beowulf
• Christian vs. Pagan (BUT: not a monster!)
- I.37, I.51, II.136-145, II.197-198, I.399
• Chivalry & courtesy vs. barbarity & bloodshed
- I.263-270, II.343-347, I.424-433, II.467-477
• Psychological/symbolic, not physical/fighting
- I.233-235 (‘what did it mean?’), I.274 (‘game’)
• Gawain = more cheerful and refined
- ‘happiness’ & ‘joy’ (II.40-49) <> elegiac, mournful
- Anglo-Norman Christian court culture
Ending and ‘morale’
- Quest for the Green Chapel > castle in the woods
- Lord Bertilak’s hunting game
- Lady Bertilak’s seduction of Gawain (hug/kiss > he lies about green garter)
- Fight with the Green Knight
- Gawain is punished for untruth
- ‘pentangle’ on shield (II.619-669)
- wears green garter as token of shame
6
Ella Van Sprengel
