AFTER THE NORMAN CONQUEST

● Philosophy: the most important Philosophical influence was the Church which dominated also
literature, another influence was chivalry (code of conduct that defined the knights behavior, that
founded the bases of Arthurian legends, king Arthur and the knights of the round table)
● Outbreak of the great Plague, Black Death which affected the everyday life and the philosophy of
medieval ages
● The wheel of fortune: life is a wheel were the individual might be on the top so maximum of fortune
but one minute after you could be at the bottom of this wheel → metaphor for saying that life was
unpredictable
● Before the medieval period stories were transmitted orally and the authors were anonymous → in
the medieval period the stories were originally medieval folklore (most of the population was
illiterate)
● During the 15th century there was the development of printing press: more books became
available
● The religious literature: appeared in several genres like devotional books, books of hours
(collections of prayers), missals (books containing prayers and text red during celebrations),
ageographes (lives of saints)
● Very important is the medieval drama, divided into 3 sections:
1. Mystery plays: depicting the events from the Bible
→ they originated from the lack of interests from the church gowers an the ignorance of latin
language, celebration were moved out of the church to accommodate the growing audience
→ during the 13th century the mystery plays gained less support from religious figures: they
started to be performed in vernacular language, they were starting to drift away from being
performed in churches and once this happened and the performances were free of the church, the
strong religious values became to disappear
→ they were a dramatization of the old and new testaments and one of the first themes were the
Christ story and his resurrection
→ in the beginning the performances were in churches made by clergymen and other members of
the church, after were performed on wagons and moved around different towns
→ sometimes the performances mocked priests and monks (important role in this plays)
→ they denied the use of 3 unites (place, time and action) and because of this the plays
represented any location or time and could be mix
→ not only oral performances but also illusions to entertain the audience
→ one of the most famous plays was the 2nd shepard’s play and the wiseman
2. Morality plays: containing allegories and the aim was to spread moral lessons
→ they grow out from the other two types of plays
→ used to educate and inform the masses on Christianity, so aim didactic, informative and
educational
→ the most famous was Everyman: English version of the Dutch play about the inevitability of
death → they were a result of Christian symbolism and the characters personified the moral
values and qualities depending on the moral lesson that that play wanted to share but they had a
focus on the protagonist whose weaknesses become the main conflict because he had 2
choices: to follow the 7 deadly sins (the aspects that God will not forgive you for) or to strive for
redemption and ask for the help of the 4 daughters of God (mercy, justice, temperance and truth)
3. Miracle plays: saints plays and dedicated to their lives
→ they was created for liturgical services and then was separated from the church, from latin
were switched to the english language, became less religious and they were performed in town
festivals in the 13th century
→ most of this were performed about Saint Nicholas or the Virgin Mary and this second one
 regularly involved a deus ex machina (problem unsolvable but the characters called the Virgin Mary
to help)
→ During the 16th century Henry VIII banned this plays

THE DEVELOPMENT OF POETRY

● Anglo-Saxon literature: anonymous and oral, the poet entertained he noblemen often
accompanied by a harp and his social function was important since he sang epics celebrating
cultural values on occasions of ceremonies and festivities → was formed in a long process of
collective memorisation until the 12th century, when it was written down by church clerks → 2
modes: elegiac and epic
● The main features of Anglo-Saxon poetry: the main formal aspects of Anglo-Saxon poetry
were stress and alliteration: each line was divided into two halves by a break or caesura and had 4
stresses and alliteration was used to link the two halves of the line → another feature was the
kenning, a formulaic phrase used in a place of a name or noun (in Beowulf the sea is called the
whale-road)
● The medieval lyric: expressed intense personal emotions and could be sun with musical
instruments → the earliest were religious in tone, but later became secular, dealing with love and
nature
● The metrical romances: new genre, tales in verse about chivalry, love and supernatural
creatures, the most important was Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whose author was
anonymous → the main sources were France (the court of Charlemagne), Rome (such as the
conquest of Troy so classic themes), Britain (King Arthur)
● The medieval ballad: most important were composed between 13th and 14th centuries, were
anonymous and intended for singing and dancing, their language was simple and included
formulaic phrases to describe conventional situations, settings and characters → transmitted
orally and collected only in The reliques of Ancient Poetry by Bishop Thomas Percy in 1765
● The father of English literature: Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the Canterbury Tales in the
east Midland dialect, which gradually became the basis of Modern English
● The epic poem: Greek noun which means oral exposition and the two most important were Iliad
and odyssey of Homer and then Virgil’s Aeneid
→ is a long narrative poetical composition that deals with the recollection of a glorious past in the
national history of a country
→ there are many supernatural creatures and the society described is aristocratic and military
→ is made up by type-scenes such as the banquet, the voyage, the battle and the funeral
→ another typical feature is the objective narrator
→ the main theme is the nature of heroic life and the function of leadership in heroic society
→ the didactic aim is linked to the celebration of heroic values (actions that led to glory)
→ the style is elevated, the vocabulary is rich and follow the rules of stresses and alliteration
● The Pagan elegy: lyrical poem generally in the form of dramatic monologue where an isolated
speaker expresses his loss of friendship, favour and past splendor
→ the situation behind these dramatic situations are implied but not described
→ very important is the figure of the wracca, which haunts the Anglo-Saxon imagination as a
constant fear of possible dissolution of the clan due to internal conflict or external attack
→ the main character was the lone wanderer, with whom the audience can share a moving view of
the human condition
→ the melancholic mood of the poem is conveyed through vivid and descriptive language, while
the oral aspect is underlined by the frequent use of alliteration
 GEOFFREY CHAUCER
● He was born in 1343, son of a wine merchant and received an excellent education, he was very
inventive as a writer, had a very clever mind and his practical skills helped him raise his social status
● Worked as a controller of the costumes for the port of London + important diplomatic missions
● He died 1400 and was the first poet to be buried in Westminster Abbey, in Poets’ corner
● Considered the father of the english literature: was one of the first English poets known by name
+ his language gradually became standard english (dialect of London) + the Canterbury tales
gave a portrait of the english society of the time
● 3 phases of his literary works:
1. French period: poems modeled on French romance styles and subjects
2. Italian period: greater maturity of perception and skill in the manipulation of the meters +
influenced by Boccaccio
3. English period: greater realism, included the Canterbury tales

THE CANTERBURY TALES

● Narrative poem in verse with a variety of narrative elements (setting in time and place, description
of characters, use of a narrator) + links with the moral views of the time + gives insight into
individual characters as regards their lifestyles, their psychology and their experiences
● The structure: general prologue (introduction of the pilgrims), 24 tales usually preceded by a
prologue which introduces the theme of the tale and sometimes followed by an epilogue
● The story: 30 people, including Chaucer as the narrator, meet at the Tabard inn in London and
join a pilgrimage to Canterbury cathedral and the shrine of Thomas Beckett
● The innkeeper suggested that every pilgrim should tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and
two on the way back and the pilgrim who tells the best story will win a free dinner
● The various tales are both religious and humorous, moral and satirical
● The setting: point of departure is London (human and link to worldly pleasures), destination is
Canterbury (holy, symbol of the celestial city)
● The pilgrimage: Canterbury cathedral is the shrine of Thomas Beckett (england's first martyr) +
taking a pilgrimage was common in Chaucer’s day + people went on a pilgrimage to ask for healing
or forgiveness of sins but also to socialise
● The style: rhyming couplets made up by iambic pentameters (lines with ten syllables and five
feet following the stress pattern unstressed-stressed)
● The language: after the Canterbury tales english replaced French as the language of education
in the local schools and became also the language of government + there was a growing demand
for literary works in English → Chaucer used a literary language shaped by French and Latin
models but built upon the old popular tradition and on a deep knowledge of actual speech
● Characterisation: Chaucer wanted to give a portrait of the English society + introduced the
characters in the general prologue + did not follow the social hierarchy of presentation of the
time + mixed female and male characters to underline the growing importance women were
assuming within the middle classes + dynamic individualisation in antithesis with the
conventional medieval character portrait which was generally rather static + the description of
pilgrims emphasise tools, clothes, personal qualities, personality + their names refer to their
professions
● Themes: the journey and the pilgrimage (set in the calendar of seasons and spring is time of
rebirth + spiritual journey, supernatural kind of restoration)