Summary of literature history English (+ Macbeth extensively summarized)
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Course
Engels
Level
VWO / Gymnasium
This is a summary in English on Old English, Middle English and Renaissance literature. In addition, there is a comprehensive summary of Macbeth.
Macbeth's summary also addresses the core topics.
In this entire summary, there are also a few graphic imaginations to make the content clearer.
...
Introduction literature Old English period (700-1066) Middle English period
The Anglo-Saxon period: a large part of Britain was
occupied by the Romans. During the 5th century:
Romans withdrew their armies; to defend the centre of
the Roman Empire against the Goths / other Germanic
tribes. The celtic population was helpless; invasion by
the Angles and Saxons drove the Celts back into the
remote corners of the British Isles.
Language: purely Germanic, with extensive systems of
case endings and conjugated verb forms.
- Absorbed Scandinavian elements (due to the settlement of the Vikings)
Literature: anonymous, transmitted by word of mouth.
- Alliteration makes sentences easier to remember / easier to perform a long poem.
Beowulf:
Oldest, anonymous
It’s about a Germanic warrior Beowulf, the story is set in Denmark and South Sweden (=
close to the area where the Angles and Saxons came from).
- Pagan story (ongelovige); they don’t have the same ideals than their ancestors,
because of that there were only a few Christian elements.
- Modern translations; by the Irish poet Seamus Heany.
- Prose: Latin works were translated and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was written;
manuscripts that described historical events like the settlement of the Anglo Saxon
and their settlement on the British Isle.
- Summary: Beowulf is the story, in epic poem form, of a great Geat warrior who came
to the aid of the Danish King Hrothgar in defeating a monster that was terrorizing his
people. The monster, Grendel (has invaded his mead hall; gathering place of the
Danes- Gendal prevents anybody from entering it for 12 years), was a huge, terrifying
creature that would enter the town and tear apart its people. Beowulf takes Grendel's
arm off, his mother comes to the mead hall to avenge her son’s death, she doesn't
have the strength to fight like her son. Beowulf finds her lair and beheads her, he also
takes Grendel’s head.
50 years later: Beowulf =king of the Danes, a dragon terrorizes people. Wiglaf helps
to kill the dragon that has mortally wounded Beowulf, Beowulf makes Wiglaf the king.
(problem - problem solved - new problem)
,Middle English period 1000-1500
England was invaded by William the Conqueror, from Normandy. He established a French
speaking nobility in England; French was seen as the language of the ruling classes and the
law courts.
Poetry: rhyme instead of alliteration, romances (most dealt with King Arthur and his knights
of round table). Most famous one is: Sir gawain and the green knights.
- Most important: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chauncer.
It’s a party of Pilgrims who want to visit the grave of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury,
they tell each other stories to pass the time.
- The prologue: introduction to stories (the pilgrims are in detail described).
- Ballads: poems not written down at the time.
Drama: became more important. The church is less involved, there is still a bit of religious
matter. Miracle plays/ mystery plays were performed by members of the guilds on wagons in
streets.
- Everyman (Elckerlijk); a successful man who is visited by Death, who warns him to
prepare for his last journey.
- Interludes: were short, amusing plays = it’s like modern comedy.
Prose: 1e printed book = Morte d'Arthur. It was a prose collection of all the stories he had
collected about king Arthur and his knights of the round table. (This makes us think that we
know what the people were like.)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
It’s a long poem about Gawain (one of Arthur’s trusty knights). Focuses on the journey or
quest of a single night (here Sir Gawain), and about what he learns about himself and his
culture in the process of pursuing a great adventure.
- Dialect Middle English = North West Midland (Loan words from Welsh + holdovers
from Anglo-Saxons). The language was spoken in England before English mixed with
French.
Summaries of three Tales and the pictures painted in the prologue of the narrating
characters:
The knights Tale
Two knights; Arcite and Palamon. Arcite prays to mars and
Palamon prays to venus. They are both imprisoned in Athens,
they instantly fall in love with Emelye (she prays to Diana).
When they both leave prison, they fight over Emelye, Theseus
sets rules for a duel, each raising an army for a battle a year
from that date. All 3 gods hear their prayers and Saturn decides
to mediate. Arcite = victorious, but gets killed. Palamon
deserves to marry Emelye.
A Knight: is often in place of honour, strong, brave, very wise,
simple cloth.
, The millers Tale
It’s about Nicholas, a student that lives with John the Carpenter and his
much younger wife named Allison. Absolon also falls in love with Allison.
Nicholas contrives to sleep with Allison by telling John that a flood equal to
Noah’s flood will come soon, by staying in separate kneading tubs placed on
the roof of houses. They get interupted by Absolon, singing to Allison. She
did a trick, by promising a kiss, he got humiliated and he got a hot iron.
Nicholas tried the same, but he burned his backside, he shouted for water,
awakening John thinking the flood had come, he cut the rope and came
crashing through the floor of his house, landing in the cellar.
Miller: strong fellow; big of bone. His beard was red.
The wife of Bath
She recounts each of her 5 husbands. The first 3 were old men whom she
would hector into providing her, using huilt and refusal of sexual favors.
The final 2 were younger men, they were more difficult to handle (1 made
her deaf because of guilt he was submissive).
- Marriage dynamic; as punishment for raping young women, he is
sentenced to death. He is spared by the queen. She asked him
‘what do women want?’, he couldn’t give her a proper answer. The
old crone promises to give him the answer if he marries her. She
tells him that he can have an old submissive wife or young,
beautiful and a dominant one.
The Renaissance 1500-1660: ‘rebirth’ and renewed interest in cultures of the ancient
Greece and Rome; open minded, casting of prejudices of medieval Christianity.
- Renaissance art; had peoples name attached to it
Humanists; Erasmus and Thomas More
Fundamental changes in the way man looked upon himself and upon his place in the
world
Medieval and Renaissance ideas were compared
Reformation/ rise anti-protestantism / beginning capitalism; emphasis on individual
relationships between man and god
Collective became individual (growing self awareness and self-consciousness)
Memento mori (life on earth is a preparation for death- remember that you’ll die)
became Carpe diem ( seize the day- life is short, enjoy it)
- Theocentric (god-centred) became Anthropocentric (man-centred)
- Dogmatic belief (religious explanations) became critical investigations; there was a
desire for intellectual independence.
Printing press
Led to conflicts with the church, because conclusions were based on experiments.
Love poetry: Beowulf: picture of a man’s world. Highest values were linked with war, death
and glory. Middle English; Lady appears at the centre of poetry.
- Fundamental inequality between the two, a lot was taken over from Italian poets
(women were adored in an almost religious way).
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