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Summary English literature havo 5
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This summary consists of the beginning of the country of England to the present day.
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SE ENGELSENGLISH LITERATURE
The Old English Period c.500-1066
HISTORY
→ In the fifth century after christ appeared the angles/saxons/jutes (germanic
tribes). They had left their homes on the contiment to find a new place to life and
met the original inhabitants of Britain the celts. Britain had been a province of the
Romans for 400 years. The celts had been dependent on the roman armies for
their protection. Without the romas armie the celts were unable to prevent the
newcomers from settling in Britain permanently.
→ The new settlers gradually drove the celts westwards until they had occupied
the larger part of what is now England. These germanic invaders are the founders
of the English nation and their language forms the basis of English as it is spoken
today.
→ Towards the end of the eighth century the vikings started invading. In the
beginning they only raided coastal areas. They robbed people and buildings and
then left again. Later on they started settling as well and by the end of the ninth
century large areas were controlled by the vikings. They had occupied a
considerable part of England which they called Danelaw this fell under
Scandinavian law. An Englishman Edward the Confessor became the new king of
England.
LITERATURE BEOWULF
→ The Germanic tribes brought along their own culture. The poems of this period
are epic poems, long narrative poems that are usually about a hero’s fabulous
adventures and heroic deeds.
→ The poems were passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation
and they were sung in the halls of kings. Those poetry was mostly in alliterative
lines without rhyme. In alliterative verse 2 or more words within the same line
begin with the same letter. This made it a little easier to remember the lines of the
poem. At a later stage some of these poems were written down by monks.
→ The most important is the epic poem of beowulf. It tells the story of the young
Swedish prince Beowulf who is determined to kill a monster (Grendel) that
ravages the kingdom of the Danish king hrothgar.
, The Middle English Period 1066-1500
HISTORY
→ Edward the Confessor died in 1066. Harold Godwinson and Duke William of
Normandy both claimed the throne. When Harold was crowned William took
prompt action. He crossed the Channel with his troops and invaded England
where he defeated Harold’s army in the famous ‘’Battle of Hastings’’.
→ Life changed dramatically for the people in England under William’s rule. The
most important positions were now hold by Normans. Because of that, French
became the official language in the higher circles of society, although common
people continued to use English. For several centuries French and English existed
side-by-side, but by the fourteenth century English had become the national
language again. But it had changed enormously by then, because it had taken
over many thousands of French words.
LITERATURE GEOFFREY CHAUCER
→ The influence of French culture is reflected in the whole character of middle
english literature. The courtly love tradition gave women a prominent place in the
works of the middle English period. The most popular genres were ballads and
romances.
→ The most important poet is Geoffrey Chaucer whose most important work, the
Canterbury tales is a link-and-frame story. This means that there is a number of
tales (the links) set within the context (the frame) of another story. The framework
for the Canterbury tales is provided by the journey of the pilgrims to Canterbury
and the storytelling contest they agree to hold. The links in this work are the
different stories the pilgrims tell each other.
→ In the Canterbury tales Chaucer introduces 29 pilgrims who have come
together at an inn in London. They are preparing to go on a pilgrimage to the
grave of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury. They agree to hold a story
telling contest on their way to Canterbury and the winner will be treated to a free
dinner.
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