内容

I. The definition of the Middle Ages

II. The historical background of the late Middle Ages

III. Literature of the late Middle Ages: Chaucer

1. Life of Chaucer

2. Literary career of Chaucer

3. Chaucer's writing features and literary contribution

4. Masterpiece: The Canterbury Tale

Module 1-unit 1 The Late Middle Ages PPT 图片来源

1. 诺曼征服

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2. 圆桌骑士

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3. 乔叟 1

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4. 乔叟 2

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讲义：

I. The Middle Ages

the period between the end of the West Roman Empire in 476 and the beginning of the Renaissance in about 1500, especially the later part of this period.

II. Historical background

During the Middle Ages there happened many important events.

Norman Conquest in 1066. It marked the beginning of the Middle English or Anglo-Norman period. (1066-1400)

The effects of the Conquest on English culture, language and literature:

First, the Norman Conquest brought new organization, new law and new speech to England, which greatly influenced the English culture.

Second, the Conquest shaped Old English in the Middle English period and many French words and Latin words were introduced into Old English. The Middle English gradually formed.

Finally, after The Norman Conquest, the French and Latin culture and literature added some new elements to the Old English literature. And especially in the second half of the 14 th century, the Middle English literature developed and showed its own characteristics of the time, which were well reflected through Chaucer's works.

Besides the Norman Conquest, seven other events of historic importance also deserve attention.

1. The completion of the Domesday Book in 1086, which was a tax-book for the King to estimate his wealth and resources and it also served as a historical record of Anglo-Saxon institutions, customs and way of life.

2. The Launching of the Crusades from 11 th to 13 th centuries. It was a series of wars between Christians and the Muslims.

•  The Signing of the Magna Carter in 1215. It was the basis of English constitutional liberties.

•  The Hundred Years' War from 1337 to 1453. It was a series of armed conflicts between England and France.

•  The Black Death. It struck England from 1348 to 1349 ， reducing the population by as much as a third.

•  The passing of the Statute of Pleading in 1362. It was required that court proceedings be conducted in English.

•  The Peasants' Uprising in 1381. It failed eventually with the death of the leader Wat Tailor.

III ． Literature

Compared with the Anglo-Saxon literature, the literature of the late Middle Ages is much more diversified. Romance is one of them.

Romance is a fictional story in verse or prose which relates impossible adventures of idealized characters in some remote setting.

It usually centers on the life and adventures of a noble hero.

The themes come from three aspects: the matter of France, the matter of Italian and the matter of England.

And the representative works of Romance are ：

Chanson de Roland

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table

Chaucer

•  Life of Chaucer:

He was born into a rich family and received a very good education.

Amazingly, he could speak most of the important languages of the day—French, Latin and Italian.  

His career in the royal service began in 1357, when he was appointed to the household of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster.

He got married to one of the queen's maids, which brought him more royal favor.

In 1360 he was captured in France in the war and was ransomed for 16 pounds. This experience in France had a great influence on his works.

In 1373 he visited Italy and came into contact with Petrarch and Boccaccio. And, thus he got a lot of inspiration from Italian literature.

He died on the 25th of October, 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey—the Poet's Corner.

2. Literary career of Chaucer: (three periods)

His literary career can be divided into three periods.

(1) The first period (1360—1372) is the French influence, and the representative work is The Book of Duchess . （公爵夫人之书）

(2) The second period (1372— 1385) is the Italian influence, and the representative works are:

The House of Fame

Troylus and Criseyde  

The Legend of Good Women

(3) The third period (1386-1400) is the English influence, and the representative work is The Canterbury Tales.

3. His writing features and literary contributions

In terms of his writing features, Chaucer's style is remarkably flexible.

He is excellent in using satire.

His language is vivid and exact.

His prose is easy and informal.

And his poetry is full of vigor and swiftness.

Above all, Chaucer's great contribution to English poetry is that he introduced the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter （五步抑扬格） to English poetry, (which was later called the “heroic couplet( 英雄双行体 ”). It replaced the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse.

Example from The Canterbury Tales

•  When the /sweet showers/ of Ap/ril fall/and shoot

•  Down through/the drought /of March /to pierce /the root

•  In this modern English translation, Chaucer's heroic couplet is used. (i. e. lines of iambic pentameter in rhymed couplets).

Besides introducing heroic couplet into English poetry, Chaucer was the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.

•  Actually, he wrote his poetry in the London dialect.

•  So he did much in making the London dialect the foundation for modern English speech and making English as the literary language of the country.

4. Masterpiece: The Canterbury Tales

Among all his works, The Canterbury Tales is generally considered to be Chaucer's masterpiece.

The Canterbury Tales is a story of thirty pilgrims who travel to Canterbury (England).

The pilgrims come from all walks of life and they tell stories to each other to kill time while they are on the way to Canterbury.

It begins with a general prologue.

And in the prologue it explains the occasion for the narration of the tales and gives a description of the pilgrims who narrate the tales.

120 tales are intended, but only 24 are completed for the death of the author.

5. Social Significance of The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales has a great social Significance

It presents us a true-to-life picture of the society in Chaucer's time.

From the view of the rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer affirms men and opposes the dogma of asceticism ( 修道者 ) preached by the Church.

As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man's energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life.

His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time. He strongly attacks the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, and the corruption of the Church.

An excerpt from The Canterbury Tales. You will notice the difference between Middle English and modern English.

The Canterbury Tales

The General Prologue (excerpt)

First, let's listen to the Middle English Version.

Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,

And bathed every veyne in swich licour

Of which vertu engendred is the flour;

Modern English:

When the sweet showers of April fall and shoot

Down through the drought of March to pierce the root

The veins are bathed in liquor of such power

As brings about the engendering of the flower,

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扩展学习

1. Popular Ballads

Popular ballads are originally dance songs. They are little stories in verse form, and they can be sung or recited by the common people. The origin of the English and Scottish ballads is obscure. Usually they are anonymous, and are handed down orally for many generations. They are simple and crude in story and highly condensed and dramatic in presentation. In the 15th century, there were several kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. Popular ballads were found all over Europe, but a particularly fertile soil was the border area, for once many bloody battles were fought between the English and Scots there.

2. Ballads of Robin Hood

The most cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary outlaw called Robin Hood. In English history, Robin Hood is partly a real and partly a legendary figure. The ballads tells us that he lived during the reign of Richard I. He was the leader of a band of outlaws, and they lived in the deep forest. They often attacked the rich, waged war against the bishops and archbishops, and helped the poor people. Therefore Robin Hood and his followers were constantly haunted by the sheriffs.

3. Mote d' Arthur (Death of Arthur)

Malory's tale begins with the mysterious birth of Arthur and ends with his equally mysterious death. The central concern is with the adventures of Arthur and his famous Knights of the Round Table. The knights fight many battles and win glory, all of which is a credit to the name of King Arthur.

Mote d' Arthur was written in a time of transition. The feudal order was dying. By the time Malory began writing his story, soldiers were fighting with gunpowder, a middle class of tradesmen was arising, and the practices of chivalry were being superseded( 代替 ) by a new aristocratic code. Malory, in a desire to escape the disorder and uneasiness of his day, tried to recapture lost ideals of the romantic past as recounted in his tale of noble kings, adventurous knights, and damsels( 少女 ) in distress.

This book is very important in English literature. Its Arthurian materials have a strong influence on literature of later centuries.