Medieval English Literature Past Paper PDF

Arquetipos-Literarios-Medievales... user_4617954 Arquetipos Literarios Medievales Ingleses 2º Grado en Estudios Ingleses Facultad de Humanidades Universidad de La Laguna Reservados todos los derechos. No se permit...

Arquetipos-Literarios-Medievales... user_4617954 Arquetipos Literarios Medievales Ingleses 2º Grado en Estudios Ingleses Facultad de Humanidades Universidad de La Laguna Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 Beowulf ○ Genre: Anglo-Saxon epic; unknown date of composition - Written in Old English - Metrically, stylistically and thematically part of the Germanic heroic tradition; no end rhyme - Christian influence– e.g. inclusion of the creation of the world and human race according to the Genesis, characters as unknowing of God’s existence and glory; conflict between the poet’s Chrstian values and the un-Christian behavior of his characters ○ Unknown author, part of a poetic codex –731– ○ Narrator: Christian voice ○ Setting: late 5th/early 6th century in pagan Scandinavia - No mentions of Beowulf in any other Anglo-Saxon manuscripts ○ Characters: Beowulf: ideal hero traits, moral example; prince of the Geats ○ Born as a hero, doesn’t have to prove that he is one ○ Bravery and strong desire to demonstrate it (Fame)→ “Beowulf’s feat was much spoken of, [...]no other man beneath the sky’s shifting excelled [him]” ○ Dies while battling a dragon ○ Altruistic character as a Christian value→ fights enemies of the community and of civilization itself Grendel: monstrous creature ○ “kindred of Cain”→ Cain’s offspring punished for his sin; representation of all malignant and hateful thoughts ○ Not sympathized with during the poem, but his feelings as an outcast are shown King Hrothgar: relatively static character→ force of stability in the social realm ○ Ruler of the Danes; accepts Beowulf’s help ○ “granted glory in battle, master of the field”→ obeyed because of his glory ○ Aids Beowulf towards maturity Dragon: symbol of discord, guardian of treasures (greed) ○ Vanity of humans and mutability of time ○ Concept of comitatus (Germanic): honor, loyalty, endurance and obedience to leaders Loyalty to the tribe and vengeance to enemies Glorification of past heroes, warriors and ancestors ○ Structure: anticipation of future events–recollection of past events–repetition Relation beginning-end: funerals→ elegy ○ Summary: [First part:] Denmark. King Hrothgar hosts celebrations in his great halls (named Heorot), angering Grendel –an evil monster who lives in a nearby swamp– with the joyous noise; this (and his marginalization by humans) prompts him to terrorize the king for 12 years (“Grendel became ruler”), devouring his people at night and spreading chaos. Young Beowulf hears of the situation and travels from Sweden to help Hrothgar, who welcomes the daring hero with a feast –during which some try to mock him–. At night, Grendel arrives 18 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 once more and Beowulf wrestles with him, refusing to use a weapon against him (honor: Grendel didn’t bear a weapon or armor either –though this was because his flesh could not be cut by any blade–). The battle ends with Bewoulf tearing apart one of the monster’s arms, mortally wounding him. Grendel dies back at the swamp and Beowulf shows his arm as a trophy to Hrothgar and his people. Amidst the celebration of Beowulf’s victory, Grendel’s mother arrives that night to avenge Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. her son, killing one of the King’s men. Beowulf goes after her and fights her at her mere (lake), eventually killing her and taking her son’s head as the trophy (therefore valuing fame over fleeting terrenal riches present in the cave) this time. The Danes rejoice once more and Beowulf returns home with more glory and rewards for his deed. [Second part:] King Hygelac of the Geats dies in battle (of historical record) and his son dies too, making Beowulf king. He rules peacefully for 50 years until an enraged dragon starts ravaging his land after a man steals from his lair. Despite knowing that he will likely die, Beowulf decides to fight the dragon. Unlike the fights from his youth, this one proves to be long and terrible, with all his warriors deserting him besides his young kinsman Wiglaf, who aids him. They ultimately kill the dragon, but Beowulf is mortally wounded; he names Wiglaf as his successor. Beowulf is cremated, and his people mourn him and fear for their land’s security in the face of invasions now that he’s gone. ○ Sacrificial death as befitting of a hero rather than tragic→ Wyrd (fate) Literary figures: ○ Kennings: “brother of the wind”→ fire, “wolf’s beer”→ blood, “sail” as “boat” ○ Variations: different expressions to refer to the same thing (sometimes metaphorical) ○ Twisting of familial relationships (e.g. “the son of the daughter of…”) ○ Personifications ○ Archetype: Germanic Hero Widsith ○ Genre: Anglo-Saxon narrative epic; unknown date of composition - Written in Old English; no end rhyme ○ Unknown author, part of a poetic codex –late 10th century– ○ Form: alliterative verses, verse-like structure inherited from oral tradition - Lots of descriptive details; lyrical tone: poet’s subjective descriptions and reflections ○ Narrator: 3rd person in the opening and conclusion, 1st person in the rest of the composition (→ more intimate and distinctive) ○ Setting: 4th–6th centuries through a vast geographical area (Europe and part of the Middle East); exaggeration of events ○ Historical context: written during a time of settlement of Anglo-Saxons in Britain (5th–11th centuries); territory divided into different kingdoms, conflict with the vikings ○ Purposes: Record names of rules of different tribes and their genealogies ○ Thulas: enumeration of names; present in the Bible when stating familiar bonds (e.g. “son of”, “grandson of”) 19 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! Arquetipos Literarios Mediev... Banco de apuntes de la a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Historical personalities: royal figures and Germanic elements Some of the people mentioned are also in Beowulf (e.g. Hrothgar) Obtaining fortune and recognition: the poet shows off his knowledge about what he experienced on his adventures ○ Widsith: scop that narrates his experiences Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. Remarkable memory: recalls many characters from different periods and times Immortalizes reputation and fame through his compositions of historical record Believes the best kings are the most loved by their subjects Could have been a noble figure: it was common practice for kings to be poets too Travels as a way to obtain more knowledge and stories to tell: “the [poet]’s [wyrd] is to be a wanderer” ○ Summary: Idealized self-portrait of a scop and the Germanic personalities and heroes he met throughout his numerous travels, in which he entertained many people as a poet. Three thulas containing names of people the poet has supposedly come across: 1) List of renown kings 2) Names of people visited 3) List of heroes and of myth Ends by noting how he always comes across people willing to pay to become timeless through the fame he may bring them in his poems. Literary figures: ○ Alliteration –as a way to remember the list of names– ○ Kennings: “lovely stone”, “word-hoard”, “peace-weaver” ○ Heiti: “shilling”→ harp, “shafts”→ arrows ○ Variations: “Ealhild / Edwin’s daughter”, “Eormenric / Goth King” ○ Parallelisms in the verses within the thulas ○ Archetype: the Journey, the Scop The Wanderer ○ Genre: elegy; unknown composition date - Written in Old English; no end rhyme - One of the first religious poems in English Not an epic poem because there is no glorification of action of death ○ Unknown author, part of a poetic codex –10th century– ○ Form: alliterative verses ○ Narrator: 3rd person (omniscient) ○ Historical context: uncertain life during the settling of Jutes, Saxons and Angles in Britain - Idea of God’s mercy and compassion as a Christian solution for the hopeless situation of pagan Anglo-Saxons ○ Themes: Loss of identity and purpose 20 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 Religious and existential contemplation Pain and sorrow Impermanence of human existence ○ The Wanderer: Complains every time he wakes up and realizes everything is still the same and he is still alone Aims to teach people to keep to themselves their complaints and thoughts: “men eager for honor bury their sorrow deep in the breast”→ the Wanderer’s monologue is never spoken out loud but imagined ○ Summary: [First part:] The wanderer laments the loss of his companions and the fleeting character of life; he feels alone and exiled from existence. He is wandering, searching for a new lord to give new meaning to his life and escape his loneliness; his only relief from his situation are his dreams, in which he relives his best memories of when he had company. [Second part:] Ends with a brief reflection on how nothing lasts forever besides heaven and God, with the Wanderer seemingly having matured since the beginning of the poem. ○ Pathos (emotional depth and impact) intensified by means of: Vivid and evocative language for the description of experiences and settings (e.g. description of desolate landscapes→ melancholy) Powerful imagery (e.g. “lonely sea”)→ sense of loss, isolation and despair Personal reflections→ sense of intimacy Contrast of current circumstances and his memories of better times ○ Storm as a symbol of of the end of civilization and humanity as known ○ Biblical and religious references: Exile and alienation: e.g. Israelites’ exile in Babylon ○ Appreciation of Anglo-Saxon fear of being left alone Impermanence of earthly glory and biblical preference for spiritual treasures Divine Providence: God’s sovereignty and role in determining the course of human lives Uncertainty of the afterlife and need for salvation and preparation for eternity Yearning for heavenly home: ○ Ubi sunt, “Where are they”: early Christian topic that meditates on what was before, mortality and life’s transience; present in the final part of the poem, when the Wanderer thinks of the people that once populated the ruined city he encounters Literary figures: ○ Enjambements ○ Alliteration & assonance→ musical quality ○ Caesuras ○ Archetype: the Journey 21 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The House of Fame ○ Genre: dream vision allegory - Written in Middle English ○ Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, 1374–1385 –one of his earliest works, part of his Italian period (influence of Dante)– Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. ○ Form: three books, more than 2000 lines, octosyllabic couplets with end rhyme; unfinished ○ Narrator: 1st person→ own dream and experiences; distinction Geoffrey the narrator–Geoffrey Chaucer: the narrator is the protagonist but it is not necessarily autobiographical ○ Setting: dream/fantasy world→ fragment of the narrator’s imagination ○ Characters: Geoffrey: dreamer/poet ○ Not a classical hero: fears and lacks interest in learning new facts Venus: contrast of her serene palace and the hectic House of Fame Golden eagle: symbol of divinity (Zeus/Jupiter) ○ Summary: [First book:] The narrator asks the god of sleep to give humans only good dreams. He dreams of a temple of glass dedicated to Venus and a large golden eagle descends towards him. Retelling of Virgil’s Aeneid through the eyes of those left behind; main points: - Aeneas: son of Venus; portrayed as a traitor: arbitrariness of fame - Destruction of Troy & escape from the burning city to Italy - Love affair between Aeneas and Queen Dido and his false promises - Suicide of Dido - Aeneas trip to the underworld with Sybil Chaucer’s sermon about how women should not be moved by men’s looks and false promises if they don’t know his true character ○ Aeneas condemned by his falsity ○ Dido condemned by her illicit and extra-marital affair (“foolish lust”) ○ Exemplified again by Ariaadne and Theseus story, where he abandoned her after she saved him from being killed by the minotaur Fame as unfair and whimsical, not related to heroism - Question on fame’s deserving - “O wicked Fame! There cannot be / A thing that moves as swiftly as she! / Yes, all is known and nothing missed, / Though it be covered with a mist” [Second book:] The eagle grabs Geoffrey and takes him to the House of Fame, a place dedicated to the most important stories and people, located in the middle of the earth, sea and heavens; he takes him there as a compensation for being a good poet, giving him more stories to tell from Fame’s collection (as she records everything that happens in any of the three places mentioned) “Is Jove about to stellify / My soul?”: reference to the transformation of heroes into constellations Aristotelic explanation of how nature works (ratiocination) by the eagle: ○ Creation of waves in the air (similar to water): symbol of how everything is reflected/recorded in the House of Fame 22 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Fame as essentially nothing ○ Fame presented as non-objective, named in the poem only as a way to remember it; it has nothing to do with merits or anything rational [Third book, incomplete:] Begins with a prayer/invocation to Apollo, followed by a description of the House of Fame and its surroundings, covered in names of famous people. Geoffrey appreciates the beauty of the House as unexplainable, and recalls the Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. presence of famous personalities and musicians. He gets told about the House of Rumors. Famous names almost erased by time: Fame as ephemeral; others, more readable, as those with a more long-lasting fame “‘[...] have you ventured here for fame?’ / ‘No, truly[...] / It will suffice me when I am dead / That no one falsely quotes my name’” House of Rumors full of both lies and truths, constantly appearing and disappearing Third book as descriptive→ tries to answer the expectations created in the first book ○ Poetic search for truth and sarcastic attitude towards tradition, literature, authority and authorship ○ Exploration of the capacity of the mind and the limits of imagination Literary figures: ○ Allusions to biblical (Christ, Holy Mary, Saint James…) and Greek/Roman (Venus, Vulcan, Cupid, Jupiter…) characters ○ Imagery ○ Enumeration ○ Personification ○ Archetype: the Poet Sir Orfeo ○ Genre: breton lai/medieval romance - Written in Middle English; rhymes between lines - Breton lay: romance, magic and adventure, connection to Brittany ○ Unknown author, written in late 13th century/early 14th century ○ Form: narrative poem, short lines ○ Narrator: 3rd person omniscient narrator, dialogues ○ Setting: Fairyland– beautiful on the outside, lingering with death on the inside (underworld-like) ○ Historical context: rooted in the foundation of Breton→ engagement of Great Britain’s people - Variation of Ovid’s myth of Orpheus + Celtic view of folklore ○ Characters: Orfeo (Orpheus): “king of might in England” ○ Said to be a descendant of Pluto and Juno ○ Harp as weapon (or more like a instrument of peace) and symbol of his capacity for human emotion and sorrow 23 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Musician as a creator→ almost god-like figure ○ Link between death’s realm and upper world (music as a synthesizer) Heurodis (Eurydice): beautiful at first, weak appearance after falling ill ○ Kidnapping as a metaphor for her death (→ end of her life in earth) Fairy King (Hades): of bright appearance amidst his court of dead; true to his word ○ Summary: The narrator first explains what a Breton lay is and that “Sir Orfeo” is one. He then describes king Orfeo and his wife, who suddenly falls ill after being visited by the king of the Fairyland, who tells her she is to go with her the next day. Orfeo tries to stop this from happening, but his wife is kidnapped and he leaves his duties to his steward out of grief and lives as a forager in the woods for ten years. Orfeo eventually comes across his wife and decides to go after her, arriving to the Fairy King’s palace –which seemed bright on the outside, but was full of dead-like people inside– and plays his harp for him. Enchanted by his tunes, he offers him whatever he wants, and Orfeo asks for his wife. The king refuses at first, but ultimately can’t deny his request and the king of Winchester and his wife leave Fairyland to go back home. Orfeo isn’t recognized when he arrives at his kingdom, but uses this predicament to test his steward’s loyalty and then announces his return, both Heurodis and him living happily ever after. ○ Themes: art, love, unwavering loyalty, devotion, knightly duty, magic - Constant testing of love through supernatural challenges ○ Symbols: - Failed hunt by the fairy hunters→ inferiority to Sir Orfeo - Music→ order and harmony - Spring→ beauty and growth - Heurodis’ illness→ chaos and volatility ○ Orfeus not being recognized by his subjects after his return as a simile to the classical motif found in The Odyssey and others ○ Similarity with Christ: Christ brings believers back from hell and Orfeo brings back his wife ○ Differences with Ovid’s myth of Orpheus: Orfeo has a momentary lapse in courage and commitment during the search for his wife, although he ultimately reunites with her Heurodis being kidnapped v.s. Eurydice dying Fairyland as a place where people well before dying, not where they are already dead like in the Classical underworld Happy ending (heroic tale, triumph is essential) v.s. classical legend’s tragedy, where Orpheus hope is overshadowed by godly intervention and inevitable death Literary figures: ○ Alliterations ○ Similes and metaphors ○ Archetype: The Poet 24 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Dream of the Rood ○ Genre: religious epic, elegy - Written in Old English; earliest dream poem Not a dream allegory: the cross stands for itself, not a higher abstract concept Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. ○ Unknown author, unknown year of composition (likely around 8th century), part of a poetic codex –10th century– ○ Form: alliterative verses - Christian perspective of time as non-circular ○ Narrator: 1st person, recounts a dream ○ Historical context: epic about Christ as a way to appeal warriors who had just converted to Christianity ○ Themes: courage, heroism and Christian religion + pagan attitudes (comitatus) ○ Prosopopeia: the narrator speaks as if he were another object (the cross) ○ Summary: The narrator has a dream in which the Rood –the cross, simultaneously appearing as both adorned with jewels and wet with Christ’s blood– speaks to him about how Christ climbed on it to repent for humanity’s sins and was buried in his sepulcher once dead. It also tells him about how Christ will return on the Day of Doom to free all righteous souls –referencing the Harrowing of Hell–, and how they should not fear it. The narrator ends the poem by praising Jesus as a warrior (“In that great deed / God’s Son was triumphant, / possessing power and strength!”) and hopes for eternal life. ○ Christ presented as warrior-like: he climbs unto the cross himself, freely and bravely to defeat sin→ comparison to Odin’s sacrifice on the Tree of Life ○ Does not follow the Bible strictly: the sepulcher is built instead of preexistent ○ Crucifixion as penitency→ suffering for one’s beliefs; Christ’s sacrifice as an opportunity for his believers ○ Parallel of the Rood and Christ: both are pierced by nails, ridiculed, and later resurrected and adorned ○ Cross as an instrument of torture, then transformed into a symbol of redemption - The Rood as a teacher to the dreamer Literary figures: ○ Alliteration ○ Metaphors, similes, synonyms, kennings ○ Antithesis, paradox ○ Archetype: the Hero 25 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Battle of Maldon ○ Genre: Anglo-Saxon epic poem - Written in Old English; no rhyme ○ Unknown author, written between 991 (date of the battle) and the 11th century ○ Form: alliterative verses; incomplete (lost beginning and ending) Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. - Detailed descriptions of the battle, dialogues and speeches –insights of the characters’ minds– - Linear narrative ○ Narrator: 3rd person, retells as a witness (though not direct but as a storyteller) ○ Setting: town of Maldon (in nowadays Essex) ○ Historical context: the English paid money to the Danish Vikings for protection and stability until the attack of the Danish and the happening of this battle, which signaled the renewal of raids and attacks until the eventual Norman Conquest of England in 1066 ○ Summary: The East Saxon await while the Vikings approach the battlefield. Byrhtnoth, their leader, rejects the Viking’s offer to pay them in order to avoid bloodshed (“Sooner shall point and edge reconcile us, / Grim warplay indeed - before we give tribute”), and so the battle begins. Though mighty, the earl is overpowered and eventually slain, asking God for salvation before dying (“I thank thee, Lord of all peoples / For all those joys that I on earth have known. / Now[...] I have most need / That thou my ghost should grant good”). A few of his men flee the battle (naming Godric as the first one), some in fear for their lives, others believing it was the earl who was leaving. The ones left condemn the cowards and prompt their men to fight to death in order to avenge their dear lord, and beg God to give them victory in their revenge. The text is unfinished, but the Saxons end up losing the battle (though the Vikings were not unscathed). ○ Byrhtnoth as overly confident, behaving as an Anglo-Saxon epic hero: faces death fearless and prompts his men to die gloriously by his side while battling (comitatus) - He designs the outcome of the battle as being in God’s hands, not assuming their own victory→ heroic values over individualism ○ Patriots v.s. pagan enemy - Byrhtnoth, loyal and virtuous Englishmen; would rather die than give in to the heathens’ extortion; death in battle seen as heroic - Vikings– villainous, destructive ○ Naming of the Saxon soldiers v.s. anonymity of Vikings (+ pejorative descriptions) ○ Birds as omens: ravens as symbols of impending doom Literary figures: ○ Kennings (“battle-flame”→ sword, “whale-road”→ sea) and heitis ○ Caesuras ○ Archetype: the Hero 26 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ○ Genre: romance - Written in Middle English; no rhyme until the last part ○ Unknown author, late 14th century ○ Form: long alliterative verses (Alliterative Revival) ○ Narrator: 1st person, talks about what he’s heard ○ Setting: Camelot in Christmas, Green Chapel ○ Historical context: - New type of nobility: need to defend their position→ search for honor - Arthurian tradition (Matter of Britain) ○ Summary: During the New Year’s feast, the Green Knight appears in King Arthur’s court and asks to engage in a one-blow for one-blow game with the best of his knights, having heard of their renown as the bravest. Before Arthur himself can accept the deal, Sir Gawain takes his place, believing himself to be less mourned if he resulted dead out of it; he then cuts the Green Knight’s head off, and he agrees to give him a blow in return in a year’s time in the Green Chapel. Nearing the agreed day, Sir Gawain sets off to look for the Chapel and decides to stay in a castle for three days after its chamberlain had told him he’d find the Chapel afterwards. During those three days, the chamberlain’s wife tempts Gawain to lay with her, but he courtly refuses by engaging in conversation with her instead. On the last day, she gives her a magic girdle –which protects the wearer from harm– as a reward for not giving in to temptation and preserving both their honor. Gawain eventually arrives at the Green Chapel and meets the Knight, who acknowledges Gawain’s honor in keeping his oath. Thanks to the girdle, the monstrous ax only scrapes Arthur’s knight’s neck, keeping him alive after all, and the Green Knight reveals himself to be the chamberlain that, having his Lady (Morgan the Fay) tested him through his wife, allowed him to live. Gawain feels ashamed about having used such tactics out of fear for his life, but the Green Knight assures him that he holds no grudge against him for it nor considers it dishonest, valuing his stance over that of (as one of the multiple examples given) Adam when it came to Eve and virtue. Gawain then returns to his King with the girdle as a symbol of his fleeting moment of “cowardice and covetousness[...] For man can conceal his sin but not dissever from it”. ○ King Arthur as a loyal ruler, strong and charming ○ Sir Gawain as a courtly hero: defends honor, not life; searches for adventures but does not want to die ○ Romantic monster: can be dangerous, but is mostly just fantastical - The Green Knight as a personification of nature ○ Exemplary value: how to recognize temptation and choose the right moral course Literary figures: ○ Allusion (Arthurian: Camelot, the Round Table, Sir Gawain) ○ Archetype: The (Green World) Hero 27 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale ○ Written in Middle English; end rhyming in couplets ○ Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, between 1387 and 1400; part of The Canterbury Tales ○ Form: ○ Historical context: Church corruption for money Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. - Pardoner: person that sold reliques to liberate people from sin PROLOGUE ○ Genre: autobiography-confessional ○ Narrator: 1st person, hypocritical Pardoner ○ Radix malorum est cupiditas→ “greed is the root of all evil” ○ “I preach against the very vice / I make my living out of – avarice”→ Pardoner not practicing what he preaches; he preaches only to gain money (“I preach for nothing but greed of gain[...] not at all for the correction of sin”) - Sells false relics for all kinds of problems - Pardoner as a representative of the Church→ criticism of its practices ○ Archetypes: the Trickster ○ Connection to other texts: - Trickery→ “The Fox and the Wolf in the Well”, “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” TALE ○ Genre: allegory/exemplum ○ Setting: Flanders, medieval England ○ Narrator: 3rd person, 1st person at the end ○ Sinful behavior leading to death: condemnation of gluttony, drunkenness, gambling, murder, adultery, swearing and perjury ○ Summary: Three young friends find a pile of treasure while drunkenly looking for someone who has been killing people (“Death”), who they swore to kill. Once they find the treasures, they begin plotting how to get more than their share in thirds, and two of them plan to stab to death the other, while that one decides to poison them to get all the money. They stab him, but also end up poisoning themselves to death with the poisoned bottles he had brought. In the end, out of greed, no one gets any reward. ○ Old man that pointed them to the treasures as a symbol of old age, mortality and death (as he directed them towards it) ○ Gold as a symbol of greed Literary figures: ○ Alliterations, apostrophes ○ Metaphor ○ Hyperbole ○ Personification ○ Archetypes: the Trickster, the Journey (irony, journey to their demise) 28 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and tale ○ Written in Middle English; end rhyming in couplets ○ Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, between 1387 and 1400; part of The Canterbury Tales ○ Historical context: women’s voice muted by men, comparison of women to animals Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. (inferiority to men) PROLOGUE ○ Genre: autobiography-confessional ○ Narrator: 1st person, narrates from experience ○ Social commentary on the situation of women at the time: imbalance of power within a male-dominated society ○ Alice/Alison, the Wife of Bath: unique and powerful character with her own voice Has had five husbands→ knowledgeable about marriage “Venus sent me feelings from the stars / And my heart’s boldness came to me from Mars” “I hate a man who points me out my vice” Candid and honest narrator, proud of herself and her sexuality Flips animal comparison to women in a positive way: Alice as a lioness, proud and strong ○ Compares men to animals (e.g. sheep) in a denigrating sense ○ Key ideas: “Marriage is a misery and a woe”: men believe themselves to own their wives as if they were property “Advice is no commandment in my view”: celibacy and virginity as options, not forced ○ “And certainly if seed were never sown, / How could ever virginity be grown?”→ if all were chaste, there would be no people left and thus no generation of virgins ○ “God calls His fold to Him in many ways” ○ Celebration of sexuality as a way to put to use what God gave her Judgment of women no matter how they look or what they do “Go where you please[...] Amuse yourself”, “Do as you please for the rest of life, / But guard your honour and my good state”: women’s desire to have freedom of action “You say that just as worms destroy a tree / A wife destroys her husband and contrives, / As husband know, the ruin of their lives” ○ Alice’s fifth husband constantly reading about women bringing misery to their husbands→ torture for her→ reacted angrily→ was left deaf through her husband’s beating→ “I never again will it / You, love; and if I did, you asked for it” “If women had but written stories [...] More had been written of man’s wickedness” Contrast of men (Mercury– wisdom, science) and women (Venus– waste and defiance, lust); “And women therefore never can be praised / By learned men, old scribes who cannot do / he works of Venus” 29 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ INTERLUDE: mocking of Alice for talking too much (reinforced idea of the hierarchy of men over woman at the time) Literary figures: ○ Allusions (Venus, Mars, Mercury, God) ○ Archetype: women TALE ○ Genre: Arthurian romance/ Breton lai ○ Narrator: 3rd person, Alice retells the story ○ Setting: Arthurian reign, fantastical land ○ Summary: Rape of a maiden by one of Arthur’s knights (unnamed)→ condemned to be beheaded→ saved by the Queen in exchange for answering a question within a year and a day: “What is the thing that women most desire?”→ fruitless search until a day before the due date→ encounter with a poor old woman who tells him the answer: “A woman wants the self-same sovereignty / Over her husband as over her lover, / And master him; he must not be above her”→ asks him to marry her in exchange for saving his life→ agrees but rejects her in bed→ the hag gives him the choice to have a faithful, old and poor-looking wife or one that’s pretty but unfaithful→ the Knight leaves the decision up to her→ she rewards him by being both beautiful and faithful ○ Key ideas: Criticism of friars as sexual predators that seduce women and steal their virginity (“There is no other incubus but he, [...] he will do no more than take your virtue”) Women as unable to keep secrets, liking to be “thought wise and void of sin” and have “Freedom to do exactly as we please” ○ Queen as a symbol of power Courtesy extrinsic from noble birth: Knight as vicious and unmannered ○ Poverty as a common trait with God’s chosen way of life, and a source of wisdom ○ Old age as needing to be respected ○ Break of chivalry codes by the Knight when raping the maiden Morality and redemption; magic as symbol of transformation: ○ Old woman→ young woman ○ Knight’s inner transformation uncourtly→ thoughtful ○ Archetype: fairy creatures and magic 30 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Franklin’s Tale ○ Genre: Romance, Breton lai - Written in Middle English; end rhyming in couplets ○ Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, between 1387 and 1400; part of The Canterbury Tales ○ Form: Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. ○ Narrator: 3rd person, apologizes for his lack of coloring - Designates himself as uneducated and inept in rhetoric ○ Setting: Armorica (Brittany, north of France) ○ Characters: Arveragus, the knight: young and noble, would rather be miserable than have his wife lose her honor for breaking a promise ○ Seeks adventure and honor Dorigen, the fair lady: faithful, would rather die than be faithless to her husband or break a promise Aurelius, the squire: though mischievous at first, he would rather be unhappy than let Dorigen be miserable and Arveragus lose his honor The magician: values the honor of all parts and frees Aurelius of his debt ○ Summary: After marrying Dorigen, Arveragus leaves her alone for two years while he seeks out honor in adventure. While grieving his absence, Dorigen is approached by Aurelius, who tells her of his love for her; her, believing it to be impossible to do, tells him that she will marry him if he gets rid of all the boulders of the shore, and the young squire, thinking it impossible too, gets depressed about his failed in love. Aurelius’ brother finds a magician to make his brother’s wish come true, and Dorigen is left with the predicament of dishonoring her word or being unfaithful to her husband. In the face of this choice, she prefers death over any of them, but her husband prompts her to choose honor over their love in order to keep her alive. Aurelius, in the face of the situation he’s caused and the misery he’s causing for both the object of his affection and her honorable husband, withdraws Dorigen from her obligation to the promise. The magician, pending of payment, decides to let Aurelius free from debt out of his showcase of honor in the situation. ○ Love as a free spirit ○ Both women and men longing for liberty by nature; “Lovers must each be ready to obey / The other” - No need to “seek revenge for every slip” but “learn forbearance” - Love needing to be based on freedom, respect and equality ○ Courtly love as a source of both immense happiness and overwhelming misery ○ Rocks as symbol of natural danger and solidity of love Literary figures: ○ Metaphors, similes ○ Personification (love capable of flying and deciding to do so) ○ Allusions (e.g. Greek mythology) ○ Alliterations 31 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Archetypes: fairies and magic, honor and reputation The Fox and the Wolf in the Well ○ Genre: beast-fable Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. - Written in Middle English; end rhyming couplets (French influence) - Sole surviving ME beast fable preceding Chaucer’s Nun’s Priest’s Tale Beast fables as opposed to fabliaux: more dialogues, more human-like animals→ the reader sometimes forgets that the characters aren’t human ○ Unknown author, late 13th century ○ Narrator: 3rd person omniscient narrator, detached from the story (retells it but doesn’t give his opinion) ○ Setting: near a forest; well near a friar’s monastery ○ Historical context: translation of Roman de Renart - More realistic/crude representation of the world –less idealized– - Realism over didacticism ○ Parody of religious confession: the fox makes the wolf confess in front of him, but it is of no use when he’s killed by the friars for being “the devil” - Other religious elements: mentions of God and heaven, and sins like murder, gluttony and adultery ○ Easiest path as not necessarily being the wisest; importance of discerning and skepticism ○ Characters: Reynard the Fox: sly, cunning ○ Needs based on its nature (survival instinct) rather than any human desire→ cleverness as a way to thrive in the wild ○ Fox as a corrupt cleric (and vice versa) Sigrim the Wolf: gullible Greed of both characters: the fox manipulates others out of greed, and the wolf blindly believes his lies out of his own greed to find the heaven he promised and be freed from sin ○ Summary: The Fox, hungry, feeds on some hens and the Cock asks God for his downfall for killing his kin. Now thirsty, the Fox comes across a well and jumps on one of its two buckets to drink some water, but gets stuck down with no way to get out. Then the Wolf hears him weep in the well and asks him why he’s down there. The Fox tricks him into thinking he’s dead and in Heaven, and that if he wants to go to Paradise too, he must jump in the other bucket. Before jumping in, the Wolf confesses all of his sins in order to redeem himself, and then jumps in, prompting the Fox’s bucket to go up and liberate him. The Wolf then gets stuck in the well until the friars get him out and attack him as if he was the Devil incarnate. Literary figures: ○ Personification ○ Allusions (mostly to God) ○ Hyperbole ○ Aphorism 32 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Archetype: the Trickster The Nun’s Priest’s Tale ○ Genre: beast-fable, exemplum - Written in Middle English; end rhyming in couplets ○ Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, between 1387 and 1400; part of The Canterbury Tales ○ Narrator: 3rd person, the priest’s grandiloquence contrasts with the simple setting of the tale ○ Setting: cottage near the woods ○ Historical context: clergy as preaching humility and peace in public but playing dirty and betraying in private (→ criticism) ○ Characters: Chanticleer the Cock: believes dreams should be taken into account ○ Vain but powerful ○ Easily fooled and manipulated: Pertelote manages to dissuade him from taking his dream as a sign, and the Fox convinces him he’s not there to harm him Pertelote the Hen: dismisses dreams as omens, sees them as vain ○ Symbol of women and her advice as dangerous and misleading ○ Sees Chanticleer as a coward for being afraid of a mere dream Russel the Fox: sly, manipulative, cunning ○ Manipulation as a means for survival in the wild ○ Summary: The narrator starts the tale talking about a poor, old widow and her daughters, who had some hens and a cock named Chanticleer. The Cock had the best crowing ever herd, and seven hen-wives, the most beautiful of them called Pertelote. One day, Chanticleer had a dream in which a fox attacked him, and woke up in fear. Pertelote dismissed his dream as being just that, product of his physical state, and he gives her examples in which dreams had “been significations / As well of triumphs as of tribulations”. After giving her multiple examples, he forgets his own advice and goes roaming. While singing, he sees a Fox looking at him, but he tricks him into thinking he’s just there to listen to his crowing, and the Cock believes him, giving the Fox a chance to attack him. While in the chaos of everyone and every animal shouting after the fox, who ran away with Chanticleer in his mouth, the Cock fools him into shouting to boast about his victory, freeing the bird. The trickster tries to fool him again, but this time Chanticleer sees through his farce and curses him. ○ Erroneous translation of Mulier est hominis confusio as “Woman is man’s delight and all his bliss” instead of “woman is the ruin of man” ○ Warning about flattery as misleading ○ “Take the grain and let the chaff be still”: to interpret what we’ve heard/read and decide what lesson to learn from it Literary figures: ○ Allusions (Adam, Paradise, Old Testament…) 33 Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Personification (human-like animals) ○ Metaphors, similes ○ Antithesis (“accident or destiny”) ○ Archetype: the trickster Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. Pearl ○ Genre: dream-allegory/ religious elegy - Written in Middle English; end rhymes ○ Unknown author, written in the 14th century ○ Form: alliterative verses (Alliterative Revival); evocative language ○ Narrator: 1st person, retells a dream ○ Setting: Christian Paradise ○ Themes: loss, redemption, search for meaning in suffering, love, paradise - Christian hope for reunion in afterlife ○ Summary: After losing his daughter (the Pearl), a father falls asleep and is transported to Paradise, where he sees his daughter once more. He laments her death, but she stops him by saying she is doing well in Paradise as one of Christ’s brides. The father visits the Celestial City (which looks just as St. John’s depiction of Holy Jerusalem in the Book of the Apocalypse) and there he sees his daughter and all of God’s other brides alongside him, separated from him by a body of water. When he tries to go to the other side to meet with them, he wakes up. He finishes by telling the reader to be a good servant to God so they can be one of his precious and pure pearls after death. ○ Father’s transformation through the spiritual and theological conversation with his daughter - Inability to remain in Paradise due to being alive ○ The Pearl (symbol of purity) as a metaphor for the lost child - Spiritual guide for the father - Transformed and elevated in the afterlife Literary figures: ○ Metaphors, symbolism (Lamb→ Jesus) ○ Apostrophe ○ Archetypes: Paradise ○ Connection to other texts: views on Paradise→ “The Land of Cockaygne” - “Sir Orfeo”: desire to defy death v.s. The Pearl’s resignation to God’s will in the face of a promise for the afterlife - “The Battle of Maldon”: meaningful death (glory v.s. purity) 34 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 The Land of Cockaygne ○ Genre: satyre→ highly exaggerated and unrealistic vision of a utopia Not a dream-allegory - Written in Middle English; rhyming ends in couplets Reservados todos los derechos. No se permite la explotación económica ni la transformación de esta obra. Queda permitida la impresión en su totalidad. ○ Unknown (Franciscan) author, written in the 14th century in Ireland ○ Form: stanzas with no determined number of lines ○ Narrator: 3rd person omniscient ○ Setting: the Land of Cockaygne, on the side of the world where medieval thought situated the unknown and mythical (west of Spain) ○ Historical context: Franciscan order’s belief in Christ being poor→ belief that all must be poor→ criticism of the luxury and economic power of the Church - Representation of fantasies and needs of a society that lived on the verge of starvation (e.g. “All of pasties are the walls”) ○ Themes: abundance and pleasure ○ Summary: The poet compares Christian Paradise –beautiful but boring, populated only by two men– and the land of Cockaygne, a paradise on Earth. There in the land of plenty, all earthly desires –eating, drinking, copulating, etc.– are satisfied; the poet mocks the religious duties of poverty, chastity and obedience. ○ Parody of oneiric dreams ○ Celebration of bodily requirements over spiritual needs - Mocking of of societal ideals and expectations - Criticism of the Church: the inhabitants of Cockaygne who give in to their desires are monks and nuns - No spiritual concerns in Cockaygne ○ Paradise as impractical and absurd out of perfection ○ Symbolic meaning of flying: freedom and liberation, spiritual ascent Literary figures: ○ Anaphora, alliteration ○ Allusions (Elijah, Enoch, God) ○ Hyperbaton, irony, metaphor ○ Archetype: Paradise The Book of Margery Kempe ○ Genre: hagiographic autobiography (first autobiographical work in English) - Written in Middle English Only non-poetic text out of the bunch ○ Dictated by Margery Kempe (written by a scribe), composed in the 1430s and published in 1501 35 ¿Ganas de que terminen los exámenes? Viaja con Ladrón ¡También podrás ganar un año de producto gratis! a64b0469ff35958ef4ab887a898bd50bdfbbe91a-10676925 ○ Form: prose; tragic, religious tone ○ Narrator: 3rd person→ Kempe refers to herself as “this creature” or “she”→ sense of humility before god ○ Setting: England, Jerusalem, Rome, Spain and Germany ○ Historical context: era of few saints and burning of both women and men for going against the Church; control over women to keep them from talking - Solace found in religion - (About Kempe) of bourgeois family, didn’t receive formal education but learnt how to read from memorizing texts ○ Themes: god and spirituality, sin and forgiveness, obedience ○ Kempe’s travels, alleged divine experiences of revelation and her relationship with God - God as life purpose ○ Representation of women as emotional and physical v.s. men as logical - Women nearer to God, but also irrational and hysterical ○ Summary: Magery starts off as a young middle-class wife in England who, after giving birth to her first son, starts having visions about demons. To be able to defend herself against them, he refuges in her faith through acts of abstention– for example, through celibacy (though she only adopts celibacy after giving birth to her fourteenth child). The failure of her business, on the other hand, prompts her to think that God may want her to retire from the material world. Her most remarkable pilgrimage was the one to Jerusalem, being the longest and most