The Anglo-Norman Period, English literature of the late middle ages(mid-11th

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The Anglo-Norman Period, English literature of
the late middle ages(mid-11th ---mid-14th
century)Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
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• I. The Danish invasions
• About 787, the English began to be troubled
  by hands of Danish vikings. King Alfred the
  Great(849-901) succeeded in driving the Danes off
  with force. King Alfred set himself to the task
  of encouraging education and literature. He
  translated some works from Latin himself. More
  important as a literary work is the Anglo-Saxon "
  Chronicle", which begins with Caesar's conquest
  and is a monument of Old English prose.

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• II. The Norman Conquest
• The French-speaking Normans under Duke
  William came in 1066. After defeating the English
  at Hastings, William was crowned as King of
  England. It was called the Norman Conquest.

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III. The Influence of the Norman Conquest on the
English Language

• 1.The structure of the language remained English,
  and the common words were often somewhat modified
  in form.
• 2. Many terms employed by the Normans were
  adopted into the English language.

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Part VI "Piers the Plowman"

• Amid the darkness and barrenness of the Middle
  Ages, there was one work which shows the
  existence of English popular literature. It was
  "Piers the Plowman", a long poem of over 7,000
  lines, written by William Langland (1332-1400).
  It was written in the old alliterative verse.

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• Piers is a peasant, whose simple, honest,
  and straight-forward character.
• Piers the Plowman "is one of the greatest of
  English poems.
• 1.It is written in the form of a dream
  vision, and the author, tells his story under the
  guise of having dreamed it.
• 2.The poem is also an allegory which uses
  symbolism to relate truth.
• 3. It is a realistic picture of medieval
  England. Its artistic merit may be shown by its
  portraits of the Seven Deadly Sins Pride,
  Lechery, Envy, Wrath, Avarice, Sloth, Glutton.

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Part VII Outline of Sir Gawain and the Green
Knight

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight contains four
  fits or sections.
• In the first fit, King Arthur is holding at
  Camelot his Christmas feast of 15 days with all
  his knights of the Round Table.
• The second fit begins with a lengthy description
  of the passing of the four seasons, from spring
  through summer and autumn and back to winter
  again, and Arthur makes a feast to send Gawain
  off on his journey.
• The third fit tells of the three days of Gawains
  sojourn at the castle.
• The fourth fit begins with a description of the
  stormy snow weather on the New Years Day as
  Gawain gets ready to go to the Green Chapel.

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• the two main motifs in the story
• the tests of faith, courage and purity
• the human weakness for self-preservation.
• However, the heroic adventures of sir Gawain and
  King Arthur as related in the poem were sought
  after and carried out rather for adventures sake
  than any truly worthy cause.

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Exercise

• Answer the following Questions.
• 1. What is the influence of the Norman Conquest
  upon English Language and literature?
• 2. What are the essential features of romance in
  the Medieval English literature?
• 3. Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and
  the Green Knight.

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Keys to the questions

• the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English
  Language and literature
• ?. chivalry was introduced into England
• ?. three languages existed in England. The
  Normans spoke French, the lower class spoke
  English, and the scholars and clergymen used
  Latin.
• ?. the literature was varied in interest and
  extensive in range
• ?. the prevailing form of literature is Romance.

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Fill the following blanks

• 1.In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the
  Anglo-Saxons at the battle of __________.
  Hastings
• 2. In the 14th century, the two most important
  writers are ______________ and Langland. Chaucer
• 3.Today Chaucer is acclaimed not only as the
  father of English Poetry but also as the father
  of English fiction. His masterpiece is
  ___________. The Canterbury Tales

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• 4.The fifteenth century has been described as the
  barren age in English literature. But it is the
  spring tide of English ________. ballads
• 5. In the 15th century, there is only one
  important prose writer whose name is _____. He
  wrote an important work called Morte DArthur.
  Thomas Malory
• Choose the best answer for each statement.
• 1. In 1066, _______ led the Norman army to invade
  and defeat England.
• a. William the Conqueror b. Julius Caesar
• c. Alfred the Great d. Claudius

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• 2.In the 14th century, the most important writer
  is _______.
• a. Langland b. Wyclif
• c. Gower d. Chaucer
• 3.The prevailing form of Medieval English
  literature is the ________.
• a. French b. Latin
• c. romance d. science
• 4.The story of ____________ is the culmination
  of the Arthurian romances.
• a. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• b. The story of Beowulf
• c. Piers the plowman
• d. The Canterbury Tales

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• 5.William Langlands __________ is written in
  the form of a dream vision.
• a. Kubla Khan b. Piers
  the Plowman
• c. The Dream of John Bull d. Morte
  DArthur

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Find the relevant match.

• 1. William Langland c a. Morte DArthur
• 2. Geoffrey Chaucer b b. The Canterbury
  Tales
• 3. Thomas Malory a c. Piers the Plowman
• 4. Layamon e d. The History of the
  King of the Britain
• 5. Geoffrey of Monmouth d e. Brut

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Answer the following Questions.

• 1.What is the influence of the Norman Conquest
  upon English Language and literature?
• 2.What are the essential features of romance in
  the Medieval English literature?
• 3.Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and
  the Green Knight.

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Keys to the questions

• 1.the influence of the Norman Conquest upon
  English Language and literature
• ?. chivalry was introduced into England
• ?. three languages existed in England. The
  Normans spoke French, the lower class spoke
  English, and the scholars and clergymen used
  Latin.
• ?. the literature was varied in interest and
  extensive in range
• ?. the prevailing form of literature is Romance.

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• 2. the essential features of romance in the
  Medieval English literature
• It was a long composition, sometimes in verse,
  sometimes in prose, describing the life and
  adventures of a noble hero.
• ?.The central character of romances was the
  knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use
  of weapons.
• ?. it exaggerates the vices of human nature and
  idealizes the virtures.
• ?. it contains adventures far from ordinary life.
• ?. it emphasizes devotion to a lady

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• Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and the
  Green Knight.
• ?. explain romance
• ?. derived from Celtic legend, in form, the
  combination of French and Saxon element
• ?. written in stanza combining meter and
  alliteration
• ?. at the end of each stanza, a rimed refrain.
• ?. two motifs, the testing of faith, courage, and
  purity proving of human weaknesses for
  self-preserving.
• ?. the heroic adventures of sir Gawain and King
  Arthur as related in the poem were sought after
  and carried out rather for adventures sake than
  any truly worthy cause. The language is simple
  and straightforward.