Anglo Saxon and middle English literature

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Anglo Saxon and middle English literature
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Characterisations of Middle English literature

• In the 12th century, a new form of English now
  known as Middle English evolved. This is the
  earliest form of English literature which is
  comprehensible to modern readers and listeners,
  albeit not easily. Middle English lasts up until
  the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard, a form of
  London-based English, became widespread and the
  printing press regularized the language. Middle
  English Bible translations, notably Wyclif's
  Bible, helped to establish English as a literary
  language.
• There are three main categories of Middle
  English Literature Religious, Courtly love, and
  Arthurian. William Langland's Piers Plowman is
  considered by many critics to be one of the early
  great works of English literature along with
  Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the
  Green Knight (most likely by the Pearl Poet)
  during the Middle Ages. It is also the first
  allusion to a literary tradition of the legendary
  English archer, swordsman, and outlaw Robin Hood.

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Middle English

• Chaucers epic poems
• Canterbury Tales
• Troilus and Criseyde
• Book of the Duchess

Chaucer reciting Troylus and Criseyde early 15th
century manuscript of the work at Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge
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Chaucer

• Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher,
  bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he
  wrote many works, he is best remembered for his
  unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales.
  Sometimes called the father of English
  literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars
  as the first author to demonstrate the artistic
  legitimacy of the English language.

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Chaucer

• Writer, official and bureaucrat, the outstanding
  English poet before Geoffrey Chaucer is
  remembered as the author of Canterbury Tales,
  which ranks as one of the greatest epic works of
  world literature. Chaucer made a crucial
  contribution to English literature in writing in
  English at a time when much court poetry was
  still composed in Anglo-Norman or Latin. Although
  he spent one of two brief periods of disfavor,
  Chaucer lived the whole of his life close the
  centers of English power.
• My lige lady, generally,' quod he,'Wommen
  desiren to have sovereynetee As wel over hir
  housbond as hir love.'
• (from Canterbury Tales)

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Middle English poets

• John Gower
• John Audelay
• Thomas Hoccleve
• William Langland
• John Lydgate
• Thomas Usk
• William of Nassyngton

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Middle English writers

• William Langland
• Sir Thomas Mallory
• Robert Gloucester
• Miles Coverdale

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Sir Thomas Malory

• Was an anonymous and wrote the
• greatest medieval romances.
• The author or compiler of Le Morte
• d'Arthur, which was the first true
• english novel.
• This monumental work is a moving tale
• of love and betrayal, and quests
• inspired by noble ideals amidst
• the turmoil of an age on the threshold of
• profound change, the essence of Sir
• Thomas Malory's timeless masterpiece
• has remained firmly in the imagination
• of successive generations.

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The Roman de la rose

• The Roman de la rose, is a medieval French poem
  styled as an allegorical dream vision. It is a
  notable instance of courtly literature. The
  work's stated purpose is to both entertain and to
  teach others about the Art of Love. It had a
  great influence on English literature. It helped
  Chaucers work strongly.