英美文学选读文本 An Introduction to Old and Medieval English Literature

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PART ONE: ENGLISH LITERATURE

An Introduction to Old and Medieval English Literature

    Since historical times, England, where the early inhabitants were Celts, has been conquered three times. It was conquered by the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Normans. England was not much affected by the Roman Conquest, but she felt the full weight of the other two conquests. The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic language and culture, while the Normans brought a fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization, which includes Greek culture, Roman law, and the Christian religion. It is the cultural influences of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.
    The period of Old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England. The Germanic tribes from the Northern Europe brought with them not only the Anglo-Saxon language, the basis of Modern English, but also a specific poetic tradition, which is both bold and strong, mournful and elegiac in spirit. Generally speaking, the Old English poetry that has survived can be divided into two groups: the religious group and the secular one. The poetry of the religious group is mainly on biblical themes. Genesis A, Genesis B and Exodus are poems based on the Old Testament; whereas The Dream of the Rood comes from the New Testament. In this poem, Christ is portrayed as the young warrior striding to embrace death and victory, while the rood (cross) itself takes on the burden of his suffering. In addition to these religious compositions, Old English poets produced the national epic poem, Beowulf, and a number of more or less lyrical poems of shorter length, which do not contain specific Christian doctrines
but evoke the Anglo-Saxon sense of the harshness of circumstance and the sadness of the human lot. The Wanderer, Deor, The Seafarer, and The Wife's Complaint are among the most beautiful in this secular group. The harsh climate of North Sea strongly affected the tone or mood of the poets. The life is sorrowful, and the speakers are fatalistic, though at the same time courageous and determined.
    Beowulf, a typical example of Old English poetry, is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. However, the hero and the setting of Beowulf have nothing to do with England, for the story took place in Scandinavia. The poem was originally in an oral form, sung by the bards (minstrels) at the end of the 6th century.The present script was written down in the 10th century. Beginning and ending with the funeral of a great king, and composed against a background of impending disaster, Beowulf describes the exploits of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, in fighting against the monster Grendel,his revengeful mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. In these sequences Beowulf is shown not only as a glorious hero but also as a protector of the people. Thematically the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends. For instance, the battle between Beowulf and the Dragon symbolically represents that phase of Winter and Summer myth in which the Summer God, here embodied by Beowulf, fights his last battle against the Winter Dragon in order to rescue the treasures of earth, that is, the golden corn and ruddy fruits. Having given them back to men, Beowulf himself dies of the Winter's breath.
    The Norman Conquest brought England more than a change of rulers.Politically, a feudalist system was established in England;religiously, the Rome-backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country; and great changes also took place in languages. After the conquest, three languages co-existed in England.French became the official language used by the king and the Norman lords; Latin became the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities; and Old English was spoken only by the common English people. Thus, Britain was opened up to the whole European continent.
    With the Norman Conquest starts the medieval period in English literature, which covers about four centuries. In the early part of the period, i.e. from 1066 up to the mid-14th century, there was not much to say about literature in English. It was almost a barren period in literary creation. But in the second half of the 14th century, English literature started to flourish with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others.In comparison with Old English literature, Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects, is uttered by more voices and in a greater diversity of styles, tones and genres. Popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period. Its presentation of life is not only accurate but also lively and colorful, though the originality of thought is often absent in the literary works of this period. Besides,Middle English literature strongly reflects the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine, which were primarily concerned with the issue of personal salvation.
    Romance which uses narrative verse. or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period. It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved. The hero is usually the knight,who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge, or to obey a knightly command. There is often a liberal use of the improbable, sometimes even supernatural, things in romance such as mysteries and fantasies. Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance. Characterization is standardized, so that heroes, heroines and wicked stewards can be easily moved from one romance to another. While the structure is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward. The importance of the romance itself can be seen as a means of showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of the world. If the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one.
    Among the three great Middle English poets, the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the one who produced the best romance of the period; while William Langland is a more realistic writer who dealt with the religious and social issues of his day in Piers Plowman. However, it is Chaucer alone who, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales.
    Geoffrey Chaucer is the greatest writer of this period. Although he was born a commoner, he did not live as a commoner; and although he was accepted by the aristocracy, he must always have been conscious of the fact that he did not really belong to that society of which birth alone could make one a true member. Chaucer characteristically regarded life in terms of aristocratic ideals, but he never lost the ability of regarding life as a purely practical matter. The art of being at once involved in and detached from a given situation is peculiarly Chaucer's.
    The influence of Renaissance was already felt in the field of English literature when Chaucer was learning from the great Italian writers like Petrarch and Boccaccio in the last part of the 14th century.Chaucer affirmed man's right to pursue earthly happiness and opposed asceticism; he praised man's energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life; he exposed and satirized the social vices, including religious abuses. It thus can be said that though essentially still a medieval writer, Chaucer bore marks of humanism and anticipated a new era to come.
    From his birth to his death, Chaucer dealt continually with all sorts of people, the highest and the lowest, and his observant mind made the most of this ever-present opportunity. His wide range of reading gave him plots and ideas, but his experience gave him models of characters. In his works, Chaucer explores the theme of the individual's relation to the society in which he lives; he portrays clashes of characters' temperaments and their conflicts over material interests; he also shows the comic and ironic effects obtainable from the class distinctions felt by the newly emerged bourgeoisie as in the case of the Wife of Bath who is depicted as the new bourgeois wife asserting her independence. In short, Chaucer develops his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.

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    Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse.In The Romaunt of the Rose, he first introduced into English the octosyllabic couplet. In The Legend of Good Women, he used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to be called later the heroic couplet. And in The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer employed the heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature. In addition,to his contribution to English prosody, Chaucer also developed the art of literature itself beyond anything to be  found  in any other medieval literature. In Troilus and Criseyde, he gave the world what is virtually the first modern novel. In The Canterbury Tales, he developed his art of poetry still further towards drama and the art of the novel. Though Chaucer was entirely rooted in the soil of the Middle Ages, his art is so fully realized as to carry him beyond his time and make him one of the greatest poets in English. John Dryden, who modernized several of the Canterbury tales, called Chaucer the father of English poetry.to his contribution to English prosody, Chaucer also developed the art of literature itself beyond anything to be found in any other medieval literature. In Troilus and Criseyde, he gave the world what is virtually the first modem novel. In The Canterbury Tales, he developed his art of poetry still further towards drama and the art of the novel. Though Chaucer was entirely rooted in the soil of the Middle Ages, his art is so fiilly realized as to carry him beyond his time and make him one of the greatest poets in English. John Dryden, who modernized several of the Canterbury tales, called Chaucer the father of English poetry.
    Chaucer dominated the works of his 15th-century English followers and the so-called Scottish Chaucerians. For the Renaissance,he was the English Homer. Edmund Spenser paid tribute to him as his master; many of Shakespeare’s plays show thorough assimilation of Chaucer’s comic spirit. Today, Chaucer’s reputation has been securely established as one of the best English poets for his wisdom, humor,and humanity.