English Literature

1. English Literature College of Foreign Languages China Three Gorges University

2. Lecture Three • 1 Review • 2 Medieval period and Robin Hood • 3 Geoffrey Chaucer • 4 The Canterbury Tales • 5 Social Significance of the Canterbury Tales • 6 Features of Chaucer’s Writing

3. 1 Review • Did the English common people have a literature of their own in feudal England? What were they? • Ballad

4. 2. Medieval period(1066-ca.1485) • 2.1 Historical Background : • (what is the most important event in this period?) • 1. The Norman Conquest • 2. The Consequence of the Conquest • 2.2 Medieval English Literature • Popular ballad occupies an important position. • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight • Ballads of Robin Hood

5. The Ballads • ballad: a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed. It is the most important part of English folk literature. • Joined by the audience • In various English and Scottish dialects • The origin is obscure • Be handed down orally for many generations • The subjects of ballads are from the everyday life of the common people.

6. 3 The Ballads of Robin Hood • a legendary outlaw • lived during the reign of Richard I • the leader of a band of outlaws • lived in the deep forest • attacked the rich • helped the poor people. • waged war against the bishops and archbishops.

7. 3 The Ballads of Robin Hood • “Popular ballads portray Robin Hood as a tireless enemy of the Norman oppressors, the idol of the country folk and champion of the poor and needy, as a man who readily responds to anyone’s call for help. And in gratitude for this poetic emotion, the people have made an almost saintlike hero out of a man who was probably no more than a common outlaw.”(Gorky)

8. 3 The Ballads of Robin Hood • 在民谣中，罗宾汉被刻画成为了一个与诺曼压迫者进行无休止斗争的反抗者，农民心中的偶像，贫民眼里的勇士，一个随时会去帮助他人的好汉。恰是出于这种理想的诗情，人民创造出了一个几乎完美无缺的英雄，尽管他的原型可能只不过是个普通的法外之徒。

9. 4 The Character of Robin Hood • strong, brave and clever. • tender-hearted , affectionate • devout and orthodox in religion • reverence for the King What comments have you about Robin Hood’s reverence for the king?

10. 3.1. Life of Geoffrey Chaucer • the father of English poetry • the most vivid contemporary description of fourteenth century England

11. A Brief Chronology of Chaucer’s Life • Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London around 1340. • At the age of 17, he served as a page to Elizabeth . • At the age of 19, he served with the English army in France and married to Philippa was at the age of 26. • Between the year of 1372 and 1378 , he was sent on embassies to Italy. • In 1373, he was made Controller of Customs in the Port of London. • In 1385 he became Justice of the Peace and Knight of the Shire (Member of Parliament) for the County of Kent. • In the period of 1389 to 1391, he served as Clerk of the King’s Works . • In 1391, he was appointed Forester of a royal forest in Somerset • He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets’ Corner”.

12. 3.2 Chaucer’s Literary Career • The first period: French influence - translations from French • -TheRomaunt of the Rose《玫瑰传奇》 • The second period: Italian influence- produced works adapted from Italian writers - Troilus and Criseyde • The third period: The Mature Period • - The Canterbury Tales

13. 3.3 Troilus and Criseyde(c.1383). • longest complete poem (about 8000 lines) • taken from a poem by Boccacio • the love of Troilus for Criseyde • Troilus - a son of the King of Troy. Criseyde- a daughter of Calchas Criseyde returns the love of Troilus –Pandarus ( her uncle) -three years - in an exchange of prisoners- swearing fidelity-never returns-Diomede-killed

14. Troilus and Criseyde(c.1383). • romance • interest of character as well as of incident (what medieval romance lacked) • the vivid and humorous figure of Pandarus the development of the character of Criseyde (a fickle woman )

15. Questions on Chaucer: • (1)Which, according to Chaucer, is more important, divine love or secular love? Why? • (2) What kind of motivations do most of the pilgrims have, to show piety to God or to enjoy the beauty of nature? Why? • (3) How do you explain the changes of the pilgrims’ attitudes towards love and life from the social and cultural background?

16. (4) What kind of people does Chaucer satirize? Are there any differences in the degree of his satire? Why does he satirize some pilgrims slightly and others severely (bitterly)? • (5) How does Chaucer portray his characters? What devices does he use to bring out a life-like character? • (6)  How do you understand the Wife of Bath? • (7) Why is Chaucer regarded as the first important realistic writer and the earliest English humanist?

17. Literary Terms (back) • Heroic Couplet(英雄双韵体） • 1. They are poetry composed in iambic pentameter. In this form of poetry, lines consisting of five iambic feet rime together in pairs. • 2. The rime scheme :aa bb cc ….. • A verse unit consisting of two rhymed lines in iambic pentameter. In each line, there are five verse feet. With each foot, there is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

18. Examples • And bathed every vein in such licour. • Of which vertu engendered is the flour. • poem→stanza→line→foot→syllable

19. 6. Knowledge of poetry • I. Rhythm(韵律) • 1.syllable: a word or part of a word which contains one vowel sound(元音). • 2. Stress: a word or part of a word which should be pronounced with more force. • 3. Rhythm: • In English, words of two syllables always contain one that is stressed syllable and one that is unstressed; longer words contain one stressed syllable and two or more unstressed syllables. Unstressed syllables are marked with a curve “︶” and stressed, with a dash “—”. • e.g. above suffer around standing

20. In a line of poetry, when the stressed and unstressed syllables of all the words are arranged in a definite order, the line will rise and fall in a musical way. And this musical flow, or the rise and fall of language in poetry, is called “rhythm”. • e.g. My heart is like a singing bird. • II. foot(音步) • 1. definition: foot is the unit of rhythm and contains two or three syllables, one of which is stressed. • 2. 4 kinds of foot: • A. iambus(︶—): consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. • e.g. Appear, besides , attack , supply.

21. B. Trochee(—︶): consists of one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable. • e.g. holy, upper, failing • C. anapaest(︶︶—):consists of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. • e.g. reappear, indistinct, incomplete, on the hill • D. dactyl(—︶︶): consists of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. • e.g. messenger, merrily , property , accident

22. III. meter(格律) • 1. The meter of a line of poetry is determined by the kind of foot used and by the number of feet in a line. The longest poetical line contains 8 feet. • Monometer单音步诗行, dimeter二音步诗行, trimeter三音步诗行, tetrameter四音步诗行, pentameter五音步诗行, hexameter六音步诗行, heptameter七音步诗行, octameter八音步诗行 （八步格）. • A line of five iambic feet is an iambic pentameter line. • A line of six dactylic feet is a dactylic hexameter line. • e.g. but every eye was fixed on her alone. • On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore

23. IV.Rime • Rime is a repetition of the same sound at the end of two or more lines. • E.g. day, may; wore, adore. • V.stanza • 1. A stanza is a group of two or more consecutive lines bound together by end rime. • 2. Usually, we use letters to represent the rime scheme（押韵方式). • A. couplet: aa bb cc….. • B. terza rima（三行换韵）：aba bcb cdc ded….. • C. Quatrain(四行诗体): there are 4 rime schemes

24. 7. Assignments • Hamlet (p79) • The Merchant of Venice (p98)

25. Collection • Questions?