Medival English Literature in the 14 th century

1. Medival English Literature in the 14th century

2. Between 1066-1485, England underwent great political and social changes: • Developments in feudalism • The gradual evolution of parliament • The growth of cities and the middle class • Increase in foreign trade The change occurred too slowly for the writers to become aware of them intellectually (with the exception of Chaucer).

3. In the narrative of adventure, the idealized hero of the Anglo-Saxon epic yielded his place to the more sympathetic, if less admirable man, as in the knights of courtly romances or Piers Plowman, who is a simple farmer. Christianity placed much value on a man’s soul. Women became recognized in literature.

4. Scholastic Chain of Being God The Pope Bishops Kings Nobles Ordinary Men Animals Plants

5. Peasants’ Revolt (1381) • Starting in 1349, Black Death, a plague epidemic, wiped away 1/3 of the population of Europe. While the wealthy aristocrats avoided it to some extent by running away from crowded places, the peasants suffered the most. • As a result, after the epidemic, there were much fewer agricultural workers, and the price of labor went up. Workers demanded not only higher wages, but also basic human rights. Their action, which turned into an uprising, was crushed violently and deviously by Richard II.

7. Piers Plowman(c. 1360) • Piers Plowman was written in alliterative Middle English. • It is an allegorical narrative poem. • It contains personifications of concepts such as Envy and Gluttony, as well as the farmer Piers, who stands for Christ, and shows some peasants, who stand for Christians, the way to salvation.

8. Piers Plowman is also a dream-vision. • The narrative is old within the framework of a dream.

9. Bestiary tradition in Middle Ages • A bestiary is a book about the qualities of beasts (animals). • Christians believed that nature reflected God’s Word, and understanding its secrets would lead to understanding God’s wishes. • So they wrote extensive books about not only animals, but also plants, even minerals. • They attributed allegorical qualities to animals, or used them as symbols in literature.

11. Sows (female pigs), a bitch (female dog), and leek (a nutritious plant) and some of the bestial elements in Piers Plowman. • In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales too, there are numerous bestial symbols.