Lit do 1700

Plot of Beowulf

Beowulf is a story about a warrior, who defeats three monsters – Grendel, his mother and a dragon. Beowulf kills Grendel by ripping his arms off, then his mother by cutting through her neck using a sword that magically appeared. After that he returns to Gaetland and becomes king, but after peaceful 50 years a dragon kills people, so with the help of Wiglaf he kills the dragon, but Beowulf was fatally wounded

  Where and when do the events take place? Beowulf

In early 6th century, in Scandinavia (Denmark and Sweden)

How can the events be dated? Beowulf

They can be dated due to some historical figures and events that appear in the poem (for example, King Hrothgar and his nephew, Hrothulf)

Which Germanic tribes and heroes are mentioned in the poem? B

Tribes: Jutes, Geats, Danes

Heroes: Beowulf, Hygelac

What does it suggest about the cultural identification of the poem’s original Anglo-saxon audience in England? B

It suggests that the Anglo-Saxon audience valued both Germanic and Christian elements (loyalty seen as a very important value, portraying as a hero that fights against evil)

What kind of society does the poem portray? Which social classes are shown? What social relationships? B

Mostly warriors and monarchs. Most prominent social relationship is the respect shared between leaders and warriors

Why does the poem start with the genealogy of the Danish royal house? What is the significance of the fact that the Danes are referred to as the Scyldings? How do the heroes introduce themselves and why? What is the first question the coast guard asks the Geats? B

The poem opens with the genealogy to establish the historical context (as it was probably first an oral story). Referring to the Danes as Scyldings highlights their lineage, and the fact that they’re descendants of Scyld, a legendary figures. Heroes introduce themselves, emphasizing their lineage and intentions, which shows how important reputation and honour was in that time. The first question – he asks where they came from. He did that to see if the unknown people are honorary, honest or if they don’t care about the culture and values of the tribe.

What is the way of life of this society? What are its values? What are its traditions and customs? B

They live according to the rules of warrior ethos. They value courage, loyalty, honour. Traditions – feasts in the meadhall, gift-giving (as a sign of respect and gratitude)

How is the hall described? How is it built? B

One of a kind, gold roof, benches, tall gables

What social function does it play? B

A place for gatherings, they feast in it, listen to music

What adjectives are used to describe it? B (hereot)

Greatest, best, wonderful ← suggests that it is an important place for the society

What kind of more abstract qualities is the hall associated with? B

Safety, warmth, unity

What special visual quality is associated with Heorot? B

Gold, warmth

Hrothgar. What are his duties as a king? How does he fullfill them? B

Resolving military conflicts, rewarding warriors for their victories

  What is his age? What does he look like? B

Old, grey-haired

Descriptive phrases used to refer to him (Hrothgar) B

Lord of the Scyldings, Glorious King ← respected figure, that people trusted and looked up to

Where does he come from? (Beowulf) B

From the country of Geats, arrives by boat

What does he look like? (Beowulf) B

Looks like a hero, addresses other people with respect

What is his motivation? (Beowulf) B

Desire for greatness, he offers his help after Hrothgar sheltered his father

How does he fight Grendel? B

He rips Grendel’s arm from his shoulder

In what ways is he an ideal warrior? B

Loyal, fights until the end, ready to sacrifice his life

Grendel’s genealogy B

Related to Cain

Grendel’s description

Cruel spirit, monster

How does Grendel attack? B

He attacks the meadhall, while people were asleep – he seizes 30 warriors and carries them to his den to kill them

When does Grendel attack? B

At night, he’s described as a creature of night, which contrasts with his victims, that spend time together in illuminated, light meadhall

What kind of space does Grendel come from?

He comes from dark, cold moorland

Beowulf as a heroic epic

The hero – historically or legendary significant

Supernatural forces

The plot is about good deeds or requiring superhuman courage

Where is Canterbury? What is the role of Canterbury Cathedral in the English Church? CTP

South east England, lies on the river Stout. The cathedral was the most popular pilgrimage destination in medieval England. It is also a cathedral of the archbishop, the spiritual leader of the church of England

Who was St Thomas Beckett? CTP

He was an English Archbishop and martyr, murdered by knights sent by Henry II at Canterbury Cathedral, where he’s buried

What is the great chain of being? CTP

All existing things have their place and function, which was made by God

What is the religious symbolism of water and wind? CTP

Water – Christ’s humanity/sign of renewal, new beginning, rebirth, baptism

Wind – God’s presence

What are the characteristic conventions of the medieval genre of estates satire? CTP

3 estates – church, nobility, peasantry, portrayed in a satirical way

What is courtly love and its characteristics? CTP

Code that prescribed the behaviour of ladies and their lovers. The courtly lover existed to serve his lady. He saw himself as serving the all-powerful God of love and worshipping his lady-saint. The romance was mostly adulterous. The lady (usually married, but always inaccessible in some way) was the object of a noble knight’s devotion, service and self-sacrifice

How is nature described in the prologue? CTP

As a source of life, gives people some sort of direction – when spring begins, people start to go on a pilgrimage

®    How is time indicated? CTP

By natural phenomena – sunrise, sunset

®    What is the role of rain and wind in the awakening of nature? CTP

To change the aura – they are crucial for nature’s survival, so without the change of the seasons wouldn’t be possible. Allegorical – could be seen as a new beginning

®    What are suggested motivation of people undertaking the pilgrimage? CTP

To thank St Thomas for help when they were sick

®    Associations of Southwark and Canterbury CTP

They both were parts of pilgrim’s route (Winchester -> Southwark -> Canterbury)

Where do they meet? CTP

They meet in a tavern named Tabard. Tavern – drinking, feasting, social gathering

Cathedral – praying, silence, reflection, holiness

®    The original plan of storytelling CTP

Every character was supposed to tell 4 stories – 2 on the way to Canterbury, 2 while going back. The journey was supposed to end in Southwark

Narrator CTP

The narrator is Chaucer (character separate from the author)

The king and the squire CTP

Knight – great, honourable, courageous, truthful warrior, wise, modest, a crusader

Squire – young, full of life, with wonderful agility and strength, knowledgeable in music and poetry

Both are characters from the upper class, tied to cavalry, differences – age, attitude

The narrator describes them with respect, speaks highly of the Knight, when describing him he focuses on his achievements, but when it comes to the squire, he focuses on his appearance, not his abilities

The Monk CTP

We’re given information about his appearance, material status and profession. The monk valued both freedom and adventure more than religious devotion, that forbade him from pleasures. He is not criticized directly – his failing are suggested by comparing to what he does

Simile – as loud as does the chapel bell

Irony – contrast in behaviour vs expected “monk-like” behaviour

Metaphor – his prominent eyeballs never seemed to settle

Rhetorical question – was he to leave the world upon the shelf?

Epithet – he was not pale like a tormented soul.

They are used to help illustrate the flaws of the monk in an ironic way

The narrator notices the flaws of the monk, yet he agrees with his views

The Skipper

Tanned skin, wears a long coat, we are not directly told what he does, but the last line states that he owns a barge. He’s guilty of killing people, taking prisoners, which is suggested by a metaphor (walked the plank – killed)

The wife of Bath

Pretty, nicely dressed in high quality clothes. Described as a talkative, smart women, who knows how to get her way. Her sins – marrying five times

The clergy, nobility, peasantry CTP

By introducing the pilgrims Chaucer establishes all estates and their functions and satirizes them and their duties. They are not criticized directly, rather in a satirical, often metaphorical way.

Storytelling CTP

The host comes up with the idea of telling stories, as an entertainment, not connected to any religious or didactic purpose.

There were supposed to be 4 tales per character, but it wasn’t realized. There are only 24.

The prize of the competition is a free meal. The host is also the judge (in the fictional life, but in the real it is the reader), the role requires impartiality and honesty.

The first one to share a story is the Knight, because he drew the shortest cut. Also, it could be because of his social status – he was an individual with the highest one

Functions of the prologue CTP

Introducing the characters, laying out the plot, bringing attention to problems that will  be addressed later

®    Chivalric romance TKT

Story about a knight, who goes on a quest, often for a lady

®    Social and political setting of the tale TKTP1

It takes place in ancient Greece, when Creon murdered men, that were left unburied

The gods TKTP1

Venus – Palamon (prays for Emily)

Mars – Arcite (prays to him for victory)

Diana – Emily (to remain unmarried, and if she must, to marry the one who desires her the most)

Saturn – father of the Gods

Duke Theseus TKTP1

Duke of Athens, married to the queen of the Amazons, Ypolita. Wise, strong, responsible. Moved by sadness of grieving women, decides to avenge the widows and kills Creon, and returns the bodies of the dead to them. When he finds Arcite and Palamon, he spares them, but still sends them to prison

Emily TKTP1

Ypolita’s sister, the object of Palamon’s and Arcite’s attraction, seen in nature in May, which symbolizes her youth, delicate nature and purity. Described as a beautiful woman, lovelier than all the flowers, compared to a lily, which is another reference to purity. She doesn’t want to be married to neither of the knights, wishes to remain unmarried

Arcite and Palamon TKTP1

Thebian knights, introduced as injured soldiers that were spared by Theseus. They fall in love with Emily by seeing her through a windown, which breaks their friendship, because they both desire her.

Physical effects: Palamon – pale when he saw her for the first time, Arcite – didn’t sleep, eat or drink when he came back home and couldn’t see Emily

Arcite is freed and comes back to Thebes, Mercury visits him in a dream and tells him to return to Athens. Palamon is still imprisoned, but can see Emily

Arcite and Palamon TKTP2

Mercury appears to Arcite in a dream, telling him to return to Athens. He disguises himself and taken on a job as a page under the name Philostrate. Palamon escapes, and while sneaking through woods, he hears Arcite and challenges him to a duel.

Duke Theseus TKTP2

Theseus finds the knights fighting while on a hunt, and decides to spare them, but they will fight in a tournament instead

Duke Theseus TKTP3

Builds an elaborate amphitheatre for the tournament, with temples dedicated to Venus, goddess of love, Mars, god of war and Diana, goddess of chastity

Gods TKTP3

Venus – heroic and sinful side of love

Mars – destruction that is a result of war, wants Arcite to win the battle

Diana – symbol of chastity, change, tells Emily that she can’t remain virgin forever, doesn’t tell her which knight will win the battle

Arcite and Palamon TKTP4

Arcite wins, but tumbles and falls, because he prayed for the victory in battle, not for Emily. He begins to rot, while dying, he sends for Emily and Palomon, tells Emily that his ghost will serve her even after death, and he’ll always love her. He says that if she decides to marry again, she should marry Palamon, because no one is more worthy than him.

Many years later, parliament in Athens calls Palamon and Emily to attend, and Theseus urges them to marry, while delivering his speech of “first mover”, in which he describes how the course of life moves according to the great chain of love

Motif of love TKT

Love destroys bond between Arcite and Palamon

Composition TKT

Start of the tale: wedding -> funeral -> Arcite is free/Palamon imprisoned -> A comes back/P escapes -> fight in the forest -> 3 temples -> P’s army

End of the tale: wedding -> funeral -> Arcite dies/Palamon lives -> A wins/P loses -> fight in the tournament -> 3 prayers -> A’s army

Gods and men TKT

Gods intervene with the events, every character gets what they prayed for. First mover speech – God sets the great chain of being

   Literary tradition – fabliau TMT

Sexual and inappropriate, short, scandalous tale, that contrasts with moral standards of society

The teller and the tale TMT

The miller was given this tale because of the plot – the events match the character (drunkenness, unserious, lower class)

The prologue TMT

The host wanted the monk to tell his story, but the miller interrupts and insists that his story is as great as the one told by the Knight

The tale: setting, characters, plot, values TMT

Set in Oxford, in times contemporary to Chaucer

Alison – young, beautiful wife of the carpenter, the only one who wasn’t punished

Nicholas – young scholar from Oxford, in love with Alison, reputation of predicting droughts and floods

Absalon – parish clerk, also in love with Alison, tries to get her to love him by buying her expensive gifts, parody of the squire

Carpenter – Alison’s husband, gullible, naïve

Nicholas in order to sleep with Emily, tells the carpenter that he foresaw a flood, and tells him that they need to get into hanging tubs. When he falls asleep, they come back to the house and sleep together. Absalon passes by, and hoping for a kiss he stops by a window, but instead of Alison’s lips, he kisses her “naked arse”. Infuriated, he runs to the blacksmith and returns with hot iron poker, and pokes Nicholas, thinking that it would be Alison again.

The tale in context TMT

Miller’s tale vs Knight’s tale – Mt exposed idealizing tendencies of Kt, romantic novels select elements of reality, ignores the bodily and physical aspects of life

Miller’s tale – only physical aspect, no religion, divinity or moral values

Literary and dramatic tradition DF

An allegorical drama, in which the characters personify moral qualities or abstractions and in which moral lessons are taught. A protagonist represents humanity as a whole, or particular group. Supporting characters and antagonists are personifications of various religious abstractions or qualities. Struggle between good and evil, conflict with morality.

Tragic hero – doomed, fatal flaw, fatal mistake

Hamartia – the tragic flaw/mistake

Tragic irony – audience can foresee the downfall, but the character can’t

Opening Chorus DF

Tells story of a scholar, a man of common birth.

Renaissance – Faustus wants to gain knowledge and achievements, he’s willing to sell his soul in order to become the greatest, even greater than God

A1S1DF

He feels dissatisfied with his state of knowledge, he already feels that he knows everything in medicine, law, theology and was bored with them. So, he turns to necromancy, as he feels that it can provide further knowledge and power. He wants to be the greatest, live without any

constraints.

Good angel – save Faustus from damnation and turning away from God

Evil angel – persuade Faustus to sell his soul to the devil

A1S3DF

Mephistophilis appeats because he heard that Faustus spoke badly about God, in hope of gaining access to his soul. Faustus treats him as a servant, orders him to reappear in the form of a monk, because he’s too ugly to look at. Faustus imagines hell as a place somewhere in the universe. Mephistophilis tell his that hell is here, because there is no God. Irony – Faustus wants freedom and independence, but in order to do that, he needs to become enslaved by the devil

A2S1DF

Mephistophilis tempts Faust by telling him that if he sells his soul, he will be always his servant. The signs before selling his soul – Faustus’s blood coagulates, and on his arm appears the text: homo, fuge (human, run away)

Tragic choice – selling his soul

Trafic flaw – ambition and desire to become the greatest

Tragic mistake – not listening to the signs

His downfall is caused by his arrogance.

After signing the pact, he wants to be a spirit in form and substance, Mephistophilis to be his servant, he also wants a wife

A2S3DF

Faustus is prevented from repenting for his sin, because he’s forbidden from saying or thinking about God. The seven deadly sins are an ironic element, because Faustus doesn’t recognize any of his features in them

A3/4DF

The silly tricks highlight how foolish signing the pact was, because he didn’t achieve anything great, and he wasted the 24 years

A5S1DF

Last minute warning – an old man tells him that he sees an angel over his head. But Faustus still doesn’t repent, because he’s threatened by Mephistophilis, that if he does, his body will be torn apart

A5S2DF

Faustus explains how he sold his soul. He can’t be pardoned because he ignored the fact that God forbade dealing with the devil.

Faust as a tragic hero – he realized how serious his sin was when it was too late to do anything, he’s scared of what will happen, wishes that his soul would be turned into drops of water. He realizes that the only thing waiting for him will be eternal suffering

Conclusions DF

Cautionary tale, story of a downfall