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    Chapter 1&2 Old and Middle English Literature

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    Praveen Remegius
    This document provides an overview of two important works of Old English and Middle English literature: Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. It summarizes that Beowulf is an Old English epic poem telling the story of a hero named Beowulf who helps defeat a monster named Grendel. It also summarizes that The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous works of Middle English literature, consisting of a frame story of pilgrims telling stories as they travel to Canterbury Cathedral.

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    Chapter 1&2 Old and Middle English Literature

    Uploaded by

    Praveen Remegius
    202 views12 pages
    This document provides an overview of two important works of Old English and Middle English literature: Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. It summarizes that Beowulf is an Old English epic poem telling the story of a hero named Beowulf who helps defeat a monster named Grendel. It also summarizes that The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous works of Middle English literature, consisting of a frame story of pilgrims telling stories as they travel to Canterbury Cathedral.

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    Books for reading and also old english literature available for both reading and writing

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    This document provides an overview of two important works of Old English and Middle English literature: Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. It summarizes that Beowulf is an Old English epic poem telling the story of a hero named Beowulf who helps defeat a monster named Grendel. It also summarizes that The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous works of Middle English literature, consisting of a frame story of pilgrims telling stories as they travel to Canterbury Cathedral.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    202 views12 pages

    Chapter 1&2 Old and Middle English Literature

    Uploaded by

    Praveen Remegius
    This document provides an overview of two important works of Old English and Middle English literature: Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. It summarizes that Beowulf is an Old English epic poem telling the story of a hero named Beowulf who helps defeat a monster named Grendel. It also summarizes that The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous works of Middle English literature, consisting of a frame story of pilgrims telling stories as they travel to Canterbury Cathedral.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 12
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    The passage discusses the evolution of English literature from Old English to Middle English. Some of the earliest works mentioned are Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales.

    Old English, also called Anglo-Saxon, was the earliest form of English spoken from around 600 AD to 1100.

    The first English epic mentioned is Beowulf, which is a story of around 3,000 lines about Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and the brave man Beowulf who helps the king.

    Chapter 1 & 2

    Old and Middle English


    Literature

    An Outline of English Literature


    G. C. Thornley and Gwyneth Roberts

    Beowulf (700)

    The Old English language, also called AngloSaxon, was the earliest form of English. (7)
    Old English was spoken from about 600 A.D.
    to about 1100.
    First English epic, a story of 3,000 lines,
    author unknown
    Story of Beowulf about Hrothgar, King of
    the Danes, and a brave young man, Beowulf,
    from southern Sweden, who goes to help the
    King
    The first great poem (Anglo-Saxon) to be
    written

    Old and Middle English


    Literature

    Grendel in Beowulf

    Canterbury Tales

    The Canterbury Tales (1387)


    by Chaucer

    The English which was used


    from about 1100 to 1500 is
    called Middle English. (p.15)
    Chaucer=father of English
    poetry
    The Cantebury Tales contains
    about 17,000 lines
    A party of pilgrims tells stories
    to pass the time on their
    journey from London to
    Canterbury

    The Canterbury Tales (1387)


    the Prologue
    Whan that Aprille with his shoures
    wrote
    The droghte of marche hath erced
    to the rote

    The Canterbury Tales (1387)


    by Chaucer

    There are more than twenty stories,


    mostly in verse (p.16)
    Wife of Bath a woman of very strong
    opinions who believes firmly in manage
    and the need to manage husband
    strictly.
    Her story is about King Arthurs knights
    who must give the correct answer to
    the question: What do women love
    most? in order to save his life.

    Sir Gawain and the Green


    Knight (1360?)

    One of the stories of


    King Arthur an his
    knights of Round Table
    (p.17-18)
    Sir Gawain struggle
    against an enemy with
    magic powers as well as
    great strength and
    cunning
    Sir Gawain finishes the
    adventure with all honor

    Sir Gawain and the Green


    Knight (1360?)
    Sir Gawain Meets
    the Green Knight
    In the legend of the Green
    Knight, a fearsome green
    warrior rides into the king's
    court, and challenges anyone
    to cut off his head.
    Sir Gawain eventually rises
    to his challenge; then the
    Green Knight laughs, picks
    up his head, and rides away,
    vowing to return the favor.

    Morte DArthur (Arthurs


    Death)

    An important Middle English


    prose work (p.19)
    Published by William Caxton in
    1485, a translation from the
    French Arthurian legends
    Sir Thomas Malory
    Theme: The search for the cup
    (the Holy Grail) used by Christ at
    the Last Supper, culminating with
    the dissolution of the Round
    Table

    Miracle Plays

    Subjects of the
    Miracle Plays:
    Disobedience of Adam and
    Eve (p.20)
    Noah and the great flood
    Abraham and Isaac
    Events in the life of Christ

    Miracle Plays
    Acted on a stage called pageant
    Performed at the same time in different places
    Serious and religious in intention
    Characters in the play has a tendency to become
    recognizably human

    English drama derives from the medieval Miracle


    Plays of the late 13th and 14th century

    Morality Plays

    Characters in these plays were not people; they


    were virtues such as Truth or bad qualities
    such as Greed and Revenge (p.21)
    Everyman (translated from Dutch)
    The story of the end of Everymans life
    Characters include Beauty, Knowledge, Strength,
    and Good Deeds

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