English Literature in The 14th Century
English Literature in The 14th Century
English Literature in The 14th Century
The 14th and 15th centuries were characterized by conflict in the political and military fields both at home and abroad, and also in the daily life of villages. War with France continued intermittently throughout the period, and included the Hundred Years' War from 1337 to 1453. Chivalry ideals were cultivated by the King and his courtiers as a useful way of persuading men to fight, by creating the idea that war was a noble and glorious thing.
The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while King Richard II watches
As the greatest of all remains Geoffrey Chaucer, this period in the history of English literature is often called the age of Chaucer.
Sometime in the 17th century, Sir Robert Cotton, whose hobby was to collect antiques and discovered a lot of old English poetry in this way, got an old book containing four poems in Middle English ; The Pearl, Cleanness, Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The auhtorship of these poems is much discussed by the critics, but as the style is very similar, the general opinion is that all the poems belong to the same author, whose name is still a mystery, but who is sometimes referred to as The Pearl Poet.
The structure of the poem is medieval. It is written in the form of a "vision", an allegorical work of a religious, didactic and satirical character, presented by means of a succession of pictures or images seen in a dream. The poem is full of fantastic elements, just like the story about Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but these are of a different type and the whole atmosphere of the poem is different. The author does not want to present the refinement of the knights moral principles, but the problem of earning ones living. The whole poem is a keen satire, a call addressed to the people, a warning to the upper classes.
The Visions
The dream that the poet pretends to have had while sleeping on a beautiful May day on the grass on Malvern Hill includes several parts: a) the vision of Lady Meed, Lady Profit and the Castle of Truth, b) the vision of repentance and the allegory of Piers as the only one who knows the way to the Castle, c) Pierss search for Do-Well, Do-Bet and Do-Best . Piers the Ploughman came down to us in a large number of manuscripts (47 in all), proving that Langland's poem had enjoyed much popularity at the time it was written.
Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things
The Seven Deadly (Capital) Sins and the Seven Heavenly (Holy) Virtues
In parallel order to the sins they oppose, the seven holy virtues are
1. Lust (Latin, luxuria) 2. Gluttony (Latin, gula) 3. Greed (Latin, avaritia) 4. Sloth (Latin, acedia) 5. Wrath (Latin, ira) 6. Envy (Latin, invidia) 7. Pride (Latin, superbia)
The Middle Ages is often referred to as the Age of Faith as during this period religion dominated all aspects of life from architecture, literature, art and music. Tales of Sin and Virtue were an almost-daily treat, inspired from the daily struggle between Good and Evil. Which side will win? was a common question. Saving ones soul was a permanent concern.
While William Langland expressed in his work the protest of the peasants, of the poor and needy in general, and John Gower voiced the opinion of the upper classes, Chaucer was the first to adopt a neutral attitude and to give an all-round picture of the society in which he lived.
Chaucers life is known primarily through records pertaining to his career as a courtier and civil servant under the English kings Edward III and Richard II. In 1359 he was taken prisoner in the French wars and was ransomed in 1360. On his return to London, Chaucer became the kings attendant. Later on, he travelled to France again in 1369, in Italy during 1372-73, then in other countries too, being sent on several diplomatic missions. Once more he visited France in 1377 and Italy in 1378. At home he detained several official positions: as a controller of customs in the port of London, where he could meet lots of merchants and tradesmen; as a Justice of Peace in Kent, and so on, besides travelling abroad on royal business. Towards 1386 Chaucers situation began to deteriorate. Little by little he lost the protection of the noblemen and finally he even lost his royal pension. In 1399 he wrote a poem entitled Complaint to His Purse which he sent to the new king. He regained his pension, but he could not enjoy it for a very long time, as he passed away in 1400.
Complaint Unto Pity, composed during the French period, has a special interest for the new type of stanza used by Chaucer. Although introduced by Chaucer in English literature, this new device came to be called the rhyme royal, because King James I made use of it in The Kingis Quair. The stanza consists of 7 lines, each formed of 10 syllables and rhyming ababbcc. It became the fashinable stanza and it held position until the appearance of the Spenserian stanza, created by the Renaissance poet Spenser. Here is a sample of rhyme royal, or Chaucerian stanza.
Pity, that I have sought yore ago With heart sore and full of busy pain, That in this world was never wight so woe Without death and, if I shall not feign, My purpose is to Pity to complain Upon the cruelty and tirany Of Love, that for my truth doth me die.
The Italian Period The terms galaxy and Milky Way first appeared in the English language in Chaucers work: "See yonder, lo, the Galaxy Which men clepeth the Milky Wey, For hit is whyt." Geoffrey Chaucer The House of Fame, c. 1380.
The influence of the great Italian poets (Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio) can be observed in the works created by Chaucer between 1372 1384, and even in his Canterbury Tales there are some ideas or characters that are inspired from Italian literature. Among some of the minor works of this period we can mention The Life of Saint Cecily (later made the Second Nuns Tale in The Canterbury Tales) and the Story of Constance. The longer and more important creations are The Parliament of Fowls, Troilus and Criseyde, The Legend of Good Women and The House of Fame.
The Canterbury Tales Chaucers plan of collecting tales and uniting them by a central idea was already evident in such early works as The Parliament of Fowls or The Legend of Good Women. By doing so, he was inspired by such successful chains of stories like The Arabian Nights, Boccaccios Decameron and others. In England, this kind of writing was actually known before Chaucers time (e.g. John Gowers Confessio Amantis The Lovers Confession).
Chaucers Canterbury Tales appeared quite naturally, as to tell stories or to go on pilgrimages was in the air of the time. Somewhere about 1386, the poet planned to collect about 120 to 124 tales and to put them together in one single work, as told by a number of about 30 pilgrims on their way to the tomb of Thomas-Becket in Canterbury.
The initial plan was not carried out though, as only 24 tales were composed and 3 of them were left unfinished, but they are enough to reveal Chaucers qualities as a poet, as an excelent psychologist, his talent of drawing realistic portraits, his humour and wit.
The Canterbury Tales is a complex linkand-frame work, consisting of: a General Prologue in which the story-tellers are presented and described, and the tales preceded by their own minor prologues.
On the 29th December 1170, four knights, believing the king wanted Becket out of the way, murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Henry II was horrified when he heard the news as he believed that it was his words that had been the cause of Beckets death. As an act of penitence he donned sackcloth and ashes, and starved himself for three days. Becket was made a saint in 1173 and his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral became an important focus for pilgrimage.
The pilgrims meet at the Tabard Inn in Southwark (a suburb of London), agree to sleep at the inn and start on their journey early in the morning the following day. The poet, who was already at the inn, is accepted to their fellowship.
The description of all the pilgrims comes next, beginning with the Knight, his son - the young Squire and their servant, a worthy Yeoman. Some representatives of the clergy follow, such as a Prioress, a Monk and a Friar, together with other pilgrims, such as a Merchant, an Oxford Cleric, a Habrdasher, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Weaver, a Carpetmaker, a Doctor, a Woman of Bath, a Miller, a Pardoner, a Ploughman etc After describing all of them in his usual half-serious, half-mocking manner, the poet introduces Harry Bailey, the Innkeeper.
The merry hearted innkeeper has the idea of a story-telling contest: each of the pilgrims was to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. He also declares himself the judge of the competition, able to appreciate which of the stories is more interesting. The winner of the contest is to be offered a square dinner at the expense of the others. Harry Bailey is a typical representative of the middle class people, full of common sense and the joy of life, whose ideas are quickly accepted by the others.
The other pilgrims are representatives of almost all the social strata existing in Chaucers time: the poor peasants (represented by the Ploughman) the nobility (the Knight, the Squire) the clergy (the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar) the middle class townsfolk, representatives of the liberal professions (the Merchant, the Weaver, the Carpenter) and of the learned liberal professions and science (the Doctor) the law (the Man of Law, the Oxford Cleric) the rural middle class the landed gentry (the Franklin a small landowner) All these were genuine members of the 14th century society. In spite of the very large and detailed description displayed in the General Prologue, there are some social groups that, for evident reasons, Chaucer did not want to speak about, such as the court aristocracy or the high clergy.
Chaucer as Portrait Painter Chaucers peculiar technique of drawing portraits is remarkable. He describes each character in a few lines only, yet the portraits are life truthful. The pilgrims' portraits, drawn in the General Prologue and then further rounded off by the Minor Prologues preceding the tales, minutely observe the essential physical and moral features of each character which the author delineates humorously and sometimes satirically. His satire is directed towards the dishonest representatives of clergy, middle-class townsfolk and country people, but he regards with sympathy the hardworking, honest men, such as the parson and the ploughman.
The physical portraits of the characters are accompanied by the description of their way of speaking, their manners and so on, pointing to their education and revealing their moral features too. Every small detail is important to Chaucer, who often goes so far as to insist on his heroes clothes, shoes, horses.
There was a Knight, a most distinguished man
The Knight
There was a knight, a most distinguished man Who from the day on which he first began To ride abroad had followed chivalry, Truth, honor, generousness and courtesy. He had done nobly in his sovereigns war And ridden into battle, no man more, As well in Christian as in heathen places, And ever honored for his noble graces He was of sovereign value in all eyes. And though so much distinguished, he was wise And in his bearing modest as a maid He never yet a boorish thing had said In all his life to any, come what might; He was a true, a perfect gentle-knight. Speaking of his equipment, he possessed Fine horses, but he was not gaily dressed. He wore a fustian tunic stained and dark With smudges where his armour had left mark; Just home from service, he had joined our ranks To do his pilgrimage and render thanks.
The Knight
In the narrator's eyes, the Knight is the noblest of the pilgrims, embodying military courage, loyalty, honor, generosity and good manners. The Knight conducts himself in a polite and mild fashion, never saying an unkind word about anyone.
The Squire
He had his son with him, a fine young Squire, A lover and cadet, a lad of fire. With curly locks, as if they had been pressed. He was some twenty years of age, I guessed. He was embroidered like a meadow bright And full of freshest flowers, red and white...
The Yeoman
This Yeoman wore a coat and hood of green. He had a sheaf of arrows, bright and keen, Beneath his belt positioned handily He tended to his gear most yeomanly, His arrow feathers never drooped too low And in his hand he bore a mighty bow. His head was closely cropped, his face was brown. The fellow knew his woodcraft up and down.
The Monk
There was a Monk, a leader of the fashions; Inspecting farms and hunting were his passions... This Monk was therefore a good man to horse; Greyhounds he had, as swift as birds, to course. Hunting a hare or riding at a fence Was all his fun, he spared for no expense. I saw his sleeves were garnished at the hand With fine grey fur, the finest in the land, And where his hood was fastened at his chin He had a wrought-gold cunningly fashioned pin Into a lover's knot it seemed to pass. His head was bald and shone as any glass.-
Chaucers gallery of portraits is fascinating indeed. Ranging in status from a Knight to a humble Ploughman, they are a microcosm of 14th century society.
The Tales
The tales present varied themes, as their sources of inspiration were also varied, and the characters only retell them. They belong to all types of medieval literature. They were inspired from: the chivalry romances (e.g. the Knights tale, the Squires tale); the burlesque of chivalry romance (e.g. Chaucers tale of Sir Thopaz) adaptations of the Arthurian cycle that have become folk fairy tales (e.g. the Wife of Baths tale) stories based on medieval scriptural stories which have a moralizing tendency (the Sergeant of Laws Tale, the Monks Tale. The Nuns tale) the French fabliaux (the Millers tale, The tales of the Reeve, Merchant, Friar, Summoner, Cook, Shipman) one tale sugessted by the French romance Le Roman de Renard ( the Nuns story of the cock Chanticleer, who managed to cheat on Russel, the fox).
Due to the success of his work, Chaucer had a lot of disciples and imitators, both in England and in Scotland. Among them John Lydgate (1370 1450), Thomas Occleve (1368 1450), Stephen Hawes (1474 1523), John Skelton (1460? 1529) the greatest of Chaucers English imitators, famous for his Colin Clout in which some notes of social satire are to be felt, not to mention King James I of Scotland (1394 1437), famous for his Kingis Quair, an allegory set in the form of a dream, written in Chaucerian stanza.
Geoffrey Chaucer is buried in 'Poets' Corner', Westminster Abbey, London. He was the first poet to be buried in the Abbey.
Chaucer introduced in the General Prologue and in some of the tales a side of medieval culture now unfamiliar, the carnival world of medieval popular life.