HISTORY OF

ENGLISH
LITERATURE GRE
NORA TORNES
EN
 THE ANGLO-SAXON

01
LITERATURE AND THE
NORMAN FRENCH PERIOD
the period from the 7th century to the Norman
Conquest of 1066

MEDIEVA 02 THE AGE OF CHAUCER

between 1343 and 1450

03
L PERIOD
MEDIEVAL DRAMA AND THE
EARLY RENAISSANCE: AGE OF
QUEEN ELIZABETH I
(1558–1603) 

2
04 MOVIES
MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
Middle Ages, the period in European
history from the collapse of Roman
civilization in the 5th century ce to
the period of the
Renaissance (variously interpreted as GRE
beginning in the 13th, 14th, or 15th EN
century, depending on the region of
Europe and other factors).
LITERATURE
AND THE
NORMAN
FRENCH
PERIOD GRE
The period from the 7th century to the
Norman Conquest of 1066 EN
 Bring two objects from your house and show it to the class

The first object The second

represents Prepare your
object
“English speech
represents the
Literature” “Medieval
Explain why… 10 minutes…
Period”
Explain why…
 Old English literature (or Anglo-Saxon literature)
encompasses literature written in Old English

NEPTUNE

These works include genres

such as epic poetry, In total there are about 400
hagiography, sermons, Bible surviving manuscripts Old English poetry falls
translations, legal works, containing Old English broadly into two styles or
chronicles, riddles, and text, 189 of them fields of reference, the
others. considered major. heroic Germanic and the
Christian.
 EXTANT MANUSCRIPTS
OLD ENGLISH
POETRY
 The Anglo-Saxons left behind no poetic
rules or explicit system; everything we
know about the poetry of the period is
based on modern analysis.
 The system is based upon accent,
alliteration, the quantity of vowels, and
patterns of syllabic accentuation.
OLD ENGLISH
PROSE
 The amount of surviving Old
English prose is much greater
than the amount of poetry.
 Old English prose first appears in
the 9th century, and continues to
be recorded through the 12th
century as the last generation of
scribes, trained as boys in the
standardized West Saxon before
the Conquest, died as old men.
THE NORMAN FRENCH PERIOD
THE UNION OF THE RACES AND LANGUAGES—LATIN, FRENCH,
AND ENGLISH
The stubborn tenacity and numerical
superiority of the conquered people
and by the easy adaptability of the
Norman temperament made the union,
In language and literature the most
general immediate result of the
Conquest was to make of England a
trilingual country, where Latin,
French, and Anglo-Saxon were
spoken separately side by side.
Little by little, also, Norman
contempt and Saxon hatred were
softened into tolerance, and at last
even into a sentiment of national
unity.
For poetry the fusion meant even
more than for prose. The metrical
system, which begins to appear in the
thirteenth century and comes to
perfection a century and a half later
in Chaucer’s poems.
 THE ENGLISH DIALECTS

 The Norman Conquest put a stop to the progress of the West-Saxon dialect toward complete
supremacy, restoring the dialects of the other parts of the island to their former positions of equal
authority.

 The actual result was the development of three groups of dialects, the Southern, Midland (divided
into East and West) and Northern, all differing among themselves in forms and even in
10
vocabulary.

 To the present day, however, the three dialects, and subdivisions of them, are easily
distinguishable in colloquial use; the common idiom of such regions as Yorkshire and Cornwall is
decidedly different from that of London or indeed any other part of the country.
 THE AGE OF
CHAUCER
The period between 1343 and 1450 is
known as the Age of Chaucer. It marked
the first significant literary age in English
literature. It heralded a new era of GRE
learning. Chaucer’s age also witnessed EN
many social, political, and religious
challenges.
 TA
Open the book on page 8 and organize a
mind map about The Age of Chaucer

12
Open the book on page 16 and organize B
a mind
map about MEDIEVAL DRAMA AND THE
EARLY RENAISSANCE: AGE OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH I

13
 THE AGE OF CHAUCER
A great writer like Shakespeare or Chaucer is generally said to be “not of an age, but of all ages.” So,
for understanding him and his works in their fullness it is imperative to familiarize ourselves with
the influential currents of thought and feeling and sensibility (not to speak of the sociopolitico-
economic conditions) obtaining in the times in which he flourished. Probably the Reverse of it is
also true: we may acquire some understanding of these tendencies and currents, the ethos of the age,
through the writer himself.

G
R
EE
N
 CHAUCER’S AGE-BOTH MEDIEVAL AND MODERN

Chaucer’s age-like most historical ages-was an age of transition. This transition implies a shift
from the medieval to the modern times, the emergence of the English nation from the “dark
ages” to the age of enlightenment. The age was medieval-unscientific, superstitious, chivalrous,
religious-minded, and “backward” in most respects. The fourteenth century, as J. M. Manly puts
it in The Cambridge History of English Literature, was “a dark epoch of the history of
England”.
What we notice in the fourteenth century is the start of the movement towards the modern
times, and not the accomplishment of that movement.
 THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR

The period between 1337 and 1453 is marked by a long succession of

skirmishes between France and England, which are collectively known as the
“Hundred Years War”.
The war influenced fie English character in the following two ways:
 The fostering of nationalistic sentiment
 The demolition of some social barriers between different classes of society.
It was obviously natural for the conflict to have engendered among the English a
strong feeling of national solidarity and patriotic fervour.
THE BLACK DEATH, PEASANTS’ REVOLT AND LABOUR
UNREST
 LITERARY AND INTELLECTUAL TENDENCIES

Latin and French were the dominant languages in fourteenth-century England. However, in
the later half of the century English came to its own, thanks to the sterling work done by
Chaucer and some others like Langland, Gower, and Waclif who wrote in English and
wrote well. The English language itself was in a fluid state of being, and was divided into a
number of dialects.
The English prose, too, was coming to itself. Mandeville’s travelogues and Wyclif s
reformative pamphlets give one a feeling that the English prose was on its way to
standardization and popular acclamation.
The age saw the emergence of the standard English language. This was the single
biggest development of the age as English had previously been heavily curbed by the
 After studying this unit, you will be able to:
Describe chaucer’s age-both medieval and modern.
Define the age of chivalry. Explain the church.
Describe literary and intellectual tendencies.
 Summary

o The fourteenth century, as J. M. Manly puts it in The Cambridge History of

English Literature, was “a dark epoch of the history of England”.
o Latin and French were the dominant languages in fourteenth-century
England.
o Chaucer first appears in public records in 1357 as a member of the house
of Elizabeth, Countess of ulster.
o In October 1385, Chaucer was appointed a justice of the peace for Kent,
and in August 1386 he became knight of the shire for Kent.
 MEDIEVAL
DRAMA AND
THE EARLY
RENAISSANCE:
AGE OF QUEEN E
GR
ELIZABETH I EN

The Elizabethan Age is the time period associated

with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) 
 MEDIEVAL DRAMA
It is often considered to be a
golden age in English
history. It was an age
considered to be the height
of the English Renaissance,
and saw the full flowering
of English literature and
English poetry. William
Shakespeare, among others,
composed and staged plays
in a variety of settings.
“The late Roman Empire,
drama became debased and Medieval religious drama
so obscene that is was an existed primarily, then, to
abomination. This occurred give religious instruction,
because drama was forced establish faith, and
to compete with the encourage piety. There
gladitorial events of the were two dramatic forms
amphitheatre and the used by the church:
excesses of the circuses. mystery (miracle) plays
The theatre was essentially and morality plays.
censored and closed.
 THEATHER’S TRANSITION
Comedy gradually became more and more a
part of these plays as the various guilds sought
larger audiences. Nevertheless, it must be
underscored that within the mystery plays
comedy was almost always incidental; it never
overshadowed the dramatic story itself.
During this era, great artists and artwork were
produced. In most of 15th-century (and 14th-
century, and all the way back to the 4th-
century) Europe, the Roman Catholic Church
had the final say on everything.
Once rejected by the church, the plays came
under the care of the guild societies and were
produced as a cycle on feast or holy days. For
instance, the cycle of plays would begin early
in the morning with a play about the fall of
Lucifer or the creation of the world put on by a
specific guild society and move through the
day with plays concerning the chief events of
the Biblical narrative (Abraham and Isaac,
Noah’s flood, the nativity, the harrowing of
hell, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and so
on) toward a final, climaxing play concerning
the day of last judgment or doomsday.
START THE MIND MAP
PRESENTATIONS
 BEFORE THE PRESENTATIONS

SHARE WITH THE CLASS WHILE YOU ARE

STRETCHING
In the following movies please take notes about the kind of clothes, the roles,
all the characteristics that represent that period and how the language is
represented by the society.
Take notes in the small cards organize them, take a picture and share to the
class
 MOVIES
The Name of the Rose (1986)
 MOVIES
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
 WHAT IF…
The medieval period
Let’s talk about the movies
Get into this link https://www.menti.com/e6vg4u7n8r
use the code 3781 1418 
and tell in three words what is the medieval period

https://www.mentimeter.com/app/presentation/2cb8e7f532398f5217eb892af061f788/9909bf1c04b5
Let’s finish the time line about anglo saxon