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Title: Medieval Literature
Description: An overview of Medieval literature and the key texts covered by the era.
Description: An overview of Medieval literature and the key texts covered by the era.
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Medieval Literature
Introduction
Ancrene Wisse
Friars, who are referred to, first reached England in 1224
...
It later
circulated to the wider country
...
The
dialect of the text traces it back to Worcestershire, where Old English was being celebrated as the
optimum language for religious texts
...
People were almost buried in their church and the ceremony prior to this was much
like a burial and thus lived in a confined space
...
Medical treatment was allowed
...
It is by no means unique in its approach, it
owes the themes to the bestiary genre
...
It massive draws upon the classical works of Plato, Boethius,
Lucian and Alcuin
...
Wynnere and Wastoure
An allegorical debate, the manuscript now rests in the British library
...
It contains 4 feet with the normal caesura
and pauses
...
The problem lies with the fact that after the
Anglo Saxons there were very few alliterative poems found until the 14th century
...
The resurgence perhaps represents the poetic desire to separate themselves from London
...
‘Honi soit qui mal y pense' - Motto of the Order of the Garter
1351 - The Statute of Labourers was passed - every able bodied person should take a certain
salary due to the food shortage
...
1352 - The Treason Act was passed - worked out what was actually treason, one of the oldest laws
that still stands today
...
These provide context to the arguments of Wynnere and Waster lines 206 and 317 reference this
directly
...
- He then discusses a time he lays on the grass (dream vision) and saw a giant flag with the image
of the Order of the Garter
...
- Then a debate begins between Wynnere and Wastoure
...
- It is thought the poem ended with some sort of reconciliation between the two parties
...
Throughout the poem
there are biblical echoes, the metaphors for earning money and spending it is likened to harvesting
and working on grapevines
...
Wastoure’s argument summarised in lines 255-6
...
Political prophecies
were not uncommon at the time
...
‘domesday’ (line 16) - references the social disorder and how this is a sign that the end is nigh
...
The Hawthorn is a traditional tree to fall asleep under and appears regularly in
European literature
...
An authority brings enlightenment to the dreamer
...
Both men embody different economic and moral arguments and essentially
summarise that some expenditure and some thriftiness is required for a successful feudal
economy
...
Wynnere has the poor army
...
It creates a classic rich vs
...
The exaggeration early on in the poem allows for some sharp/harsh points to be made later on and
be covered as further exaggeration
...
Kalokagathia - the idea
that you are beautiful if you are good and the other way round
Title: Medieval Literature
Description: An overview of Medieval literature and the key texts covered by the era.
Description: An overview of Medieval literature and the key texts covered by the era.