Before Chaucer Period / Before Chaucer Age / Before Chaucer Summary In English Literature (1066-1350)

Before Chaucer Period / Before Chaucer Age / Before Chaucer In Middlle English Literature ( 1066- 1350)

Middle English Period  ( 1066-1550) has 3 sub divisions:

I.Before Chaucer (1066-1350)

II.The Age Of Chaucer (1350-1400)

III.The Age of Revival / Chaucer to Spenser / Early Renaissance ( 1400-1550)

But now we will discuss the period before Chaucer.

Before Chaucer Period (1066-1350)                                                        The Background

1.Harold became the king of the Saxons,but in 1066 William, Duke of Normandy invaded England and defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings.Now the Anglo-norman /middle english  period begins.

2.By the Norman conquest England was taken out of the sphere of Scandinavian influence and brought back into the mainstream of civilized Christian Europe.

3.The Norman Who had been Christians for generations planted Christianity much more firmly on the English soil.

4.Allegory became a marked characteristic of Medieval English Literature.

5.One important outcome of the Norman conquest was the making of the English language.

                           The Literature

The literature before Chaucer can be divided into three groups:

1.Poetry

2.Prose

3.Drama

Poetry

This may be classified into five main groups:

i.The Chronicles

ii.Religious and Didactic Poetry

iii.Metrical Romance

iv.Secular Poetry

v.Alliterative Poems

The Chronicles

1.Layamon's Brut / Lazamon's Brut: written by Layamom /Lazamon.Source: Wace's 'Roman de Brut'. The 'Brut' has 16,000 lines.

2.Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle: Written by Robert of Gloucester, influenced by Geoffrey of Monmouth and William Malmesbury.

Religious and Didactic Poetry:

1.The Ormulum: Written by orm in c.1200.Metre is based on the Latin septenarius,with fifteen syllables.It has 10,000 lines.

2.Handlyng Synne: Written by Robert Manning of Brunne in 1303. Based upon the 'Manuel des peches' of William of Wadington.

3.The Pricke of Conscience: Written by Richard Rolle of Hampole.

4.Cursor Mundi

5.Poema Morale

6.Sinners Beware

Metrical Romance

The Romances are basically written in octosyllabic couplet and a variety of tail-rhyme stanzas.It can be classified into four groups.

1.The Matter of Britain 

2.The Matter of Rome

3.The Matter of France

4.The Matter of England

The Matter of Britain: In 'the matter of Britain' the Arthurian cycle covers a lot of romances.'Tristrem', 'Arthur and Merlin', 'Ywain and Gawain', 'Morte d' Arthure' are notable.'Sir Gawayne and The Grene Knyght' is the best of this session.

The Matter of Rome:Among the romances of the "Matter of Rome the Great" is a large number with classical themes,such as the exploits of the Siege of Troy and Alexander the Great. "The Destruction of Troy" King Alisaunder,though long,is of more than average merit,as is also.. There is also a class of miscellaneous romances on various themes and of equally varying quality.'Amis and Amiloun' is a touching love story. 'William of Palerne', has the familiar missing heir theme,while 'Floris and Blanchefleur',telling of the love of a king's son for a captive maid, is one of the most charming of all romances.

The Matter of France:Apart from above poems 'Coilzear' and 'Sir Ferumbras' are the French romances grouped under 'The Matter of France'.

The Matter of England: The romances dealing with English history and its heroes are numerous.Of these the lively 'King Horn' and 'Havelock the Dane' and the popular 'Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton' are among the best. Sometimes contemporary history was looked upon as in the popular 'Richard Coeur de Lion'.

Secular Poetry

1.The Owl and the Nightingale : Attributed to Nicholas of Guildford.It is a debate between a grave owl and the joyous nightingale. Written in short rhyming couplets in dream-allegory form.

Alliterative Poems

1.Pearl

2.Patience

3.Purity 

4.Sir Gawain and the Green knight.

Prose

1.Ancrene Riwle: Written in the 12th century for three noble ladies in eight books.

2.The Agenbite Inwit: Written, by Dan Michel of Northgate in 1340, in kentish dialect.

Drama

The drama may be classified into three groups:

1.The Mystery and Miracle plays

2.Morality plays

3.Interludes

The Mystery and Miracle plays:

In this session there are four complete or roughly complete extant English biblical collections of plays, although these collections are sometimes referred to as "cycles".

1.Chester Cycle: 24 plays

2.York Cycle / Corpus Christi plays: 48 plays

3.Wakefield Cycle / Towneley Mystery plays: 32 plays out of which 6 are common with the York Cycle.

4.Coventry or Ludus Coventriae Cycle: 42 plays

Morality Plays:

Morality plays are a kind of allegory or include in allegory  in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt them to choose a good life over one of evil.

Some of the well-known Morality plays are: 'The Castle of Perseverance', 'Mankind', 'Wisdom' and 'Everyman'.

Interludes:

 At Court or at "great houses" there were performed Interludes by professional minstrels or amateurs at intervals between some  other entertainment, such as a banquet, or preceding or following a play, or between acts.

Sir John Heywood's 'the Four P's ' c.1544 ( Palmer,Pardoner,Pedlar,Pothecary) is one of the best known interludes. 'The play of the Weather' (1533) is another interlude by him.