O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!

When we first see Romeo, he is suffering from unrequited love for Rosaline, and is consequently coming up with confused poetry full of contradictions ("O! Brawling love! Loving hate! Anything of nothing first create!). However, when he first sees Juliet at the Capulet ball, we hear the most beautiful poetry flowing from his lips "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear; Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear!"...

He finds an excuse to talk to her, by touching her hand ("If I do profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine..."), and they finally kiss. Remember that in real life, courtship would have taken a much longer time, but since this is not the main focus of the play, Shakespeare passes over this very quickly. Moreover, everything happens very quickly in the play, Romeo and Juliet meet, fall in love, marry and die within the space of about 3 or 4 days.

They find out, too late, that they are the children of their enemies and that their love is destined to fail. " My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late!Prodigious birth of love it is to me, That I must love a loathed enemy." (Juliet)

After the ball, Romeo escapes his friends to find Juliet, and the exchange their vows of love with the most beautiful expressions:

"Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, Having some business, do entreat her eyes To twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven Would through the airy region stream so bright That birds would sing and think it were not night."(Romeo)

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life...

Despite all the technical hitches and obstacles, at last we have started to read Shakespeare! After looking at the overall plot of the play, we read the Prologue, which is in the form of a sonnet. Interestingly, Shakespeare reveals what will happen at the end of the play, but he still manages to hold the audience's attention. At the beginning of the play, we see Romeo sufferin unrequited love for a girl name Rosaline, and Juliet is about to be engaged to a you g nobleman, Count Paris. We cannot help wondering what circumstances will bring the two lovers together and then bring about their sad end.

Carpe diem!

Carpe diem! Seize the day! The motto of Renaissance England, where life was too short too waste even a minute.

Now we're in the Golden Age of English literature-one of the richest periods of time for the art in England. After years of religious unrest during Henry VIII's reign and the ensuing short reigns of Edward VI and Mary I, the long reign of Elizabeth I and her love of poetry and drama was an ideal environment for the likes of Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson and, of course, William Shakespeare to blossom.

The Renaissance, a cultural rather than political movement, had started in Italy over a century previously. Chaucer had started to bring French and Italian literary styles to England, and this increased in Elizabeth's time. The notion of love, courtly and divine, was being dealt with more widely in English poetry. The Italian sonnet of Petrarch- a 14-line poem with intricate rhyme schemes devoted entirely to the subject of the unrequited love of a melancholy lover for his lady- was popular with English poets such as Sidney, Spenser and Shakespeare.

This week we read two such sonnets: the first, a sonnet in a sequence called "Astrophil and Stella" by Philip Sidney, who discovers he was looking in the wrong place for insipiration for his poetry - "'Fool,' said my Muse to me, 'look in thy heart and write'";

the second, a sonnet from the sequence "Amoretti" written by Edmund Spencer describing the courtship of his wife: "My verse your virtues rare shall eternise, And in the heavens write your glorious name."

The idea of immortalising ladies through poetry was common in the period, as we shall see with Shakespeare later.

Mid-term exams

Hello all,
No new material to talk about this week, but I'd just like to wish you good luck for the exam.
By the way, some of your comments have been including factual information rather than personal reactions. I'm giving the factual information in the main post, so you don't need to repeat that.

Medieval Drama

This week we looked at the state of the medieval Church in England and how that an army of less than perfect friars were responsible for the religious education of the illiterate peasants. One effective way to transmit religious teachings to the illiterate was through drama, and the first English drama emerged in monasteries. Over time, the behaviour by both players and audience became unacceptable to the Church, and the plays moved into the marketplace, where thy were perfomred by the various craft guilds of the towns. Plays which related stories from the Bible were called "mystery plays" and were performed in cycles; and those which narrated the lives of saints were "miracle plays". Once out of the Church, the subject matter of the plays became diluted with everyday characters and events, as we saw in the example of Noah's Ark (evening group only!!).

"Morality" plays, such as Everyman, developed in parallel with the mystery plays but taught religious principles through allegory. These plays were performed by professional actors, often employed by the king or other nobles and often with the aim of criticising the Church. Everyman tells us the importance of doing good deeds over worldly goods.

Alliterative Poetry-Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Chaucer's poetry was a new kind-he adapted European literary techniques to the English language and came up with a revolutionary new poetic style for the language. However, in other parts of the country, there were poets who were still using the alliterative techniques of Old English. One such poet wrote "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", the tale of Sir Gawain's courageous rise to the Green Knght's challenge. Sir Gawain was one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table.

In this poem we see head-rhyme and the four strong beats of Old English poetry:

"On the ground the Green Knight graciously stood,

With his head slightly slanting to expose the flesh."

And we see some of the violent imagery that we saw in "Beowulf":

"And slashed swiftly down on the exposed part,

So that the sharp blade sheared through, shattering the bones,"

and

"The fair head fell from the neck, struck the floor,

And people spurned it as it rolled around.

Blood spurted from the body, bright against the green."

Some say that the Green Knight represents the old Celtic pagan religion (remember, King Arthur is a Celtic legend; Beowulf is a Scandinavian legend); while King Arthur and his knights represent Christianity. Thus, in this tale the old beliefs are challenging the new, but the new prevail. The "green man" is a common image in Celtic mythology.

REMEMBER: The word "romance" in medieval literature is different to the modern meaning. Romance means adventure, rising to challenges, and eventually earning the love of a lady.

There was a wife come from Bath or near..

What a lady! One of Chaucer's more colourful characters, the Wife of Bath was used to criticise the behaviour of certain middle class women who were fond of money and showing off. Notice how he creates the irony by contrasting her behaviour with that of the ideal medieval woman. Look at the following lines:

"In all the parish there was no goodwife,

Should offereing make before her, on my life."

At this stage we think "What a charitable lady! Always willing to part with her money for good causes."

Then Chaucer continues:

"And if one did, indeed, so wroth was she
It put her out of all her charity."

So we now understand that she only donated money to show off!

Chaucer's colourful and detailed description of chracter mark a new trend in the literature of that time.

There are other examples of irony in the extract we read. Think about "She'd been respectable throughout her life", and the number of pilgrimages she had been on.

Some people have commented on this character of Chaucer saying that she was the first feminist, encouraging women to break free from their traditional roles. However, taking into consideration the predominant attitude toward women in medieval times, it is more likely that Chaucer used her to warn women from misbehaving!

Whan that aprill with his shoures sote...

Now we've left the Anglo Saxons behind, seen the Norman conquest and how the social structure and language of the people of England changed as a result. Old English interacted with the French of the Normans and the Latin of the Catholic church to become Middle English, and the literature changed accordingly. Bravery and loyalty were still themes, but there was a new interest in the idea of what love is, human or divine. We also see criticism of those in power and the use of irony, both unheard of in Anglo Saxon times.

This week we looked at part of Chaucer's General Prologue to his Canterbury Tales and his ironic approach to those who went on pilgrimages.

Anglo-Saxon literature

So, we have at long last started on our journey through time from the 5th century to the 20th.

This week we (very quickly) covered Anglo-Saxon poetry, and looked at three examples:

an extract from "The Battle of Malden", a poem written by an Anglo-Saxon warrior on losing his leader during a battle with the Vikings; Caedmon's Hymn, composed by an illiterate shepherd during an insiprational dream; and an extract from the epic "Beowulf", dealing with his funeral rites.

What impressions did this very brief introduction to the period leave you with? What affected you the most?

By the way, here is the link to the English Language timeline:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/interactive/timelines/language_timeline/index.shtml

Welcome!

Welcome to our course blog for English Literature I and II (2009-2010).
This blog is designed to share your feelings and opinions about the various works we read over the next two terms.
Regular and frequent contribution will help you internalise the material we deal with, and of course will be duly rewarded!!!