English Literature: Chaucer And The Medieval Period (1956)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] medieval England of the 14th century a land of small rural Villages and immense fortified castles medieval England a land of farms of large monasteries which were centers of religious training and of churches and Cathedrals where the faithful Came To Worship some of what we know about medieval England comes to us from medieval literature much of which was written in an early form of the English language among the many important pieces of literature of this period perhaps the most popular is the cbury tales by Jeffrey choser the cbury tales written during the 14th century in Middle English is about a group of pilgrims who while away their time telling stories as they journey to canbury Cathedral a famous religious Shrine choser introduces us to the pilgrims as they are gathered in the tabard Inn before setting out on their pilgrimage these people and the tales they tell are a cross-section of medieval life helping us to understand this period of English literature we can group the pilgrims into three social classes these are the basic classes of medieval English society first there is the nobility represented Here by The Squire and the Knight his father the frier The Parson and the monk are members of the second group of medieval Society the clergy the third group of medieval English society represented is the commoners this group consists of all those who are not members of the nobility or church some like the pleasure seeking Franklin the Learned well- read physician the wealthy and pompus Merchant the talkative wife of bath are important well-to-do people other commoners were the carpenter the plowman and the Weaver and so journeying to catb are members of the clergy the nobility and the commoners in 14th century England each group had its own position in society its own Customs its own literature let's see what the lit of the commoners was like what was the literature of this commoner the plowman what was his background the plowman's life was simple he had a home and a family but little else he could not read or write much of his time was spent in Endless hours of toiling in the fields he worked from sunrise to sunset what could such a man contribute to literature at the end of a long day he would return home and there he might sing or recite simple songs or ballads these ballads composed by unknown man like himself he had learned by word of mouth in the same way he passed them on to his children these ballads were the contribution of the common folk to literature some of the most famous famous Ballads of medieval England told of a hero named Robin Hood there are many of these and perhaps one of the most amusing is about Robin Hood and frier Tuck H and tied him to a thorn carry me over the water th ctle F or else thy lifeone the pr took Robin on his back and stepped into the knee till he came at the middle stream neither good nor bad spake he and coming to the middle stream there he threw Robin in and choose thee choose thee Pine fellow whether thou sink or swim yes medieval ballads whether humorous or tragic are an important part of English literature and The Ballad was the literature of the plaman and commoners like him as Cher describes the plaman he was an honest worker good and true and as the gospel bad him so did he among the representatives of the church in the Canterbury Tales is the monk perhaps the monk lived in this Monastery although Monastery life was simple and austere there was time time for literature and study monks were often well educated and they produced a literature that reflected medieval Church Life some clergymen wrote treatises long discourses on religious subjects out of such Church writings grew another kind of medieval religious literature the mystery Play Written in Middle English the language of medieval England these plays were generally made up of simple plots adapted from Bible stories here is a scene from a mystery play based on the Nativity the birth of Jesus mystery plays were presented Outdoors on a simple stage these plays brought Bible stories to people who could not read in coming centuries great English writers would develop the simple techniques of the mystery play into dramatic masterpieces some medieval priests also wrote allegories some allegories are satires on current events told in thinly disguised terms such an allegory is Pier Plowman Pier Plowman is a satire written in verse the author was probably a Churchman he tells us that while wandering in the malver hills in the West Midland of England he had a vision in his dream he saw Piers Plowman whom we might call Mr average citizen of medieval England and the injustices done to him by priests princes and politicians yet Pi is written with reverence for religion was a strong influence on the life and literature of the times but the church and churchmen were changing in 14th century England and Cher monk is a warm and human person who enjoys life and people there was a monk a leader of the Fashions inspecting farms and hunting were his passions he let go by the things of yesterday and followed the new world's more spacious way Cher tells too of the changing role of the nobility represented by the Knight and his son The Squire the knight's ancestors were probably partly of Norman stuff the Normans had brought a new way of life to England their castles were centers of Norman life and Customs feasts were often occasions for entertainment a favorite entertainment of the nobility was listening to songs and stories of the Court Minstrel some of these stories were called romances romances told of the adventures and deeds of knights their Valor and courage their fearsome opponents and their Fair Ladies One famous medieval romance is the story of Sir Gowan and the Green Knight let's hear a portion of this romance in a modern translation a portion describing the Green Knight from neck to loin he was so square and thick set and his back and limbs were so long and Broad that I think he must have been half Giant certainly I believe he must have been the tallest of men and the lustiest in size that could ride on horse his back and breast were sturdy and stout but his belly and waist were nobly slender and all his features alike clean cut the romance of Sir Gowan must have been written down by an educated and cultivated author when this was being written in the 14th century a new world was being born a world which had little time for the old ideals of Knighthood by the 15th century a Pros romance Mort darthur by Sir Thomas mallerie glorified the long gone days of chivalry Mort darthur the death of King Arthur is one of the last romances of an age when Knighthood was in flower or Knighthood was already declining in Cher's time and so through the elegant romantic es of the nobility the simple earthy Ballads of the commoner and the scholarly religious treatises mystery plays and allegories of the clergy we have inherited a sturdy and vigorous literature the literature of medieval England a literature that reached its height with the writing of the Canterbury Tales its author Jeffrey choser wrote the poem in Middle English just one step removed from the Modern English we read and speak today here are some of Cher's original lines from the Canterbury Tales a tale told by one of the pilgrims the pardoner fellows we all on us Let each of us hold up his hand till o and each of us become an O's brother and we will slain this fals traitor death he shall be slain which he that so man slay be goddess dignity here it benath Cher initiated a new period in English literature with his poetic story of a group of pilgrims making the long journey to the religious Shrine in the Cathedral at Canterbury the Canterbury Tales is a mirror of medieval life customs and language most important it is a refle ction of the simple Vivid literature that has come to us from medieval England when we read this literature we are reading the Great Beginnings of a literature that would influence English-speaking peoples for all time