Middle English Period

1: The Normans, who were residing in Normandy (France) defeated the Anglo-Saxon
King at the Battle of Hastings (1066) and conquered England. The Norman Conquest
inaugurated a distinctly new epoch( the beginning of a distinctive period in the
history of someone or something) in the literary as well as political history of
England. The Anglo-Saxon authors were then as suddenly and permanently
displaced as the Anglo-Saxon king.
2: The literature afterwards read and written by Englishmen was thereby as
completely transformed as the sentiments and tastes of English rulers. The foreign
types of literature introduced after the Norman Conquest first found flavour with
the monarchs (a sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor) and
courtiers( a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king) and were
deliberately fostered(to promote or encourage) by them, to the disregard of native
forms.
3: No effective protest was possible by the Anglo-Saxons, and English thought for
centuries to come was largely fashioned in the manner of the French.
4: Middle English period (as belonging to the Middle Ages or Medieval times in the
History of Britain) or the Anglo-Norman period, in forms of artistic expression as well
as of religious service, the English openly acknowledged(adapted) a Latin control.
5: The Conquest affected a wholesome awakening of national life. The people were
suddenly inspired by a new vision of a greater future. They became united in a
common hope. In course of time the Anglo-Saxons lost their initial
hostility(condition, or attitude) to the new comers, and all became part and parcel
of one nation.
6: The Normans not only brought with them soldiers and artisans and traders, they
also imported scholars to revive knowledge, chroniclers(A detailed narrative record
or report) to record memorable events, minstrels to celebrate victories, or sing of
adventure and love.
7: The great difference between the two periodsAnglo-Saxon period and AngloNorman period, is marked by the disappearance of the old English poetry.
8: Anglo-Saxon poetry, whether derived from heathendom(an individual of a people
that do not acknowledge the God of the Bible) or from the Church, has ideas and
manners of its own; it comes to perfection, and then it dies away. It seems that
Anglo-Saxon poetry grows to rich maturity, and then disappears, as with the new
forms of language and under new influences, the poetical education started again,
and so the poetry of the Anglo-Norman period has nothing in common the AngloSaxon poetry.

9: The most obvious change in literary expression appears in the vehicle employed.
For centuries Latin had been more or less spoken or written by the clergy (the group
or body of official persons in a religion) in England.
10: As a result of foreign sentiment in court and castle(the chief and strongest part
of the buildings of a medieval city), it caused writings in the English vernacular to
be disregarded, and established French as the natural speech of the cultivated and
the high-born. The clergy insisted on the use of Latin, the nobility on the use of
French; no one of influence saw the utility of English as a means of perpetuating(to
preserve from extinction) thought, and for nearly three centuries very few works
appeared in the native tongue.
In spite of the English language having been thrown into the background, some
works were composed in it, though they echoed in the main sentiments and tastes
of the French writers, as French then was the supreme arbiter(user) of European
literary style. Another striking characteristic of medieval literature is its general
anonymity. It was because originality was deplored(to regret deeply or strongly) as a
fault, and independence of treatment was a heinous(hateful) offence in their eyes.
(a) The Romances
The most popular form of literature during the Middle English period was the
romances. No literary productions of the Middle Ages are so characteristic, none so
perennially(forever) attractive as those that treat romantically of heroes and
heroines of by-gone days. These romances are notable for their stories rather than
their poetry, and they, like the drama afterwards, furnished(to provide or supply)
the chief mental recreation of time for the great body of the people. These
romances were mostly borrowed from Latin and French sources. They deal with the
stories of King Arthur, The War of Troy, the mythical doings of Charlemagne and of
Alexander the Great.
(b) The Miracle(an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that
surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural
cause) and Morality(moral quality or character) Plays
In the Middle English period Miracle plays became very popular. From the growth
and development of the Bible story, scene by scene, carried to its logical conclusion,
this dramadeveloped to an enormous cycle of sacred history, beginning with the
creation of man, his fall and banishment(to expel from or relegate to a country or
place by authoritative decree; condemn to exile) from the Garden of Eden and
extending through the more important matters of the Old Testament and life of
Christ in the New to the summoning of the quick and the dead on the day of final
judgment. This kind of drama is called the miracle playsometimes less correctly
the mystery playand it flourished throughout England from the reign of Henry II to
that of Elizabeth (1154-1603).

Another form of drama which flourished during the Middle Ages was the Morality
plays. In these plays the uniform theme is the struggle between the powers of good
and evil for the mastery of the soul of man. The personages(characters used) were
abstract virtues, or vices, each acting and speaking in accordance with his name;
and the plot was built upon their contrasts and influences on human nature, with
the intent to teach right living and uphold religion. In a word, allegory(a
representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material
forms) is the distinguishing mark of the moral plays. In these moral plays the
protagonist(the leading character, hero, or heroine of a drama or other literary
work) is always an abstraction(general idea or term); he is Mankind, the Human
Race, the Pride of Life, and there is an attempt to compass the whole scope of
mans experience and temptations in life, as there had been a corresponding effort
in the Miracle plays to embrace the complete range of sacred history, the life of
Christ, and the redemption of the world.
(c) William Langland (1332 ?...?)
One of the greatest poets of the Middle Ages was William Langland, and his poem, A
Vision of Piers the Plowman holds an important place in English literature. In spite of
its archaic style, it is a classic work in English literature. This poem, which is a satire
on the corrupt religious practices, throws light on the ethical problems of the day.
The character assumed by Langland is that of the prophet, denouncing the sins of
society and encouraging men to aspire to a higher life. He represents the
dissatisfaction of the lower and the more thinking classes of English society, as
Chaucer represents the content of the aristocracy and the prosperous middle class.
Although Langland is essentially a satiric poet, he has decided views on political and
social questions. The feudal system is his ideal; he desires no change in the
institution of his days, and he thinks that all would be well if the different orders of
society would do their duty. Like Dante and Bunyan, he ennobles his satire by
arraying it in a garb of allegory; and he is intensely real.
(d) John Gower (1325?1408)
Gower occupies an important place in the development of English poetry. Though it
was Chaucer who played the most important role in this direction, Gowers
contribution cannot be ignored. Gower represents the English culmination of that
courtly medieval poetry which had its rise in France two or three hundred years
before. He is a great stylist, and he proved that English might compete with the
other languages which had most distinguished themselves in poetry. Gower is
mainly a narrative poet and his most important work is Confession Amantis, which is
in the form of conversation between the poet and a divine interpreter. It is an
encyclopaedia of the art of love, and satirises the vanities of the current time.
Throughout the collection of stories which forms the major portion of Confession
Amantis, Gower presents himself as a moralist. Though Gower was inferior to
Chaucer, it is sufficient that they were certainly fellow pioneers, fellow

schoolmasters, in the task of bringing England to literature. Up to their time, the

literary production of England had been exceedingly rudimentary and limited.
Gower, like Chaucer, performed the function of establishing the form of English as a
thoroughly equipped medium of literature.
(e) Chaucer (1340?...1400)
It was, in fact, Chaucer who was the real founder of English poetry, and he is rightly
called the Father of English Poetry. Unlike the poetry of his predecessors and
contemporaries, which is read by few except professed scholars, Chaucers poetry
has been read and enjoyed continuously from his own day to this, and the greatest
of his successors, from Spenser and Milton to Tennyson and William Morris, have
joined in praising it. Chaucer, in fact, made a fresh beginning in English literature.
He disregarded altogether the old English tradition. His education as a poet was
two-fold. Part of it came from French and Italian literatures, but part of it came from
life. He was not a mere bookman, nor was he in the least a visionary. Like
Shakespeare and Milton, he was, on the contrary, a man of the world and of affairs.
The most famous and characteristic work of Chaucer is the Canterbury Tales, which
is a collection of stories related by the pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Thomas
Becket at Canterbury. These pilgrims represent different sections of contemporary
English society, and in the description of the most prominent of these people in the
Prologue Chaucers powers are shown at their very highest. All these characters are
individualized, yet their thoroughly typical quality gives unique value to Chaucers
picture of men and manners in the England of his time.
The Canterbury Tales is a landmark in the history of English poetry because here
Chaucer enriched the English language and metre to such an extent, that now it
could be conveniently used for any purpose. Moreover, by introducing a variety of
highly-finished characters into a single action, and engaging them in an animated
dialogue, Chaucer fulfilled every requirement of the dramatist, short of bringing his
plays on the stage. Also, by drawing finished and various portraits in verse, he
showed the way to the novelists to portray characters.
Chaucers works fall into three periods. During the first period he imitated French
models, particularly the famous and very long poem Le Roman de la Rose of which
he made a translationRomaunt of the Rose. This poem which gives an intimate
introduction to the medieval French romances and allegories of courtly love, is the
embryo out of which all Chaucers poetry grows. During this period he also wrote
the Book of the Duchess, an elegy, which in its form and nature is like the Romaunt
of the Rose; Complaint unto Pity, a shorter poem and ABC, a series of stanzas
religious in tone, in which each opens with a letter of the alphabet in order.
The poems of the second period (1373-84) show the influence of Italian literature,
especially of Dantes Divine Comedy and Boccaccios poems. In this period he
wrote The Parliament of Fowls, which contains very dramatic and satiric dialogues

between the assembled birds; Troilus and Criseyde, which narrates the story of the
Trojan prince Troilus and his love for a damsel, Creseida; The Story of Griselda, in
which is given a pitiful picture of womanhood; and The House of Fame, which is a
masterpiece of comic fantasy, with a graver undertone of contemplation of human
folly.
Chaucers third period (1384-90) may be called the English period, because in it he
threw off foreign influences and showed native originality. In the Legend of Good
Woman he employed for the first time the heroic couplet. It was during this period
that he wrote The Canterbury Tales, his greatest poetic achievement, which places
us in the heart of London. Here we find his gentle, kindly humour, which is
Chaucers greatest quality, at its very best.
Chaucers importance in the development of English literature is very great
because he removed poetry from the region of Metaphysics and Theology, and
made it hold as twere the mirror up to nature. He thus brought back the old
classical principle of the direct imitation of nature.
(f) Chaucers Successors
After Chaucer there was a decline in English poetry for about one hundred years.
The years from 1400 to the Renaissance were a period bereft of literature. There
were only a few minor poets, the imitators and successors of Chaucer, who are
called the English and Scottish Chaucerians who wrote during this period. The main
cause of the decline of literature during this period was that no writer of genius was
born during those long years. Chaucers successors were Occieeve, Lydgate,
Hawes, Skelton Henryson, Dunbar and Douglas. They all did little but copy him, and
they represent on era of mediocrity in English literature that continues up to the
time of the Renaissance.