LGERM 1324
The History of English Literature I
3. Anglo-Norman Literature & Culture
[email protected]
1. Anglo-Saxon Literature & Culture Feb 5
2. Anglo-Saxon Literature: Beowulf Feb 12
3. Anglo-Norman Literature & Culture Feb 19
4. Late Medieval Literature: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Feb 26
5. Late Medieval Literature: Geoffrey Chaucer Mar 5
6. The Sixteenth Century & Edmund Spenser Mar 12
7. The Sixteenth Century: William Shakespeare, part 1 Mar 19
8. The Sixteenth Century: William Shakespeare, part 2 Mar 26
9. The Early Seventeenth Century: Lanyer & Donne Apr 2
10. The Late Seventeenth Century: Marvell & Milton Apr 9
11. The Restoration & the Eighteenth Century: Behn, Pope, Swift Apr 16
12. The Eighteenth Century: Smith, Goldsmith, Blake May 7
13. The Romantic Period: Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats May 14
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only 4 OE manuscripts, ca 1000 but texts older, Beowulf ca 750
Germanic worldv: kinship, courage, generosity, vengeance, elegy
Beowulf: basic plot, language & style, Christian/Germanic aspects
interpr 1: role of monsters, contrast youth/age, heroic-elegiac mood
akin to fantastical travel narratives like Wonders of the East
akin to elegies like The Wanderer & The Ruin via its mood
interpr 2: in-group vs out-group: unite Germanic vs Celtic groups
opening formula: also an early epic about emergence of ‘nation’
Danes/Geats = like Anglo-Saxons vs Grendel etc = like Celts
interpr 3: masculine? physical combat and mead-hall camaraderie
but 1) Grendel’s mother (cf transl) & other strong female characters
2) critique of unmarried Beowulf (final praise satirical?, cf ‘Bro’)
3) Beowulf quite feminine too: he is a mild king + he connects
groups, like a good queen (peace-weaver)
note: ending can be read as being 1) pagan, 2) critical, 3) Christian
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3. Anglo-Norman Literature & Culture
3.1. The Norman Conquest
3.2. The legend of Arthur
3.3. Courtly love and the courtly romance
3.4. Marie de France: lais and fables
3.5. Marie de France: Bisclavret
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3.1. The Norman Conquest
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The Norman Conquest
1) Celtic heritage, 2) Romano-British culture (40-400), 3) Anglo-Saxon
settlement (450-600), 4) Christian (600-700), 5) Viking raids (800-1066)
Stamford Bridge 1066: ‘English’ vs Norwegian > end Viking era
Hastings 1066: ‘English’ king Harold vs William the Conqueror
see Bayeux Tapestry & House of Normandy (1066): William I
long embroidered cloth (ca 1066) + made in England but AN!
then Angevin empire & House of Plantagenet (ca 1150): Henry II
Henry II: territory that stretched from Scotland to Pyrenees!
x ca 1200 loss of continental territories to the French crown
x 1215 Magna Carta: baronial rebellion against King John
charter ensuring rights against arbitrary imprisonment
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1066: ‘England effectively became an extension of northern France’
There may well have been no more than 10,000 Normans living in
the midst of a hostile population of one or two million. This is not to
say that every single Englishman actively opposed the Normans.
Unquestionably there were many who cooperated with them; it was
this which made possible the successful Norman take-over of so
many Anglo-Saxon institutions. But there is plenty of evidence to
show that the English resented becoming an oppressed majority in
their own country. The years of insecurity were to have a profound
effect on subsequent history. They meant that England received not
just a new royal family but also a new ruling class, a new culture
and language. (Gillingham, The Oxford History of Britain)
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Castelas he let wyrcean, He had castles built
7 earme men swiðe swencean. and poor men terribly oppressed.
Se cyng wæs swa swiðe stearc, The king was very severe,
7 benam of his underþeoddan manig marc and he took from his underlings many marks
goldes 7 ma hundred punda seolfres. of gold and hundreds of pounds of silver.
ðet he name be wihte All this he took from the people,
7 mid mycelan unrihte and with great injustice
of his landleode from his subjects,
for littelre neode. to gratify his trivial desire.
He wæs on gitsunge befeallan, He had fallen into avarice,
7 grædinæsse he lufode mid ealle. and he loved greediness above everything else,
He sætte mycel deorfrið, he established many deer preserves,
7 he lægde laga þærwið and he set up laws concerning them,
þet swa hwa swa sloge heort oððe hinde, such that whoever killed a hart or a hind
þet hine man sceolde blendian should be blinded.
“The Rime of King William”, from Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a year-by-year record
of the nation’s affairs probably begun in the time of king Alfred in the 9th century
and until ca 1150
● story of injustice: describes how king William’s will is brutally imposed on land
● stone castles on the Continental model (loan word from Norman French)
● hunting laws/forest laws: close off public lands for the private use of the nobility
● written inventory of holdings of country, so-called Domesday Book ca 1100
● first English attempt at rhymed verse on Continental model of short couplets
1066: ‘England effectively became an extension of northern France’
this explains why many literary histories speed up in this period
see Peck & Coyle, A Brief History of English Literature
“after 1066, … we enter a rather strange period of hiatus in the
history of English literature; for almost two hundred years there is
very little in the way of a vernacular literature [in English] … at the
highest levels in the period between 1066 and 1200. … The span
from 1066 to as late as 1350 is, indeed, sometimes designated as
the Anglo-Norman period, the French dialect of the new ruling class
in England. A confident vernacular literature only really re-emerges
after 1350, when English increasingly became the language spoken
by those who had formerly used French” (12, 15)
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3.2. The legend of Arthur
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how/why does story of Arthur emerge? tension between Norman
rulers & ‘English’, so it is politically useful to develop a ‘national’ legend
that unites Anglo-Normans & Anglo-Saxons: return to Welsh/British
warrior from before AS invasions > redefine the past to create a shared
vision of society and shape the future, legendary vs providential history
1100-1200: legend of Arthur (NAEL: vs myth, story of a mortal, possibly historical, protagonist)
● Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain (Latin prose)
● Wace, Roman de Brut (Anglo-Norman French verse)
● Layamon, Brut (Middle-English alliterative poetry)
● [Chrétien de Troyes: father of courtly romance & shift to knights]
● Thomas Malory, Le Morte d’Arthur (Middle-English prose, 1485)
3 literary cycles of Middle Ages: 1) matter of Rome (stories linked to
classical myth/history and the siege of Troy), 2) matter of France
(Charlemagne & his knights), 3) matter of Britain (Arthur & his knights)
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primary audience = noble descendants of Norman conquerors + four
important components (prehistory / Arthur / knights / legacy)
1. turn to ancient conflict between Greeks & Trojans: historical truth >
‘foundation myth’ about national origins that helps to construct a shared
identity: Brutus as the descendant of Aeneas and the founder of Britain
2. link to legend of Arthur: 1) ancient kings of Britons (pre-AS!) + 2) ‘had
defeated Rome itself’ + 3) destruction of Arthur’s kingdom = lesson? +
4) belief that Arthur hasn’t died but will return to save his people (Celtic)
3. shift: King Arthur central hero who embodies the interest of nation >
individual knights (Lancelot, Gawain etc) on a quest of self-discovery
rather than interests of state and this undermines cohesion (Guinevere)
4. story remains important and influential, not just as a story but also via
the development of the chivalric ideal & the promise of British unity
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3.3. Courtly love & the courtly romance
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courtly love
older literature: no ‘happiness grounded in successful romantic love’
see AS: mutual love between warriors or between warrior and lord
see The Wanderer: he dreams he clasps and that he kisses
his liege-lord again, lays head and hands
on the lord’s knees as he did long ago
crucial shift to the sincere worship of the beloved as a central theme
of serious literature, special type of ‘courtly love’: 4 typical elements
1) humility: the lover should act like a vassal submitting to his lord
2) courtesy: should show refined manners inspired by courtly lady
3) adultery: marriage = utilitarian vs adultery = passion (triangle)
4) religion of love: akin to religious devotion, yet tension w religion!
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courtly romance: romans = ‘French’ > certain genre (love/adventure)
1. escape into fairy-tale world > entire setting is a test for knight
● space is vague, disconnected from reality
travel from Arthur’s court to forest on Continent & back again
● time is static, disconnected from reality
if you return to same spot after 7 years, nothing has changed
2. self-portrayal of courtly society but about ideal of courtesy vs reality
● real world: test to prove ideal attitude, no practical political aim
● real world: humor & psychology, yet symbolic dimension is crucial
● real world: focus on single class + ‘true greatness’, not everyday
3. struct:1) integration (civ) > 2) separation (wild) >3) reintegration (civ)
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3.4. Marie de France: lais & fables
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‘Marie’, ‘from France’, but writing: spent life in England, 1150-1200
x identity? half-sister of Henry II? or associated w court of Henry II?
x education/multilingual: Latin, Engl, Fr, “Breton” + focus on writing!
x celebrated fem writer + fem audience (appealed to lords & ladies)
see earlier lectures: Hild(a) of Whitby, female figs in Beowulf
famous for her lais and fables, Bisclavret is a mix of both genres
x ‘lais’ = short romances < Breton storytellers (Celtic legacy), popular
in aristocratic circles, written in eight-syllable couplets (rhyme)
x plots involve noble lovers, loyalty/betrayal, signs/disguises, female
agency/imprisonment, magical elements, human/fairy worlds linked
Ki Dieu ad duné escïence He to whom God has given knowledge
E de parler bon’ eloquence And the gift of speaking eloquently,
Ne s’en deit taisir ne celer, Must not keep silent nor conceal the gift,
Ainz se deit volunters mustrer. But he must willingly display it.
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As in encyclopedias (knowledge), moralists (instruction), but lit too
fable: short, didactic narratives in prose or verse with simple/explicit
moral lesson at end, A fable was a popular medieval genre (Aesop)
animal fable vs beast epic: Reynard the fox outwits others &
exposes hypocrisy of ‘civilization’: ridicule the elevated language
and self-image of ‘human’ via satire/dark humor, lesson is unclear?
A versus H: 1) animal chars often embody a fixed trait (‘cunning
fox’) + 2) hints that the story conveys a lesson for humans > animals
as guide for ideal ethical/political behavior of humans/rulers
A like H: yet these stories 1) challenge belief in fixed features of
species via metamorphosis (Ovid, folk tales) + 2) imply that humans
are As too: sex, food, ‘talk’, shared vulnerability (king is an old lion)
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3.5. Marie de France: Bisclavret
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Bisclavret
lai with elements of courtly romance and animal fable
1. main character is a good knight, good lord, good vassal, and
has a good marriage, yet disappears for three days every week
2. wife demands explanation (he transforms into b, leaves clothes
behind at chapel), b trapped with aid of her lover, wife remarries
3. king hunts with dogs in forest of werewolf, b kisses leg of king,
king decides to protect beast, b becomes his loyal companion
4. king organizes a festival, b vicious attack on lover, later also
attacks his former wife: nose > “must be reason for behavior”
5. wife is tortured & reveals all > wife and her lover are banished,
daughters without noses, knight restored after wearing clothes
> 3 parts: integration (civ) > separation (wild) > reintegration (civ)?
wife behaves badly but brutal response too? (& female writer)
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Bisclavret
lai but also elements of courtly romance and animal fable
In Brittany there lived a lord
- wondrous, the praise of him I’ve heard -
a good knight, handsome, known to be
all that makes for nobility.
Prized, he was, much, by his liege lord;
by all his neighbors was adored.
He’d wed a wife, a worthy soul,
most elegant and beautiful;
He loved her, and she loved him, too.
> good knight/lord/vassal/marriage yet goes horribly wrong: ideals?
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Bisclavret
She thought what means she could avail
herself of how to leave this man.
She could not lie with him again.
In these parts lived a chevalier very abrupt change
who had long been in love with her. courtly love or simply…?
Much did he pray and sue, and give
largesse in service to his love;
she had not loved him, …
but now she sent/this knight the news of her intent. …
Kindly he thanked her, and her troth
accepted; she received his oath.
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Bisclavret
unfortunate hunter Actaeon
The king went out to hunt, sees naked Artemis/Diana >
went to the forest straightaway, turned into stag and mauled
there where the bisclavret now lay. to death by his own hounds
The hunting dogs were now unleashed as he is unable to show his
and soon they found the changeling beast. human mind in animal body
All day they flung themselves at him … from Ovid’s Metamorphoses
now he’d meet his end. popular in MA/Renaissance
story certainly known by first
[But] he seized the royal stirrup, put
audience, adding suspense
a kiss upon the leg and foot. … to this episode
“That’s a man’s mind; it begs the king
but saved because of his
for mercy. Now, drive back the hounds! … ‘humble, gracious gesturing’
I’ll give protection for this beast”. > begging for royal mercy
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Bisclavret
Among the knights, the bisclavret
now lived and slept close by the king;
everyone loved it, cherishing hunt savage wild animal
its noble bearing and its charm. … vs keep loyal domestic pet
It never wanted to do harm, (good vassal is obedient?)
[and was always] just at his side, ...
so well it showed its loyal love.
[Bisclavret] ran up furiously, There must be reason, … for
sank in his teeth, and dragged him close. him to seize on/the knight
had strength to hold him as he ran he has harmed no one, not
up to his wife in rage and fury. once/shown … violence
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Bisclavret
One used to hear, in times gone by
- it often happened, actually -
men became werewolves, many men,
and in the forest made their den.
A werewolf is a savage beast;
in his blood-rage, he makes a feast
of men, devours them, does great harms,
and in vast forests lives and roams.
Well, for now, let us leave all that;
I want to speak of Bisclavret.
‘bisclavret’ not ‘werewolf’/not ‘savage beast’? b = ‘speech’/‘clothes’
savage beasts akin to kings hunting in forests? (cf Rime of KW)
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Bisclavret
Surely this beast was Bisclavret. …
When [his clothes] were put in front of him
he didn’t seem to notice them. … story of Adam and Eve
“We can’t expect this animal, reminder: humans sinful
in front of you, sire, to get dressed but why does animal exhibit
and change his semblance of a beast. … shame to become human?
How the king ran clothes near “old chapel” but
up to the bed, to embrace his man, no religious intervention
kiss him, a hundred times and more! king very fond of Bisclavret?
Quickly he acted to restore
king disturbingly powerful?
his lands … His wife was banished. … savage violence necessary?
[female children] were born without a nose.
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similar to fable: short, didactic narratives in prose/verse with
simple/explicit moral lesson at end vs beast epic: moral lesson
unclear + A = moral lesson for humans & species with fixed traits vs
cross-species transformation & Hs also similar to As (mortal, etc)
Bisclavret? 1) related to question of right ethical behavior but moral
lesson is not entirely clear vs fables of Aesop + 2) human vs animal
(speak, clothes) yet A also like H (reason, shame) and confusion
related to word/category: animal/beast/wolf/bisclavret/Bisclavret?
lit history: how to write about As/Hs? A = types vs H = individuals?
x people/animals were described as characters w typical traits
their similarity is revealed via a focus on body/exterior behavior
x leads to anxiety: “distinguish human characters from animals!”
difference is created via a focus on human mind/unique interior
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example of lai too: short courtly romance tied to Breton/Celtic world,
written in eight-syllable couplets (rhyme) & plot w noble lovers,
loyalty/betrayal, signs/disguises, magic, female power(lessness)
Bisclavret? 1) courtly love but it fails twice (marriage, affair) + 2)
3-part structure of courtly romance, yet fully reintegrated/harmony
restored at end? + aristocracy tied to A? king more trustworthy than
wife yet disturbing power like wolf? + loyal vassal acts like a pet dog
why wolf? old human fascination with wolves: both want sheep,
cattle, deer + both are apex predators, but in the city vs forest +
crucial figure in (political) philosophy: wolf is an unprotected outlaw
(see legal category in OE + Grendel & mother “dwell apart among
wolves on the hills”) yet wolf is not a servant-like dog but closer to
lord/ruler, who can ignore law & wield power with a wolf-like ferocity
> be afraid of knight (werewolf) / wife (fidelity) / king (power)
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LGERM 1324
The History of English Literature I
3. Anglo-Norman Literature & Culture
[email protected]
