This document discusses Middle English literature from the 11th to 15th centuries in England. It was written after the Norman conquest, when French became the dominant language. The period is divided into four ages: early, 13th century, 14th century, and 15th century. Major developments included the introduction of romances and a shift to more secular writing. Geoffrey Chaucer was the most famous writer of this era, known for works like The Canterbury Tales, which features stories told by a group of pilgrims.

1. Wendy Burgos.
Diana
Castiblanco.
Maria Fernanda
Arias.
MIDDLE ENGLISH
LITERATURE
ENGLISH LITERATURE CLASS

2. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE
It is divided into 4
general edges:
The Early Period.
The Thirteenth Century
The Fourteenth Century.
The Fifteenth Century.
This “middle english
literature” corresponds to the
Medieval period.
The Norman conquest of England in
1066 traditionally signifies the
beginning of 200 years of the
domination of French in English
letters.
Old English literary contains: political,
and ecclesiastical documents.
The English that was used from
1.100 to 1.500 is called “middle
english”.

3. T
H
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N
Q
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“The Norman conquest of England in 1066
traditionally signifies the beginning of 200
years of the domination of French in English
letters. French cultural dominance, moreover,
was general in Europe at this time. French
language and culture replaced English in polite
court society and had lasting effects on
English culture.”
...
“After the Norman conquest of England, Law
French became the standard language of
courts, parliament, and society. The Norman
dialects of the ruling classes mixed with the
Anglo-Saxon of the people and became Anglo-
Norman, and Anglo-Saxon underwent a gradual
transition into Middle English.”

4. EDGES
The Early Period The 13th Century The 14th Century The 15th Century
• Poetry is the
principal form of
literary
expression.
• Several poems in
early Middle
English are extant
and written in old
English.
• Is interested on
linguistic and
prosodic purposes
rather than
literary.
• Continues in the
tradition of Anglo-
Saxon prose
directed toward
ordinary people
rather than polite
society.
• The romance, an
important
continental
narrative verse
form, was
introduced in
England.
• 13th-century
works retain
elements of the
Anglo-Saxon heroic
tradition.
• The latter
portion of the
14th century also
saw not only the
consolidation of
English as a
written language
and a shift to
secular
writing. William
Caxton printed
four-fifths of his
works in English,
which helped to
standardize the
language and
expand the
vocabulary.
• Literary work is
mostly satiric and
combines medieval
and Renaissance
elements.
• Morality Play
probably arose in
part from the
desire of religious
writers to teach
the principles of
Christian.
-the medieval
drama.
-liturgical plays.
-mystery plays.

5. C
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The literary writings are in Old English.
Middle English requires the constant help
of a glossary.
Chaucer's "The General Prologue to The
Canterbury Tales" has long been recognized
as one of the greatest masterpieces of
English literature.
Medieval works of literature often center on
the inevitability, sadness, change, loss, and
death; and the vanity of human grandeur.
The greatest poet of that time was GEOFFREY
CHAUCER.

6. GEOFFREY CHAUCER
English poet
1343–1400

7. EARLY LIFE

8. EARLY LIFE

9. CHAUCER’S
LITERARY
WORK
• Parliament of foules
• Troilus and Crisedy
• The legend of good women
• The canterbury tales

10. Growing audience
A panorama of most serious, often
melancholic, diverse folk of many social classes
(castle, monochrome gray, loyalty to the lord,
barnyard, town)
The appearance of leasure desperate courage
in defeat
Major theme: agony of the lordless man, code
continued but became chivalric
Social alienation, noble and heroic deeds;
agony of alienation, physical hardships for
audience: almost exclusively male
Lords and the sovereign lady
C
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IN THE
WRITIGS

11. THE CANTERBURY TALES
The Canterbury Tales
is a collection of over
20 stories written
in Middle English
by Geoffrey
Chaucer at the end
of the 14th century,
during the time
of the Hundred Years'
War.

12. The
canterbury
tales
(-california
dreamin-
by the
mamas and
the papas)

15. Nobody knows exactly in what
order Chaucer intended to
present the tales, or even if he
had a specific order in mind for
all of them. Eighty-two early
manuscripts of the tales
survive, and many of them vary
considerably in the order in
which they present the tales.
ORDER OF
THE
CANTERBU
RY TALES

16.  The Canterbury Tales is written
in Middle English, which bears
a close visual resemblance to
the English written and spoken
today. In contrast, Old English
(the language of Beowulf, for
example) can be read only in
modern translation or by
students of Old English.
LANGUAGE IN THE CANTERBURY TALES

17. Chaucer's characters each express different—
sometimes vastly different—views of reality,
creating an atmosphere of relativism.

18.  “Long ago in Ancient Greece, a great conqueror and duke
named Theseus ruled the city of Athens. One day, four women
kneel in front of Theseus’s horse and weep, halting his
passage into the city. The eldest woman informs him that they
are grieving the loss of their husbands, who were killed at the
siege of the city of Thebes. Creon, the lord of Thebes, has
dishonored them by refusing to bury or cremate their bodies.
Enraged at the ladies’ plight, Theseus marches on Thebes,
which he easily conquers. After returning the bones of their
husbands to the four women for the funeral rites, Theseus
discovers two wounded enemy soldiers lying on the
battlefield, nearing death. Rather than kill them, he mercifully
heals the Theban soldiers’ injuries, but condemns them to a
life of imprisonment in an Athenian tower…”
The Knight’s Tale, Parts 1–2
→
Fragment 1, lines 859–1880

19. OTHER LITERARY WORK
Examples:
• The legends of ancient Greece and Rome.
• The British legends of King Arthur
• The Knights of the Round Table

20.  http://english.unm.edu/academics/old-and-middle-
english.html
 https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/scott.windeatt/assignments/Avgo
usti_Maria%20Iosifina/AVGOUSTI_CALL1_PROGRAMMING/pag
e3.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_literature
BIBLIOGRAPHY