Etymology is the study of the origin and history of words. 

In their work, etymologists ask these questions:

• Where do languages come from?

• How is language formed?

• How are languages similar?

• How are languages different?

English is a Germanic language that belongs to the Indo-European language family. 

Although French, Persian, and English may look completely different, they all belong to the Indo-European family. Scholars use the analogy of a tree to talk about languages and families of languages. If you imagine the Indo-European language as a tree, English, French, and Persian would all be on separate branches. English is on the Germanic branch. French is on the Italic branch. Persian is on the Indo-Iranian branch. 

Historians and etymologists believe that the Indo-European language family first began near the region that is now modern-day Turkey. Languages in this family evolved as various groups and tribes migrated to different areas of Europe. The Italic languages developed in the southern portion of western Europe: French, Portuguese, and Spanish. In northern regions, the Germanic languages splintered into Swedish, Norwegian, Old High German, and West Germanic.

People have been living in the British Isles since about 50,000 BC. The Indo-European Iberians migrated to western Europe from Eurasia around 6000 BC. They settled in Britain, where they formed societies and raised animals. It is believed that these people built Stonehenge around 2050 BC. Also during this time period, the Celts migrated from Austria and the region now known as the Czech Republic. The Celts and Iberians were warlike people who fought often. During this period there was no central government but rather many tribes and alliances.

Over time, several wars and invasions have changed the language spoken in the British Isles. Around 55 BC, Julius Caesar, a Roman general at the time, attempted the first invasion of Britain. The French and the Celts joined forces and successfully defended their territories on two occasions. A third attempt barely succeeded. The first Roman emperor to truly conquer Britain was Claudius. His troops overpowered Britain's defenses in AD 43. The Romans ruled Britain for more than 400 years. During this time, they brought new technology and built roads and aqueducts that still stand today. 

In the late 700s AD, Scandinavian tribes from modern-day Norway, Denmark, and Sweden invaded Britain. These Vikings invaded, settled, and intermarried with the people of the British Isles. (Viking is an Old Norse term that means “pirate raid.")

During this period, the language of the Anglo-Saxon people mingled considerably with the language of the Scandinavian invaders. By 1100 AD, a new form of English, early Middle English, began to emerge.

Far more important to the development of Middle English, however, is Norman French. Tensions between Britain and France had been brewing for centuries. In AD 1066, the Norman French fought the English at the Battle of Hastings. (See the history of this battle later in this lesson.) The French won, and for 200 years the King of France was also the King of Britain. The ruling classes, government officials, and highly skilled workers spoke French. English became the language of the lower class.

Scholars estimate that approximately 10,000 words were directly adapted from the French vocabulary.

By the fourteenth century, French had fallen out of favor. English had once again become the language of the land. But the English of the fourteenth century was very different from its  previous form. Scholars designate the years from 1150 to 1500 as the Middle English period. Although most English speakers today could decipher written Middle English, they would not be able to understand it by hearing it read aloud.

By the sixteenth century, English had greatly changed once again. Along with increased trade and economic and political successes, modern English emerged around 1500. Modern English is the English of William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser (two of the most famous writers of the language). It is also the English spoken today. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the English language expanded rapidly. There were no dictionaries, so spelling varied greatly. William Shakespeare is said to have spelled his name at least three different ways.

By the eighteenth century, some scholars and authors began to grow nervous about how quickly the English language was changing. Only 400 years after Geoffrey Chaucer's death, they were having a hard time reading and understanding his work (400 years is considered a very short time for a language to have major changes). Authors such as Jonathan Swift, Samuel Pepys, and John Dryden had grand ambitions. They wanted people to be able to read their works for centuries to come. These same scholars also believed that the English language was deteriorating quickly. The rise of the middle class, the advent of the printing press, and increased leisure time meant that more people were able to read. But they weren't reading the classics or great works. They were reading a new literary form—the magazine.

There are three basic ways to deal with unfamiliar words:

• Skip It

The "skip it" method is probably the easiest way to deal with words you do not know; although it does not actually help you build your vocabulary. You may not need to know a word's meaning to understand a passage. If you can put your finger over a word and still understand the meaning of the sentence or paragraph, simply skip it. It's acceptable to skip over an unknown word once in a while. This technique should not be employed too often, though. Your comprehension is bound to be affected if there are too many holes in your reading.

• • Look It Up

The second approach is to turn to a reference book and look up the unfamiliar word. While this is a perfectly good strategy, it is also time-consuming and can disrupt your reading. It's also more appropriate for certain types of reading than others. For example, in textbooks, important words are usually bolded to signify that they are in the glossary. If you've forgotten what they mean, you can simply turn to the back of the book for a quick refresher.

However, when reading a magazine article for information or a novel for pleasure people rarely stop in the middle to look up a word.

• Use Context Clues

The third method is to try to determine the word's meaning based on the context in which it occurs. When you read an unknown word, study the words that surround it. Look for clues within the sentence or paragraph that might reveal the meaning. That allows you to figure out the meaning without stopping to look up the word. Authors, especially textbook authors, are often aware of words that students might not know. These writers deliberately build explanations of new terms into their writing. These explanations are called context clues. By recognizing the techniques used to provide context clues, you'll be able to make sound guesses about what the author means when you see terms you don't know. 

• To read the rest of the Knowledge Article, which goes over ways to look for context clues, click here!

• Or, you can click here for more notes and examples from ENG 9A!

For much of the Anglo-Saxon period, war and land disputes dominated the concerns of most people. From the sixth century, a new force began to exhibit influence and dominate politics. The Vatican sent Augustine to Christianize the people of Britain. The Church's endeavor took only 100 years.

Much of what is known about Anglo-Saxon history and the development of Christianity during this period comes from the writings of a monk known as the Venerable Bede (673–735). Born in Wearmouth (now Sunderland) in Northern England, Bede entered a monastic school at Jarrow at age 7. He stayed on as a priest and a scholar and lived in Jarrow for his entire life.

Despite living in one town for most of his life, Bede was quite a scholar. He wrote in Latin, the educated language of the day, so scholars everywhere could read his works. He translated texts, penned theological essays, and wrote books on religious and secular topics. Internationally renowned, Bede was the most widely read scholar of his day.

Today, Bede is most remembered for his work An Ecclesiastical History of the English People. The history starts with Julius Caesar's attempts to conquer Britain in 55 BC. Bede then moves on to describe the conquest of the Anglo-Saxons, the history of the small fiefdoms, and the expansion of Christianity and growth of the Church.

Beowulf is a historical account of Germanic tribes. The main tribes in the poem are the Danes and the Geats. The text of Beowulf probably originated in the first half of the eighth century. However, the story takes place in the middle of the fifth century (400s) in the midst of the Anglo-Saxon migration, which continued into the sixth century (500s). 

We don't know the name of the author who wrote Beowulf. In fact, the original title may not have been Beowulf. Scholars named the story for its central heroic character. They believe that a Christian poet wrote the epic in the eighth century, in Mercian, a dialect spoken in the middle part of England. Later, in the tenth century, scribes rewrote Beowulf in the West Saxon dialect of southwest England. Many scholars also believe that storytellers passed on Beowulf as an oral tradition for many years before a poet wrote the epic. 

In 1731, a fire heavily damaged the only surviving text of Beowulf. Many lines and words from the story were lost forever. If you were to view the entire text of Beowulf, you would notice ellipses throughout the story. Ellipses are symbols (such as . . .) that represent omitted or missing text. 

Epic poems often have a clear theme of good versus evil. The hero represents what the culture considers the best qualities of people. Beowulf is brave, loyal, an excellent fighter, and true to his word and his people both as a warrior and later as a king. These are all qualities that were important to the people of that time. 

Beowulf opens in medias res, or in the middle of things, as the hero departs from his home, Geatland, and sails to a new land (Denmark). He experiences initiation through battle with monsters. Beowulf returns home after his heroic adventure, but he soon faces another trial. 

The author of Beowulf uses an elevated style of writing that places the hero above all other humans. By using this style, the author honors and praises the hero. The elevated style of writing in Beowulf is also used to emphasize the significance of the story. 

Remember that a style of writing is a tool used by the author; it does not necessarily reflect the manner in which the people of this time period actually spoke. 

Hubris, or arrogant pride, is the cause of the hero's downfall in Beowulf. The character flaw of hubris plays an important part in many epics. 

An epic also involves supernatural elements that shape the action of the story. In Beowulf, supernatural beings, such as monsters, are part of the plot. The text also attributes superhuman qualities to the hero, such as the ability to breathe for days underwater. These qualities set the hero Beowulf apart from the other characters, as well. He is unusually brave and capable of dealing with forces that the other characters in the story cannot. 

One final way in which the author places emphasis on the hero and the plot is by extreme attention to detail. For example, the author describes weapons in great detail. It was believed that the success of a weapon was directly related to the skill with which it was crafted. For this reason, you will find minute details about the characters' armor and the elaborate process of preparing for battle.

• Romantic love does not find a place in the story of Beowulf. The plot centers on male characters and their actions.

• The author of Beowulf employs the technique of foreshadowing to indicate events that will follow later in the story. In Beowulf, this technique reflects a strong belief in fate. The author does not mind revealing what will happen to the characters later because he wishes to show how fate guides the characters' lives.

• The narration in Beowulf reflects the importance of lineage and family ties (kinship). It also stresses the importance of loyalty in the relationship between a lord and his thanes, or warriors. A thane was bound to defend his lord at any cost.

• The story implies the hero's adherence to a warrior code—a set of rules that emphasize bravery, honor, and loyalty. The story reflects the idea that how one fights is more important than the outcome of the battle.

The story of Beowulf includes characters from various tribes: the Geats, the Wulfings, the Danes, the Swedes, the Jutes, and the Frisians. The map shows the approximate location of the tribes during the time period when the action in Beowulf takes place. There are a large number of characters in Beowulf, so it's pretty easy to get confused. Below is a list of characters that appear in the excerpt.

Main Characters

Beowulf - Geatish hero; son of Ecgtheow and Hrethel's unnamed daughter

Hrothgar - king of the Danes; son of Healfdene

Grendel - villain; demonic character descended from Cain (the biblical son of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother)

Grendel's mother -  unnamed villain

the dragon - guardian of the treasure

Other Danes

Scyld Scefing - original Danish king; mythical figure; Hrothgar's ancestor

Beow - second Danish king; son of Scyld Scefing

Healfdene - third Danish king; son of Beow; father of Heorogar, Hrothgar, Halga, and an unnamed daughter

Wealhtheow - queen of the Danes; wife of Hrothgar

Hrethric - eldest son of Hrothgar

Hrothmund - second son of Hrothgar

Hrothulf - Heorogar's son; Hrothgar's nephew

Unferth - Danish warrior

Aeschere - trusted adviser of Hrothgar

Other Geats

Hygelac - king of the Geats; Beowulf's uncle

Hygd - queen of the Geats; Hygelac's wife

Ecgtheow - Hrothgar's friend (dead before beginning of story); father of Beowulf; brother-in-law of Hygelac

Hrethel - former king of the Geats; took Beowulf in after Ecgtheow's death

Wiglaf - servant of Beowulf

Breca - childhood friend of Beowulf

The story goes on to list Scyld Scefing's descendants, Beow, Healfdene, and King Hrothgar. Hrothgar builds a grand mead-hall, Heorot, where the Danes gather nightly. But the swamp monster Grendel begins to terrorize Heorot. Beowulf sails to Denmark to defend the Danes and fights two major battles: the first with Grendel and the second with Grendel's mother. After returning to his homeland of Geatland, Beowulf becomes king and fights his final battle with a dragon. 

476 - The Western Roman Empire Falls: The beginning of the medieval period started with the fall of the Western Roman Empire around AD 476. Prior to this time, the empire had been weakened considerably due to internal problems such as political instability and economic issues. External pressures, such as attacks by the Huns from Central Asia and the many Germanic tribes of Europe, also weakened the empire. In 476, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire was overthrown by the barbarian leader Odoacer. The Eastern Roman Empire, which became known as the Byzantine Empire with its capitol in Constantinople, continued on long after the Western Roman Empire fell. 

632 - The Prophet Muhammad Dies: The prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, died in Medina in 632. While Muhammad and his followers united the areas around Medina and Mecca (in what is now Saudi Arabia) under the Islamic faith, Muhammad left no clear candidate to be his successor. Eventually, one of his close companions, Abu Bakr, was chosen to lead the people as caliph, a word based in Arabic, meaning “successor.” Under Abu Bakr and his successor Umar, the territory under Muslim control expanded greatly. By 661, the caliphate, or the area controlled by the caliph, covered most of the modern-day Middle East.  

793 - Vikings Raid the Lindisfarne Monastery: Vikings attacked the monastery at Lindisfarne on June 8, 793. This date, marking the earliest known Viking raid, is taken as the beginning of the Viking age in England. Viking attacks were known to target religious sites as they tended to house riches and valuable relics. Many Vikings, known as Danes, settled the areas that they had raided, and the existing Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were almost entirely destroyed. The Vikings raided much of northern Europe between 800 and 1000, resulting in a period of general turmoil for many cultures.  

800 - The Coronation of Charlemagne: Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne the Holy Roman Emperor in 800. The coronation garnered popular and military support for the Catholic Church and allowed Charlemagne to unite the areas of the former Western Roman Empire under one ruler. Since the fall of Rome, western Europe had experienced social, political, and economic decline. Warring kingdoms competed for the lands that had been under Rome’s authority. The Frankish kingdom was among those fighting for control, and by 800, it ruled much of western Europe. Prior to his coronation as emperor, Charlemagne, as king of the Franks, had come to the aid of the Papal States in central Italy when it came under attack. Pope Leo II crowned Charlemagne emperor as thanks for his help in protecting the Papal States.  

1066 - The Battle of Hastings: Following the death of Edward the Confessor, the king of England since 1042, the succession of the throne of England came into question. Though Harold Godwinson succeeded Edward to the throne, William of Normandy, a French duke, had been promised the English crown due to his relationship as a cousin of Edward the Confessor. William invaded in September with thousands of troops. Harold Godwinson was defeated by William at the Battle of Hastings in October. This victory earned him the title of William, the Conqueror. The Battle of Hastings marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon period and started the time of Norman rule in England. 

1095 - The First Crusade: The Crusades were a series of holy wars undertaken by European Christians in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. They originally began following the request for help from the Byzantine Empire, which was being threatened by the Seljuk Turks. The fall of both Jerusalem and the Holy Land to the Muslims prompted Pope Urban II to call on Christian warriors to travel to the Middle East and fight against the Muslims. Their aim was to reclaim Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land in the name of the Christian faith. The Crusaders left France in 1096 in what is known as the First Crusade. In all, nine different crusades set out from Europe between 1096 and 1291. 

1337 - The Hundred Years War Begins: France and Britain fought for control of the French throne in the Hundred Years War. The wars, waged between 1337 and 1453, saw major advancements in military strategy and weaponry. Joan of Arc helped end the siege of Orleans in 1428. She inspired the French troops who went on to take several English bastions. Following her capture and execution by the English, the French rallied and won the Battle of Castillon, in which the use of cannons was a decisive factor. This battle is considered the end of the Hundred Years War. It marked the loss of all English landholdings in France, with the exception of Calais. As a whole, the war was significant because it illustrated developing nationalism in Europe, and it brought about drastic changes in warfare. 

1347 - The Plague Pandemic: The bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, swept through Europe in the mid-1300s, killing almost half of the population in only a few years. England suffered the effects between 1348 and 1350. The Italian author and poet Boccaccio described the disease as follows: "The first signs of the plague were lumps in the groin or armpits. After this, livid black spots appeared on the arms and thighs and other parts of the body. Few recovered. Almost all died within three days, usually without any fever." The pandemic devastated the economy as fields went unplowed and starvation took a heavy toll on human life. 

1381 - The Peasants’ Revolt: The Peasants’ Revolt took place in June 1381. Led by Wat Tyler, peasants from Kent and Essex reacted against the system of taxation in England and marched to London, destroying tax records and tax registers. They captured the Tower of London and killed the royal treasurer and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The situation was grim. King Richard II met with the revolting peasants and agreed to their demands. However, none of the promises made to the peasants were kept, and the mayor of London killed Wat Tyler. The rebellion was thus quelled. 

Society was much more organized than during the Anglo-Saxon period, when society was a conglomeration of tribes without any centralized government. The primary political system in medieval Britain was called feudalism. Feudalism is a system of local military and political relationships among those in power. It is an unequal system made up of different levels. Each social level served the tier (or tiers) above it.

Under the feudal system, the king divided his land among his most important lords. In return, the king required services such as political support, tax payments, and military force. The feudal lords then divided their shares of land among their best knights. They required the knights to provide military service and their loyalty in exchange for land.

Knights could redistribute their land to lesser nobles, called vassals. Peasants were the common people who ran the land. 

Serfs were agricultural workers who belonged to the land on which they lived. They were the lowest tier on the social scale, and they were the property of the lord of the manor. Peasants and serfs made up the majority of the population in the medieval period.

With the feudal system in place, knights gained land, property, and status. Knighthood became a social distinction—a place held by those of noble birth. The warrior code from the previous period now embraced chivalry. 

Chivalry is the term for the knightly system of honor in the Middle Ages. The word has roots in French (chevalier), Spanish (caballero), and Italian (cavaliere). Each of these words means a warrior who fights on horseback.

But chivalry was much more than a system of knighthood. Knights were bound to a strict moral code of courtesy, generosity, valor, and skill in warfare. They lived to serve others honorably. Codes of chivalry also said that the knight should honor and serve ladies and maidens. The knights' motto was loyalty to lord, God, and lady.

Click here to watch a video about "The Legend of King Arthur" from the Tutorial "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" from Unit 1.

Most medieval romances would have been performed or read out loud. They are action-packed stories designed to keep the audience's attention. Think of one of your favorite movies. Most likely, some event draws you in from the beginning.  

As you read, look for these literary techniques:

• use of alliterative verse

• use of symbols and allusions

• bob and wheel stanza pattern

Click here to read/review the text!

The story of Thomas à Becket made the cathedral at Canterbury a sacred place to the Catholic pilgrims who journeyed there. The events of the story happened 200 years before Geoffrey Chaucer was born, but it's necessary to know the story to understand the context of The Canterbury Tales.

In Medieval society, the Catholic Church was powerful and controlled a great deal of England’s wealth and land. The English king, Henry II, did not like the fact that so much of the power was in the hands of the church, and he wanted to weaken its influence.

King Henry II had some basic disagreements with the Catholic Church. One of the biggest was about who should try monks, friars, and other church clergy who broke the law. The king wanted the government, not the church, to try these criminals.

When the archbishop of Canterbury died, the king chose to appoint his friend Thomas à Becket as the new archbishop. The archbishop of Canterbury held great power within the Catholic Church, which made the position valuable to the monarchy. Becket had served the king faithfully as chancellor, a high-ranking position in the English government. King Henry assumed Becket would continue to side with him in church matters, including the debate over who had the right to try clergy.

Becket, however, did not take the king's side about who had the power to try church officials. He believed the Catholic Church should continue to hold that power. Becket’s loyalty to the church angered the king. He charged the archbishop with several serious offenses. To avoid punishment, Becket fled to France and began a six-year exile. In 1170, Becket and the king reconciled, and Becket returned to England.

Yet Becket continued to side with the Catholic Church. When the stubborn archbishop officially excluded some of the king's bishops and barons from the Catholic Church by excommunicating them, King Henry II became even angrier. In a heated outburst, he expressed his outrage while in the company of some of his knights. Interpreting the king's words as a command to kill Becket, the men set out to do just that. The king's knights approached Becket in Canterbury Cathedral and demanded that he absolve the men he had excommunicated. When he refused, the knights killed him in the cathedral.

Becket’s murder horrified the people of England, who blamed the king for his death. Eventually, Henry II changed a law that required clergy to be tried in his courts. Because Becket had been murdered for his strong beliefs and loyalty to the church, King Henry II declared Becket a sacred martyr who heroically died for his religion. Becket's body was laid to rest in Canterbury Cathedral, and people began to visit the holy site to see the place where he had died.

Soon, miracles were reported to have happened at Becket's tomb. Becket was declared a Catholic saint, Saint Thomas, and his tomb became an even more popular destination for pilgrims from all over Europe. These devout Christians hoped the holy site’s powers would miraculously cure them of various ailments. By Chaucer's time, 200 years after Becket's murder, Canterbury remained a popular site for pilgrims.

We know more about Geoffrey Chaucer than almost any other English author of his time. Because he was a public servant, we have records of what he did in his professional life. He was a soldier, esquire of the king's household, a diplomat, a tax official, a justice of the peace, a member of Parliament, a forest official, and of course, a poet.

Chaucer came from a well-to-do merchant family that sold wine. His exact date of birth is unknown, but the generally accepted time period is the early 1340s. His parents owned property on the banks of the Thames River in London, where ships docked with wine from France and Spain. It is assumed that he grew up in that city. As a middle-class boy, he interacted with both rich and poor citizens. From a young age, Chaucer was trained for a career in the royal courts. He became an attendant in the service of Prince Lionel, the third son of King Edward III.

Chaucer served in the army in 1359 with Prince Lionel and was taken prisoner during the Hundred Years’ War. He was freed the following year by a ransom that the king helped to pay. He married one of the queen's ladies-in-waiting, and from that time on, he served the king in various capacities. Chaucer spoke and wrote not only in his native language, English, but also in Latin, French, and Italian. His knowledge of these languages allowed him to read voraciously and to begin to develop his own plots and characters from the books he read. His intelligence and his keen observations also gave him ideas for his own stories, which he wrote in the form of poetry.

Most other authors of Chaucer's time wrote in French or Latin, but Chaucer wrote in Middle English. That way, ordinary people could enjoy his work. During Chaucer's time, most stories were passed down orally. Books were copied out by hand and were a luxury. Because so many original manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales still exist, it was clearly popular. The work was still popular when the printing press arrived in England. 

Chaucer died in 1400 and was the first of many great writers to be buried in what has come to be known as Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey in London. Chaucer's life was remarkable in many ways. In his time, it was impossible for a person born as a commoner to become a part of the aristocracy. It was a great honor for a commoner to be buried beside nobility in Westminster Abbey.

The Canterbury Tales begins in spring at the Tabard Inn in London, where a group of pilgrims have gathered. The inn’s host, Harry Bailey, suggests a storytelling competition for the journey to Canterbury. Bailey offers to travel with them to be the judge of their tales, and they accept.

Chaucer himself seems to be the voice of Bailey, who becomes the poem’s narrator. Though Bailey is not described, he has a particular speaking style that readers come to recognize. He serves as the observer of all the pilgrims and their tales.

All of Chaucer's poetic work was rhymed verse. He wrote The Canterbury Tales in rhyming couplets, which means the last word of both lines in the couplet rhyme with each other. 

His stanzas vary in line length, and the beats per line also vary from one tale to another. In general, he broke free from t he then-popular style of writing with four stressed syllables per line and wrote with five stressed syllables per line. 

Most of his rhymes must have been exact rhymes, based on the way the words were pronounced at the time. In some cases Chaucer used alternate pronunciations of words. For example, he used the word again to rhyme with rain as well as with hen.

For a list of some poetry terms, including couplet and rhyme, check out these notes from ENG 11A!

In direct characterization, a writer states the characters' traits outright. The writer might say that a character is lazy or kind. Indirect characterization involves revealing characters' traits through their actions, speech, thoughts, or the way they interact with other characters. Chaucer almost exclusively uses indirect characterization in the prologue to give us snapshots of his characters.

The example below shows the difference between direct characterization and indirect characterization:

Direct: Deon grew increasingly mad about the umpire's call.

Indirect: Deon's face grew redder and redder, and he yelled, "Get glasses, ump! You’re totally wrong!”

The first example tells readers what Deon is feeling. The second example allows readers to come to their own conclusions.

Chaucer uses specific words to achieve indirect characterization. He doesn't simply write that one pilgrim is fat, another skinny; that one is good, another evil; that one is arrogant, another humble. Instead, he uses clear, definite, and specific words to describe each pilgrim and his or her situation in life. 

For more information about characterization, click here to see these notes from ENG 10A!

Now that we've covered the background, structure, plot, themes, symbols and features of Chaucer's work, you should be equipped to read a little of "The General Prologue" section of The Canterbury Tales. As a reminder, in the prologue, Chaucer introduces all of the character going on the pilgrimage and sets the stage for the stories they tell.

This section starts at the description of The Knight, and ends with the description of The Pardoner.

Click here to read/review the excerpts of The Prologue!

The pardoner is introduced in the “General Prologue" by the narrator, who tells us that the pardoner's hair was stringy, thin, and as yellow as flax; his eyes were shiny like a rabbit's, he had no beard, and was feminine in appearance. His voice is likened to a goat's voice. He makes money selling Catholic pardons for sins, relics, and taking up offerings in church.

In his tale, the pardoner includes an exemplum to morally educate his audience. Ironically, the moral of "The Pardoner's Tale" is that greed is the root of all evil. Yet in the prologue to his tale, the greedy pardoner boasts of his own deceit and greediness while condemning the greed he sees in others.

Click here to read/review the excerpt from this tale!

Early drama developed from religious rituals, particularly the festival of Dionysus in ancient Greece. This festival, known as the Dionysia, honored the Greek god of wine and included drama competitions. Initially, tragedies were a part of the Dionysia, while comedies were admitted much later. A Greek tragedy always included the fall of a great hero due to a flaw in his character, often called a tragic flaw. These theatrical performances endeavored to pass on moral messages to the audience and bring on catharsis, or a purging of emotions such as pity and fear. 

Greek comedy, in contrast, was intended to provoke laughter. Comedies presented characters from lower positions in society who were trying to achieve a petty goal. The action was interspersed with farcical and humorous situations that lightened the mood and made people laugh. Greek comedy also aimed to poke fun at political or public figures.

Greek tragedies always ended unhappily, whereas comedies always ended happily. Roman playwrights like Seneca, Plautus, and Terence took up these forms. Seneca wrote plays with tragic endings, while Plautus and Terence modeled their works on Greek comedy. In their comedies, we see the emergence of stock characters like the braggart soldier, the love-struck hero, and the strict father. These comedies lived on to influence early drama in medieval England.

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of the Catholic Church, the role of the theater declined. Historically, the church disapproved of the theater. Church officials viewed actors as people with low morals and believed performances drew bad crowds and sent the wrong messages. The Catholic Church itself came under criticism during the medieval period. Growing corruption within the church and the poor behavior of some of its leaders bothered many people. Yet the Catholic Church did not adapt to public criticism or address the needs of the rising middle class. Despite these issues, people in England did not abandon Christianity. Religion was still the most important influence on the average person's life. Life was tough, and despite hypocritical leaders, the church offered comfort, reassurance, and salvation. 

The church wanted to broaden its appeal and maintain its power as an important institution. Noting the popularity of performance artists such as jugglers and traveling minstrels, it began to change its ideas about theater.

The Catholic Church's first attempt to relate better to the public was through tropes. Tropes were chanted commentaries added to the church service that either explained or embellished religious text. Tropes were very popular, and they gradually evolved from short chants to longer stanzas to entire short plays. Tropes brought the Bible to life and made religious services more interesting—especially for those who did not understand Latin, the language of the church.

Church services became overcrowded, and soon, more space was needed for the tropes. Eventually, the tropes were moved outdoors. Once actors began performing beyond the confines of the Catholic Church, the performances evolved into two new dramatic forms: mystery plays and miracle plays.

• A vice is a bad or undesirable character trait, or an immoral or evil habit or practice. For example, dishonesty, greed, anger, lust, envy, gluttony, pride, and sloth are all vices. 

• Virtue is the quality of being morally good. "Virtues" are attitudes, dispositions, or character traits that enable us to be and to act in ways that develop this potential. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues.

The next development in English theater came in the form of morality plays. Like mystery and miracle plays, morality plays were performed outdoors. They took place in town squares and were most popular during the fifteenth (1400s) and sixteenth centuries (1500s). Morality plays were not based on stories from the Bible or even the lives of saints. They did, however, still aim to teach.  

Most morality plays focused on the conflict between good and evil and the salvation of the soul. They posed the basic question: "What must I do to be saved?" In other words, they aimed to teach how people’s actions in life might deem them worthy of being accepted into heaven in the afterlife. 

Morality plays followed a very strict formula. The characters in morality plays were the personification of vices, virtues, and other abstract ideas. Personification, a technique sometimes called anthropomorphism when used to give human feelings and actions to animals, involves giving human qualities to animals, inanimate objects, or concepts. This literary device is quite common in more modern works of literature, especially in poetry.

Closely related to personification is allegory. In allegories, dramatic characters are symbolic of an abstract concept. Morality plays were more specifically known as naïve allegories. In a naive allegory, the characters, locations, objects, and actions are all personifications of an abstract idea. The characters in the play are not based on real people; they exist only to communicate a specific concept.

Another feature of morality plays is that their authors usually chose to be anonymous. This decision reflected the belief that it was best to work for God's glory rather than personal glory. The authors of mystery and miracle plays chose to remain anonymous for the same reason.

For a refresher on personification, click here for notes from ENG 9B!

For a refresher on allegory, click here for notes from ENG 11A!

Everyman is perhaps the most well-known example of a medieval morality play. It was written in the late fifteenth century (1400s) by an unknown English author who probably translated it from an earlier Flemish play. Over the years, it has been translated into many other languages. Even today, it is still performed on the stage. Everyman is a naïve allegory meant to teach how a person’s soul can be saved from God’s judgment at the time of death.

Click here to read/review excerpts from this play! 

• One major theme in Everyman relates to memento mori. The play conveys the idea that people should remember the inevitability of death. The play also expresses the belief that where a person ends up in the afterlife depends on God’s judgment. Those who keep God's judgment in mind and think ahead to the afterlife will live according to God's values.

• Another central theme of Everyman is the nature of salvation. A key question that the play addresses is whether people are saved by their own actions or through God's grace alone. A more secular way to phrase this question is Are we ruled by fate or by free will?

• A third theme is that of abandonment and loneliness. As Everyman (the character) desperately searches for help, almost everyone turns away from him. He is told repeatedly that he has brought this fate upon himself because of the values by which he has lived his life.