Overview and more questions

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

Literary periods: dates to remember

1066

1564-1616

1798

Beowulf

It has an oral origin and was written down much later. 

That's why:

-it has so many details 

                  *everyone invented a few more

                  *people already knew the outcome, the way of telling

                    was important

-it contains both pagan and Christian elements

Life-changing event

1066: Invasion of England from Normandy

before 1066: Old English period 

                           (language: Old English or Anglo-Saxon)

after 1066:     Middle English period 

                           (language: French (nobility), English (the people), 

                           Latin (clergy), later it became Middle English.

The Pardoner's Tale:

Study the pictures and the text on pp 10, 11

Then watch the youtube film of The Pardoner's Tale

Poetry often has rhyme and rhythm.
What 'rhyme' does Beowulf have?

What 'rhythm' does Beowulf have?

Look on page 10. What rhyme do the Canterbury tales have?

What rhythm do the Canterbury Tales have?

Both:

14 lines of 10 syllables (5 iambs)

Often serves a s a summary

Embracing rhyme     Alternate rhyme

From: "Amoretti"

'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?'
What does Juliet mean?

Watch these scenes from 'Shakespeare in Love'

In the film Shakespeare in Love the male actor playing Juliet wasn’t able to play at the very last moment: his voice had just broken. A woman who had been present during the rehearsals (disguised as a boy) offers to be Juliet during the debut performance – which is forbidden, no women on the stage!

1 Note what the Elizabethan theatre looked like.

2 In the prologue the bad outcome is already disclosed

Tragic end

-Juliet had taken a potion which would make her seem dead for

  42 hours to avoid marriage

-She had sent a message to Romeo to tell him about this, but

  the message didn't reach him

-Romeo thinks Julia is really dead ...

The plot of Romeo and Juliet 

Read the statements about Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Some are true and others are false. 

Meta-physical

Beyond - science / concrete things

1. A careful balance between reason and emotion
2. A surprising image or idea is presented in the opening lines to immediately grab the reader's attention.
3. The poems interweave lofty, educated language with rather coarse English
4. The poems reproduce the rhythm of spoken English, with unexpected breaks and changes of tempo (changes in metre)
5. Extensive use is made of conceits --> 
   

Conceit

A conceit is a metaphor. 

-Very often two unlikely things are compared.

-The metaphor is extended (= longer and more complex than usual)

-Quite often it contains a scientific element

Example: two lovers are compared to two hemispheres forming one perfect and complete world.

Love III

This is an example of the type of questions you'll get at your test: you will get a new poem that you will analyse.

Answers in 'jaarbijlagen'.

The Eighteenth Century

• Britain: becomes the world's leading economic power

• Wealth based on colonies and trade
• Tea, silks and spices (India)

Literature

• Age of Reason
  
• Rational + balanced judgement, based on knowledge,  wisdom and common sense
  
• Not hindered by personal emotions!
  
• Literature had to stick to strict rules

• Gap between Neoclassical prose and poetry read by the upper class and 
• literature for the middle class: religious works and novels with recognizable (middle class) characters and a clear moral at the end.   
   
• Poet: Alexander Pope,
  'The Rape of the Lock'
  
  
• Novelists:
  Daniel Defoe
  Robinson Crusoe
   Jonathan Swift
  Gulliver's Travels 

Rise of the novel

-Printing press

-Middle Class

-Periodicals

-Travel stories

-Fictional travel stories

-Serials

Why is Robinson Crusoe a typical product of the 18th century?

1. because it is a realistic novel
2. Because it is about a religious development
3. Because it is about slavery and global trade
4. because it deals with rational thought

How do you call words like: a good estate, whence, nay, regiment of foot, viz?

Whose real-life adventure was the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe?

Industrial revolution

Romanticism as a reaction

-Pollution

- Urbanisation

- Reason & science

-Exploitation (French Revolution 1789)

Comparison Enlightenment - Romanticism

.   Poetic language                  .   Natural language

Most important characteristic:

The poet as a philosopher, teaching you how to live.

'The Lamb' was one of the poems in the booklet called:

Position of women in Victorian Times

*Poor women had to work

*Bad living conditions

* no rights to vote, husband was the boss

Difference between the classes:

*Rich women were supposed to be "the Angel of the House"

*Well-furnished houses & enough food, servants

* no rights to vote, husband decided on everything

Rich children

• raised by a nanny & spoiled 
• hardly any contact with their parents
• not allowed to eat at the same table
• educated
• needed to marry a person from the same class

Who was Charles Darwin?

Special for Dickens' novels 

• serialized stories in journals (= installments)
• cliffhangers / some characters are forgotten / influence of the public
• literature available for a wider audience 
• cheap 
• ironical/satirical
• absurd characters and absurd names

Special for Dickens's novels 

• flat and vivid characters
• most of the novels took place in the busy city
• workhouse, child labour
• mostly male characters