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7/25/2019 Livro Proprietrio -Literatura Inglesa I
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autor
HLCIO DE PDUA LANZONI
1 edio
SESES
rio de janeiro 2015
LITERATURA INGLESA I
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Conselho editorial luis claudio dallier; roberto paes; gladis linhares; karen
bortoloti; marilda franco de moura
Autor do original hlcio lanzoni
Projeto editorial roberto paes
Coordenao de produo gladis linhares
Coordenao de produo EaD karen fernanda bortoloti
Projeto grfico paulo vitor bastos
Diagramao bfs media
Reviso lingustica hlcio lanzoni
Imagem de capa daniel rajszczak | dreamstime.com
Todos os direitos reservados. Nenhuma parte desta obra pode ser reproduzida ou transmitida
por quaisquer meios (eletrnico ou mecnico, incluindo fotocpia e gravao) ou arquivada em
qualquer sistema ou banco de dados sem permisso escrita da Editora. Copyright seses, 2015.
Dados Internacionais de Catalogao na Publicao (cip)
L297l Lanzoni, Hlcio
Literatura inglesa I / Hlcio Lanzoni.
Rio de Janeiro : SESES, 2015.
88 p. : il.
isbn: 978-85-60923-35-9
1.Literatura inglesa. 2. Lngua inglesa. 3. Old english. 4. Middle English.
I. SESES. II. Estcio.
cdd 820
Diretoria de Ensino Fbrica de Conhecimento
Rua do Bispo, 83, bloco F, Campus Joo Ucha
Rio Comprido Rio de Janeiro rj cep20261-063
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Sumrio
Prefcio 7
1. A Formao do Povo Ingls eda Lngua Inglesa.As Lendas Celtas 9
Objectives 10
1.1 Britain Peoples - the origin 111.1.1 First peoples 12
1.1.2 The origins of English language. 13
1.1.3 Celtic Britain 15
1.1.4 Druids, War and Mythology 18
1.1.5 Invasion of Britain by the Romans 20
1.1.6 Rome in Need of a Capital in Britain 22
1.1.7 Roman Relations with the Druids 23
1.1.8 Modern Druidism 23Reflection 24
Activities 24
References 25
2. Beowulf e a Literatura Anglo-Saxonica 27
Objectives 28
2.1 Anglo-Saxon Literature 29
2.1.1 Pagan Epic Poetry - Beowulf: A Literary Work. 29
2.1.2 The Plot and Structure of the Poem. 30
2.1.3 Features and Major Characters Analysis 31
2.1.4 Old English 33
2.1.5 Heroic and Historical Elements 33
2.1.6 Pagan and Christian Elements 35
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2.1.7 Old English Religious Poetry 37
2.1.8 Old English Literature: some characteristics 37
Reflection 38
Activities 38
References 38
3. Literatura Inglesa Medieval 41
Objectives 42
3.1 Middle Ages: society, culture, language 43
3.1.1 Life in the Middle Ages 443.1.2 Middle English 45
3.2 Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales 46
3.2.1 The Canterbury Tales 46
3.2.2 Chivalric Code 49
3.3 Chaucer's Knight 50
3.3.1 Chaucer's Knight's Tale 51
3.3.2 Characters Analysis 53
Reflection 54Activities 55
References 55
4. Rei Arthur Histria e Lenda. 57
Objectives 58
4.1 King Arthur- Historical aspects 59
4.1.1 The Enthroned Arthur 60
4.1.2 Was Lancelot the greatest Knight? 61
4.1.3 Was Guinevere an adulteress or not? 61
4.1.4 Did Percivale see the Grail or not? 62
4.2 The Knights 64
4.2.1 King Arthur gives the rules to the Knights 64
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4.2.2 The Symbol of the Knights 65
4.3 Medieval Authors- Mallory and the Legend of Arthur 65
Reflection 70
Activities 70
References 70
5. O Renascimento e Shakespeare 71
Objectives 72
5.1 The Tudor and the Elisabethan Age 73
5.1.1 The Renaissance 745.1.2 Thomas More 74
5.2 Christopher Marlowe 76
5.3 Shakespeares life and career 78
5.3.1 Shakespeares Globe Theater 80
5.3.2 Shakespeares works 81
Reflection 84
Activities 84
References 85
Answer key 86
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Prefcio
Prezados(as) alunos(as),
A literatura inglesa refere-se literatura escrita em ingls por autores tanto
da Inglaterra como de outros pases. Como um dos elementos facilitadores
da expanso da literatura inglesa, podemos citar o desenvolvimento histrico
da arte de navegao, que na Inglaterra adquiriu status de prioridade estra-
tgica, ampliando assim o poder poltico, econmico e cultural do pas e sua
presena e influncia no mundo.
Na literatura inglesa h diversos autores audaciosos, criativos e geniais
que souberam cristalizar em suas obras elementos e sentimentos originadosnas lendas e no folclore, nos sentimentos das pessoas simples e desconheci-
das e nos personagens histricos, reconhecidos mundialmente.
imprescindvel entender algumas caractersticas desta literatura para
que possamos entender sua complexidade e formas. Se considerarmos o cli-
ma da Inglaterra, por exemplo, podemos entender o motivo dos poetas da-
quele pas se referirem neve, tempo nublado e cinzento e rvores nuas como
sinais pesados de solido e tristeza. Um nativo de um pas cujo clima ma-
joritariamente quente precisa entender que o clima ingls influencia direta-mente na personalidade daquele povo, o que fica evidente em sua forma de
expressar sua arte, comportamento e literatura.
Alguns, sofisticados, outros mais populares, diversos autoresajudaram
a compor a diversidade do mosaico de textos que formam a Literatura de
Lngua inglesa.
Bons estudos!
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A Formao do PovoIngls e da Lngua
Inglesa.As Lendas Celtas
1
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A lngua inglesa teve um longo perodo de evoluo e transformao que
perdurou por muitos sculos. Neste livro ns vamos discutir como as
transformaes da lngua inglesa afetaram a literatura, uma vez que essas
transformaes refletem a vida e aspectos culturais da sociedade.Neste captulo, o foco na histria da lngua inglesa e todas as transformaes
que ocorreram por um longo perodo de tempo.
OBJECTIVES
Para conhecer a literatura de um povo importante conhecer tambm seu idioma e sua
histria. S assim possvel compreender as fases e as razes que levaram determinados
autores a escrever o que escreveram e da forma que escreveram. Voc sabe quais as origensda lngua inglesa? Voc sabe quais lnguas existiam antes na antiga Bretanha antes do
ingls? Estas e outras questes sero respondidas ao longo do livro.
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captulo 111
1.1 Britain Peoples - the origin
Archaeology suggests that for over 10,000 years people have been moving inside
Britain and outside Britain, sometimes in great numbers. Therefore, the historyof early Britain has traditionally been told considering the waves of invaders to
the island.
Britain' had no political meaning and no cultural identity and was just a
geographical subject, before Roman times.Arguably this remained generally
true until the 17th century, when James I of England and VI of Scotland
sought to establish a pan-British monarchy. The characteristic of the island has
changed, but slowly and far less completely than presumed by the old 'invasion
model', and the idea of large-scale migrations, once the key explanation forchange in early Britain has been widely degraded.
Substantial genetic continuity of the population does not avoid profound
changes in identity and culture. It is quite common to observe important
cultural change, including the adoption of entire new identities, with little or
no biological change to a population. The British identity was only created in
1707 with the Union of England, Wales and Scotland, but millions of people
since Roman times have thought of themselves as 'British', for example.
Along the history the island contains multicultural groups and identities.
Many of these groups looked beyond the seas, for their closest connections - they
did not necessarily connect naturally with the other islanders, many of whom
were more difficult to reach than their neighbors in Ireland or continental
Europe.
Looking at to Britain in isolation does not make any sense; we have to
consider Britain with Ireland as part of the wider 'Atlantic Archipelago', closer
to continental Europe and part of the North Sea world, like Scandinavia.
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1.1.1 First peoples
WIKIMEDIA.ORG
The first people from Britain, called 'Britons' actually were an ethnically
mixed group. From the arrival of the first hunter-gatherers humans - following
the retreating ice of the Ice Age northwards to the beginning of recorded
history is a period of about 100 centuries, or 400 generations. This is a long
period of time, and we know very little about what happened through those
years; it is hard even to answer completely the question, 'Who were the early
peoples of Britain, or the called Britons?', because they did not leave any
accounts of themselves.
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captulo 113
But it is possible to say that biologically they were part of the Caucasian
population of Europe. The regional physical stereotypes familiar to us today, a
standard widely thought as a result of the post-Roman Anglo-Saxon and Viking
invasions - red-headed people in Scotland, small, dark-haired folks in Walesand blondes in southern England already existed in Roman times. So far
as they represent reality, they perhaps attest the post-Ice Age colonization of
Britain, or the first farmers of 6,000 years ago.
Since the early stage, the constraints and opportunities of the multiple
environments of the islands of Britain motivated a great regional diversity of
culture. During prehistoric times there were plenty of small-scale societies,
and many petty 'tribal' identities, typically lasting perhaps no more than a few
generations before dividing, merging or becoming obliterated. These groupswere in contact and discordance with their neighbors, and sometimes with
more distant groups the aspect of exotic imported objects testifies exchanges,
alliances, relationships, and wars.
1.1.2 The origins of English language.
We can divide historically the English language into three main periods: Old
English (approximately 450 to 1100 AD), Middle English (1100 to 1500 AD) and
Modern English (from 1500 on). Along the centuries, several other languages
have influenced the English language.
In the 5th Century AD Germanic tribes (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes) arrived
in the British Isles from several regions of northwest Germany as well as
Denmark. These tribes were warlike1and banned most of the original, Celtic-
speaking population from England into Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall. Some
of these people migrated to the Brittany Coast of France and their descendants
still speak the Celtic Language today.
The Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different Germanic dialects over
the years. This group of dialects created what linguists named Old English or
Anglo-Saxon. The word "English" actually was in Old English "Englisc", and that
originates from the name of the Angles. The Angles were named after Engle,
their land of origin.
Britain belonged to the Roman Empire for above 400 years and Latin was
brought into Britain by the Romans. Many words from this period were coined2
1 Warlike: blico
2 Coined (to coin): cunhada (cunhar).
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by the Roman army and foreign merchants. Some of these words werebelt
(belt), weall (wall), candel (candle) and win (wine). The language spoken during
the time before the Saxons was a mixture of various Celtic languages, spoken
before the Romans came to Britain, and Latin.The influence of Celtic upon Old English was not strong. Actually, few Celtic
words have lived on in the English language. But many places and river names
originated from Celtic: Kent, York, Dover, Cumberland, Thames, Avon, Trent,
Severn.
Many Latin words were brought into the English language by the arrival of
St. Augustine in 597 and the beginning of Christianity in Saxon England. As they
were mostly worried3 with the naming of Church members and ceremonies,
some words, such as presbyter, bishop monk, baptism and church came fromLatin.
Especially in the north of England, many Norse words were introduced into
English by the Norsemen and Danes, who were known as Vikings, by the time
they invaded the country in approximately 878 AD. Because the Vikings were
Scandinavian, they spoke a language which, in its origin, was just as Germanic
as Old English. This language was called Old Norse.
Check the following table:
UNTIL 449 Celtish
450 TO 1100 A.D. Old English
1100 TO 1500 Middle English
1500 TO 1800 Early Modern English
1800 UNTIL TODAY Late Modern English
As we can see, the English language formation is full of invasions, battles,
wars. Actually, it has a very violent origin, for all of those invasions did not
happen without fights and battles. For this reason, the first works of English
Literature always mention heroes, battles, courage and bravery as their highest
values.
3 Worried: preocupado
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captulo 115
1.1.3 Celtic Britain
According to Britain Express (2010), the Celts had many particular characteristics.
Who were they? The Iron Age can be considered the age of the "Celts" inBritain. For over 500 years until the first Roman invasion, the Celtic culture spread
throughout the British Islands. To define who they were, we can say that it is a
modern and romantic reinterpretation
of history to say that there is something
called a "Celtic" people. Tribes of warriors4
who certainly wouldnt have considered
themselves as one unified people at the
time is a good definition of Celts.The "Celts", as we traditionally regard
them, exist mainly in the magnificence
of their art and the words of the Romans
who fought them. The trouble with the
reports made by the Romans is that
they were a mix of reports and political
propaganda. It was politically common
for the Celtic peoples5 to be considered
barbarians and the Romans a great
civilizing force. And history written by
the winners is always biased.
Where did they come from?over
the centuries between 500 - 100 B.C.
is the period that the people we call
Celts progressivelycame into Britain.
The Celts were very divided and given
to fighting each other, so the idea of a
Celtic invasion would have been out of
question. Possibly there has never been an organized Celtic invasion.
The Celts were a group of peoples weakly linked by cultural expression,
language and religion, which were very similar. They were the people who brought
iron working to the British Islands. Nevertheless, they did not have a central
government, and they liked to fight each other and also against any non-Celt as
well. They considered themselves great warriors, conquering the glories of battle.
4 Warriors: guerreiros
5 Peoples: povos
WIKIPEDIA.ORG
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The use of iron had awesome impacts. First, it changed trade and caused
local independence. During the Bronze Age trade was essential, because it was
not easy to find the necessary material to make bronze. Iron, on the other hand,
was relatively cheap and available almost everywhere.
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captulo 117
There are studies that have demonstrated that, in some scientific and economic aspects,
the Celts were much more precise than the Romans. Calendars in Pre-Roman Celtic
times were more accurate than the Roman ones. Possibly, they were more precise
than the calendar we use nowadays, the Gregorian calendar. Besides, compared to the
Roman world, the Celtic world was much more decentralized and several Celtic towns
had high stone walls (up to five kilometers long) similar to those of Rome.
The curious thing about the Celts is that we don't know whether the hill 6
forts were built by the Britons who inhabited the island to defend themselves
from the Celts, or the Celts built them, as they moved their way into more
dangerous territory. The hill forts were often small constructions on defensiblehilltops. Some are very small and probably had no practical use for more than
an individual family, though over time many larger forts were built. The time of
the "Celtic conversion" of Britain saw a huge growth in the number of hill forts
throughout the region.
The clan was the basic unit of Celtic life, a kind of extended family. The term
"family" is a bit weird for them, because the Celts practiced a peculiar form of
child breeding; they didn't really raise them instead, they farmed them out.
Foster parents, often the brother of the real mother, actually raised the children.
When the Celts weren't fighting, they were farmers. One of the amazing
innovation that they brought to Britain was the iron plough7. Earlier ploughs
were really weird, basically a stick with a pointed end harnessed behind two
oxen. They were adequate only for ploughing the light upland soils. The heavier
iron ploughs were an agricultural revolution all by themselves, once they made
it possible for the first time to cultivate the rich valley and lowland soils.
Concerning the role of women, the Celts owned the lands communally, and
wealth was mainly based on the size of the cattle herd8 a person could have.
The role of women was better than in most societies of that time. They had the
option of becoming war leaders and they were equal to men, they had their own
property, and could choose their own husbands.
6 Hill: colina, morro
7 Plough: arado8 Herd: rebanho
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A written Celtic language was developed after Christian times, so for much
of Celtic history they had just oral language to transmit their culture, specifically
with poets and storytellers. These were very relevant to the Celts, and much of
what we know of their history and traditions comes to us today because of oldtales and poems
1.1.4 Druids, War and Mythology
They were a sort of glue that kept Celtic culture together. The Druids had their
own universities, in which knowledge and their tradition was passed on. They
had the privilege of addressing the king in council, and may have had even more
authority than the king himself. They upheld the law and were ambassadors inwar times, besides composing verse. There has been a lot of nonsense written
about Druids, but they were very interesting; a sort of special priests, political
advisors, teachers and healers.
When it comes to their religion, their enemies in battle could have their
heads cut off and shown as trophies. This may look barbaric, but to the Celt
the head was considered the center of spiritual power. Therefore, in order to
get that power for themselves they got the head of an enemy. From what we
know of the Celts, they held many of their religious ceremonies in the forests
and near sacred water, such as springs. But, as we saw, one thing we do know:
the Celts valued human heads.
The biggest problem with the
Celts was that they simply loved war
and wanted to fight all the time,
even among themselves.The Celts
loved war, but each tribe fought
on their own, which meant that
this cost them the control of the
island. If a war wasn't taking place
at the moment, it was necessary to
start one. In addition, they enjoyed
dressing themselves as scary
as possible, sometimes dyeing
themselves in blue and going into
battle completely naked, screaming
loudly towards their enemies.
WIKIMEDIA.ORG
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captulo 119
With elaborate weaponry and clothes, they had huge pride in their
appearance in battle, with fancy helmets and bright shields for instance.
Once the Romans and Celts were enemies, Roman descriptions of Celtic
customs were often unfavorable. The Celts had an intense mythology andthey did not, however, record their myths in writing, once they had hundreds
of tales, passed on orally. Celtic mythology, according to our knowledge of the
villains, the gods and the heroes. Came from other sourcesespecially Roman.
Nevertheless, the Romans sometimes used Roman names to Celtic gods, so
their accounts were not always trustworthy.
WIKIMEDIA.ORG
One tale from Celtic mythology is The Tragedy of Deirdre.Forced to live with
Conchobar, the king, the sad Deirdre is unhappy and makes clear to the king that
she hates him. In the end of the story, Deirdre kills herself by hitting her head
against a rock. Deirdre's tragic tale inspired plays, poetry, etc.
Each tribe worshipped a certain god, who protected and took care of the tribe.
Some of them shared characteristics. Dagda, for example, is Irelands god of life
and death. The Celts worshiped a variety of gods who appeared in their tales. Most
were local deities and very powerful rather than gods with specific characteristics.
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There were a large number of relevant female deities among the Celts.Some
of them had more clear roles. These included the "Great Queen" Morrigan,
who appeared during battle as ravens. The horse goddess Epona, who was
associated with death, fertility and water.Another deity was Brigit, goddess ofmetalworking, learning and healing therefore a very important goddess.
The supernatural played an important role in Celtic mythology as well as
magic and magicians. A common theme was the magic cauldron. The cauldron
of plenty was never empty and supplied great amount of food. The cauldron
of rebirth brought slain warriors to life again. Merlin, in the Arthurian legends
actually was Myrddin, a magician in the Welsh tales.
Other important themes in the myths were voyages to mysterious and
dangerous lands and larger-than-life heroes. The heroes experienced all sortsof adventures and often had to perform impossible tasks before marrying their
loved ones. Love, romance, and mischief also figured prominently. The gods
played tricks on humans and on one another. Animals changed shape at will.
CONNECTION
Acesse o link http://www.misteriosantigos.com/celtas.htm para obter mais informaes
sobre os Celtas.
1.1.5 Invasion of Britain by the Romans
For what reason did the Romans decide, in 43 AD, to invade Britain? Their
empire already extended from the northern Rhineland to the Sahara, and from
the Channel coast until the Caucasus.
The important era of conquest had ended a few decades before. In the
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, three legions had been destroyed by rebellious
Germanic tribesmen in 9 AD, and the emperor Augustus concluded that the
empire extended too much and stopped to call for new wars of conquest.
Britain was an afterthought. Military security was not a reason, once the
Channel was a very effective a frontier against invasions. Economics was not the
reason, once the rulers of Rome were already the wealthiest men in all times.
What would be better than a glorious victory in Britain to help Claudius secure
his throne?
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captulo 121
The invasion of Britain was a war of prestige. The 'mad' emperor Caligula
had been murdered in 41 AD, and an nebulous member of the imperial family,
Claudius, had been elevated to the throne. The new emperor faced opposition
from the Senate, Rome's House of Lords. Claudius needed a quick political fixto secure his throne. What better than a glorious military victory in Britain?
In a few centuries, the Roman army had transformed the country from a
small city-state into the biggest empire of its time. War was very profitable, once
tribute, booty and slaves made Roman conquests more than pay for themselves.
MEUN
IERD|DREAMSTIME.COM
Julius Caesar had invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC, focusing on conquest,
but before he had beaten British guerrilla resistance, there was revolt in Gaul
(todays France) and he was sent away
Britain had remained free and mysterious, dangerous, exotic. In the
popular Roman imagination, Britain was a place of wetland and forest, fog
and mizzle, inhabited by violent blue-painted warriors. Here was a fine testing-
ground of an emperor's fitness to rule.For the Claudian invasion, an army of
40,000 professional soldiers half citizen-legionaries, half auxiliaries recruited
on the wilder edge of the empire - were landed in Britain under the command
of Aulus Plautius.
The queen of the Iceni tribe, Boudicca, came close to beat the invaders,
but the presence of Claudius himself made the Romans storm into the enemy
capital at Camulodunum (present-day Colchester).
But resistance continued elsewhere. Pushing into the southwest of
Britain, the Romans fought a war of sieges to diminish the great Iron Age
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cliff forts of the western tribes. Driving through and beyond the Midlands,
they encountered stiffening opposition as they approached Wales, where the
fugitive Catuvellaunian prince, Caratacus, rallied the Welsh tribes on a new
anti-Roman front.The oppression of the Roman empires left deep marks on the peoples in the
Wales surrounding region. The diverse tribes joined forces to try to expel the
common enemy (namely Rome) and almost succeeded in doing so. The place
that is now called Moray, faced a Roman occupation in 84 AD. At that time,
northern Britain fell under Roman forces. This represented the settlement of
Rome in Britain status that was due to last for centuries ahead.
1.1.6 Rome in Need of a Capital in Britain
A small settlement that already existed was adjusted to become a centre of
trade and administration. The Romans named it Londinium, which is todays
London. But the first Roman capital in Britannia, that was a new province, was
at Colchester. The Thames River was a communication and transport highway
and it didn't take long until the Romans realize its strategic importance.
London became the heart at the center of a major network of roads built
basically to serve troop movement and administrative communication. Not
exactly by accident they also served the expansion of trade that rapidly made
London the most important town, and even the capital, of the new province of
Britannia.
Instead of trying to conquer with force, Romans defined "client kingdoms"
on the territory borders that they controlled directly. The Romans, therefore,
followed the formula in Britain, once it had been successful in other places.The
basic idea was that, in return for not being attacked, certain Celtic tribes agreed
to ally to Rome. While the process of mopping up resistance continued, treaties
with northern tribes and in East Anglia protected the frontiers.
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captulo 123
The stereotype that most people have regarding a Celtic warrior is a man wearing long
hair and beard. Actually, their hair was cut short, and they were also shaven. The Celts
did not wish to work together or have any kind of cooperation with Rome. Concerning
their military power, they were able to face the romans, but were defeated due to a
lack of interest of the different tribes in joining forces to face their fierce and common
enemy.
1.1.7 Roman Relations with the Druids
The Druids represented real political and administrative authority,not justa hierarchy in their religion. According to Roman standards, they could be
tolerant with peoples they conquered and their religions. Despite this, they
were genuinely horrified by what they considered the uncivilized practices of
the Celtic Druids. Eradicating the Druids became important to Rome.
The Romans saw themselves with the right and the duty to expand the
Empire and apply the Roman way of life as a benefit for the civilization they
conquered. The same attitude was employed centuries later exactly by what
later became the British Empire.
1.1.8 Modern Druidism
Like occurred during the New
Age movement, Druidism can adapt
to a huge range of spiritual beliefs.
So, those who are monotheists,
polytheists, animists, orpantheists
can adopt the philosophy of
Druidism, which also is a religion
that was used by the Druids. A
nature-based religion, Druidism has
many elements that are similar to
New Age, but with anancestry focus
and nature focus. It has no sacred
Scripture, neither official dogma, so
WIC|DREAMSTIME.COM
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it can take many forms. Polytheistic Druids believed in gods and goddesses, and
Monotheistic Druids believed in a god or goddess. Pantheistic and animistic
Druids did not accept a personal God, who would exist in all things.
Druidism depends on the individual and the way that he or she has chosena god, besides the practice of tolerance of many diverse philosophical and
spiritual traditions and it explains that one belief is not different from others.
To become a Druid one had to learn stories and stand intensive training for
years. There were the healers, the philosophers and teachers.
REFLECTION
Most artifacts that are classified as Celtic, like the weaponry, jewelry, the hill-forts and artwere not really related to ethnicity. They were more closely related to military, political and
religious characteristics. We have to take into consideration the ever-present cultural sharing
that typically occur when boundaries between diverse cultures are crossed. One important
fact that should be taken into consideration is that it were the monks in the middle Ages who
told us most of what is known about the mythology of the Celts. Their studies are based on
manuscripts that recount most of the myths, legends and other forms of culture and life of the
ancient Celts. As in other moments in history, sometimes certain facts are recorded in writing
centuries after the events actually took place.
ACTIVITIES
A literatura baseada no ingls antigo (Old English) no muito extensa, como puderam
observar ao longo desta unidade.
01. Como exerccio de reflexo, enumere algumas caractersticas dos textos escritos em
Old English.
EXPENDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Schtz, Ricardo. "Histria da Lngua Inglesa." English Made in Brazil . Online. 01 de outubro de 2013.
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REFERENCES
BLOOM, H. O Cnone Ocidental. Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 1995
BRITAIN EXPRESS. Celtic Britain. Disponvel em: . Acesso em 07 fev. 2015.
BRITAIN EXPRESS. Roman Invasion. Disponvel em: . Acesso em: 07 fev. 2015.
CARM What is Druidism? Disponvel em: https://carm.org/druidism. Acesso em: 17 fev. 2015
Celtic Mithology. Disponvel em: http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Ca-Cr/Celtic-Mythology.
html#ixzz3SgZnEsyq
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Beowulf ea Literatura
Anglo-Saxonica
2
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O incio da literatura inglesa marcado pelo incio da lngua inglesa. A
Bretanha j possua povos nativos, os Celtas, e sofreu diversas invases e
influncias culturais ao longo dos sculos: romanos, vikings e outros povos
germnicos, gauleses, etc. Deste caldeiro de lnguas emergiu aquela quehoje chamamos de ingls antigo (Old English). A primeira obra escrita nesse
idioma foi Beowulf, um pico de autor desconhecido que retrata a figura do
heri Anglo-Saxo que auxilia um rei a salvar seu reino de um terrvel monstro.
Apesar de ser considerada a primeira obra escrita em ingls, os eventos no
se desenrolam na Bretanha e sim na Sucia. Neste captulo voc vai conhecer
melhor este grande heri da literatura inglesa e compreender as caractersticas
da literatura anglo-saxnica.
OBJECTIVES
Neste captulo voc ver que s anglo-saxes produziram excelente literatura, com temas
picos, religiosos e histricos. Sua poesia se caracterizou por complicadas e belas metforas
e jogos de palavras. Voc compreender a importncia da literatura anglo-saxonica e sua
influncia na literatura contempornea. Entender, tambm, os conceitos de tradio, glria
e honra com base no poema pico Bewoulf.
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2.1 Anglo-Saxon Literature
The Saxons, Angles, and Jutes invaded Celtic Britain in the first half of the fifth
century (the Old English or Anglo-Saxon period) up till the conquest in 1066 byWilliam of Normandy.
The Anglo-Saxons began to develop a specific type of written literature after
their Christian conversion in the 7thcentury, once before that timetheir literature
had been mainly oral. The development of literacy, learning and cultural life in
the Anglo-Saxon England was influenced by the Church and the Benedictine
foundations. Besides that, their Latin culture played an important role in many
Anglo-Saxon poems, since scribal effort had been spent on the new language of
culture: Latin. King Alfred was the main reason why this was possible, due to thefurther development of the programs in the late tenth century.
Even though very little of it survives, Anglo-Saxon England is considered
very rich in poetry. Nevertheless, the available part of Anglo-Saxon literature,
which means little more than 30,000 lines, no more than that, is present in just
four books, which were manuscripted. There is hardly no survival of purely pre-
Christian compositions. The little survival of poetry was thanks to the Church:
the result of the monastic revival in the last ten centuries.
What is known as Old English literature comes from the Anglo-Saxon period,
which was composed in the vernacular Anglo-Saxon. Pagan Elegies and Pagan
Epic Poetry, Latin Writings and Old English Prose, and Old English Christian
Poetry are included and considered early national poetry.
2.1.1 Pagan Epic Poetry - Beowulf: A Literary Work.
Beowulf is the main Anglo-Saxon epic poem and has mysterious origin. Nobody
knows who was the writer, when e where it was written or even the reason
why it was written. Beowulf is a poem in the form of a narrative of 3,182 lines,
written sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries and transmitted in a
manuscript.
Beowulf survived in only one version, in a manuscript copy that can be seen
at the British Museum. The dating of this copy of Beowulf manuscript is still
contradictory: some put it as early as 700 AD, while others think it was probably
made by scribes of about the year 1000 AD. King Alfred admired Beowulf in the
ninth century.
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The poem was printed in 1815 and is the longest Old English poem. Some
Beowulf translations contain a prologue and numbered sections; however, the
division of the text into numbered sections does not happen in other translations.
Beowulf literary creation is traditionally placed in the Northumbria, at the ageof Bede, who died in 735.
2.1.2 The Plot and Structure of the Poem.
The main part of the story is Beowulf's fights against two monsters:Grendel, a
male, and his mother, a dragon. Beowulf is the hero of the poem.In general, the
poem depicts two stories: the first is the youth of Beowulf and the second the
old age of Beowulf. Beowulf is the hero of the Geats. The poem also introducesmany incidental stories and digressions.
In the first part Beowulf is young and reaches glory in a foreign land
by fighting and exterminating
Grendel, a monster who has been
attacking Heorot, the hall of the
Danish King Hrothgar. Then the
hero kills Grendel's mother, who
comes the next night to vindicate
her son, in an underwater cave.
After ruling his country
remarkably well for fifty years,
Beowulf is an old man in the second
part of the story. A dragon shows up
and attacks his kingdom, just like
Grendel had done years before.
Beowulf has to fight the dragon and,
for this new challenge, requests the
manufacture of a fireproof shield.
In the end of the fight, Beowulf kills
the dragon with the help of Wiglaf, but falls mortally wounded. After his death,
the poem ends describing Beowulfs funeral.
WIKIPEDIA.ORG
The monster Grendel.
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The story of Beowulf represent the pagan heroic way of life. When he fights
Grendel, he makes a choice and gets himself in a situation that allows no
coming back. He has to live his heroic life until destiny claims for his life, and
this fate, As stated before, he cannot quit.
2.1.3 Features and Major Characters Analysis
Not only in its central character but also in its world and values, Beowulfis a
typical heroic poem. Warriors are sometimes celebrating and sometimes
fighting, and they are devoted to heroic acts and glory. However, the poem has
a variety of specific characteristics: Beowulf as an epic; Historical Elements;
Heroic Legend; Pagan and Christian Elements;Allegorical Elements; andNordic and Germanic Elements. Lets see now some features of the main
characters of the poem.
Hrothgar: Until Grendel terrorizes his kingdom, the king of the Danes,
Hrothgar, enjoys prosperity and military success. He is a paternal figure to
Beowulf and a model for the king that Beowulf is fated to become. Nevertheless,
the leadership shown by Hrothgar, a wise and older ruler,is different from that
shown by the young warrior Beowulf.
Beowulf: strong and fearless, is the prince of Geats, "the greatest of all
heroes". Once he makes a promise, he stands by his word, by whatever cost,
even at the cost of his own life. He wants to be there for the people who are in
great need to be saved from evil. He signifies the true heroic character because
he is willing to risk his life for his ideals. Beowulf defeats three abominable
monsters, two of which are descendants of Cain.
Grendel: He is a monster that is half-man and half-beast. He is the first
monster that Beowulf kills. Also he is enormous and has superhuman strength,
which makes him invincible by the warriors of Denmark. He lives in the
bottom of the lake not far from Heorot. Grendel is the descendant of Cain who
represents evil and corruption. He has been battling Heorot, where Denmark's
warriors live, for twelve years, causing suffering and misery.
Grendel's Mother: Virtually invincible by any human being. She is another
beast that Beowulf kills. As a vengeance for her son's death, she kills Aeschere.
She is defeated by Beowulf in a fight under water.
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Unferth: He is a courtier, envious of Beowulf, who feels inferior to Beowulf.
He does not believe Beowulf's power to defeat Grendel, claiming that it is luck
that has been helping Beowulf in his previous encounters. Upon learning of
Grendel's defeat, Unferth is impressed by Beowulf and presents him his swordas a sign of reconciliation.
Wiglaf: He is a warrior who aids Beowulf against the battle with the dragon. At
this point, Beowulf is an old aging king. He does not have the power anymore as
he once had when he fought Grendel and his mother. Wiglaf's relationship with
Beowulf is similar to that between Beowulf and the deceased King Hrothgar.
Below is a part of the poem Beowulf, written in Old English:
HWT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum,
eodcyninga rym gefrunon,
hu a elingas ellen fremedon!
oft Scyld Scefing sceaena reatum,
monegum mgum meodosetla ofteah,
egsode eorlas, syanrest wear
feasceaft funden; he s frofre gebad,
weox under wolcnum weormyndum ah,
o t him ghwylc ymbsittendra
ofer hronrade hyran scolde,
gomban gyldan; t ws god cyning!
m eafera ws fter cenned
geong in geardum, one God sende
folce to frofre; fyrenearfe ongeat,
e hie r drugon aldorlease
lange hwile; him s Liffrea,
wuldres Wealdend woroldare forgeaf,
Beowulf ws breme --- bld wide sprang---
Scyldes eafera Scedelandum in.
Swa sceal geong guma gode gewyrcean,
fromum feohgiftumon fder bearme,
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This poem provides an interesting overview of the way people lived in those
days. It describes their life in the city, the awful creatures that they had to fight
and their travels in their ships. Those people had a hard life both on land and
sea. They did not like their lives, but they understood it well and did their bestto survive.
2.1.4 Old English
Old English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, was used by the poet who
wrote Beowulf. He used poetic diction, often old-fashioned words, A large
number of specific compound words are commonly found in Old English verse,
but many of them were originally coined by the poet. As a word is repeatedlyheard in different contexts, old English vocabulary collects groups of meanings.
The most common strategy used in Beowulf is called variation, when a word
or expression is frequently repeated, not identically, but in each repetition a
new concept is created. Words like Providence, Wyrd, Reputation Fate, and
Glory, have a lot of associations, pagan and Christian alike. For example,
King Hrothgar is called by Beowulf, "Shepherd of the Danes", "guardian of the
people", "glorious hero", "son of Healfdene". This way, a new quality is added
to Hrothgar with each title..
In order to create a complex and poetic picture of a certain event they are
narrating, the Old English poets were able to apply a technique which allowed
them to compound together simple comments as an alternative technique.
2.1.5 Heroic and Historical Elements
The poet who wrote Beowulfdiscovered most of his material in Nordic-Germanic
folklore, heroic legends, historical traditions and biblical sources. Specific
comparisons exist between Beowulf and certain Scandinavian narratives. The
alliterative verse form that the author used is another indication of the Nordic-
Germanic tradition.
The heroic legends dealt with in Beowulf are sometimes mixed with
historical elements and folklore. Sometimes a historical figure is camouflaged
in legends which the author of Beowulf uses to set off a character, such as the
legend of Scyld himself, allegedly the founder of the Danish throne, a hero who
settled an example of a strong king. His name is associated with the legend of a
child coming in a boat with a sheaf of corn.
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A Lenda de Beowulf um filme de 2007 dirigido por Robert Zemeckis que retrata
o poema pico homnimo escrito originalmente em ingls antigo (ou ingls arcaico) e
considerado o primeiro da literatura Inglesa. Neste filme, foi utilizada uma tcnica de
captura de movimento, usada tambm no filme O Expresso Polar..
There are several things that are still unclear concerning the manuscripts
of Beowulf. For one thing, the style of the handwriting indicates that it might
have been written by two people instead of a sole writer. The people who wrote
the text probably are not the author and it is unknown how much of the text
was altered of embellished by the person (or persons) who wrote the poem.
Nevertheless, the manuscript had been owned in the 16th century by LawrenceNowell, a scholar.
In 1818, Grmur JnssonThorkelin, a scholar from Iceland, transcribed the
poem for the first time, but there are some questions concerning the accuracy
of this version. To further protect the pages, which were decaying fast, paper
frames were applied for each page of the manuscript in order to protect them
from damage, even though this procedure had an undesirable side-effect: it
covered the edges and, consequently, some letters.
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2.1.6 Pagan and Christian Elements
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Christian and biblical elements are evident in the poem. Some critics believe
that Beowulf was created by a pagan poet, and that the presence of the Christian
material is to be explained by subsequent removal of pagan, and interposition
of Christian passages. Others have argued that the Christian elements represent
the work of a poet with unclear and general knowledge of the faith. Most critics
believe that the original author of Beowulf was a Christian who was capable
of putting together both pagan and Christian elements in his text and that a
reviser or interpolator has nothing to do with the Christian elements.
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The primitive material of Beowulf derived from pagan folk-tale, chronicle
and legends appeared as a Christian poem, but this mutation is not a matter of
altered phrases, or Christian faiths interpolated references, but is an infusion
of Christian spirit in a deeply universal way,, showing up thought the actionsand governing motive and narrative. Nevertheless, there are certain pagan
elements which resist to changes, or that the influence of the Christian spirit
can only restrain partially.
We know that the ideas of fidelity and good nobility were also deeply
grounded in the early Germanic and pagan societies, so not all of these ideas
can be attributed to Christian ideals. Many ideas of rightliving, such as loyalty
and generosity, were derived from the idea of "comitatus", and the relationship
between lord and thane. When the the author of Beowulf speaks of praise,the word does not have the Christian connotation suggested by the concept
of "heavenly praise". he speaks about the praise of one's peers, praise which
the warrior must obtain in order to be remembered by future generations. The
concept of "hell" was known to the pagans, and the author of Beowulf makes
reference to "hell" as the destiny of Grendel.
Another important concept in Beowulf is "Fate. In the Anglo-Saxon world
Christianity and paganism existed simultaneously but in the Old English
vocabulary there were only pagan terms with which Anglo-Saxons would
incorporate Christian concepts. Aside from Beowulf, the only surviving works
of early national epic poetry are a fraction of Deor's Lament, The Finnesburg
Fragment, (50 lines), and two short pieces (63 lines together) of Waldere, The
Battle of Maldon and The Battle of Brunanburh.
CONNECTION
Access on the link below to get more information on Christian and Pagan elements.
http://oaks.nvg.org/ap3.html
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2.1.7 Old English Religious Poetry
Christian poetry seems to have grown in northern England along the 8thcentury,
though most of this poetry has survived only in the late tenth century, in the WestSaxon writings. Besides a lot of Christian poetry, monks produced several other
artistic pieces, from sculptures to masonry. Much of this poetry is about the
Old Testament: recounts of books and episodes. Much of this religious poetry
is anonymous, but the names of two poets are known: Caedmon (670 A.D.), the
first English poet known by name, and Cynewulf (late 8thor early 9thcentury).
"Caedmonian" is the name given to the era of Old English poetry, whose
focuses were on religious subjects. The traditional meter diction for Christian
religious poetry was first used by Caedmon, who became the creator of a schoolof Christian poetry. Cynewulf was the poet of the second phase of the Christian
poetry originally written in Old English and, therefore, most of the old religious
poems were originally written by him or Caedmon.Anglo-Saxon religious poetry
moves further with Cynewulf.
2.1.8 Old English Literature: some characteristics
Concerning the linguistic features, Old English texts have distinct graphic and
phonological characteristics, being completely different from contemporary
English. Concerning their literary aspects, the remaining fragments of Old
English literature are supposed to materialize graphically centuries of the past
oral literature tradition. That is the reason why most of the fragments have
unknown or anonymous authors. This is the case of the epic poem Beowulf,
considered the first English literary text.
One curiosity about Old English poetry: the descriptions of sad events or
cruel situations are more common and in better writing than the situations of
happiness.
Besides texts which exalt the honor and value of the warrior, there are
also other texts which narrate the adventures of the seamen. These narratives
compound the Exeter Book. Two of them are famous and were translated into
Modern English: The Seafarer and The Wanderer.
In addition, there is one more influence on the formation of English language
and Literature: The presence of Latin language, brought by the Romans and,
after them, by the religious missions who went to Britain to Christianize the
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pagan Anglo-Saxons. From this influence came the Miracle and Morality plays,
as well as versions of parts of the bible into Anglo Saxon language.
Therefore, we can say that there were three great thematic centers in the
literature of the Angle-Saxon or Old English period: war, battles and heroism;travels and travelers and some religious themes. This scenery, however, is not
static, and it changes radically after the Norman Conquest, in 1006, as we shall
see later on in this course.
REFLECTION
In this unit we studied the evolution of English Language and Literature from its very
beginning. The focus here was The Old English Poetry, like Beowulf. You can have a deepercomprehension of the topics and works mentioned in this unit reading some texts, watching
movies and visiting some websites.Enjoy and learn!
ACTIVITIES
Com base no que voc aprendeu sobre o poema pico Beowulf, responda a pergunta abaixo:
01. Como o poema Beowulf est estruturado? Como a estrutura est relacionada como o
tema ou temas desenvolvidos no poema?
EXPANDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Para uma melhor compreenso sobre Beowulf, leia a obra abaixo:
ALLARD, JOE (Editor),; NORTH, RICHARD (Editor). Beowulf and Other Stories: A New
Introduction to Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures
REFERENCES
BLOOM, H. O Cnone Ocidental.Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, 1995
BRITAIN EXPRESS. Celtic Britain. Disponvel em: . Acesso em 07 fev. 2015.
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captulo 239
BRITAIN EXPRESS. Roman Invasion. Disponvel em: . Acesso em: 07 fev. 2015.
BURGESS, A. English Literature.Essex: Longman, 1989.
CEVASCO, M.E. & LELIS, V.Rumos da Literatura Inglesa.
So Paulo: Ed. tica. Srie Princpios, 1990.OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE- disponvel em:
. Acesso em: 15 fev 2015.
SANDERS,A. The Short Oxford History of English Literature.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
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Literatura Inglesa
Medieval
3
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Pudemos observar que durante o processo de formao da lngua inglesa a
regio esteve permeada de guerras, batalhas, heris e conquistas. Os Anglo-
saxes desenvolveram uma tradio de escrita vernacular em ingls que
influenciaria a Europa medieval como um todo. Neste captulo, o foco nesseprocesso de assimilao, sua influncia na idade mdia inglesa e todas as
transformaes que ocorreram em razo disso.
OBJECTIVES
Neste captulo sero abordados fatos histricos que vo esclarecer o contexto em que
Geoffrey Chaucer viveu e criou sua obra Canterbury Tales, uma das pedras fundamentais
da literatura do Ocidente, uma coleo fenomenal de histrias de cavalaria e alegorias morais.Essas histrias ajudaram - assim como Dante e Cervantes fizeram em suas respectivas
culturas literrias - a sedimentar a literatura de todo um pas.
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3.1 Middle Ages: society, culture, language
Middle Ages in England begins in 1066, after the Norman invasion and conquest
of the Island. From that moment on, the Normans took over the political powerand ruled over England until 1399. As it is widely known, during the Middle Ages
the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution in Europe, helping to
promote, to keep or to destitute kings and their regimes. Historically speaking,
England never had strong political relationships with Rome, except for the time
of Norman domain over the British Islands. This domain brought great changes
in the social and political structures of the Englishnation, which were reflected
in the literary works of that time.
One of the main changes that could be noticed was the imposition of theNorman language (French) to the English court and all its documents, official
papers and everything related to it. This fact influenced heavily the flexible
and open structures of the English language, which was still in a process of
formation and evolution. Many words and expressions were incorporated to
English, despite of1its Germanic roots2presence in the vocabulary, phonology
and syntax. The Norman influences collaborated to the consolidation of the
English Language, which becomes different, more likely to the English spoken
today. Latin was mostly used for written language, especially that of the Church.
Meanwhile, The English language, as the language of the now lower class, was
considered a vulgar tongue.
Some particular characteristics of the Middle English can be observed
by reading its medieval texts. Some of its grammatical elements, such as
inflections for verbs and pronouns, were present in the Modern English, spoken
in the 17th century. The contact with the Norman culture offered new literary
characteristics to English writers, brought from Italy and France, with its Greek
mythological figures and themes that were not known or not explored by the
Germanic and Nordic cultures.
1 Despite of: apesar de2 Roots: razes
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3.1.1 Life in the Middle Ages
In order to guarantee safety and defense, people in the Middle Ages formed
small communities around a central lord or master. Most people lived on amanor3, which consisted of the castle, the church, the village, and the enclosing
farmland. These manors were isolated, with occasional visits from vendors,
pilgrims4on their way to the Crusades, or soldiers from other regions.
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In this "feudal" system, the king donated land grants or "fiefs" to his most
important aristocrats, barons, and bishops, in payment for their contribution
of soldiers for the king's armies. At the lowest levels of society were the peasants
or laborers. In exchange for living and working on his land, known as the
"demesne," the lord offered his peasants protection.
Nobles shared their land among the lesser aristocracy, who became their
servants or "vassals." Many of these vassals became so powerful that the kings
had a hard work controlling them. By 1100, certain barons had castles and
courts that were compared to the king's; they could be serious threats if they
were not pleased in their dealings with the crown.
3 Manor: vila4 Pilgrims: peregrinos
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Although peasants worked the land and produced the goods necessary to
the nobleman and his castle, the vassals had to pay all the heavy taxes imposed
by the nobles and they were required to give to the castle much of what they
harvested. Actually, the peasants belonged to the lords, who were associatedwith the church and acted as judges in applying the medieval laws.
It should be no surprise that women, whether they were aristocrats or
laborers, held a difficult position in society. They were largely circumscribed
to household tasks such as cooking, baking bread, tailoring, weaving, and
spinning. However, they also hunted for food and fought in battles, learning
how to use weapons to defend their homes and castles. Some medieval
women held other occupations. There were women farriers, merchants, and
druggists. Others were midwives, worked in the fields, or were engaged increative enterprises such as writing, playing musical instruments, dancing, and
painting.
3.1.2 Middle English
In about 1200 AD, English had changed a lot, because it was mostly being
spoken instead of written for about 300 years. The use of Old English came back,
but with many French words added. This language was called Middle English.
Most of the words inserted in the English vocabulary are words of power, such
as crown, castle, court, parliament, army, mansion, beauty, poet, romance,
duke, servant, peasant, traitor and governor. In this sense, Middle English is
the vernacular language spoken and written in England between 1100 and 1500
AD, the descendant of Old English and the ancestor of Modern English. It can
be divided into three periods: Early, Central, and Late. Early Middle English-
from about 1100 to about 1250- during which the Old English system of writing
was still in use. The Central period happened from about 1250 to about 1400,
and it was characterizedby the gradual development of literary dialects, and
the use of an orthography greatly influenced by the Anglo-Norman writing
system. It was also marked by the borrowing5 of many Anglo-Norman words
and the increment of the London dialect, used by such poets as John Gower and
Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century flourishing of English literature. The Late
Period marks the transition to Modern English.
5 Borrowing: emprstimo
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The main form of secular literature in later medieval England is the Middle English
romance. There is an estimate that eighty (or even more) metrical and alliterative verse
romances were composed between1225 and1500. The Middle English romances
give us a very instigating view about the medieval settings and provoke a new thoughtabout cultural aspects of medieval life and its concerns. It is important to highlight that
the English Middle Ages produced the precursor of the modern novel and strongly
influenced the contemporary popular fiction.
3.2 Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales
The English which was used from about 1100 to about 1500 is called Middle
English, and the most important poet of the time was Geoffrey Chaucer. He
is usually called the father of English poetry, even though, as we have already
seen, there were many other English poets before him. As we should expect, the
language had changed a lot in the 700 years since Beowulf and it is much easier
to read Chaucer in Middle English than anything written in Old English.
Chaucer (1343-1400) was responsible for a great shift6in English Literature.
His Canterbury Tales are not only registers of substantial linguistic changes,
but also a radically different way to perceive and describe, in a sensible and
more realistic way, his society and all its details. He describes all kinds of people,
professions, social classes, individual motivations and emotions, beliefs and
relationships. These themes were never used in the previous literary period.
His masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, written in 1386, approximately, can
be considered a huge mosaic of the Medieval English World.
3.2.1 The Canterbury Tales
A popular literary convention of the 14th century is the collection of tales.
Among these tales Boccaccio's Decameron is the best-known example before
Chaucer's time, but many scholars consider Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales
superior to his precursors. He produces this effect both in the dimension and
intensity of the stories in his collection, from the courtly tone of 'The Knight's
Tale' to the harsh and often profane humor of other tales.
6 Shift: mudana, alterao de rota
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He does so also in the detail and humor of the structure holding the stories
together. His account of the pilgrims as they ride from London to Canterbury,
with their constant quarreling and rivalry, amounts to a comic masterpiece in
its own right.In this compilation of tales, the characters are thirty pilgrims who are going
to Canterbury, to visit Thomas Becket temple, killed inside his own cathedral
in 1170. Because of it, he is considered a martyr and a saint who can produce
miracles. After they go out from Southwark they make a deal: each one of them
has to tell two tales in the pathway to Canterbury and two other tales in their
way back Southwark. The person who tells the best tale will get a prize: a free
dinner in the Tabbard Inn. In each tale, social, moral and religious subjects are
presented and show details of those peoples lives, with7
humor and wit.Of this ambitious total of 120 stories, Chaucer completed only 24 by the
time of his death. Even so the collection amounts to some 17,000 lines - mainly
of rhyming verse, but with some passages of prose.
The pilgrims represent all areas of society from upper class to humble
craftsmen (the only absentees are the laboring poor, unable to afford a
pilgrimage of this kind). There are respectable people from the various classes
- such as the knight, the parson and the yeoman - but the emphasis falls mainly
on characters who are pretentious, mendacious, avaricious or lecherous8.
In Chaucer's Prologue of Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims are strongly
characterized, one by one. The pilgrims for the most part tell tales closely linked
to their station in life or to their personality. Sometimes the anecdotes even
reflect mutual antagonisms. The miller gives a scrupulously comic account of a
carpenter being cuckolded. Everyone laughs heartily except the attendant, who
began his career as a carpenter. The reeve gets his own back with an equally
outrageous tale of the seduction of a miller's wife and daughter.
Concerning its literary aspects, this work has stylistic marks which refer
to Italian and French writers. Nevertheless, the aspect that deserves greater
examination is the way the characters are built and presented. Chaucers
characters differ from the ballads, poems and plays that preceded them because
they are not allegorical figures, legends or myths. They are very similar to real
people, with deep psychological characteristics and individual particularities
such as mood, desires, qualities and faults, like every common person.
7 Wit: sagacidade8 Lecherous: devassos
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The majority of the tales of this work put together many elements of that
times culture and society, like humor, legends, jokes, morals, religion,
economy, relationships, all blended with poetic techniques such as alliteration,
rhyme, quotations from other literary works and the bible. Most of the tales hasa prologue in verse, followed by the narrative.
Read below the prologue of Canterbury Tales
When April's gentle rains have pierced the drought
Of March right to the root, and bathed each sprout
Through every vein with liquid of such power
It brings forth the engendering of the flower;
When Zephyrus too with his sweet breath has blown
Through every field and forest, urging on
The tender shoots, and there's a youthful sun,
His second half course through the Ram now run,
And little birds are making melody
And sleep all night, eyes open as can be
(So Nature pricks them in each little heart),
On pilgrimage then folks desire to start.
The palmers long to travel foreign strands
To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands;
And specially, from every shire's end
In England, folks to Canterbury wend:
To seek the blissful martyr is their will,
The one who gave such help when they were ill.
Now in that season it befell one day
In Southwark at the Tabard where I lay,As I was all prepared for setting out
To Canterbury with a heart devout,
That there had come into that hostelry
At night some twenty-nine, a company
Of sundry folk whom chance had brought to fall
In fellowship, for pilgrims were they all
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CONNECTION
Acesse o link http://www.historiadomundo.com.br/inglesa/lingua-inglesa.htm
para conhecer mais sobre o Ingls Mdio e as outras fases do ingls.
3.2.2 Chivalric Code
All the knights were expected, above all, to fight with bravery and to demonstrate
military professionalism and courtesy. When knights were taken as prisoners
of war, they were customarily held for ransom in somewhat comfortableneighborhoods. This same standard of conduct did not apply to non-knights
(archers, peasants, foot-soldiers, etc.) who were often mutilated after capture,
and who were viewed during battle as mere barrier to knights' getting to other
knights to fight them.
Chivalry developed as an early pattern of professional ethics for knights, who
were relatively prosperous horse owners and were expected to provide military
services in exchange for property. Early notions of chivalry entailed loyalty to
one's lord and courage in battle, similar to the values of the Heroic Era. During
the Middle Ages, this grew from simple military professionalism into a social
code including the values of gentility, nobility and treating others judiciously.
In The Song of Roland( 1100), Roland is described as the ideal knight, showing
resolute loyalty, military expertise and social affability. In Wolfram von
Eschenbach's Parzival(c. 1205), chivalry had become a mix of religious duties,
love and military service. Ramon Llull's Book of the Order of Chivalry (1275)
shows that by the end of the 13th century, chivalry entailed a recitation of very
specific duties, including riding warhorses, attending games, holding Round
Tables and hunting, as well as endeavoring to the more aethereal virtues of
"faith, moderation, charity, justice, hope, strength, and loyalty.
Knights of the late medieval era were expected by society to keep all these
skills and many more, as highlighted in The Book of the Courtier, a work of
Baldassare Castiglione. According to the protagonist, Count Ludovico, the
first and true profession of the ideal courtier "must be that of arms." Chivalry,
derived from the French word chevalier ('cavalier'), at the same time showed
skilled horsemanship and military service, and these remained the primary
occupations of knighthood throughout the Middle Ages.
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Sacred goals were what Christian armies started to devote themselves
to. With the time, the Church required that knights protect the weak and
defenseless with their weapons and any other means they had available.
Women, orphans, and churches were the top priority in terms of protection.During the period of the Crusades, then, there was a mutual influence between
the Church and Chivalry. As a consequence, the first Crusades clarifiedthe
procedures and moral code of the knights.
With the progress of Renaissance humanism and moral relativism, the
knightand chivalry along with himlost much of his importance to society,
and the ideal of chivalric romance was fundamentally rejected in Niccol
Machiavelli's Il Principe (1532) and more directly disdain in Miguel de
Cervantes's Don Quixote(16051615). The medieval literary genre of chivalricromance had been the apogee of idealism and romanticism in literature,
but in the 16th century Machiavelli instructed aspiring political rulers to be
ferociously pragmatic and to apply the principle that the ends justify the means,
directly counter to the high-flown idealism of late medieval chivalry. Later, the
grandiloquent values of chivalric romance were heavily satirized in Cervantes's
Don Quixote, which portrayed the charmingly idealistic protagonist as a lovable
but hopelessly delusional imbecile.
3.3 Chaucer's Knight
Truth, honor, "freedom and courtesy is what archetypal medieval knight
should have. There's no irony here. The Knight is ever honored for his courage.
He's truly been through the wars; his tunic is still discolored by his chain-mail
armor because he's going on his pilgrimage direct from his latest Crusade.
Chaucer uses all the traditional descriptions because the Knight represents
what every knight should be, but usually isn't.
We usually hear about the Knight's fatal fights than about how he looked
like, because his actions are more important to his public (who, like us, are
excited by news of foreign wars and travel) than his appearance and also to his
own code of knightly behavior. Pay attention in those aspects during Chaucer's
Knight Tale, which deals with two other worthy knights whose behavior dictates
who will win or lose the lady they both love.
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3.3.1 Chaucer's Knight's Tale
Duke Theseus of Athens wins the country of the Amazons and marries Queen
Hippolyta, taking her and her beautiful sister Emelye back to Athens. To hisperplexity, he sees sad women, but not because of his return. These women
have lost their husbands during the siege of Thebes, and Thebes' cruel tyrant
Creon refuses to allow the burial of the bodies. Theseus promises vengeance
and goes to Thebes, where he beats Creon and comes back bringing back the
remains of those women's husbands.
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In a mass of bodies, pillagers find the young royal Theban knights Palamon
and Arcite, who are cousins. They are still alive. Theseus sends them to Athens
to be imprisoned for life, and returns home.
One morning, locked in a tower Palamon looks at Emelye walking in thegarden, and falls immediately and crazily in love with her. As he explains his
love to Arcite, his cousin also spies Emelye and he is also imprisoned by her
beauty. Instantaneously the cousins, who have been as close as brothers since
birth, become enemies over the love of Emelye.
Perotheus, a duke who also knows Arcite comes to Athens to see Duke
Theseus. When Perotheus knows the knight is Theseus' prisoner, he asks
for Arcite's release. Theseus agrees but decides that Arcite never appears
in any Theseus' lands, under risk of death. So Arcite comes back to Thebes,heartbroken because he can never again see Emelye. At least Palamon, closed
in the tower, can look at her, he sighs. Meanwhile Palamon moans that he is
miserable, but lucky Arcite can gather an army in Thebes and return to conquer
Athens to win the lady.
Arcite can't handle with this situation and decides to come back to Athens
to see Emelye once more. He is unrecognizable because of his pallor and
thinness from lovesickness so he is able to become a page at Theseus' court,
still venerating Emelye. One morning Arcite is walking in a grove, claiming that
it is not far that he can't even reveal his real identity. What he doesn't know
is that Palamon has escaped from prison and is overhearing every word from
behind a bush. He goes out and vows to kill Arcite for loving Emelye.
The two agree to meet the next day and fight to death, but when they do, Theseus,
Queen Hippolyta, and Emelye arrive and see the fight. So Palamon tells Theseus
that he and Arcite love Emelye and admits they did not obey him and because of it
they deserve to die. Theseus does not want this end and decides that a tourney will
be better. Who wins this tournament, which consists in a battle where each knight
may enlist other knights and the winner shall have Emelye as a prize.
Palamon prays to Venus, goddess and planet of love. Arcite prays to Mars,
god of war. In the heavens, Saturn promises Venus that her favorite, Palamon,
shall win. Palamon is arrested, and Arcite wins the tournament.But as Arcite
comes in order to accept Emelye, the ground is shaken by Saturn. Because of
that, Arcite is killed when his horse falls. Years pass, and when mourning for
Arcite is over, Theseus states that life must continue and orders the marriage of
Palamon and Emelye, once Palamon hadto stand so long for her love. With this
happy event, the tale ends.
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A literatura medieval nos fornece inmeros exemplos de duas vises opostas: a
literatura de cavalaria, que nos mostra o cavaleiro errante com qualidades mpares e
extremamente idealizado; e a literatura dos peregrinos, uma alegoria dos peregrinos
representando o povo. Nenhuma dessas duas imagens realmente se ajusta literaturade Chaucer. Nos contos de cavalaria de Chaucer ele combina elementos literrios
aparentemente inconciliveis, inclusive as duas abordagens acima, mas insiste no
merecimento dos cavaleiros.
3.3.2 Characters Analysis
Theseus: We can see Theseus, the wise duke, as firm but fair, as the strong
conqueror, but also as the figure who, like God, dispenses justice along with
mercy. Because of that, some researchers have seen Theseus as the major
character in the Knight's Tale. He personifies the ideal of equitable and feasible
leadership. That is why he rules Athens, the venerable center of learning and
reason. He conquers the Amazon nation because it is clear that a man should
be the higher power over women. (This is according to the values of knighthood,
not exactly Chaucer's own view. Chaucer mocks at some of the aristocrat
conventions even though he greatly admires the Narrator-Knight's behavior.)
In the whole tale Theseus represents order, making a spectacle of
tournaments and ceremoniessuch as the hunting of the hart--that are played by
well established rules.
Arcite: He does believe that Theseus is not really his "mortal enemy," nor is
his cousin Palamon. But Arcite is the dearest of Mars, the god of war, so he does
not listen to reason. On the contrary, he follows his own willingness, which first
leads him to go against his cousin, then against his own good luck. He had his
life saved in two different moments but cursed his luck because he is set free
instead being put to death. We are meant to see Arcite as a man crazy in his
willfulness. He is blind to his good luck: he even complains about men who
deplore fortune's twists, but it is exactly what he's doing.
Because of Mars he wins the tournment, but he does not realize that fortune
is changeable. Only at his death he begins to see reason and ends the hate he's
been holding for so long against Palamon.
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Palamon: Whether Palamon got
the lady Emelye because he's the
best and more courageous knight
is a good question. He certainlyis valiant in the tourney --it takes
twenty men to arrest him--and he
tells the real facts to Theseus about
the real identity of Arcite and their
shared love for Emelye. But he
suffers in jail, believing that "man is
committed" to "God's observance."
Readers have different viewsabout this battle: some think that
both men are ideal knights from a
romance, others think that indeed
neither one of them is worthy of
the lady. Some might think that
both are equally worthy, since each has his faults and blind spots yet sincerely
upholds what he thinks is right.
Emelye: Emelye is the object of affection of the two cousins. Is it possible to
see her like that? For it's hard to see her as much more than an object. Part of
the humor of the Knight's Tale comes from the fact that these two knights are
languishing over beautiful Emelye for years, while she doesn't even know they
exist. They are ready to kill each other because of her, yet we discover that she
would rather stay a virgin than marry either one of them.
The readers may not be so sure how to view her because we can see her only
through with the eyes of the two knights, who see her in different views. A clue
may be in the way she accepts the dictates of Diana, the goddess of chastity, that
she must marry; and so she casts a friendly eye on Arcite when he wins her hand.
REFLECTION
In this unit we studied the evolution of English Language and Literature from its very beginning
until the Middle Ages, time during which English began to achieve a relative linguistic stability.
Geoffrey Chaucer was the most important poet of this time. His works reflect realistically the
language and the society of his contemporaries.
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You can have a deeper comprehension of the topics and works mentioned in this chapter
reading some texts, watching movies and visiting some websites. It is really important and
enjoyable to read, at least, some of the Canterbury Tales. P. Vizziolis translation is an excellent
one, if you prefer to read it in Portuguese.
ACTIVITIES
Como maior autor desse primeiro perodo da Idade Mdia, vamos refletir sobre algumas
questes sobre a obra Canterbury Tales, de Chaucer. Retorne aos textos dados nessa
unidade e responda a pergunta abaixo:
01. De qual pas (ou paises) Chaucer obteve inspirao e ideias para escrever The Canter-
bury Tales?
EXPANDING YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Para uma melhor compreenso sobre Chaucer e Os Contos da Canturia, leia a obra abaixo:
CHAUCER, G. Os Contos de Canturia (trad. De Paulo Vizzioli).So Paulo: T.A.QueirosEditor, 1990.
REFERENCES
BURGESS, A. English Literature.Essex: Longman, 1989.
CEVASCO, M.E. & LELIS, V. Rumos da Literatura Inglesa. So Paulo: Ed. tica. Srie Princpios, 1990.
SANDERS,A. The Short Oxford History of English Literature.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
UNIVERSITY OF YORK. English and related literature. Disponvel em:
. Acesso em: 15 fev. 2015.
WARD, A.C. Histria da Literatura Inglesa.Lisboa: Editorial Estdios Limitada, 1959.
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Rei Arthur
Histria e Lenda.
4
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Se o Rei Arthur uma lenda ou um fato histrico so questes que povoam a
literatura h sculos. O que se sabe que que ele foi um heri no tempo em que foi
criado. Vrias so as teorias e vrios so os contos escritos por diversos autores,
em diferentes pocas, sobre esse personagem nobre, heroico e corajoso. Nestecaptulo, daremos uma viso geral sobre esse personagem lendrio, bem como
dos autores medievais que se encantaram com esse personagem, que hipnotiza
os leitores ao redor do mundo at hoje!
OBJECTIVES
Compreender a simbologia do lendrio Rei Arthur, bem como as fontes histricas que trazem
registros sobre ele so fatores importantes para que possamos entender como as influnciasculturais, religiosas e histricas exercem um papel preponderante na literatura medieval, com
foco no Rei Arthur de Mallory. Essas e outras questes sero tratadas ao longo desse livro
e esperamos que voc possa formar sua opinio sobre o assunto. Lenda ou Histria?
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4.1 King Arthur- Historical aspects
The big question is: Was Arthur a true, historical character or only a hero offiction? We have to decide for ourselves. Arthur represents a man who was
the essence of good against evil, light against darkness, and that eternal,
neverending fight between what is right or wrong.
A very important characteristic of Arthur's life is his skills as a general and
knight but the character of King Arthur is most known as a leader, a fair ruler,
despite his rigid judgment of Guinevere and Lancelot.
There are two theories about the name Arthur. One of them says that it may
be a form of Artorius, a Roman name. The other, corroborated by J. D. Bruce,says that probably it is the Celtic the name Artos Viros, which means bear man.
Arthur is showed as a military leader in the early Latin chronicles and as a king
and emperor in later romance.
King Arthur defeated the barbarians in a dozen battles. Later, he got power
and eventually went to battle with the Romans. He came back home thinking
that his nephew Mordred had enhanced the pattern of rebellion and taken
Guinevere, the Queen. The old stories tell that after the death of King Uther
there was no king ruling1all of England. Tradition relates that Merlin had put a
sword in a stone, saying that whoever took it out would be king. Merlin crowned
Arthur the King of Britain after Arthur took the sword from the stone. This led
to a rebellion which Arthur was the winner. Then he received the round table as
a dowry from Guineveres father after he married her.
The episode in which a Knight throws Excalibur into the lake happened
after Arthur fought his last battle against his nephew, Mordred, who was killed
by Arthur, but during the fight he was also mortally injured. The correct date of
Arthur's death is uncertain. Geoffrey of Monmouth gives it as AD 542. Malory
establish his life in the fifth century. Geoffrey Ashe uses the argument that
Arthur is to be identified with the historical Celtic king Riothamus, at least in
some aspects.
1 Ruling (to rule):
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4.1.1 The Enthroned Arthur
The noble Arthur, from Lancelot du Lac (French, early fourteenth century)
raged
2
since the Renaissance when Arthur's history was passionately defended,partly because the Tudor monarchs traced their lineage to Arthur and used that
connection as a justification for their reign. In general, modern schooling has
generally supposed that there was some true person at the center of the legends,
not exactly a king with a bunch of knights in brilliant armor.
Historically speaking, maybe we can find a historical basis to the character;
it is clear that he would have achieved great popularity as a warrior battling the
Germanic invaders of the late fifth and early sixth centuries. But the debate
will continue because there is no conclusive evidence for or against Arthur'shistoricity.However, one thing cannot be denied: the influence of the character
of Arthur on music, art, and literature from the Middle Ages until our present
time. Although there have been various historical novels that try to allocate
Arthur in a century different from his, it is the legendary character of the Middle
Ages.
It is such a strong figure, the creator of an order of the best knights in the
wor