Allusion

 

Allusion:

An illusion is a casual or indirect reference to something else such as another work of literature a historical event a biblical story or mythology. An Illusion is an act of deception or a false portrayal of reality. Make sure not to get them confused.

For an example of Allusion if an author writes Dante was a modern-day Romeo and the girls just fell for him. Because the author is referencing Romeo and how easily girls love him from William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, this is an illusion.

Different types of Allusion:-

There are four main types of Allusions:

Literary Allusions reference another work of literature.

Historical Allusions reference an event in history. 

Classical Allusions reference Greek mythology.  

Biblical Allusions reference an event in the Bible.

Allusions provide context without having to give a lengthy description look at the example- He is a modern-day Romeo. If you know the backstory of Romeo you know how easily Juliet fell in love with him. So it's easier to use an Allusion than to explain Romeo's description.

Allusion

 

Allusion

Sometimes my dog is Dr. Jekyll. But other times he is  Mr. Hyde. Why does the man refer to a well-known character when describing his dog?

You remember the story of Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, right?

Dr.Jekyll is kind and friendly. ...but sometimes he turns into Mr.Hyde, who is violent and evil. By referring to Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, the man can quickly illustrate his dog's personality. This is called allusion.

“An allusion is a reference to someone or something commonly known from literature, history, religion, or other areas of culture. It helps writers and speaker express ideas quickly and effectively”.

Alliteration

 

Alliteration

When the same sound is repeated at the beginning in a group of words it is called alliteration.

 

For example:-

All the amazing apples arrived at the airport. We can see that the initial sound of letter “a” is repeated in more than one word in this sentence. Therefore this is an example of Alliteration. Alliteration is a fun way of learning English make funny poems and descriptions using alliteration.

Let us look at some more examples of alliteration.

Dancing dogs to not dangle from dusty doors.

Carrots and cartoons can be carried in crazy cars.

Big brown bears buy bunches of blueberries.

Age of Chaucer- Hundred Years War

 

Hundred Years War :-

We need to take a look at the Hundred Years War which qualifies to be one of the major sources of heavy taxation, it also heavily drained the resources of England. This makes it important for us to understand the trajectory of this war which was spread over 116 years, a little more than 100 years though for convenience, historians have chosen to name it as a Hundred Years War.

 

Norman Conquest:

The origins of this contest with France; it dates back to 1066 AD, if you remember that was when the Norman Conquest happened.

 William the Conqueror:

The William the Conqueror who led the Norman Conquest against the English, against the Anglo-Saxons and won over them, he ended up ruling England and Normandy in France together. There was the island of England on one hand and Normandy in France on the other. So all the subsequent kings of England, they, all the successors continued to rule England and Normandy simultaneously and it was seen as quite a rightful claim as well.

Henry II:

Also, we notice that from the time of Henry II, this - a lot of territorial disputes which emerge and it also becomes a little difficult to control the land which is situated in a distance land, in a distant land. And around the same period, this difficulty in controlling the land leads to a lot of territorial disputes between England and France leading to a lot of hostile emotions as well. And if you remember, it is around the same period, in the 14th and 15th century that England also in England, the French also begins to lose its prominence and loses out to the English language. So a lot of factors contribute to this hostility and this becomes a triggering factor to contribute towards a war-like situation as well.

The Reign of Edward the III:

And what happens by the reign of Edward the III is quite significant, we find that by 1327, compared to the entire land of Normandy, there are only two provinces left in France under the control of England. This is a major source of concern as the source of revenue was also getting limited and also the English kings begin to take it as a matter of prestige, as a matter of honor. And around the same time we find that in France, another turn of events are happening. So in 1328 in France, King Charles IV, he dies and there is no heir and Edward III is the king of England during this period. And Edward III’s mother who is Isabella, Isabella happened to be Charles IV's sister. So Edward III’s mother, Isabella assumes that since Charles IV has died leaving no heir as a successor, they assume that there is a rightful claim for Edward III that we also should remember that he was only 15 years old then, yeah. So Edward III and his mother, they assume that there is a rightful claim for Edward III to the crown for France, so they lay a claim to the English king Edward III who happens to be the nephew of the deceased king, Charles IV. He lays a claim to the crown of France which is not taken very kindly by the French people because they had other plans in hand. And they also . . . there is this rule which prevails in France that one can become king only through their father’s line and not through their mother’s line. But in England, one can become king through either way, through the father's line or through the mother's line. So because of this, the French people are very unhappy with Edward III accessing the crown of France. And with this, a kind of dispute emerges and France in general was against this and they bring in a new king and the Hundred Years War, we find, it breaks out. And it was at this point of time that the Hundred Years War breaks out between England and France. And to be noted, this was not a single series of war happening, it was not a single war which happened between England and France; in fact, it was a series of wars, a series of battles which happened. And there was in the initial period, victory was mostly on the English side, but eventually it happens so that France wins over. And even the two provinces which were held by Britain, they lose out on those two provinces by 1453, by the end of the war. We shall not be getting into further details of the Hundred Years War, but some of the details we shall be taking a look at again when we engage with the 15th century because a war is spread over such a long time that it continued to inform the ways in which social, political history of Britain was formed. So coming back to our original point, due to the various things happening especially as the age was dominated by war, the general mood of 14th century, it was not very favorable for the common man. But in spite of that, we do find that Chaucer continues to write and he gets qualified as the Father of English literature itself. So this is how we sum up the challenging period of 13th and 14th century. There was famine, there was death, anarchy, tyranny, wars, heavy taxation and you name it and you have it. It was such a challenging period for Britain.

So we look forward to seeing you in the next session, thank you.

Age of Chaucer- Chaucer’s England

 

Chaucer’s England

We saw in the introductory session about how in the Middle English period after the Norman Conquest, England began to emerge as a distinct nation. There was an increased sense of nationalism, a sense of nationhood; they began to emerge more with native influences rather than with the foreign, Italian or French influences.

Standardization of English Language:

It was Chaucer’s language and King Alfred’s language, the East-Midland dialect which emerged as the Standard English which continued to be used even in the contemporary. And we also find that it was not merely English which was used in Chaucer’s England, the clergy continued to use Latin which was the language of ecclesiastical power and the courtiers continued to use French language as well. French for a very long-term, in fact continued to be the language of the royalty. And it was also used in some measures in law courts until a statute which came to be issued directed that English should completely replace the usage of French.

 

14th century was dominated by the Roman Catholic Christianity

The Middle English period, Chaucer’s England, especially 14th century was dominated by the Roman Catholic Christianity. The clergy enjoyed a lot of power and we also find a certain kind of revival happening within Christianity in England, a little bit of that we will be seeing in detail shortly.

Expansion of trade: And there is expansion of trade as Britain consolidates itself as a nation and also understands the possibility of expanding itself in terms of land, in terms of trade, so on and so forth. And during this period we also find that there is a renewed interest in the literature of classical antiquity, especially literature in Greek and Rome. And there is also this influence of humanism which is connected to the emergence of Renaissance. And we find that there is a free secular spirit, a spirit of enquiry which is beginning to emerge that also qualifies much of the writing and thought of the later periods in England.

Oxford emerged :

And it’s during this period that Oxford emerges as an intellectual centre and we do see John Wycliff’s major influence, major contribution in shaping Oxford into the intellectual centre that it is today. And it was only a little later by the 15th and 16th centuries that Cambridge emerges as a prominent centre as well. And this is the period which also witnessed a lot of changes in the university system. We find that the collegiate system which most of the Commonwealth nations although continue to follow, the foundations of this English college system was late in during the 14th century in Chaucer’s England, there were various reasons, various social political reasons that contribute to make England as one of the founding civilizations of modern period itself. So having lived during that period, Chaucer did enjoy a lot of these advantages and in his writings also we see a reflection of this refinement, this exposure, and this increased growth that England was getting used to.

But at the same time it is very important for us to note that Chaucer also lived in a century which was very eventful. Chaucer’s England was not all about political stability, was not all about the golden. The flowering period of English language and literature, it was very eventful in the political sense, in terms of other kinds of crisis, in terms of the common life people, so on and so forth.

England in the 14th and 15th century:

Now we will take a quick look at the turn of events during Chaucer’s England and how it adversely affected the progress of England in the 14th and 15th century.

Plague:

We find that England during that time, it was quite affected by plagues; mainly, we have a major plague which swept through most of Europe and Britain, it was Black Death. That was quite a tragic event to begin with and there was a continuous occurrence, in fact, Britain was under the attack of the Black Death 4 times almost consecutively and that had even wiped out half the population. The nation had to struggle a lot to deal with this crisis.

Rebellion:

There were also a lot of peasant rebellions because England was still under the feudal order and that had resulted in a lot of unrest and lot of difficulties for the peasants.

Corruption:

There was also massive corruption mainly within the Roman Catholic Church. In this context, it is useful to remember that there were lot of monasteries that and the other institutions at the Roman Catholic Church had established. And these were also breeding grounds for a lot of corruptive activities. The common man was quite upset by the many things which were happening about the luxurious life that most of the clergy were living. And the clerks who were employed within this institution were also contributing to the corruption in many different ways. And this was also affecting the people in another sense, in the sense that there was a heavy taxation which was imposed upon them. And the taxation was quite doubled by the effect of the wars that happened.

Wars:

One of the major wars that we will be taking a look at is the Hundred Years War. The war was fought with France for over 116 years though it comes to be known as the Hundred Years War. And there was prevalent anarchy because of all these things put together. There were massive deaths, rebellion, corruption, wars, heavy taxation, the common man was not living a life of luxury like the courtiers but he was bearing the brunt of all these events put together.

Social Contrast:

And in that sense, it was an age of glaring social contrast. As we would see, on the one hand there was a very lavish kind of pageantry going on and other hand, people lived in adverse poverty. There was robust Vigour and good health and lot of good things happening on the one hand. On the other hand, we had death, crippling diseases, so on and so forth.

Latin was a language of Church:

On the one hand, elegant literature such as Chaucer’s and many others had begun to flourish, which is seen as the beginning of English literature, but on the other hand, there was also widespread illiteracy. Here it is also important to note, there is some linguistic element here as well. England also had these languages such as Latin and French. As we mentioned, Latin was a language of Church, of clergy and French was the language of the courtiers. So there was very little attention - formal attention - paid to English language in the beginning.

Emergence of English as a Common Language:

But we do see that a lot of concerted effort went into making English language the medium of the common people and also, the Church also in certain ways, especially the activities of Reformation also paved to the emergence of English as a common language, the translations of Bible into the vernacular by John Wyclif. And more importantly, most of the leading writers of the period including Geoffrey Chaucer, he wrote in English making the language more, bringing the language closer to the common man as well. So coming back to our point, on the one hand, there was this emergence of elegant literature and on the other hand, there was widespread illiteracy of the common people. And also this brings this reminds us that literature and all the other reading material which was available during that period, the target audience was mainly the courtiers, and the nobles and the clergy and that was very little available for the common man as such. and also, fourthly on the one hand, there was this revival of religious faith which happened; it was also known as Reformation.

 

Social History :

A more detailed study of social history will take us into the specific details of this event which swept across Europe and Britain in the 14th and 15th century, which also laid a proper cultural foundation to the England which was set to begin on a golden period from the 16th century onwards. And on the other hand, there was widespread corruption in Church which was leading to a whole lot of hostility and lot of disgruntled feelings among the people, yeah. And as we mentioned, earlier the wars were contributing in a tremendous way to the general peace and general life of England in many ways.

Age of Chaucer:-

Age of Chaucer:-

In the first introductory series, we saw the development of English through ages and we also noticed what had been happening in the Anglo-Saxon period and the turn of events which led to the emergence of the Middle English period. We also saw that the Middle English period was quite eventful to begin with, the most noted name during this period was Chaucer so much so that even an age was named as Age of Chaucer.

 

Chaucer as a real starting point of English literature :

Many historians consider Chaucer as a real starting point of English literature. Chaucer led from 1340 to 1400. However, the entire century gets named after this massive figure, Geoffrey Chaucer. He was described as the very first national poets and he was also considered and continues to be as a father of English poetry. So when we look at the opening moments of English literature, it’s very important to understand the time period which Chaucer’s life and time covered in terms of social history and the political history of the period.

 

Life of Chaucer in terms of the social and political history:

So in that sense, we begin to see that Chaucer had the rare distinction of having lived under three monarchs. He was born in 1340 during the reign of Edward III. And it was during his lifetime that Richard II succeeded - that was in 1377. He also witnessed two major events, the Revolution of 1399 including the deposition of Richard II and also the foundation of the Lancastrian dynasty. And he dies in 1400, one year after the ascension of Henry IV. So this is a very brief introduction towards the life of Chaucer in terms of the social and political history.

 

Introducing Geoffrey Chaucer:

Geoffrey Chaucer, belonged to the Middle English period and was rightfully known as “The morning star of the Renaissance”.

He was born in London; he was born into a fairly well to do family. We know very little about his childhood, most of the details are not available. But however, we get to know that he was the son of a merchant vintner – a wine merchant - and he lived a fairly luxurious life. And the, historians do assume that he also enjoyed the advantages of liberal education and so much so that the contacts that he made at a very young age were quite significant to begin with.

So right at the age of 17, he had his first court appointment and he was a page to the wife of the Duke of Clarence, who was also Edward III’s son.

And we find that by 1359, he also leaves with the English army during one of their wars with France and he was even taken prisoner during that period, but we find that Edward III, he was too kind and generous towards Chaucer that he chose to ransom him with 16 pounds. 16 pounds was a huge sum in the14th century. If we look we compare it with the buying power of the 14th century, historians do calculate that a single pound was enough to sustain an ordinary man for about six months, half a year.

So 16 pounds was a huge sum of money and that money was paid to bring back Chaucer as ransom. So we can even understand the kind of influence and the kind of life that he led so much so that even the king did care to bring him back as a ransom.

He was married too, but we do not have too many details of his domestic life. Historians have not recorded it because many of the things are not available. And he also continued to be closely connected with the court and he was often sent on diplomatic missions to France, to Italy. So his exposure was also quite varied. He had a rather luxurious courtly life and he was sent as ambassadors to different parts of the country, different parts of the world as well. So he got to travel a lot; that exposure really made Chaucer into the man that he was. So rightfully he was the appropriate person to begin the story of English literature with. That he had the fine measure of good exposure. He had a way in which he could articulate everything into good writing and so his writings are considered as the beginning of English literature.

Ups and Downs in Chaucer’s life:

And there were ups and downs in Chaucer’s life. We have already seen how he was sent to Italy in diplomatic missions because he was considered as a fine ambassador to negotiate with the leaders of other provinces and other countries.

And he was very much influenced by the Italian culture and early Renaissance, as we know Renaissance had its early beginnings in the land of Italy. And some historians even feel that he may have met Petrarch and Boccaccio, the leading literary writers of the period.

And also he was the recipient of many royal favours and it’s said that he even sat in the Parliament as knight of the Shire of Kent.

 

Overthrown of the Lancastrian:

And there was brief time when his life went through a major crisis that was a period when the Lancastrian, the House of Lancastrians were overthrown from power. And we do see that, that point of time John of Gaunt who was a major patron of Chaucer, he was banished from court for a brief period and that time he, Chaucer fell into poverty and he saw very difficult times during that period as well. So he even thought that he might end his life in poverty as well but again the turn of events, thanks to the state of flux in which the political and social life of England was; again, we find the Lancastrians coming back to power with the accession of Henry IV who also happens to be one of John Gaunt’s sons.

And with that, we find that Chaucer gets a very generous grant of royal pension. And there is an assumption that perhaps he looked forward to a very comfortable life ahead. He even leased out a really big apartment in the centre of the nation, but we do find that life had other plans for him and he dies within a year of the accession of King Henry IV. So this is a very brief summary of Chaucer’s life and how his life was closely connected with the social and political turn of events.

And also one important note as far as English, the history of English literary is concerned; he was the first poet to be buried in Westminster Abbey, a very prestigious place. And the place in which he’s buried is now known as Poets’ Corner and it’s also much favoured site for the tourist as well.

It is very important to see how Chaucer’s England was fashioned so that it influenced his writings and so much so that an entire period came to be known as the Age of Chaucer as well. So social historians also preferred to call this period as Chaucer's England because it continued to influence ways in which the writing of that period was produced. And also it influenced the ways in which English literature and the general English language was beginning to get fashioned.

So we look forward to seeing you in the next session, thank you.