Middle English Period  (Four major dialects & Englishness In England )

In continuation with the previous lecture, we begin looking at the Middle English period.

 

Let us look at the Four major dialects:

Coming back to some linguistic aspects, there were four major dialects during this time; south western it had emerged from the old English West Saxon, south eastern which emerged from the old English Kentish, East Midland and west midland and also Northern, so all of these dialects where in some form a continuation from the old English language from the old English dialects. We also note that the two dialects east midland and west midland, they had together emerged from the old English Mercian and in this context the east midland dialect assumes more importance because this was a one who became Chaucer’s language and since East Midland was spoken more in London and also it became the major literary vehicle of Chaucer East Midland dialect is a one from which contemporary English set has emerged as well. So this is also this 5th kind known as the northern dialect and we find that almost all of these dialects where quite different from one another it is said that even if they lived just 50 miles apart and if they spoke these different dialects they were not comprehensible to one another. So these dialects where almost like 5 different languages but and each writer was quite free to use which ever dialect that he or she preferred. And the spellings and the grammars differed on the individual kind of uses and it all depended on which spelling each author preferred to use.

In some form this is said to have got most standardized with Chaucer writing entirely in the east midland dialect and also giving it a sense of reputation and more acceptance because it was mostly spoken in the city of London.

In terms of dialectical differences, England begins to assert itself as a single national linguistic identity whose diversity does not affect in any way the evolution of language or the emergence of English into a single unit.

 

Towards more Englishness:

And towards the time of Chaucer we also find England moving towards more Englishness and this is a kind of definition and the classification which is stated on to define rest of the centuries as well.

 

And from this period, from the end of the 14th century and from the end of the 13th century onwards, we find England also seizing to be a recipient of foreign influences than Norman French influence had considerable got mitigated. England is more about native forces and the native influences, it is more organized as a nation, more conscious of her nationhood and also they had emerged to into a single racial cultural unity not taking into account the many things that differentiated them in terms of identities or in terms of linguistic and dialectical differences.

And also at this point of time we find that though in England continues to receive lot of influences from the neighboring countries and also from all kinds of cultural and linguistic imports from other languages, England begins to form her own kind of literature her own kind of religion begins to practice her own economics society and also develops their own methods of war. So that makes a nation quite distinguishable in many ways and we find the literature of the times beginning to reflect all of these elements in them.

 

Chaucer is the real starting point of English literature:

And with the advent of Chaucer which we will begin to notice in the next session, we also notice that these native influences are more pronounced, there is a more English kind of writing which begins to emerge with about which we can discuss more about without relating them with the other kind of influences. And this literary output and language of the Middle English times we find it getting more consolidated towards the end of the Middle English period and with the advent of Chaucer. And at this point it is very important to note that Anglo-Saxon language or the old English language is almost like a dead foreign language now. And we do not find language going back to the roots of Anglo-Saxon tongue from this time onwards the Norman French influence stays on, there are about 10,000 words borrowed words from French which becomes part of English language in many ways England acquires a new stature by the time Chaucer comes to the scene. So let us wind up this session by giving a brief prelude towards the next session which is going to be about the age of Chaucer, many historians feel that Chaucer is the real starting point of English literature and so much so that whatever we discuss in today’s lecture is completely overshadowed by the presence of Chaucer. And with the advent of Chaucer many later historians feel that he is the first of our really national poets, some consider him as the father of English poetry and he is generally considered as the opening moment of the English literature proper. So with this we come to an end to this today’s session and we have noted how the old English period and the Middle English period where quite important and significant in shaping the in laying the foundations of English literature and shaping how literature would be in the forthcoming centuries.

 

So we look forward to seeing you in the next session with the age of Chaucer, thank you.

Middle English period (14th century )

Middle English period (14th century ) 

In continuation with the previous lecture, we begin looking at the Middle English period.

 

Let us look at the time of Robert Mannyng of Brunne:

And the other notable figure is that of Robert Mannyng of Brunne he was also a monk as well as a chronicler and it is also said that he was perhaps part of the canon during the times that he lived. And there are two works of notable repute Handlyng Synne and Mannyng’s chronicle and Handlyng Synne is considered to be the first confessional manual in English literature. The nature of this confession could also be due to the religious tendencies that he had. And Mannyng’s Chronicle was yet another work based on history and again this was the story of England written in verse and it is said that it is extended through the reign of Edward the first. And some even feel that Mannyng’s chronicle was not very original that he had translated some myths of many old English text put together in that sense perhaps it is more less a compilation or a translation of old English text as well. And what makes Mannyng quite different from the others is that in his own works we find lot of biographical information about himself. and this is a quite surprising because many writers were not used to talking about themselves, we also noted that many writers did not even bother to sign with their own names after the work was completed. In that sense, Mannyng shows commendable insight and talking about himself his own life and his own surroundings so that you know it becomes a useful historical tract in the later times.

 

 

14th century

in the 14th century we find ourselves moving closer towards the life and work of Chaucer and this is that period which is known as the period of the alliterative revival. Alliterative revival as the term signifies it is resurgence of poetry with particular kinds of alliterations and rhymes built into it. And we do not find England going back from this period onwards; we do find that there is an increased interest and an increased attention being provided to poetry and other forms of literature. This is also the time when England prepares itself to produce greater classics, shows more attention and more interest in the other classics of Greek and Latin.

 

And the notable feature of this time is a presence of a particular anonymous poet who has come to be known as the Pearl poet or the Gawain poet based on a set of poems known as the pearl poems or the based on the major work known as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This is also the best known Arthurian tale from the Middle English times and pearl poet or the Gawain poet he is also said to be a contemporary of Chaucer, Gower and Langland about whom we will hear more about in the next session and this century was more important because a sense of literature or sense of national unity sense of national literature is getting emerged from this period onwards. How has it become possible for us to access these old English and Middle English text, perhaps one should be very thankful to this major figure Robert Cotton, and most of these works that we talk about whether it is an old English text like Beowulf or Middle English text like Gawain and the Green knight all these manuscripts has become accessible because they are present in this particular set known as Cotton Nero A.x and this was from a personal collection of this visionary figure known as Robert Bruce Cotton, he was a quite a successful and wealthy person who lived in the later 16th and earlier 17th century who should utmost interest as a collector of medieval text, he had a lot of interest in local history and he was also noted antiquarian of his times.

 

Robert Bruce Cotton

So we find him collecting most of the original old English and Middle English manuscripts which were available and he is also said to have credited to have preserved them so that they did not go extinct in any way. In fact, about his manuscripts historians feel that his collection outshone those of the crown, the church and the Inns of the court. This is very important because as we have noted earlier most of the manuscripts and most of the literary collection was available either with the court or with the church, the monasteries where in charge of it most of the times or it was with the Inns of the court which primarily comprise with the 4 institutions which together constitute the judiciary of those times.

 

So Robert Cotton is said to have had a collection which outshone all of these collections put together and one should be very thankful to Robert Cotton for showing this kind of a passion to preserve these extended text. And his grandson at a later point was quite kind enough to donate this entire set to the British library where it is still preserved. So in many sense we also begin to note that the Middle English and the old English period is important not just because of the efforts of the people who lived just during the time, but also because of the interest that posterity began to shown in their works and also because of the sense of national heritage which became all the more important in the later centuries.

 

So preserving an old English text or a Middle English text was not just about preserving literature, but it was also about preserving a heritage which had been handed out. So in that sense one remains internally grateful to many figures such as Robert Cotton who perhaps did not lived in the said age, but contributed to the age in many different ways than the one who were living in these ages could ever even begin to think of or comprehend.

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