British literature Flashcards
Who was Geoffrey Chaucer?
English poet, author, civil servant, diplomat and member of parliament.
What is Geoffrey Chaucer called?
Father of English literature
In which language did Chaucer write?
Middle English
What is Middle English?
A spoken form of English in Middle Ages/language of common people.
Where is Chaucer buried?
In Poets’ corner
What is Poets’ corner?
A section of the south transept of Westminster Abbey, where the most important English poets and writers are buried.
Who is for example buried in Poets’ corner?
Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling…
What and where did Chaucer studied?
Law in the Inner Temple
Who inspired Chaucer’s works?
Petrarch and Boccaccio
When did Chaucer start writing Canterbury tales?
in 1380s
What are some of Chaucer’s works?
The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The parliament of fowls, Troilus and Criseyde, The Canterbury tales, The Legend of Good Women, A treatise on the Astrolabe, Anelida and Arcite.
What are Canterbury tales?
Collection of 24 stories (unfinished), it is written in verse in popularized middle English
What is the main plot of Canterbury tales?
30 pilgrims from different social ranks travel to Canterbury (author is one of them), they set up a storytelling competition, winner gets a free meal in a tavern on their way back.
What is the knight tale about?
It is a romance about two soldiers falling in love with the queen’s sister Emily, it includes idealized characters and uses roman mythology. The main motives are love and fellowship.
Who was Thomas More?
He was a lawyer, judge, philosopher, statesman, politician and author, He was a Lord High Chancellor of England.
Who is Lord High Chancellor of England?
the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State, nominally outranking the prime minister.
What did Thomas More write?
Utopis and History of King Richard III.
Where did Thomas More study?
Oxford university.
Which languages did Thomas More speak?
Latin and Greek, english of course
What are the highlights of Thomas More’s career?
1490-92 - served John Morton as household page
1504 - elected to Parliament, from 1510 represented London
1523 - elected Speaker of the house of Commons
1529 Lord Chancellor
1532- resigned
What were the surroundings of More’s execution?
He had religious disputes with Henry VIII., he refused to take Oath of Supremacy, so he was imprisoned in The Tower and charged with high treason and executed on July 6th 1535.
What is History of King Richard III. about?
It is a biography were King Richard is portrayed as tyrant, it is written both in English and Latin. It was never finished and it was published after his death. It was a model for Shakespeare’s play Richard III.
What is Utopia about?
It describes how perfect society should look. It has a frame narrative and it includes front matter and 2 books. It is written in Latin.
Who is considered the greatest writer in world literature?
Shakespeare
In which era did Shakespeare live?
Late renaissance/ Elizabethan era
Where did Shakespeare grow up?
In Stanford-upon-Avon
Who did Shakespeare marry?
Anne Hathaway
Which company was Shakespeare part of in the beginning?
The Lord Chamberlain’s Men
Where was Shakespeare buried?
Holy Trinity Church
What is first folio?
It is a collection of 36 plays out of 38 he wrote.
Which phases of work Shakespeare had?
1590s-1600 - mostly comedies and histories, themes from English history and ancient times
1600s - 1608 - mostly tragedies and sonnets, pessimism and disappointment in life
1608-1612 - Reconciliation with life, romances (characteristics of tragedies and comedies at the same time)
In what style did Shakespeare write?
Blank verse
What is blank verse?
Iambic pentameter verse (verse was unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with stress on every second syllable)
