The Middle Ages Flashcards

contains background & context, "The Wanderer", "Beowulf", "The Canterbury Tales"

1
Q

Why are the middle ages called the middle ages?

A
  • before ancient world and after (Modernity) Renaissance and Reformation
  • was the long period (1000 years) in between those two
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2
Q

What is the humoral theory

A

human body was governed by four fundamental fluids
* blood: heart
* phlegm: brain
* yellow bile: liver
* black bile: spleen
–> needed to be balanced for good health

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3
Q

What type of poem is the Wanderer and why?

A

Old English Elegy
expresses themes of loss, exile, longing
serious reflection

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4
Q

What is the setting of the Wanderer like? What tone does it create?

A

tone: reflection and mourning –> reminisces about better times but is now left alone, wandering, enduring hardships
setting: spiritual and emotional exile
–> cold and desolate landscape
–> ruined world

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5
Q

What is the problem of the Wanderer?

A

loss and isolation
had to flee when his lord (the king) died

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6
Q

What can we infer about the culture of the time from the poem “The Wanderer?”

A
  • Warrior culture: emphasizes the value of loyalty, honor, communal bonds and the pursuit of glory
  • also incorporates Christian influences: seeking solace in God -> shift where warriors started to see salvation and eternal peace
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7
Q

How many speakers are the in the poem “The Wanderer”?

A

2 or 3
setting narrator (poet), wanderer and maybe the wanderer as a wise man

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8
Q

How is the Christian message in the “story” of the Wanderer?

A

Towards the end of the poem, the wanderer turns to thought of God and the afterlife as a possible source of hope and redemption. He suggest that peace might be found in God’s embrace

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9
Q

What formulaic writing traditions do we see in the poem “The Wanderer”?

A
  • Alliteration: “Fate is fully fixed”
  • Kennings: “frost-cold-sea”;”gold-friend”;”earthstepper”
  • repetitive phrases
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10
Q

What genre does the text “Beowulf” belong to?

A

heroic, epic poem

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11
Q

Do we see instances of warrior culture in the text “Beowulf”?

A
  • Heroic-code between King and Beowulf: loyalty, generosity
  • Pursuit of glory and fame: desire to fight Grendel without weapons
  • Feasting and gift-giving: gold, armor, treasure
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12
Q

Who is the narrator of “Beowulf” and what values does the narrator hold?

A

omniscient 3rd person narrator

Admires qualities of bravery, loyalty and strength
incorporates Christian themes: fate in God’s hands

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13
Q

Who is Grendel in “Beowulf” and what’s his role

A
  • monster -> decides to be one
    –> he needs to be this pure evil to make readers acknowledge Beowulf’s greatness

Grendel is the son of Cain the traitor, an evil being that the pagans (as the children of Abel) can fight against to legitimize their own christianity before the time of Christ

-> also: the theme in Beowulf is the in-/and outside, resembling the meaning of community (community is important in anglosaxon warrior culture) -> the text defines community by defining what‘s outside -> Beowulf is about defining the cruel outside world, Grendel represents said cruel outside world.

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14
Q

Why is a text (“Beowulf”) about Scandinavians so important for English Literature?

A
  • oldest surviving work written in Old English
  • foundational text for the study of the development of the English Literary tradition
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15
Q

How has the society in “The Canterbury Tales” changed from the previous texts?

A
  • Strict class system vs more flexible –> improvement through trade, skills, wealth
  • strict belief/loyalty vs personal view of religion, criticising church
  • economy based in farming vs trade, business, money-making
  • heroic tales vs humorous, more realistic, daily life stories
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16
Q

When were the Canterbury Tales written?

A
  • late 14th century
  • reign of King Richard II
17
Q

How many tales did Chaucer intend to write? How many did he end up writing?

A
  • each pilgrim four tales (so 120 total)
  • Wrote 24
18
Q

What is the setting of the Canterbury Tales? What is it about?

A
  • pilgrimage from London to Canterbury in the 14th cent. England
  • Tabard Inn: Pilgrims meet
  • Host decides to start a contest of storytelling: winner gets food payed by others
19
Q

What is Chaucer’s goal in depicting all of these characters in the “General Prologue” of the Canterbury Tales?

A
  • present cross section of medieval society
  • satirise social institutions and human nature
  • provide realistic, entertaining narrative
  • highlight changing social order
20
Q

Who is speaking in the Canterbury Tales?

A

an unnamed pilgrim in 1st person perspective

21
Q

Where do we find the theory of humours in the Canterbury tales?

A
  • Sanguine (Blood: Warm and Moist): The Franklin; cheerful, loves food & drink
  • Choleric (Yellow Bile: Hot & Dry): The Reeve; bad tempered
  • Phlegmatic (Phlegm: Cold & Moist): The clerk; quiet, thoughtful, passive
  • Melancholic (Black Bile: Cold & Dry): The Man of Law; serious, analytical
22
Q

The theory of 4 humours

A
  • Sanguine (Blood: Warm and Moist)
  • Choleric (Yellow Bile: Hot & Dry)
  • Phlegmatic (Phlegm: Cold & Moist)
  • Melancholic (Black Bile: Cold & Dry)