Samenvatting Vakstudie Engels 4 (ENVS4): ENGLISH LITERATURE

Exam VS4:
HIGHLIGHTS OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

Table of contents:
1 Geoffrey Chaucer (C 1340-1400) ‘Father of English literature’ ......................................................................... 2
1.1 His life ................................................................................................................................................................ 2
1.2 His work: The Canterbury Tales ......................................................................................................................... 2
1.3 The Miller’s Tale................................................................................................................................................. 3
2 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) ..................................................................................................................... 4
2.1 His life ................................................................................................................................................................ 4
2.2 His language ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.3 Elizabethan Theatre ........................................................................................................................................... 6
2.4 His work ............................................................................................................................................................. 7
3 19th century literature...................................................................................................................................... 14
3.1 Jane Austin (1775 – 1817)................................................................................................................................ 14
3.2 Emily Brontë (1818-1848) ................................................................................................................................ 15
3.3 Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) ......................................................................................................................... 18
3.4 Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) ......................................................................................................................... 20
4 Late 19th century American poetry .................................................................................................................. 23
4.1 American Transcendentalism .......................................................................................................................... 23
4.2 Emily Dickenson (1830 – 1886) ........................................................................................................................ 24
4.3 Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) .......................................................................................................................... 27

,1 Geoffrey Chaucer (C 1340-1400) ‘Father of English literature’
The 14th century was the first flowering period of English literature.
The greatest storyteller of the time, as well as the greatest poet, is Geoffrey Chaucer.
His writings established English as a literary language, and his dialect,
that of the London area, became widely spread.


1.1 His life

1.1.1 Early life (until 1371): period of French influence
His family was associated with the royal court (his father and grandfather were merchants in wine) and this was
important for his education. He knew about life in court and what was required of a good courtier (eg writing verse).
Chaucer also served as a soldier in France and was taken prisoner. He was released a year later.
↠ He became familiar with French literature and conventions.


1.1.2 Middle life (1372-1385): period of Italian influence
Chaucer became an ambassador and some of his diplomatic missions took him to Italy.
↠ He became familiar with Italian literature (Dante, Boccaccio, Petrarch)


1.1.3 Last years (1385-1400): period of English influence
Development of Chaucer’s own genius.
In 1387 he began his greatest work: The Canterbury Tales. They were not printed, however, until 1485.


1.2 His work: The Canterbury Tales

1.2.1 Structure/form
It is a frame story (= a collection of stories included in one narrative).
This technique is oriental in origin (cf ‘Arabian Nights’) and was also used by Boccaccio in his ‘Decamerone’.
Several types of medieval literature are presented: romances, exemplum, tragedy, beast, fable, fabliau, etc.

, 1.2.2 Story
A group of 30 pilgrims travel from London to Canterbury to visit Thomas Becket’s shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.




They have assembled in the Tabard Inn in Southwark.
The host of the inn suggests that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to
Canterbury and two on the way back.
The one pilgrim who will have told the best story will be treated to a free supper in
the Tabard Inn.
Chaucer never finished the work, however. He only wrote 24 tales.
The company never reaches Canterbury.


1.2.3 Tales
The pilgrims are representatives of almost all classes of mediaeval society.
Some examples:
› Upper-class: a knight
› Religious people: a prioress, a monk, a friar
› Middle-class: a clerk, a lawyer
› Lower-class: a parson, a ploughman, a miller
Each tale starts with an individual prologue and is told in the character’s own way.
The upper-class tell the more refined tales, whereas the middle or lower classes tell the coarser tales.


1.3 The Miller’s Tale

1.3.1 Genre
This tale is a fabliau, a French invention that depicts bourgeois characters in satirical or openly
comic plots involving unlikely and complex deceptions, usually concerning sex and/or money.


1.3.2 Form
Rhyming couplets, the most common poetic form used for the tales.


1.3.3 Pronunciation
› Give the vowel a ‘continental’ quality
› ‘e’ at the end of a word should be pronounced, unless an ‘h’ or another vowel follows
› Consonants: ‘gh’ has a throaty chocking sound – ‘ng’ as in finger