1、Chapter 1,The Middle English Period,The Middle English Period,Student activities: 1.Find out the main historical events in this period and their important influences. 2.The main literary achievements.,main historical events in old English,1066 Normans conquest : William the conqueror Marking the beg

2、inning of the Middle English The establishment of the feudal system The 1381 peasant uprising The completion of the Domesday Book The launching of the Crusades The signing of the Magna Carter The Hundred Years war,The main literary achievements,1.Romance: ( for noble ) 2.Ballads: ( folk literature)

3、(oral)( for English people) 3. Poetry: 1) William Langland (popular literature) 2) Chaucer ( the founder of English literature),1.Romance: ( for noble ),Romance: It is the most prevailing kind of literature in England on feudal period. It is a long composition, in verse or in prose. It describes the

4、 life and adventures of a noble hero. The central theme is loyalty to king and Lord. The code of manners and morals of a knight is Chivalry. The most important romance is king Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.,Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,One important story in the Arthurian legend Prais

5、ing Sir Gawain and his knightly virtues of loyalty, valor, rectitude and integrity.,Characterization of Sir Gawain,He is not presented as a rigid heroic type but as a human being with his worries and fears. The knights are just fallible as common humanity and their best example, Sir Gawain, has his

6、ordinary human weakness.,2.Ballads:,It is the most important form of English folk literature. It is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas with the second and fourth line rhymed. It is a literature of common people,( mainly the literature of the peasants) from them one is able to understand

7、 the outlook of the English common people in feudal society. It flourished in England in the 15th century. The most important ballads in England are Robin Hood .,Robin Hood,Robin Hood, the hero of the poor, and the enemy of the rich and the powerful. The ballads reveal the cruel reality of medieval

8、life with its gross injustice and its underlying discontent as well as the aspirations of the poor. Heroes of Marshes,John Wycliffe,Translation of the bible form Latin into middle English. Precursor of Martin Luthers reformation , or as “ the morning star of the reformation ”.,William Langland,He wrote vision of Piers the plow