The Anglo Saxon literatures were written very similar that they all shared common themes. One of them was the character qualities which the writers of Anglo Saxon Literatures each liked to incorporate similarly in their work. The story would have fictional characters appear in the story, and the characters showed their qualities through description, dialogue and action. Sometimes the story does not have fictional characters; instead the writer appeared as the character of the story and developed
Gender and Space in Old English Literature Beowulf and The Wife’s Lament are written between 100 and 1600 centuries. There has been different interpretation of the poems, some, an attempt to fit the events in the poems into the 21st century which has led to distortions and misrepresentation especially of the female characters and their representation in these poems. According to Shari Horner, twentieth century critics have tried to read women in Beowulf particularly as garrulous, weak, and dispassionate
which is the culmination of a Hrothgar’s long speech to Beowulf. The main themes are the importance of strength and pride in life, the fragility of life and for the first time, Beowulf is seen here as a human warrior and not for his heroic and divine deeds (lines 1758-1768 in Heaney’s, 1476-1484 in Tolkien’s). 1. Hrothgar’s warning on the fragility of life: contextualization With this passage, the reader is in the middle of the poem: Beowulf has just defeated Grendel’s mother and has become what
Ages the oldest literature monument of the Anglo – Saxon period is the old Germanic legend called BEOWULF. This heroic poem is about the strong and courageous pagan hero Beowulf John Wycliffe – is a professor of Oxford University. With his students he translated the whole Bible into English - he influenced Master Jan Hus and our Hussite movement very much 2. the renaissance and humanism Geoffrey Chaucer – Canterbury Tales – brilliant portrait of 30 pilgrims who travel to Canterbury and
Shakespeare’s Sonnets William Shakespeare The Sonnet Form A sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem, traditionally written in iambic pentameter—that is, in lines ten syllables long, with accents falling on every second syllable, as in: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The sonnet form first became popular during the Italian Renaissance, when the poet Petrarch published a sequence of love sonnets addressed to an idealized woman named Laura. Taking firm hold among Italian poets, the sonnet
1. Introduction 3 2. Early History 6 The Greek and Roman Eras: 50 B.C.-A.D. 500 6 The Middle Ages: 500-1500 6 The Renaissance: 1500-1650 7 The Rise of Puritanism and John Locke: Late 1600s 8 3. Beginning of Children’s Literature: Late 1700s 10 4. Fairy and Folk Tales 12 The Golden Age of Children’s Literature: Late 1800s 12 5. Victorian Children's Literature 16 6. Contemporary Children's Literature 18 6. Analysis of Harry Potters’ series 21 7. Conclusion 30 8. Summary 31 Children’s Literature Definitions