Characteristics Of Middle English Literature

For instance, political leaders only had local power, the Church was the most powerful institution. Also, two parts of the Code of Chivalry really talked about the Church. They were, “Thou Shalt believe all that the Church teaches, and shalt observe all its directions” and “Thou Shalt defend the Church” (Doc. 5). In other words, people valued the Church’s teachings and directions, so they had to protect it with all they had. This proves that the Church was important to all the people, the peasants, the kings, the nobles and the knights. Furthermore, “the Church became very powerful, and it often used this power to influence the kings to do as it wanted” (Doc. 3). In summary, the Church had even more power than the kings. As you can see the Church had the most political

In Middlemarch, George Eliot utilizes several literary devices to portray her two characters and their complex relationship that reveals their marriage is dominated by the husband who objectifies his wife into silence. Throughout the passage, Eliot makes it clear that Rosamond and Tertius Lydgate are in an uneven relationship, considering Tertius refuses to listen to his wife who seems to only have his best interest at heart, yet still, he continues to yell at her for thinking she knows what is best for him. With the help of details, Tertius’s critical tone, and imagery, Eliot is able to showcase how complex their relationship is when it comes to Rosamond giving her opinions and ideas, just to be casted to the side.

-Literature is something that can't be original, all literature is usually inspired by some other literature that existed prior to the current piece of literature.

During this time, the Church was everything- everyone believed in their teachings and would go by their rules- and so did

JAMES HURST Adapted from: Elements of Literature: Third Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2003.

American literature has been evolving since the dawn of the Puritan exploration and colonization in the early 1600s. From John Smith's books and descriptions of Native American life to the revolutionary ideas of Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, literature has had many forms and has taken many ideas across time to interpreted by scholars of today. The early Americans were very successful in creating a style of literature that has a complete web of genres to be examined, as well as some genres being sourced more than others. These distinctions only help to prove the diversity of American literature from 1607 to the present day.

were based on catholic views and the aspects of their beliefs could be supplemented by leaders

The power of The Church, in The Middle Ages, was enormous. It touched almost everyone's life in many important ways. The Church baptized a person at birth, performed the wedding ceremony at people' marriages, and

Literature tells the stories of people – growth and prosperity, decline and poverty, and most importantly, evolution. Literature reminds us that while humans are intelligent and capable of producing literature, humans are still humans. We are a species evolved from apes, a collection of animals that bear the responsibility of balancing natural and instinctual urges with logic, rationale and morality. Literature is the medium in which instinct clashes with morality – where the true human condition is revealed. English 300 students not only practice the analysis of a variety of complex literature, they also delve into the deeper discussion of philosophy – the basis on which literature functions.

Literature is an imitation of societal values and is thus a reflection of the human experience of a time period. Written works emphasize the elements of culture, by means of characters, particular events, setting and theme, specific to the time period in which it was composed. Furthermore, literature mirrors the troubles or hardships of society and projects the core values that define said society. Thus, as culture has changed over time, literature has remained a critical facet in representing time periods of the past. Essentially, the culture of a time period is manifested through writing in the projection of society’s values, symbolism of the center of community and literature itself.

However, one work, The Canterbury Tales, shows significant literary influence from many of his contemporaries. Despite the many influences, Chaucer showed his true expertise in how he was able to blend old literary techniques with his own new ideas. Many scholars have praised Chaucer for creating characters that the average middle-class English individual could relate to. Many of his "tales" are about middle-class individuals such as a merchant or a miller. It is for this reason why this work was so significant among the English in the Middle Ages. Chaucer gave middle-class England a scholarly literary work that the average individual could understand. As a result, the work became well-known among the English citizens, which led to the popularizing of Chaucer's language.

Also called the middle ages, the medieval ages were influential in European history. It dates between the 5th and the 15th centuries of european history. The beginning of the period was marked by the collapse of Rome while its end was marked by the end of Renaissance. The Roman Empire’s fall bringing forth an idea of uniting Europe in what was called Christendom, this was based on the beliefs of the church. Features such as migration of people, invasions, population distribution, and deurbanization characterized this period. The medieval ages had three periods, which include the antiquity, the medieval periods, and the modern period, all of which exhibited different characteristics. The end of this period saw various challenges coming

The novel is distinguished from the long narratives in verse of Geoffrey Chaucer, Edmund Spenser, and John Milton which, beginning with eighteenth century, the novel has increasingly supplanted. Within these limits the novel includes such diverse works as Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and Lawrence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy; Jane Austen’s Emma

The sun of the Eighteenth century shines brilliantly on the era of British wealth and power, filling every part of great British life with pride and confidence. British literature, no longer stoic and medieval is revitalized and reclassified. As in the early Renaissance days Restoration authors think highly of Classical literature. Unlike their predecessors however, they are freer with classical style and prose. In one such restoration work, patterned after early Greek and Roman Cynics, author Jonathan Swift Calls the British Isles to action with an unprecedented solution to the problem of poverty; and exemplifies neoclassical literature in satirical style, sordid subject, and solid structure.

Every country has its story and literature reflects the most important events that happened during a determinate period, and also, how people, politics, religion and the society in general developed during those periods. As I see it, literature, just as all forms of art, is a giant chronological picture that shows all the shades of a society in all its aspects. In this case, English literature, from 1660 to 1830 specifically, shows a great transformation from the beginning of the Restoration to the end of the Romanticism.