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1 Study Guide
Beowulf
1. Basically, Beowulf is an epic poem that is about the
protagonist Beowulf. He goes to help Hrothgar because his mead hall and men are
being attacked by Grendel(monster). To begin with, the poem starts with the
funeral of Sclyd who was the founder of the dynasty that Hrothgar, his father,
and grandfather belonged. Beowulf, the protagonist of the poem hears that
Hrothgar needs help in his kingdom so he takes his fourteen geat men with him
and they land. Hrothgar and Beowulf talk about Grendel’s killing spree. Later on,
Beowulf fights Grendel; Beowulf cuts off his arm, his claw and later cuts off
his head when he fights his mother. Hrothgar rewards Beowulf with gold and
gifts for killing Grendel. After that, Grendel’s mother seeks vengeance, but
Beowulf finds her and they battle, Beowulf falls and she sits on him with a
sword, but his armor saved him. He kills her, gets Grendel’s head and her famous
sword; then Beowulf and his men go back to Hygelac. Beowulf also fights the
dragon towards the end where he also dies. Beowulf eventually had to die
because he was a heroic figure to the length in which he was needed.
2. Beowulf, Hrothgar,
Grendel, Grendel’s mother, Kane, Weoltheow, Shield Sheafson (The legendary Danish king from whom Hrothgar
is descended, Shield Sheafson is the mythical founder who inaugurates a long
line of Danish rulers and embodies the Danish tribe’s highest values of heroism
and leadership), Beow(The
second king listed in the genealogy of Danish rulers,son of Shield Sheafson), Halfdane (The
father of Hrothgar, Heorogar, Halga, and an unnamed daughter who married a king
of the Swedes, Halfdane succeeded Beow as ruler of the Danes), Unferth (A
Danish warrior who is jealous of Beowulf, Unferth is unable or unwilling to
fight Grendel, thus proving himself inferior to Beowulf), Hygd( Hygelac’s
wife, the young, beautiful, and intelligent queen of the Geats. Hygd is
contrasted with Queen Modthryth),. Wiglaf (A young kinsman who helps him in the fight against
the dragon while all of the other warriors run away), Ecgtheow(Beowulf’s father, Hygelac’s
brother-in-law, and Hrothgar’s friend. Ecgtheow is dead by the time the story
begins, but he lives on through the noble reputation that he made for himself
during his life and in his dutiful son’s remembrances), King Hrethel( The Geatish king who
took Beowulf in as a ward after the death of Ecgtheow), Breca( Beowulf’s childhood friend,
whom he defeated in a swimming match), Sigemund(A figure from Norse mythology, famous for slaying a
dragon. Sigemund’s story is told in praise of Beowulf and foreshadows Beowulf’s
encounter with the dragon), King Heremod (An evil king of legend. The scop, or bard, at
Heorot discusses King Heremod as a figure who contrasts greatly with Beowulf), Queen Modthryth( A
wicked queen of legend who punishes anyone who looks at her the wrong way)
3. Death, Good v.s Evil(9-11; 99-101;
632-638; 744-752; 976-8; 1016-8),
Religion- Christian Pagean beliefs (12-17; 86-98; 102-114; 170-180; 180-188; 696-697; 2327-2331;
1269-1274), Loyalty(code of honor), men/ women
roles( women established hierarchy, and bond with men as beer wenches. Women
were peace weavers, also important and they distributed bounty to the geats. (pg 54,
615-622; pg 82, 1929-1931; pg 68, 1225-1227; pg 82, 1928) (Men were providers, protectors, very limited). Vengeance,
Fate, Greed.
4. “Choose, dear Beowulf, the better
part, / eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride. / For a brief while your
strength is in bloom/ but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow/ illness
or the sword to lay you low,/ or a sudden fire or surge of water/ or jabbing
blade or javelin from the air/ or repellent age. Your piercing eye/ will dim
and darken; and death will arrive,/ dear warrior, to sweep you away” (1759-1768).
“Wise
sir, do not grieve. It is always better/ to avenge dear ones than to indulge in
mourning./ For every/ one of us, living in this world/ means waiting for our
end. Let whoever can/ win glory before/ death. When a warrior is gone,/ that
will be his best and only bulwark” (1384–1389).
“But the Lord was weaving / a victory on
His war-loom for the Weather-Geats” (696-697).
Lanval
1.
Lanval, is a Lais (short
narrative poem in verse) and is about Lanval who is one of King Arthur’s
knights. All of the knights and King are jealous of him so Lanval does not get
money or land, but even though he is poor he still gives whatever money he has
to people. Lanval came from nobility; he was the son of a
king. One day, Lanval decided to go for a ride, he layed down next to a stream,
and two beautiful women went towards him and said that their damsel wanted to
see him. The women came up to him, and told him that their damsel wished to see
him. The damsel told him that she had searched for him and that she loved him.
Lanval immediately fell in love with her. Lanval promised to do whatever she
asked of him, and told her that he never wanted to part from her. She gave him
a boon, which would give him anything that he desired. There was only one
catch, Lanval could not tell anyone about her; if he did tell someone, he would
lose her forever. After they spent some time together, she told him that he had
to leave, but whenever he wanted her, she would come to him. Lanval left and
rode to where his men were. When he arrived, he saw that they were all dressed
very well. No one could explain how or why this happened. Lanval lavished
everyone with gifts and hospitality; he gave to everyone equally. No one went
hungry or without a bed to sleep in. One day, the queen saw Lanval from her
window, and decided to go down to see him. The queen went over to him and told
him that she loved him. Lanval rejected her. The queen became angry, and said
that the rumor about him liking boys was true. Lanval quickly responded by
saying that he did love a woman, and even one of his lady's poorest servants
was worth more than the queen.The queen went off in a hurry, humiliated. She
went to the king and told him that Lanval had hit on her, and when she denied
him her love, he insulted her. She told the king that Lanval had boasted that
he a beloved that was better than her, even one of his beloved's servants was
better than her. The king became very angry. So he gathered his men to get him,
and Lanval said he would take any punishment. Lanval’s fairy lady did not want
to help him, but she shows up and she tells the king telling him that she had
loved Lanval for some time, and everything that the queen accused him of was
false. The king released Lanval, and the lovers rode off together to Avalon.
2. Lanval, King Arthur, Lanval’s beloved and Arthur’s queen.
3. Chivalry, Courtly love, role reversal, duty(to lord or loved ones).
4. “No man but you will see me / or hear my words” (169-170). “ There was
no stranger or friend / to whom Lanval didn’t give” (213-214). “Now I don’t
care if I am killed, / if only she forgives me” (598-599).
Sir Gawain
1.
Sir Gawain, Arthur’s nephew and a knight in the round table, and the Green Knight is a Revival Alliterative
poem (Pertaining to or characterized by alliteration). The story
begins at Christmastime at King Arthur’s court in Camelot. The knights of the
Round Table join Arthur in the holiday celebrations, and Queen Guinevere
presides in their midst. The lords and ladies of Camelot have been feasting for
fifteen days, and now it is New Year’s Day. Everyone participates in New Year’s
games, exchanging gifts and kisses. When the evening’s feast is about to be
served, Arthur introduces a new game: he refuses to eat his dinner until he has
heard a marvelous story. As he waits, the Green Knight arrives and asks to talk
to Arthur; he wants to play the game where a knight can chop off his head, but
just as long as he gets to do the same the same year and day. None of the
knights wanted to accept the challenge, so Green knight calls them cowards, and
then Gawian steps forth to play the game. He chops off Green Knight’s head, but
all he does is pick up his head and puts it back on. In autumn, King of Camelot
prepares Gawain to to find the Green Chapel. Gawain takes his shield that has a
gold five-pointed star, or pentangle, on a red background. On the inside of the
shield is the face of Mary, Christ’s mother. Each of the five points of the
pentangle represents a set of Gawain’s virtues: his five senses; his five fingers;
his fidelity, founded on the five wounds of Christ; his force, founded on the
five joys of Mary; and the five knightly virtues. As the season goes by and it
is Christmas, Gawain prays to Virgin Mary in hopes of finding a place to have
Christmas mass, and then he sees the Green Castle. He goes in and he is greeted
by the people and the host even offers him to stay linger by telling him that
he can show him how to get to the green chapel. Gawain accepts the invitation
to stay longer since the host offers him to play another game in which Gawain
relaxes all day while the host goes hunting; Gawain must give what he receives
every three days. So during the three days, the wife of the host manipulates
Gawain into giving her kisses by using his moral/ chilvaric code against him.
The third day, the wife offers Gawain a green girdle that has magical powers
and protects one from death, so he took it because he was fearful for his own
death. Then Gawain gives the host kisses, but doesn’t mention the girdle. Later,
he finds the Green chapel, and then the Green Knight strkes him three times
because the first two times, Gawain flinches. The third time, Green Knight
strikes his neck only leaving a scratch and then he tells Gawain that he
deserves that because he was dishonest about the girdle. The green knight was
the host of the castle, and Gawain takes off the girdle, cursing it and Green
knight admires his bravery so he asks him to stay at the castle longer. Green
Knight is actually named Bertilak de Hautdesert, servant of Morgan le Faye, who
is the old woman in the castle. Le Faye is also Gawain’s aunt and Arthur’s half
sister, as well as Merlin’s mistress; she sometimes helps and sometimes makes
trouble for Arthur. Bertilak reveals that Le Faye sent him in disguise as the
Green Knight to Camelot in order to scare Queen Guinevere to death. As Gawain
returns to his home, he wears the girdle as a reminder of his sin.
2. Sir Gawain, Green
knight(Bertilak), Morgan La Feye(Gawain’s aunt), King Arthur.
3. Chilvary, Temptation, courtly love, trial, fate, death,
self-preservation, morality, mortality, women (evil).
4. “I’ll afford one free hit from which I won’t flinch, / and promise that
twelve months will pass in peace” (294-295). “First he was deemed flawless in
his five senses; / and secondly his five fingers were never at fault; and
thirdly his faith was founded in the five wounds” (640-642). “[…]
that slanting green stripe was adopted as their sign / and each knight who held
it was honored ever after” (2519-2520).
Miller’s Prologue/ Tale
1. This tale is about John, the carpenter, who is married to Allison,
young and beautiful, and Nicholas, young and handsome astrology guy whom is
well educated. Nicholas is boarding with John and Allison; Nicholas is
attracted to Allison and he makes aggressive moves on her like grabbing her by
her genitals and asking if she would love him back. She is OK with having an
affair with him, but Nicholas wants a night alone with Allison so they both
plan to lie to John. Since Nicholas knows about astrology, he tells John that
there is going to be a flood that is only going to last for a day and so he
tells him to build three boats. John’s biggest concern is Allison, but he builds
the individual boats and hangs them on the ceiling. The day of the flood, John
is in one of the boats, but he falls asleep. Nicholas and Allison get to sleep
together, but then there is Absolon who is also infatuated with Allison; he
decides to serenade her outside her window. After he does that, he asks Allison
for a kiss, and she puts her buttocks out and Absolon kisses her hairy butt! After
Absolon realizes that it was her butt he decides to get a red hot poker and poke
her buttocks, but Nicholas decides to be the funny one so he puts out his
buttocks instead and farts in Absolon’s face. Absolon pokes Nicholas with the
poker and after the burn, h yells out for “water!” John hears that and he
thinks it is the flood so he cuts the ropes to the boat and he falls and breaks
his arm. The moral of the story is to marry someone who is a good fit for you
and to not mess with married women.
2. John, the carpenter, Allison, young and beautiful, Nicholas, handsome
and educated, Absolon, church clerk.
3. Fablian, class issues, entrapment/ oppression of women, age, astrology,
temptation(cuckoldry), religion, education, sexual deviance, vengeance.
4.
“That bad men sholde wedden after
hire estat / For youthe and ele is often at debat (120-121). “Allas, my wif! / And
shal she drenche? Allas, myn Alisoun!” (414-415). “Now John, […] I wol nought
lie. I have yfounde in myn astrologye”(405-406).
Wife of Bath’s Prologue/ Tale
1. The Wife of Bath’s prologue is about the wife talking about her five
marriages and how she is ready to get married again. Her last marriage is where
she married her husband for love and not money. The story of their love was
about how he was 20 years younger than her, but that added to their problems
because they were abusive to each other. One day the wife got frustrated so she
tore out pages out of her husband’s Wicked Wives book that he would read aloud
to her; she punches him in the face, and he punches her back, and then she
punches him again. That is how the wife is deaf in one ear, but then they both
make truce and the husband lets her control everything, and he even burns the
book. She also talks about how people criticize her for being married so many
times, and that she is no longer a virgin. The tale that she tells is about a
knight who rapes a lady, and the king sentences him to death. The queen steps
forth and decides to give him a chance, so she tells him that he has one year
to find out what women want. The knight tries to find the answer, but it is
difficult because each woman he asks says something different. There’s an old
lady that tells the knight that she is willing to help him and that if he
promises to do anything she asks then she will have every woman say the same
answer. So the knight gives her his word and she helps him; the knight goes
back to the queen and tells her that all women want is everything to go their
way. The queen and king agree that he got the right answer so his life is
spared. After that, the old lady asks the knight to marry her, and he wines
because he does not want to marry an old ugly lady. The knight decides to marry
her because he gave her his word, and then the old lady asks the knight if he
wants her to stay old and ugly, but be faithful or young and promiscuous. The knight
lets her choose so then the old lady turns young, beautiful and she is going to
stay faithful.
2. The wife, old/ ugly lady, King and queen, and knight.
3. Marriage, control, role of women within marriage, sexual license within
marriage, time, sovereignty of women, honor.
4. “My
lady and my love, and wif so dere, / I putte me in youre wise governaunce: ?
Cheseth yourself which may be most pleasaunce (1236-1238). “For half so boldely can ther no man / Swere
and lyen as a womman can (233-234). “Shal bere him on hond the cow is wood, / And take witnese of hir owene
mayde / Of hir assent. (238-240)
Pardoner’s Prologue/ Tale
1. The Pardoner’s prologue is basically about how the Pardoner sells fake relics
and blessings. He admits that he does not believe his relics or blessings will
work, but in a hypocritical manner, he preaches, “Avarice is the root of all evil”.
He is allowed to do what he does because
the church allows him to do so. The Pardoner is very greedy because he does not
care if he takes money from the poor or starving people. In his tale, there are
three young men that are looking for death because they want to kill it since
death killed their friend. So in their drunkenness, they look for death and
along their journey they meet an old man who is looking for death because he
wants to die. The young men think the old man is a spy, but then he tells them
that death is by a tree; they do not find death, but they find gold. Once they
see trhe gold, they plot against one another. Two of the older men tell the
younger one to get them food and drinks to celebrate, but they both plan to
kill him when he returns so they can have a larger share of the gold. The younger
man buys poison and put its in the bottles of wine so the other two men can
drink it, but when he returns, they kill him; to rejoice, the two remaining men
drink the wine, but they both die because it was poisoned. The pardoner
concludes the tale by saying that avarice is the root of all evil and that
people should buy his relics even though he told them they were fake. Chaucer
went through a lot of judgement and trouble to put his opinion about the Roman
catholic church thorugh this, but the moral was that greed leads to death, and
one must avoid it.
2. The pardoner, three young men, old man, and host.
3. Greed, hypocracy, cheat, exemplum(serman), lies, oride, gluttony,
irony, Avarice(root of all evil), sin leads to death.
4. “I
wol have moneye, wolle, cheese, and whete, / Al were it yiven of the poorest
page, / or of the poorest widwe in a village- / Al sholde hir children sterve
for famine (160-163). “And in the two
his poison poured he- / The thirdde he kepte clene for his drinke” (584-585). “Now
goode men, God forgive you youre trespass, / And ware you fro the sinne of
avarice: / Myn holy pardon may you alle warice” (616-618).
Margery Kempe
1.
Margery Kempe is a well-off middle-class townswoman in
the medieval English town of King’s Lynn. After the birth of her first child,
Margery has a nervous breakdown, seeing hideous devils all around her. Margery
recovers after having a vision of Jesus Christ, and she decides to devote her
life to holiness and contemplation of God. One of the first hurdles Margery has
to overcome is convincing her husband to live a life of celibacy with her—she
succeeds, but only because she has already had fourteen children. After Margery
becomes certain that God wants her to turn away from the world. In Jerusalem,
Margery has several intense visions, and she begins to have spells in which she
sobs and cries uncontrollably. When she returns to England, Margery does her
best to live a life of devotion to Christ. She is respectful to authority but
firm in her beliefs. Margery keeps having visions of Jesus, the Virgin Mary,
and several saints. Odd enough, Margery’s devotion to Christ is intense and is
expressed in physical and even sexual, terms. As time goes on, Margery’s
husband becomes old and sixk, and Margery returns to his household to care for
him. One of Margery’s sons turns from his sinful ways after much praying his
mom, and he marries a German woman. The couple comes to England for a visit,
and the son becomes ill and dies, soon followed by his father. In her last
extended journey, Margery goes with her daughter-in-law (who doesn’t want to go
with her odd mother-in-law) back to Germany/. Margery’s trip overland from
Germany to France is her most demanding and she is yelled at by other travelers
from England, to whom she turns for help. Eventually, Margery is home and now an
old woman, decides to record the story of her life and her devotions, and
begins the dictation of her Book.
2. Margery Kempe, John Lempe, Margery’s son and daughter-in-law, Alan of
Lyn, Archbishop of Canterbury
(“Arundel”), Julian of
Norwich (“Dame Julian”), The
German Priest, Richard (“The Broken-Backed Man”), Margery’s confessor.
3. Physical aspects of Jesus, physical experience of faith, women’s
greater access to faith, class issues.
4.
“And, as soon as
she perceived that she should cry, she would keep it in as much as she might,
so that the people should not have heard it, for it annoyed them. for some it
was a wicked spirit vexed her” (Kempe, 430). “Therefore
I must be intimate with you, and lie in your bed with you. Daughter, you
greatly desire to see me, and you may boldly, when you are in bed, take me to
you as your wedded husband ” (P. 433). “And the firars always, as they went
about, told them what our Lord suffered in every place” (Kempe, 429).
Everyman
1.
The play is a morality play and
basically means that it is a play that is about showing the audience a lesson
in life. It is basically representing the Roman Vatholic point of view in which
it implies that one can die with the good deeds he/she have done and not other
materialistic things.
God speaks and says that his creatures live preoccupied with worldly
prosperity, blinded to what is really important. He summons a messenger, Death, and tells him
to inform Everyman that his time on earth has ended and that he must now give
an account of his life. Everyman asks for more time, but Death refuses to grant
it. Everyman then attempts to muster acquaintances to support him. Everyman
asks his kin and people from the church if they will go with him to death, but
none of them want to. Everyman now
thinks that the material possessions he has stored up may enable him to buy his
way into heaven. He becomes dersperate and asks his Good Deeds to help him, but
it cannot because he is willing to go with Everyman, but he have enough
strength to do so. However, he introduces Everyman to his sister, Knowledge,
who says she can help him by taking him to Confession. Everyman must confess of
his sins, and once he does, Knowledge informs Good Deeds that he is healthy and
whole once again. Good Deeds himself then comes forth and says Everyman is now
prepared for eternity. Good Deeds introduces Everyman to Discretion, Strength,
his Five Wits, and Beauty and asks them to accompany Everyman on his journey.
Knowledge then tells him before he leaves he must receive the last sacraments
of the church, and the oil anointment. After he receives the sacraments,
Beauty, Discretion, Strength, and the Five Wits go with Everyman to his grave
but refuse to accompany him to the afterlife. Everyman is upset because he
cannot take all that with him, but the only thing he can take to death with him
is his Good Deeds. At the end, the Doctor validates the story and message.
2. Everyman, Good Deeds, Death, God, Beauty, Five Wits, messenger,
Kindred, Cousin, Goods, Knowledge, Confession, Strength, Discretion, Angel,
Doctor.
3. Morality, faith, good deeds are way to heaven, repentance, mortality,
quest, time, class, and abandonment of worldly goods.
4.
“Ye think sin
in the beginning full sweet / Which
in the end causeth the soul to weep” (l.13-14 ). “That of our lives and
ending shows / How transitory we
be all day ( I. 5-6). “Everyman/ Yet of my good will I give thee, if thou will be kind / Yea, a thousand pound shalt thou have, /
And defer this matter till another day
(l.121-3)
