The main characters in Le Roman de la Rose and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are capable of finding an identity that suits them; the different paths that each characters takescourtly love and chivalrywere the highest ideals in medieval times

Le Roman de la Rose and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in Search of an Identity In medieval times the romance genre was a portrayal of the world of the court, a genre that belonged to the aristocratic class overlooking the realities of the outside world. Adventures, quests and ladies were the conventional reasons for the courtly knights to embark in exciting experiences that helped to establish a set of rules that all other persons of the court were to follow, reinforcing their ideals. But even as the tradition of the romances spread to modest courts and finally to the uprising bourgeoisie, they kept reflecting the fears and necessities that are common to mankind: the construction of a personal identity and the problems to preserve it. In contrast with texts of the previous epic genre, like Beowulf, the reader is no longer confronted with the construction of a national identity but with a personal one that others can relate to. Romances were born in the French courts with famous troubadours like Chrétien de Troyes that used the tales and characters of the Arthurian tradition to reflect the life and values of the courts. The concept of "courtly love", a sentimental refinement, was one of the main principles for the people in the court, it emphasized the "link between love, its social setting (the court), and its ways (courtliness): the set of social qualities and skills

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

The Meaning of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight [It is] somewhat surprising to discover that the bulk of Arthurian criticism which has been directed to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has largely overlooked the real source of its extraordinary appeal. Early and late scholars have sought to establish Gawain's origin among the ranks of primitive Celtic gods and to suggest, it would seem, that Gawain's success might perhaps be best accounted for because he is not to be taken for the representation of an ordinary human being, but because he is, on the contrary, either a superhuman or supernatural being. Some critics have been concerned with the Green Knight himself, finding him to be, according to [a 1949 article in Scrutiny by John Speirs], an unmistakable relation to the Green Manthe Jack in the Green or the wild man of the village festivals of England and Europe, or, in another accounting [H. Brady's, in a 1952 article in Modern Language Notes], a figure modeled on a person who actually lived in the fourteenth century. Other scholars have turned their attention to the sources and provenience of the varied subject matter of the romance. The results of this criticism have been, first, to make of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight something of a mythological poem, or else a nature rite, second, to suggest that its hero and antagonist are godlike beings; and, third, to coax the

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Beowulf - The real Story

Beowulf: The REAL Story (A short story written by Charlie Nelson and Joey Unkenholz) Chapter One The dragon sank his fangs into Beowulf neck, Beowulf collapsing into the ground. Wiglaf drew his sword, swung with all his might, missing the dragon. Left vulnerable to the engulfing flames emitted from the dragon, his arm was scorched. Struck with fear and embodied in pain, Wiglaf dropped his shield and sword and took to his feet as the dragon roared in rage. Mislead that Beowulf was dead the dragon went back into his lair. Beowulf's eyes opened suddenly, glancing at his awkward surroundings. As his hand makes contact with his neck, he can feel he has been badly wounded. His surroundings are of rock and of darkness darker than the darkest night. Dark that only evil can produce. Beowulf picked himself up from the cold floors of the cavern. Vision impaired, he could only see the blur of light coming through the entrance of the cave. Foot after foot staggered in front in front of each other as he made his way to the incandescence being emitted through the opening. Once outside, the light blinded him. Dizziness and fatigue took control of his body and in seconds he was back on the ground. "Sir, sir, are you alright?" Beowulf eyes opened slowly. "Yes I think I am alright, but I am a bit confused. Where am I? How did I get here?" "Well, sir, you are in the home of

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Chaucers presentation of Troilus and Criseydes love reflects the insurmountable influences of the conventional social ideologies in a patriarchy. Although the poem has a pre-Christian setting, many argue that Chaucer draws a message of Christian mo

Discuss the treatment of one of the following themes in any of the texts you have studied on this course: a) fate and predestination; b) love; c) honour and reputation. Quod Love, 'I shal telle thee, this lesson to lerne. Myne owne trewe servaunt, the nobel philosophical poete in Englissh, whiche evermore him bisieth and travayleth right sore my name to encrese...' from Testament of Love by Thomas Usk, Book 3 Chapter 4 Chaucer's contemporaries considered him a love poet, a 'true servant' of Venus, exploring all aspects of love: the courtly love tradition, sexual love, friendship, Christian love and divine power.1 For the purposes of this essay, I intend to explore his treatment of love in Troilus and Criseyde, undoubtedly one of his greatest works. Chaucer's poem couples his overriding focus on the universal theme of love with an important moral and philosophical viewpoint, addressed mainly through his narrator. At first the story appears to be a classical setting negotiating the trials of love and war during the siege of Troy; closer reading reveals that it is representative of medieval court romance as it presents a chivalric view. The setting may be the great Trojan war of antiquity but through Chaucer's representation the characters are medieval knights and ladies. Their seemingly 'courtly' behaviour arises out of the contemporary tradition of medieval romance

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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'It is clear...that Chaucer used the couple relationship as a kind of open field on which a number of battles might be fought

'It is clear...that Chaucer used the couple relationship as a kind of open field on which a number of battles might be fought: experience versus authority, rebellion versus submission, impetuosity versus prudence, determinism versus free will, passivity versus moral action, as well as conflicts centring on money, possessive jealousy or utopianism'. (Sheila Delany). Discuss this statement in relation to TWO OR MORE of the following texts. ('The Miller's Tale' and 'The Wife of Bath') The narrative and structure of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales reflects the couple relationship clearly. By centring on themes central to life both then and now, the coupling of issues, often diametrically opposed, makes the tales seem perpetually relevant. Overall, the unfinished sequence takes the reader on a journey which is itself a 'pilgrimage' where encounters are made and difficulties addressed upon a broad canvass which encapsulates the primary directives of the human condition. By his use of coupling, Chaucer invites the reader to compare and contrast these directives and ultimately achieve a disparate, complex yet cohesive connective. By close examination of two of Chaucer's tales, 'The Miller's Tale' and 'The Wife of Bath's Tale', it is hoped that the use of the couple relationship will be made manifest. Scholars have long argued about the sequence of the tales which is seemingly so

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Dantes Divine Comedy. Discuss what you consider to be the most important allegorical features of the journey of Ulysses in the Inferno, and give your interpretation of their meaning.

Discuss what you consider to be the most important allegorical features of the journey of Ulysses in the Inferno, and give your interpretation of their meaning. Word Count: 2443 Ulysses represents great ambiguity for Dante both as the pilgrim and as the poet. Is he the hero of Greek Cicero and Seneca whose love of knowledge, in Dante's adaptation, desires to go beyond all earthly boundaries in order to seek human knowledge? On the other hand is he the Ulysses of Latin Virgil and Ovid, the man of cunning and manipulation, who seeks knowledge of the external world and discards all others and more importantly discards all virtue? Canto 26 is set among the eighth ditch of the eighth circle of Hell, a scene in which the sinners are punished in flames that burn inward, and the central feature is a 'cloven-crested flame'1 which embodies the shades of Ulysses and Diomed. In all of this Dante creates some of the most complex and intriguing allegory in the whole of the Divine Comedy. The significance of this allegory is based upon the interpretation of Ulysses' journey. To understand the allegories you first must understand the interpretations. To understand the interpretations you first must understand the role of Dante. This preface, to the discussion of the most important allegorical features, will outline Dante's duality, and the two main competing interpretations of Ulysses'

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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How are gender relationships depicted in Chaucers "Wife of Bath"?

How are gender relationships depicted in medieval literature? The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale is one of the twenty-four stories which make up The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer towards the end of the 14th century. The premise for The Tales is that of a group of pilgrims each telling stories in order to win the prize of a free meal, the primary narrator is a naïve pilgrim who is not described. The Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English, which bears a close visual resemblance to the English written and spoken today. The Tales were unfinished as Chaucer died before their completion and the order of the stories has been disputed due to the fragmented nature of his work. This essay will be looking at gender relationships in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale and in medieval Literature as a whole. Chaucer’s Wife of Bath is a middle-aged woman from the west country, who strides into The Canterbury Tales on a large horse with her spurs jangling and riding in the fashion of a man rather than the side saddle that was typical of women, ready to assert herself in the company of pilgrims made almost entirely of men. Rich and elaborate in design, the Wife’s clothes reek of extravagance, her stockings “weren of fyn scarlet reede” and “on hir feet a paire of spores sharpe” show how wealthy she has become from her conquests of men. In the General

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Virtue and the 'endless figure' in the works of the Pearl-poet. The Pearl-poets works reveal a preoccupation with the fate of the individual: Jonah in Patience, the Dreamer in Pearl and Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and their moral conditio

Discuss the idea of virtue and the 'endless figure' in the works of the Pearl-poet. Thomas Aquinas defines virtue as 'a certain fullness of ability, measured by a perfect fitness to act.' This notion of a perfect ability is one of the primary concerns of the Pearl-poet, particularly in a moral sense. The idea of a moral completeness is central to all four texts: Pearl, Patience, Cleanness and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Moral virtues require further definition: Moral virtue is primarily a disposition to choose well, which involves intending a goal (the role of the moral virtue) and picking out the means (the role of prudence...Moral virtue then is a disposition to choose a balanced course of action such as a prudent man's reason would decide is right.1 Aquinas distinguished between virtues which are innate and God-given, and those which require man's will in order to be achieved. The words 'choose well' indicate the freedom man has to decide the course of action he will take. The Pearl-poet's works reveal a preoccupation with the fate of the individual: Jonah in Patience, the Dreamer in Pearl and Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and their moral condition. In each case there is a progression in terms of the character's own moral awareness from the beginning of the tale to the end, although this progression is accompanied by a curious sense of circular

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight - The audience, the Pentangle and the Green Sash

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: The audience, the Pentangle and the Green Sash Although some early manuscripts of the poem 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' still exist, nothing, beyond speculation, is known about the poet, which is a pity when considering its rich language and imagery. Believed to have been written between 1375 and 1400, and some 2500 lines long, the unknown poet blent a unique mixture of chivalry, the Beheading Game and the temptation of a knight called Sir Gawain into probably the best example of an Arthurian romance. In this essay, the alliterative language and style of this poem will be seen to reflect the period and place that it was written as well as the audience for whom it was intended. With reference to the 'Sir Gawain' text, the use of the pentangle and the green sash, representing truth and untruth will be studied. Together, they will be shown to fit within the major theme of the whole poem. Particular attention will be paid to how these emblems might have been interpreted by the court audience of that period. 'Sir Gawain' was written in local dialect and its language ...'contains many harsh-sounding words of Norse origin...' (Stone, 1974 p 10). Partly because of the characteristics of the dialectic text, it has been placed as having been written in the north-west midlands, probably Shropshire. The poet also shows knowledge of a particular

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  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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The Knight's Tale and the Miller's Tale. There is no more reason for Arcites death than for Alisons triumph, both are just random events. Discuss.

'There is no more reason for Arcite's death than for Alison's triumph, both are just random events.' Discuss. The sense of random happenings and arbitrary choices that pervades The Canterbury Tales applies not only to the tales the Pilgrims tell but also to the situation that they are in- the pilgrimage to Canterbury. Chaucer constructs the pilgrimage so that Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye Of sundry folk, by aventure yfalle In felaweship, and pilgrims were they alle (24-6) are gathered together, irrespective of degree or rank or social class. Chaucer's narrator claims they are there 'by aventure', and of course in 14th Century terms it is random that these 'sondry folk' should all meet, but on another level there is nothing random about Chaucer's decision to create these characters for the purposes of telling the tales. In this way the sense of 'randomness' goes hand in hand with Chaucer's attempts to impose some kind of realism upon the tales. In order for the situation to be convincing, there must be an absence of obvious author manipulation, and by heightening the sense of the pilgrimage and collection of pilgrims as a random occurrence, the author is pushed further away from a reader's consciousness. Chaucer's narrator is of course a key element of this, another obstacle further shielding the reader from Chaucer's direct views. The apparent inability of this

  • Word count: 2003
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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