English Language Literature I - LETRAS - Prof. Daniel Derrel Santee - UFMS 2010 BRITISH By Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves One, two! One, two! And through and through Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! All mimsy were the borogoves, He left it dead, and with its head And the mome raths outgrabe. He went galumphing back. `Beware the Jabberwock, my son! `And has thou slain the Jabberwock? The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Come to my arms, my beamish boy! Beware the Jujub bird, and shun O frabjous day! Calloh! Callay! The frumious Bandersnatch!' He chortled in his joy. He took his vorpal sword in hand: `Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Long time the manxome foe he sought -- Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; So rested he by the Tumtum gree, All mimsy were the borogoves, And stood awhile in thought. And the mome raths outgrabe. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wook, And burbled as it came! Made More Stir Than Anything Else By Eleanor Graham "Jabberwocky", the strange nonsense poem those in Through The Looking Glass, so the transla- printed in Looking-Glass characters, made more stir tion read: "It was evening, and the smooth active than anything else in the book and some wild asser- badgers were scratching and boring holes in the hill- tions were made about its origin. The truth was, side, all unhappy were the parrots and the grave tur- however, that Dodgson had made up the first verse tles squeaked out". Dodgson added to it a few years years before, as a young man in his early twenties, later during a verse-making game played with his when he had printed it in his private magazine, cousins when he was staying near Sunderland one Misch-Masch, as "A Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry". summer holiday. He printed them both in Anglo-Saxon and modern ... characters, with a glossary, ending with a literal There is no reference in Through The Looking translation of the passage into crude English. The Glass to their Anglo-Saxon origin. These verses are meanings in that glossary were a little different from simply presented as being in lookingglass language. DISCUSSION: 1. What aspects do the telling of Beowulf to soldiers around the camp fires have in common to the reading of the poem Jabberwocky to children? In what ways are they alike? How are they differ- ent? 2. What are the characteristics of the hero presented in Jabberwocky? English Language Literature - LETRAS - Prof. Daniel Derrel Santee - UFMS 2009 BRITISH The Development of Middle English (1066 - 1400) Historical Background In 1066, the Normans, from northern part of mas A Becket inside the Minster at Canterbury. France, invaded England. They brought with He was canonized and Canterbury turned into a them their civilization which was more organized favorite place of pilgrimage.. and more intricate than the Anglo-Saxon society The prevalent religious restlessness of the and was organized under a Feudal system of Middle Ages inspired the famous religious government. It was a society prepared for war, movement known as the Crusades, whose object not only with other countries but also between the was to free the Holy Land from the Muslims. barons and nobles themselves in frequent dis- Kings, knights and commoners united to rise in putes for lands. the “Holy War”. Although the wars, which lasted The church developed into an incredibly two hundred years, were unsuccessful they powerful institution. It was a world of constant spurred a great number of men to explore the war, diseases and violence thus, the Medieval world. Knights from the cold fortress castles of man turned to the Church. Membership in the England visited the palaces of Venice and saw Church guaranteed for him a place in society; to the luxuriant cities of Asia Minor. Inspired on be excommunicated meant to be ostracized from these new horizons civilization advanced slowly. society. Education was the domain of the Church; Gradually England became unified. Wales prior to the invention of the printing press, manu- was incorporated into the Crown, it took many scripts were tediously written down by hand in the years for Scotland, which was inhabited by tough monasteries. Monks and priests were responsible Celts, to be subdued, however. The wool-trade for the dissemination of the culture of Greek and helped England to develop but the French inter- Roman scholars as well as the teachings of the fered with English shipping. This resulted in the Scriptures. Oxford and Cambridge came to for- 100 Years War between the France and England. mally be known as universities during this period Ultimately England lost the war and lost her part th th as early as the 12 and 13 centuries. in the French territory, but one beneficial effect The Church was also closely involved in resulted: it ended the quarrels between Normans political affairs. It was the medieval belief that and Anglo-Saxons; then all were Englishmen. Church and King were instruments of the Divine The Feudal system gradually began to fall scheme necessary for keeping order in society. In apart as the economy prospered. Craftsmen 1170 a famous dispute happened between King joined together in guilds and serfs began to find Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who freedom. The powers and methods of the Church was the head of the English Church, and some of were being questioned as well as the idea that the King’s supporters murdered the bishop Tho- man had a fixed place in society. Cultural Influences The Feudal system developed around the poetry. During this period ballads were very Knight, the mounted warrior who became the popular and were sung and danced to by the symbol of Chivalry. A well-born boy trained to be common people. The ballad narratives were di- a knight first as a page and then as a squire to a rect and swift moving and usually concerned lord. The lord's wife taught him the elaborate love, courage, enmity and death, for death was code of courtesy and manners which a knight part of the everyday pattern of medieval life. The needed to pursue. He practiced to be a horseman ballad introduced verse, refrain and chorus, and ultimately was dubbed Knight and swore to which remain the essential elements of popular uphold the code of Chivalry - loyalty to the songs even today. Church and King, and reverence towards ladies. Poems of Allegory and Courtly Romance The institution of Chivalry smoothed the rough- were popular among the elite. Medieval allegory ness of medieval life. It bound the frequently law- had a moral purpose and usually took the form of less warrior by a code. It promoted the status of a dream narrative with a moral meaning. Courtly woman and gave her a greater status in life and love romances of French origin stemmed from in literature as well. the code of Chivalry and the formalized and ritu- Latin and French verse used meter and alized code of conduct towards women, much of rhyme and these were introduced into English which still exists today. The Development of the Language At first the ruling Normans replaced Old state, courtier, justice, equality, felony, petition, English with French which was their own lan- executioner. As the cultural interests and oppor- guage. French then became the official language tunities of the Saxons grew, many cultural ideas but was never adopted as the common language and more words in the areas of literature, art, due to the class difference between the Anglo- medicine, fashion and social life were added from Saxons and the Normans and the great numeri- the French. cal superiority of the latter. Further wars against English became more simplified from 1066 the French increased nationalist sentiments and to 1400. It became a language of relatively few a tolerance of Old English. As the society pros- inflections, and different word endings to express pered, English spread up from the base and in grammatical relationships lost these distinctions. 1362 English was declared the official language. For instance 'good' in A.D. 700 had ten different French and English grammars differed forms, by 1350 it was down to two and shortly af- greatly and could not be blended. The English ter only one. As endings were dispensed with, the grammatical plan emerged although the influence grammatical relationships which they expressed of French words upon the English vocabulary were taken over by patterns and arrangements of was extensive. As the Saxon and Norman socie- words, so that Modern English has become a ties merged, more and more French words, be- phrasal language more than an inflected lan- cause they were more expressive and extensive, guage. were introduced into English. The most important city was London and for The difference in relations between the that reason the dialect spoken in that part of Eng- Normans and the Saxons can be seen from the land came to be considered the 'King's English' - Saxon names for the food animals which the the official dialect of England. It was in this dialect Saxons tended, on their farms, and the French that the famous author Chaucer chose to write in names for the meats the Normans ate at the din- 1370. A century later, Caxton, who introduced ner table; Deer-Venison, Pig-Pork, Cow-Beef, printing to England, used the speech of London Calf-Veal, Sheep-Mutton. as the standard for printing, thus further estab- French words relating to government, law lishing this dialect as 'Standard' English.