Mid-Term Assignment (2)

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Dear all,

Since some of you were unable to post their midterm assignment in Mid-Term Assignment please post your below this Mid-Term Assignment (2).

Write two paragraphs for each chosen item. In the first paragraph summarize the work. In the second, show how the work is related to the sociological, historical, political, and/or religious backgrounds of the period in which it was written (you can focus on one or more background).  Write each paragraph in about 100 words and post it on the reply section below. Put all references you use on the bottom of your writing. Use The Owl and the Nightingale as a model for writing each work. Deadline for posting: Friday, May 4, 2012, 12:00 pm.

  1. Beowulf
  2. Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood
  3. Mendelville’s Travel
  4. Geoffrey Chaucer‘s The Caterbury Tales
  5. Edm und Spenser’s Faery Queen
  6. Christopher Marlowe‘s Dr. Faustus
  7. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
  8. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
  9. Thoma s More‘s Utopia
  10. Thomas Nashe‘ The Unfortunate Traveler

Good Luck!

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  1. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
    It tells about a man who was murdered by her own friends to join the senator or a rebel group (the conspirators). Marcus Brutus was a close friend of Caesar and the Roman praetor. Brutus let himself be persuaded to join a group of senators, because in him began to grow suspicious that implanted by Caius Cassius, that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own power. The growth of public support for Brutus immediately changed against Caesar (This public support is really falsified; Cassius wrote a letter to Brutus in a different handwriting for each month to make Brutus join the group and conspiring). A soothsayer warns Caesar to beware of the Ides (March), it was ignored by him, which in akhirnyaterjadi murder by conspirators in the Capitol that day. Though already warned by soothsayers and Artemidrous, one of Caesar’s supporters at the entrance of the Capitol. After the assassination, the conspirators made another motive in the murder through a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, who begged his brother untuknama discarded. Caesar allegedly rejected it, Casca stood behind his neck Caesar, and others come to stab him, Brutus is a conspirator terakhir.Para explained that their action was to Rome, not for their own purposes and not tried to run diri.Setelah death of Caesar, Brutus gave a speech to defend his actions, and at that point, banyakorang sided with him. However, Mark Antony, with a subtle and eloquent speech turn public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the general public, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus’s speech. Antony rouses the people and encourage the conspirators from Rome. Act Four is marked by the beginning of a fight scene, where Brutus attacks Cassius with the action of regicide by accepting suap.Pada battle, Cassius and Brutus knew that mungkinmereka will die alone, they smiled at each other and holding hands. During the battle, Cassius committed suicide after hearing the arrest of his friend, Titinius.Titinius, which does not actually arrested, saw the bodies of Cassius, he committed suicide juga.Namun, Brutus won the stage of the battle – but the victory did not konklusif.Dengan heavy heart, Brutus did harinya.Dia lost again the next battle and eventually kill diri.Hal award was given to Brutus by Antony, who said that Brutus was “the noblest Roman of them all,” because he was a conspirator yanghanya act for the good of Rome.

    Arguments related to the initial scene Brutus and Cassius and his own struggle with liver nuraninya.Mereka no conscience with conspiring to kill seseorang.Hal it is history in the third and keempat.Hal Act also contains an element of politics, that is conspiring to seize supreme power .

    Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood
    Dream of the Rood is one of Christian poetry written by Cynewulf. The story is about someone who dreamed of a tree made out of tree cross itu.Pertama, he was told that in his dream, he saw a wonderful, wonderful piece of ground-trees that lifted into the air, which is decorated with jewels and covered with gold. The dreamer lying there a long time, until he heard the trees talking. Then, the tree was to ceritanya.Hal begins when the tree was cut down from the edge of the forest and the man who made the tree into salib.Salib then placed on top of the hill. After that, he saw a man brought Jesus to the cross. The Cross refused to bow down when the tree view and cross bergetar.Yesus earth into one as the enemy pierced with nails gelap.Beberapa time later, he finally died, and all creation menangis.Selanjutnya, men cut down the cross to earth, and was buried along with the body of Jesus. The cross then appeared to heaven and were ordered to the dreamer that he should tell this vision to human mankind. After receiving the vision, the dreamer prayed to the cross and hope that he could find a tree well and respected him. He hoped, when the cross of Jesus that he saw in his dreams would take him and would take him to where the great happiness or perhaps just called heaven.

    This poem contains about religion, because it is about the cross is not an element Tuhan.Puisi politik.Tetapi here only contain religious elements.

    Beowulf
    Beowulf exemplifies the characteristics of a perfect hero. This poem explores the heroism in two separate phases, youth and age, and through three separate and more difficult conflicts-with Grendel, Grendel mother, and the dragon. Although we can see three meetings as an expression of the heroic code, there is perhaps a clearer division between the young hero Beowulf as a heroic warrior unfettered and mature as a king who can be relied upon. The second phase of his life, separated by fifty years, according to two different models of virtue, and a lot of moral reflection in a story centered on the distinction between two models and shows how Beowulf made the transition from one to another. In his youth, Beowulf is a great warrior, characterized mainly by the achievement of the strength and courage, including the pool match against Breca.Dia tale perfectly well realize the manners and values determined by the Germanic heroic code, including loyalty, courtesy, and pride. his defeat of Grendel and Grendel mother is validating his reputation for courage and set him entirely as a hero. In the first part of the poem, Beowulf matures little, as he has heroic qualities in abundance from the beginning. After cleaning plagues Denmark and established himself as a hero, however, he was ready to enter a new phase in his life. Hrothgar, who became a mentor and father figure to the young warrior, began to give advice on how to act as a ruler who does not bijak.Meskipun Beowulf became king over the years, exemplary career as a soldier has served in part to prepare himself for his ascension takhta.Bagian The second of the story, set in Geatland, jump over the middle of Beowulf career and focus on the end of his life. Through a series of retrospectives, we recover much of what happened during this gap and can therefore see how Beowulf comports himself as both a warrior and king. Period after the death of Hygelac is Beowulf important moment for the transition. Instead of rushing to the throne itself, as Hrothulf not in Denmark, he supports Hygelac’s son, the rightful heir. With loyalty and respect for the throne, he proved himself worthy of the kingdom. In the final episode-the meeting with the dragon-poet reflects more on how the responsibilities of a king, who must act for the good of the people and not just for his own glory, in contrast to the light of this meditation heroik.Dalam soldier, Beowulf’s moral status becomes somewhat ambiguous at the end of the poem. Although he is rightly celebrated as a great hero and leader, his last fight was also somewhat rash daring. This poem suggests that, by sacrificing himself, Beowulf does not have to leave his people without a king, which made them understand the dangers of ethnic lainnya.Untuk strict Beowulf’s death as a personal failure, however, is to ignore the great emphasis given to fate in the Last of the dragon itu.Konflik poetry has an aura of inevitability about it. Rather than a conscious choice, the battle can also be interpreted as a problem that Beowulf had very little choice or free will at all. In addition, it is hard to blame him for acting in accordance with the rules of his culture warrior.
    This poem contains elements of poetry in politics which is about the heroism of a young Beowulf as a soldier of unbridled heroism and mature as a king who can diandalkan.Beowulf has a religious element in the leadership because he was young when realizing religious values such as respect , courtesy, good manners.

    EDM und Spenser’s faery Queen
    In the opening section, Spenser describes the legend of the Red Cross Knight and focuses on the importance of morality and the sanctity of human life. This is the first book opens with the Red Cross Knight and Una travel to destroy the dragon and rescue Una’s parents. When storms occur, knights and ladies, accompanied by her dwarf, took refuge in a forest here gelap.Di they find the monster, Error, which hates the light of truth, and its thousands of keturunan.Kesalahan attacking knights, who did not listen to warnings Una.KnightPalang Red must kill the monster fled, cutting kepalanya.Sebagai three continued their journey, they come in Archimago, an evil sorcerer, who cast a spell on the group when they were awarded the Knight Red tidur.Palang Una erotic dreams, abandoned in the woods by a knight and the dwarf, who believe in dreams. Knight of the Red Cross continued to travel where he was stupid off evil enchantress, Duessa, from his prison. The Red Cross Knight and Duessa drove on, he still did not know who he was. When they travel, they arrived at a castle inhabited by Lucifera, the mistress of Pride. He has six magicians: slothfulness, greed, lust, Greed, Envy, and Wrath. Together, this group consists of the seven sins that mematikan.Setelah battle, win the Red Cross Knight, the knight away, still not realizing that Duessa’s not who he klaim.Sementara, Una, who had been abandoned in the woods, looking for knights. He met with the lion, which is tamed by the beauty of Una. Lion accompanied Una on the journey, keep him. Archimago, who had been posing as Red Cross Knight, finds Una, who delighted to be reunited with the knights. The group is attacked by Sans Loy, who did not recognize Archimago terselubung.Singa trying to save but was killed by Una Loy Sans.Una Sans Loy successfully resisted attempts to seduce, and he was quickly rescued by a Faun, and satyrs, gods of wood, which he worshiped as tuhan.Sekali again, Una in need of rescue, and soon woodsman, Satyrane, helped them escape diri.Ketika trip, Archimago, now disguised as a traveler, telling them that the Red Cross Knight had mati.Sementara Satyrane Sans Loy involved in battle, Una diri.Sementara run it, catch the Knight Cross Duessa Merah.Sebagai knight drinks from a magic spring, the giant, Orgoglio, emerging and attacking ksatria.Duessa agreed to be the mistress of the giant and the Knights of the Red Cross took the spear into custody raksasa.Kerdil knights, armor, and shields and daun.Ia met with Una and tells him everything that had happened. Next, Prince Arthur appeared and assured that he will rescue Una Red Cross Knight of Orgoglio. After a fierce battle, Arthur kills the giant and strip Duessa, who has used his magic to try to kill Arthur. With the battle ended, Spenser takes a moment to tell the story of Arthur and that he was on his way to the Queen of faeries, whom he loves. Red Cross Knight, now freed, and Una resume their journey to free his parents. They came to the cave of Despair, who tried to convince the Red Cross Knight knight kill diri.Una reminded of the rewards of duty and justice and mercy, and the two went on a trip mereka.Una bring to the House of the Red Cross Knight Holinesse to be healed. There, Reverence, Zeal, Fidelia (Faith), Charissa (Charity), Speranza (Hope), Patience, and the work of grace to heal the knight and return it to the previous strength and courage.
    Spenser uses biblical allegory to tell his story, but the poem is more than just a poem religius.Tujuannya is to educate, to transform a young man to be a gentleman (religious element). There are two levels that are present alegori.Satu level research, moral philosophy, and religion and is represented by the Red Cross Knight, who represents all Christians. The second level is the special, which focuses on political, social, and religious, in which the Faerie Queene is Elizabeth I. Spenser was not born to rich households, because so many other great Renaissance poets such as Philip Sidney. This fact is important, because his work was characterized by a lack of wealth. Spenser needs protection for its support while he worked, and customers expect that they support the artist will write nice words. This was certainly the case with the work of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, which was intended to celebrate Elizabeth I and, often, to flatter him. In this work, Spenser presents an idea of what constitutes an ideal English. He also thinks that he can use the text as a way to remember the knights of the past era, and in so doing, inspire action again.

    Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus
    Christopher Marlowe based his play Doctor Faustus in the story of a scholar and magician, Johann Faust, who allegedly sold his soul to the devil to get power magis.Lahir in 1488, the original Faust runs through the German homeland until his death in 1587 1541.Pada, stories The first of his life appeared in German, translated into English in 1592 as The History of Life cursed and deserved death of Doctor John Faustus.Tepat Renaissance texts dating can be difficult, but it poses challenges Doctor Faustus Marlowe scholars believe tertentu.Para hear or read the story of Johann Faust and composed Doctor Faustus sometime between 1588 and 1592. Sign stationary in London playing into the official records in 1601, but in 1602, at least two other writers who are paid to the addition of text. (Most critics believe that Marlowe wrote the beginning and end of this tragic drama, while his colleagues wrote a lot of the center of funny.) A theater company called Human Earl Nottingham (commonly known as the Admiral’s Men) to play twenty-four times between its opening in 1594 and 1597. Thomas played Busshell published in 1604, although John Wright published a different version in 1609. Editors generally combine the parts of this and other versions of the text to make the play as a widely read today. Contemporary theater records show that in early performances, Faustus may be a clerical robes, adorned with crosses, while the demon Mephistopheles appears in the costume of naga.Telah said that the drama was so horrible that during the 17th century audiences believe that Satan is really appeared in the literary career prematurely shortened mereka.Meskipun with life force, Marlowe’s influence in English literature. In particular, the degree of credit to play Tamburlaine with successfully introducing blank verse into English and drama with Elizabeth developed the concept of tragedy as a way to explore the major moral issues of the Renaissance. Although not a favorite with the audience early today and theater critic-spectators alike regard the work of Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus.
    Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus membahastentang battle between the belief systems of the two major time periods in history, medieval period, and the Renaissance.

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  2. Summary of Beowulf
    The main protagonist, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands and Grendel’s mother with a sword, which giants once used, that Beowulf found in Grendel’s mother’s lair.
    Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorized by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dares join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally wounded. He is buried in a tumulus or burial mound, by the sea.
    Beowulf is considered an epic poem in that the main character is a hero who travels great distances to prove his strength at impossible odds against supernatural demons and beasts. The poem also begins in Medias res (“into the middle of affairs”) or simply, “in the middle”, which is a characteristic of the epics of antiquity. Although the poem begins with Beowulf’s arrival, Grendel’s attacks have been an ongoing event. An elaborate history of characters and their lineages are spoken of, as well as their interactions with each other, debts owed and repaid, and deeds of valor.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
    Romeo and Juliet
    The play begins with a large fight between the Capulets and the Montagues, two prestigious families in Verona, Italy. These families have been fighting for quite some time, and the Prince declares that their next public brawl will be punished by death. When the fight is over, Romeo’s cousin Benvolio tries to cheer him of his melancholy. Romeo reveals that he is in love with a woman named Rosaline, but she has chosen to live a life of chastity. Romeo and Benvolio are accidentally invited to their enemy’s party; Benvolio convinces Romeo to go.
    At the party, Romeo locks eyes with a young woman named Juliet. They instantly fall in love, but they do not realize that their families are mortal enemies. When they realize each other’s identities, they are devastated, but they cannot help the way that they feel. Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s yard after the party and proclaims his love for her. She returns his sentiments and the two decide to marry. The next day, Romeo and Juliet are married by Friar Lawrence; an event witnessed by Juliet’s Nurse and Romeo’s loyal servant, Balthasar. They plan to meet in Juliet’s chambers that night.
    Romeo visits his best friend Mercutio and his cousin Benvolio but his good mood is curtailed. Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt, starts a verbal quarrel with Romeo, which soon turns into a duel with Mercutio. Romeo tries to stop the fight but it is too late: Tybalt kills Mercutio. Romeo, enraged, retaliates by killing Tybalt. Once Romeo realizes the consequences of his actions, he hides at Friar Lawrence’s cell.
    Friar Lawrence informs Romeo that he has been banished from Verona and will be killed if he stays. The Friar suggests Romeo spend the night with Juliet, then leave for Mantua in the morning. He tells Romeo that he will attempt to settle the Capulet and Montague dispute so Romeo can later return to a united family. Romeo takes his advice, spending one night with Juliet before fleeing Verona.
    Juliet’s mother, completely unaware of her daughter’s secret marriage to Romeo, informs Juliet that she will marry a man named Paris in a few days. Juliet, outraged, refuses to comply. Her parents tell her that she must marry Paris and the Nurse agrees with them. Juliet asks Friar Lawrence for advice, insisting she would rather die than marry Paris. Fr. Lawrence gives Juliet a potion which will make her appear dead and tells her to take it the night before the wedding. He promises to send word to Romeo – intending the two lovers be reunited in the Capulet vault.
    Juliet drinks the potion and everybody assumes that she is dead — including Balthasar, who immediately tells Romeo. Friar Lawrence’s letter fails to reach Romeo, so he assumes that his wife is dead. He rushes to Juliet’s tomb and, in deep grief, drinks a vial of poison. Moments later, Juliet wakes to find Romeo dead and kills herself due to grief. Once the families discover what happened, they finally end their bitter feud. Thus the youngsters’ deaths bring the families together. Romeo and Juliet is a true tragedy in the literary sense because the families gather sufficient self-knowledge to correct their behavior but not until it is too late to save the situation.
    http://www.wikisummaries.org/Romeo_and_Juliet
    Faerie Queen
    Edmund Spenser was born around 1552 in London, England. We know very little about his family, but he received a quality education and graduated with a Masters from Cambridge in 1576. He began writing poetry for publication at this time and was employed as a secretary, first to the Bishop of Kent and then to nobles in Queen Elizabeth’s court. His first major work, The Shepheardes Calender, was published in 1579 and met with critical success; within a year he was at work on his greatest and longest work, The Faerie Queene. This poem occupied him for most of his life, though he published other poems in the interim. The first three books of The Faerie Queen were published in 1590 and then republished with Books IV through VI in 1596. By this time, Spenser was already in his second marriage, which took place in Ireland, where he often traveled. Still at work on his voluminous poem, Spenser died on January 13, 1599, at Westminster.
    Spenser only completed half of The Faerie Queene he planned. In a letter to Sir John Walter Raleigh, he explained the purpose and structure of the poem. It is an allegory, a story whose characters and events nearly all have a specific symbolic meaning. The poem’s setting is a mythical “Faerie land,” ruled by the Faerie Queene. Spenser sets forth in the letter that this “Queene” represents his own monarch, Queen Elizabeth.
    Spenser intended to write 12 books of the Faerie Queene, all in the classical epic style; Spenser notes that his structure follows those of Homer and Virgil. Each Book concerns the story of a knight, representing a particular Christian virtue, as he or she would convey at the court of the Faerie Queene. Because only half of the poem was ever finished, the unifying scene at the Queene’s court never occurs; instead, we are left with six books telling an incomplete story. Of these, the first and the third books are most often read and critically acclaimed.
    Though it takes place in a mythical land, The Faerie Queen was intended to relate to Spenser’s England, most importantly in the area of religion. Spenser lived in post-Reformation England, which had recently replaced Roman Catholicism with Protestantism (specifically, Anglicanism) as the national religion. There were still many Catholics living in England, and, thus, religious protest was a part of Spenser’s life. A devout Protestant and a devotee of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, Spenser was particularly offended by the anti-Elizabethan propaganda that some Catholics circulated. Like most Protestants near the time of the Reformation, Spenser saw a Catholic Church full of corruption, and he determined that it was not only the wrong religion but the anti-religion. This sentiment is an important backdrop for the battles of The Faerie Queene, which often represent the “battles” between London and Rome.
    http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fqueen/context.html
    Unfortunate Traveler
    English poet, playwright, and pamphleteer, born at Lowestoft in 1567. His father belonged to an old Herefordshire family, and is vaguely described as a “minister.” Nashe spent nearly seven years, 1582-89, at St. John’s College, Cambridge, taking his B.A. degree in 1585-86. On leaving the university he tried like Robert Greene and Christopher Marlowe, to make his living in London by literature. It is probable that his first effort was The Anatomie of Absurditie (1589) which was perhaps written at Cambridge, although he refers to it as a forthcoming publication in his preface to Greene’s Menaphon (1589). In this preface, addressed to the gentlemen students of both universities, he makes boisterous ridicule of the bombast of Thomas Kyd and the English lexameters of Richard Stanihurst, but does not forget the praise of many good books. Nashe was really a journalist born out of due time; he boasts of writing “as fast as his hand could trot”; he had a brilliant and picturesque style which, he was careful to explain, was entirely original; and in addition to his keen sense of the ridiculous he had an abundance of miscellaneous learning. As there was no market for his gifts he fared no better than the other university wits who were trying to live by letters.
    Nash he found an opening for his ready wit and keen sarcasm in the Martin Marprelate controversy. His share in this war of pamphlets cannot now be accurately determined, but he has, with more or less probability, been credited with the following: A Countercuffe given to Martin Junior (1589), Martins Months Minde (1589), The Returne of the renowned Cavaliero Pasquill and his Meeting with Marforius (1589), The First Part of Pasquils Apologie (1590), and An Almond for a Parrat (1590). He edited an unauthorized edition of Sir Philip Sidney’s poems with an enthusiastic preface in 1591, and A Wonderfull Astrologicall Prognostication, in ridicule of the almanac-makers, by “Adam Fouleweather”, which appeared in the same year, has been attributed to him. Pierce Penilesse, His Supplication to the Divell, published in 1592, shows us his power as a humorous critic of national manners, and tells incidentally how hard he found it to live by the pen. It seems to Pierce a monstrous thing that brainless drudges wax fat while “the seven liberal sciences and a good leg will scarce get a scholar bread and cheese.” In this pamphlet, too, Nashe began his attacks upon the Harveys by assailing Richard, who had written contemptuously of his preface to Greene’s Menaphon. Greene died in September 1592, and Richard’s brother, Gabriel Harvey, at once attacked his memory in his Foure Letters, at the same time adversely criticizing Pierce Penilesse. Nashe replied, both for Greene and for himself, in Strange Newes of the intercepting certaine Letters, better known, from the running title, as Foure Letters Confuted (1592), in which all the Harveys are violently attacked. The autumn of 1592 Nashe seems to have spent at or near Croydon, where he wrote his satirical masque of Summers Last Will and Testament at a safe distance from London and the plague. He afterwards lived for some months in the Isle of Wight under the patronage of Sir George Carey, the governor. In 1593 he wrote Christs Teares over Jerusalem, in the first edition of which he made friendly overtures to Gabriel Harvey. These were, however, in a second edition, published in the following year, replaced by a new attack, and two years later appeared the most violent of his tracts against Harvey, Have with you to Saffron-walden, or, Gabriell Harveys Hunt is up (1596). In 1599 the controversy was suppressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. After Marlowe’s death Nashe prepared his friend’s unfinished tragedy of Dido (1596) for the stage. In the next year he was in trouble for a play, now lost, called The Isle of Dogs, for only part of which, however, he seems to have been responsible. The “seditious and slanderous matter” contained in this play induced the authorities to close for a time the theater at which it had been performed, and the dramatist was put in the Fleet prison.
    Besides his pamphlets and his play-writing, Nashe turned his energies to novel-writing. He may be regarded as the pioneer in the English novel of adventure. He published in 1594 The Unfortunate Traveller, Or the Life of Jack Wilton, the history of an ingenious page who was present at the siege of Térouenne, and afterwards travelled in Italy with the earl of Surrey. It tells the story of the earl and Fair Geraldine, dsscribes a tournament held by Surrey at Florence, and relates the adventures of Wilton and his mistress Diamante at Rome after the earl’s return to England. The detailed, realistic manner in which Nashe relates his improbable fiction resembles that of Daniel Defoe. His last work is entitled Lenten Stuffe (1599) and is nominally “in praise of the red herring”, but really a description of Yarmouth, to which place he had retired after his imprisonment, written in the best style of a special correspondent. Nashe’s death is referred to in Thomas Dekker’s Knights Conjuring (1607), a kind of sequel to Pierce Penilesse. He is there represented as joining his boon companions in the Elysian fields “still haunted with the sharp and satirical spirit that followed him here upon earth.” Had his patrons understood their duty, he would not, he said, have shortened his days by keeping company with pickled herrings. It may therefore be reasonably supposed that he died from eating bad and insufficient food. The date of his death is fixed by an elegy on him printed in Fitzgeffrey’s Affaniae (1601).
    The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Summary
    In April, with the beginning of spring, people of varying social classes come from all over England to gather at the Tabard Inn in preparation for a pilgrimage to Canterbury to receive the blessings of St. Thomas à Becket, the English martyr. Chaucer himself is one of the pilgrims. That evening, the Host of the Tabard Inn suggests that each member of the group tell tales on the way to and from Canterbury in order to make the time pass more pleasantly. The person who tells the best story will be awarded an elegant dinner at the end of the trip. The Host decides to accompany the party on its pilgrimage and appoints himself as the judge of the best tale.
    Shortly after their departure the day, the pilgrims draw straws. The Knight, who draws the shortest straw, agrees to tell the first story — a noble story about knights and honor and love. When the Knight finishes his story, the Host calls upon the Monk. The drunken Miller, however, insists that it is his turn, and he proceeds to tell a story about a stupid carpenter. At the end of his story, everyone roars with laughter — except the Reeve, who had once been a carpenter. To get back at the Miller, the Reeve tells a lowbrow story about a cheating miller. At the end of The Reeve’s Tale, the Cook, Roger, promises to tell a true story, but he doesn’t complete his tale.
    By now, the first day is rapidly passing, and the Host hurries the pilgrims to get on with their tales. Using the best legalese that he knows, he calls upon the Man of Law for the next tale. The Man of Law proceeds to tell the tale of Constancy. The Host is very pleased with the tale and asks the Parson to relate another one just as good. The Parson declines, however, and rebukes the Host for swearing and ridiculing him (the Parson). The Shipman breaks in and tells a lively story to make up for so much moralizing.
    The Wife of Bath is the next to tell a story, and she begins by claiming that happy marriages occur only when a wife has sovereignty over her husband. When the Wife of Bath finishes her story, the Friar offers his own tale about a summoner. The Host, however, always the peacekeeper, admonishes the Friar to let the Summoner alone. The Summoner interrupts and says the Friar can do as he likes and will be repaid with a tale about a friar. Nevertheless, the Friar’s tale about a summoner makes the Summoner so angry that he tells an obscene story about the fate of all friars and then continues with an obscene tale about one friar in particular.
    After the Friar and Summoner finish their insulting stories about each other, the Host turns to the Clerk and asks for a lively tale. The Clerk tells a story about Griselda and her patience — a story that depicts the exact opposite of The Wife of Bath’s Tale. The Merchant comments that he has no wife as patient and sweet as Griselda and tells of tale of a young wife who cheats on her old husband. After the Merchant’s tale, the Host requests another tale about love and turns to the Squire, who begins a tale of supernatural events. He does not finish, however, because the Franklin interrupts him to compliment the Squire on his eloquence and gentility. The Host, interested only get in getting the next story told, commands the Franklin to begin his tale, which he does. The Franklin tells of a happy marriage.
    Then the Physician offers his tale of the tragic woe of a father and daughter — a story that upsets the Host so much that he requests a merry tale from the Pardoner. The Pardoner tells a tale in which he proves that, even though he is not a moral man, he can tell a moral tale. At the end of the tale, the Pardoner invites the pilgrims to buy relics and pardons from him and suggests that the Host should begin because he is the most sinful. This comment infuriates the Host; the Knight intercedes between the Host and the Pardoner and restores peace.
    The pilgrims then hear a story by the Prioress about a young martyr. After the seriousness of this tale, the Host turns to Chaucer and asks him for something to liven up the group. Chaucer begins a story about Sir Topas but is soon interrupted by the Host, who exclaims that he is tired of the jingling rhymes and wants Chaucer to tell a little something in prose. Chaucer complies with the boring story of Melibee.
    After the tale of Melibee, the Host turns to the merry Monk and demands a story that he confidently expects to be a jovial and happy tale. Instead, the Monk relates a series of tales in which tragedy befalls everyone. The Knight joins in with the Host in proclaiming that the Monk’s tales are too much to bear and requests a merry tale. But the Monk refuses and the Host turns to the Nun’s Priest and calls for a tale. Thus the Nun’s Priest relates the tale of the barnyard rooster, Chaunticleer, his lady, and a fox. The Second Nun then offers a tale that befits her station — a retelling of the events in the life of St. Cecilia.
    Suddenly, two men approach the pilgrims. One is a canon; the other his yeoman (servant). The Host welcomes them and asks whether either a tale to tell has. The Canon’s Yeoman answers that his master has many strange tales filled with mirth and laughter, yet when he begins to tell of their life and actions, the Canon slips away embarrassed and frightened.
    As the party nears Canterbury, the Host demands a story from the Manciple, who tells of a white crow that can sing and talk. Finally, the Host turns to the last of the group, the Parson, and bids him to tell his tale. The Parson agrees and proceeds with a sermon. The Tales end with Chaucer’s retraction.
    http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/canterbury-tales/summary.

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  3. A. Cynewulf is The Dream of the Rood
    Dream of a dream-vision poems Roodis the earliest in English and one of the central documents of Old English Literature. Dream of the Rood is one of the poems of the earliest Christianity in the corpus of Old English literature and examples of the genre of dream poetry. As with most poetry Old English, written in alliterative verse. Dream of the Rood has three parts: first, an account of his vision Cross Dreamer. Second, Rood monologue describing the crucifixion, and last, Dreamer resolution to seek the safety of the Cross. This poem was written dengansebuah Dreamer’s vision of the show Rood raised and adorned with gems and gold. In the depiction of the sad, the parallel Rood of Christ, as both are pierced with nails, mocked, tortured, killed and buried. In the same way for Christ, Rood was raised shortly after that and finally decorated with gold and silver on the day. Announced the existence of a final victory through suffering and obedience to the will of God the almighty one.

    Relations with religious backgrounds
    Although the possibility of pagan elements, the nature of The Dream of the Rood is based on Christian beliefs. Offers poetry throughout the life of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ as a triumph over sin and evil, which is the strongest sign of the Christian faith. Here is a dreamer realize that the death of Christ is not just a victory, but also the way in which human safety is guaranteed.

    http://www.dreamofrood.co.uk/introduction.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rood
    2. Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet’s is a tragic love story. Plot is based on the Italian tale, translated into verse as Romeus and Juliet’s tragic history by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582.

    Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy of the beloved young love pliers. It also contains a story about politics, especially politics as conditioned by Christian morality and religion. This story is one of Shakespeare’s image is determined uniquely modern problems, as opposed to ancient, political life. Shakespeare described the existence of an evil ruler ousted marked him as a progressive or even radical who challenged the doctrine of divine right of kings. While politics is not exactly Shakespeare stated, the portrait of mob rule (as in Julius Caesar and in Coriolanus) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00004/abstract ~ ~ V
    http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/what-shakespeares-political-orientation

    3. Geoffrey Chaucer is the story of Canterbury
    The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in the century Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late 14th century. The story was told as part of the contest are told by a group of pilgrims as they traveled together on the journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. free food at the Tabard Inn in Southwark on their return was given the day of the contest. It also tells the story of a group of thirty people who make a journey as pilgrims to Canterbury (England).
    If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two stories on the way home. He never completed the project a very large and even the stories do not finish last revised. Scholars are not sure about the sequence of the story.
    The Canterbury Tales is one of the first works of English literature the paper, a relatively new invention that allows the deployment of the written word has never been seen or heard before in the UK. Political clashes, such as the 1381 Peasant Revolt and clashes ended in the deposing of King Richard II, further revealed the complex turmoil surrounding Chaucer in the Tales’ writing. Many close friends were executed and he himself was forced to move to Kent to get out of the events in London.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales
    http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm

    4. Homa’s More’s Utopia
    Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1516 written in Latin and published in Louvain (now Belgium). Utopia is a work of satire, indirectly criticized the case of European political corruption and the hypocrisy of religion. Humanists are more Catholic religion. The Utopia chronicles Giles enjoyed conversation with a man named Raphael Hythloday. Thomas More and Peter Giles are real people. In Utopia, they are fiction .. The Utopians are people morally developed even though they are not Christians. Hythloday mentions that the Utopians are eager to hear more about the Christian religion related .. Most of monotheists and utopian religion similar to Christianity. Some Utopian belief that ‘contrary to the moral tradition of the Christian church. The Utopians believe that pride is the root of great evil.

    5. Beowulf
    Beowulf on the history of the entire library has been written, and scholars still differ too radical for us to express a positive judgment. This much, however, is clear, that there is-there, at the time the poem was composed, various northern legends Beowa, a half-divine heroes, and monster Grendel. The latter has been interpreted in different ways, sometimes as a bear, and once again as the malaria of the swamp lands. For those more interested in symbols the simplest interpretation of this myth is to consider successive fights with three dragon as Beowulf, the first address, the dangers of the sea, which was beaten back by dikes, secondly, to conquer the sea itself, when humans learn to sail on it, and thirdly, a conflict with an enemy force of nature, which ultimately overcome by persistent human will and perseverance.

    Historical background of the relationship
    Poems related to the legend, made for an entertainment, and do not separate between fictional elements and real historic events, such as raids / surprise inspection conducted by King Hygelac into Frisia. Scholars generally agree that many of Beowulf’s personality also appears in Scandinavian sources (specific work that has been determined in the following section). This does not only concern men (eg, Healfdene, Hroðgar, Halga, Hroðulf, Eadgils and Ohthere), but also clans (eg, Scyldings, Scylfings and Wulfings) and some events (eg, the Battle of the Ice Lake Vanern). Calendar of events in the poem has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the cart shown by Snorri Sturluson and by Swedish tradition as Ohthere tomb (dated to c. 530) and Eadgils son (dated to c. 575) in Uppland, Sweden. The majority view seems to be that people like King Hroðgar and Scyldings in Beowulf is based on real people in the 6 century Scandinavia. Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian personalities such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of continental Angles.
    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10609/10609-h/10609-h.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

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  4. Tommy Sangapan S.
    0812150035
    Class B

    1. Cynewulf’s “The Dream of the Rood”

    The Dream of the Rood is one of the Christian poems that written by Cynewulf. It tells about someone who dreams about a tree on which Jesus’ cross was made from it. Firstly, he told that in his dream, he saw wondrous, beautiful rood-trees which lifted into the air, accessorized with gems and covered by gold. The dreamer was lying a long time there, until he heard the tree spoke. Then, the tree told its story. It was started when the tree was cut down from the edge of the forest and men made the tree to become a cross. The cross then was placed on a hill. After that, he saw men brought Jesus on to the cross. The cross refused to bow down when the tree saw the earth tremble. Jesus and the cross became one as the enemies pierced them with dark nails. A short time later, Jesus finally died and all of the creation wept. Subsequently, the men cut down the cross to the earth and buried it together with Jesus’ corpse. The cross then arose to the heaven and commanded to the dreamer that he had to tell this vision to human mankind. After got the vision, the dreamer prayed for the cross and hoped that he could find the tree and honor it well. He hoped that the time when the cross of Jesus which he saw on his dream will fetch him and will bring him to where great bliss is or maybe simply called heaven.

    The poem has been the subject of literary and historical study for generations and has been interpreted in a variety of ways. Profound and moving of itself, the story also provides a valuable window into early Christian England. The dream vision uses strong, virile images of Christ in order to reach members of the Anglo-Saxon warrior culture, who valued strength above humility. This may have been a deliberate strategy to convert pagans to Christianity. It also reflects how the image of Jesus was adapted to suit different cultures.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.enotes.com/dream-rood-salem/dream-rood
    http://historymedren.about.com/od/generalliterature1/p/dream_rood.htm

    2. Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”

    Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” introduces the speaker of the poem as a man named Chaucer, who is traveling from London with a group of strangers to visit Canterbury, a borough to the southeast of London. This group of people is thrown together when they travel together on a trip to the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury in 1170. They assemble at the Tibard Inn in Southwark to prepare for their trip. It describes each of the pilgrims, including ones who were meant to be discussed in sections of the book that were never written before Chaucer died. After the introductions, the Host, who owns the inn that they gather at and who is leading the group, suggests that they should each tell two stories while walking, one on the way to Canterbury and one on the way back, to pass the time more quickly. He offers the person telling the best story a free supper at the tavern when they return.

    During Chaucer’s lifetime, the Black Plague swept across Europe, causing hundreds of thousands of people to die in a gruesome way and changing the way those common citizens looked at mortality. The plague originated in the north of India during the 1330s and spread quickly, affecting much of Asia by the mid-1340s. Its spread to Europe was no accident. Mongol-Tartar armies, in an attempt to discourage Italian trade caravans from crossing their territory on their way to and from China, catapulted bodies of infected victims over the walls of their fortresses at the Italians, who subsequently brought the disease back to their country.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.enotes.com/canterbury-tales
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-canterburytales/hist.html

    3. William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”

    Probably written in 1599, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” was the Roman history plays. Like Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, Julius Caesar is a dramatization of actual events, Shakespeare drawing upon the ancient Roman historian Plutarch’s Lives of Caesar, Brutus, and Mark Antony as the primary source of the play’s plot and characters. The play is tightly structured. It establishes the dramatic problem of alarm at Julius Caesar’s ambition to become “king” (or dictator) in the very first scene and introduces signs that Caesar must “beware the Ides of March” from the outset. Before its midpoint, Caesar is assassinated, and shortly after Mark Antony’s famous funeral oration (Friends, Romans, and countrymen), the setting shifts permanently from Rome to the battlefields on which Brutus and Cassius meet their inevitable defeat. Julius Caesar is also a tragedy; but despite its title, the tragic character of the play is Brutus, the noble Roman whose decision to take part in the conspiracy for the sake of freedom plunges him into a personal conflict and his country into civil war.

    In 1599, when Julius Caesar was first performed, Queen Elizabeth I, the Tudor Queen, was in the final years of her 45-year reign (1558–1603). It was a period of history called the “Age of Discovery,” a time of scientific growth, a rebirth of the arts, and exploration of the recently discovered continents of North and South America. Historical plays were popular during Shakespeare’s lifetime and people were eager to learn about worlds other than their own. A play like Julius Caesar taught them about Roman history, and at the same time, provided them with a mirror of their own society—a peacetime monarchy after a hundred years of warfare and before the Civil War that began in 1642.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.enotes.com/julius-caesar
    http://kraftworldlit.wikispaces.com/Julius+Caesar+Notes

    4. William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”
    Romeo and Juliet is one of the early plays of Shakespeare. It was probably written in 1594 or 1595. In the story, only five days go by from the opening street fight to the death of Romeo and Juliet. On Sunday morning, the brawl in the town square occurs; that same night Romeo meets Juliet at the Capulet feast, and they declare their love for one another. On Monday afternoon, Friar Lawrence marries the couple; later in the day, Romeo kills Tybalt. On Tuesday, Romeo flees from Verona to Mantua, the Capulets announce Juliet’s engagement to Paris, and she drinks the magic potion that makes her appear to be dead. On Wednesday, Juliet’s body is discovered and taken to the Capulet tomb. On Thursday, Romeo hears of Juliet’s death, hastens back to Verona, and commits suicide in her tomb. When Juliet awakens later in the day and finds him dead, she stabs herself. The play ends on Friday morning.

    Historical background of the story is the Elizabethan stage. Drama was the prime means of public entertainment during Shakespeare’s time. Traveling actors went around the country and were hired by those who wanted their services. In larger cities, such as London, permanent acting groups were formed and attached to a single theater, such as the “Globe”, the “Curtain”, or the “Fortune”. Shakespeare’s company owned the “Globe”, which was an open-air theater. Since there were no artificial lights, plays were staged in the afternoon. The stage jutted out into the audience, and the “groundlings” stood nearby to watch the action. Other spectators paid higher prices to sit in the galleries and watch the play.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/romeo4.asp

    5. Richard Wilbur’s “Beowulf”

    The epic Richard Wilbur’s “Beowulf” was written between the mid-seventh and the late tenth centuries A.D. It tells the story of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, who comes to save a kingdom from a monster named Grendel who attacks the castle each night. The hero fights and kills the monster; soon Grendel’s mother appears, and Beowulf must defeat her as well. The Danes give Beowulf many gifts in thanks, and he returns home, where he is king of the Geats for fifty years. He eventually dies in a battle against a dragon.

    One way to study Wilbur’s “Beowulf” is by comparing the poet’s time with that of the epic hero’s period. Wilbur published “Beowulf” in 1950, just a few years after the end of World War II. During the war, he served as an Army cryptographer and soldier. His infantry division fought in Europe, and Wilbur was in active combat in bloody campaigns for three years. It is interesting to note that he has written few poems directly about the war, although he has said that the experience of battle caused him to become serious about writing poetry.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.enotes.com/beowulf-wilbur
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-beowulf2/hist.html

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  5. 1.Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene
    Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene (1590-96), an allegorical romance designed to glorify Queen Elizabeth I of England, is celebrated as one of the greatest and most important works of English verse. Spenser’s aim in writing The Faerie Queene was to create a great national literature for England, equal to the classic epic poems of Homer and Virgil.The Faerie Queene is divided into Books I through VI, each focusing on the adventures of a different hero or heroine and a different virtue, including Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice, and Courtesy. To suit his literary purposes, Spenser invented a verse form that has come to be known as the Spenserian stanza. Spenser was celebrated as a great national poet in his lifetime, and has since been recognized as a major influence on later writers, particularly the nineteenth-century Romantic poets. Critics have long recognized The Faerie Queene as an allegorical tale.The Faerie Queene tells the stories of several knights, each representing a particular virtue, on their quests for the Faerie Queene, Gloriana. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, and must defeat both theological error and the dragon of deception to free the parents of Una (“truth”). Guyon is the knight of Temperance, who must destroy the fleshly temptations of Acrasia’s Bower of Bliss. Britomart, a woman in disguise as a male knight, represents Chastity; she must find her beloved and win his heart. Artegall, the knight of Justice, must rescue the lady Eirene from an unjust bondage. Cambell and Triamond, the knights of Friendship, must aid one another in defense of various ladies’ honor. Finally, Calidore, the knight of Courtesy, must stop the Blatant Beast from spreading its slanderous venom throughout the realm. Each quest is an allegory, and the knight given the quest represents a person’s internal growth in that particular virtue. Such growth happens through various trials, some of which the knights fail, showing how personal development is a struggle requiring the aid of other forces and virtues to make it complete. Many more characters appear in The Faerie Queene but these are the most important protagonists and antagonists in the epic poem’s story. Since Spenser never completed the poem before his death, we never see a resolution to the conflicts between the protagonists and antagonists in this Arthurian legend. Even the Faerie Queen herself never has her unifiying court scene at the end.
    Since Spenser never completed the poem before his death, we never see a resolution to the conflicts between the protagonists and antagonists in this Arthurian legend. Even the Faerie Queen herself never has her unifiying court scene at the end. The public and the court understood the political and religious statements Spenser was making through his allegorical epic poem, and especially, Queen Elizabeth I, for whom the entire poem was written to support.
    Interestingly, Spenser wrote his poem in Old English which is roughly the type of English Chaucer wrote in when he wrote the Canterbury Tales. Although Spenser was living during the time where Middle English was being used He felt the Old English form was more condusive to connecting King Arthur to Elizabeth I and the Tudor Dynasty. Again, it is probably easier for the modern reader of today to read an English translation of the original poem than the difficult Old English in which Spenser wrote his poem..
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Spenser
    http://www.enotes.com/faerie-queene

    2. Thomas Nashe “ The Unfortunate Travelleer”
    The form of this work, in the first place, is of great interest, for it resembles the picaresque type indigenous to Spain. But this need not imply that Nashe was a mere imitator; on the contrary, though he may have derived a definite stimulus from Lazarillo de Tormes, the elements of his work represent a spontaneous English growth. The Spanish rogue-novel was the outcome of a widespread beggary brought about by the growth of militarism and the decline of industry, by the increase of gypsies and the indiscriminate charity of an all-powerful church. Similar social conditions prevailed in Elizabethan England, though from different causes, and the conditions which produced Lazarillo produced The Unfortunate Traveller. It has, moreover, been shown that, while Lyly and Sidney were indebted to Spain for certain elements in their works, yet the ultimate origins of English courtesy-books and of the Euphuistic manner, were wholly independent of Spanish influence. And so, in general, it may be said, that parallels existing between the Spanish and English literatures of the time were the result of similar national conditions, of influences which were common to both. In each case, the English development was later than the Spanish but not due to it. Moreover, as regards Nashe in particular, the matter and design of his novel would be quite naturally suggested by the material of his pamphlets, and, possibly, by reminiscences of his travels; while his choice of the realistic form is partly accounted for by his strongly expressed scorn of romances in general, as “the fantasticall dreams of those exiled Abbie lubbers [the monks].”
    When compared with the Spanish picaresque type, The Unfortunate Traveller will be found to possess many points of similarity. There is the same firm grasp of the realities of life, the same penetrating observation and forceful expression; there are the same qualities of humour and satire, the same rough drafts of character-sketches; and the aim is that of entertainment rather than reform. From the picaresque novel, however, it diverges in its English mixture of tragedy with comedy, and, again, in the fact that the animating impulse of its rogue-hero is not avarice but a malignant and insatiable love of mischief. The Spanish picaro, also, generally belonged to the lowest class and was wont to confine his attentions very largely to Spanish society, but Jack Wilton, a page, moves further afield and reviews no less expansive a scene than that of western Europe in the first half of the sixteenth century.
    ‘Pamphleteer, poet, story-teller, satirist, scholar, moralist and jester . . .’ Thomas Nashe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was writing in the 1590s, the zenith of the English Renaissance. Rebellious in spirit, conservative in philosophy, Nashe’s brilliant and comic invective earned him a reputation as the ‘English Juvenal’ who ‘carried the deadly stockado in his pen’. In its mingling of the devout and bawdy, scholarship and slang, its brutality and its constant awareness of the immanence of death, his work epitomizes the ambivalence of the Elizabethans. Above all, Nashe was a great entertainer, ‘his stories are told for pleasure in telling, his jokes are cracked for the fun of them, and his whole style speaks of a relish for living’. In addition to The Unfortunate Traveller, this volume contains Pierce Penniless, The Terrors of the Night, Lenten Stuff and The Choice of Valentines, and extracts from Christ’s Tears over Jerusalem, The Anatomy of Absurdity, and other works.
    .Pamphleteer, poet, story-teller, satirist, scholar, moralist and jester .Thomas Nashe, a contemporary of Shakespeare, was writing in the 1590s, the zenith of the English Renaissance. Rebellious in spirit, conservative in philosophy, Nashe’s brilliant and comic invective earned him a reputation as the
    ‘English Juvenal’ who ‘carried the deadly stockado in his pen’. In its mingling of the devout and bawdy, scholarship and slang, its brutality and its constant awareness of the imminence of death, his work epitomizes the ambivalence of the Elizabethans. Above all, Nashe was a great entertainer, ‘his stories are told for pleasure in telling, his jokes are cracked for the fun of them, and his whole style speaks of a relish for living’.
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/produc
    http://www.bookrags.com/The_Unfortunate_Traveller

    3. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
    With love, pure love, there is always an anxiety for the safety of the object, a disinterestedness, by which it is distinguished from the counterfeits of its name.Romeo and Juliet derives its story from several sources available during the sixteenth century. Shakespeare’s primary source for the play is Arthur Brooke’s Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet (1562), which is a long, dense poem. This poem in turn was based on a French prose version written by Pierre Boiastuau (1559), who had used an Italian version by Bandello written in 1554. Bandello’s poem was further derived from Luigi da Porto’s version in 1525 of a story by Masuccio Salernitano (1476).
    Shakespeare’s plot remains true to the Brooke version in most details, with theatrical license taken in some instances. For example, as he often does, Shakespeare telescopes the events in the poem which take ninety days into only a few days. He also depicts Juliet as a much younger thirteen rather than sixteen, thus presenting a young girl who is suddenly awakened to love.
    One of the most powerful aspects of Romeo and Juliet is the language. The characters curse, vow oaths, banish each other, and generally play with the language through overuse of action verbs. In addition, the play is saturated with the use of oxymorons, puns, paradoxes, and double entendres. Even the use of names is called into question, with Juliet asking what is in the name Romeo that denies her the right to love him.
    Shakespeare uses the poetic form of sonnet to open the first and second acts. The sonnet usually is defined as being written from a lover to his beloved. Thus, Shakespeare’s “misuse” of the prose ties into the actual tension of the play. The sonnet struggles to cover up the disorder and chaos which is immediately apparent in the first act. When the first sonnet ends, the stage is overrun with quarreling men. However, the sonnet is also used by Romeo and Juliet in their first love scene, again in an unusual manner. It is spoken by both characters rather than only one of them. This strange form of sonnet is, however, successful, and even ends with a kiss.
    It is worthwhile to note the rather strong shift in language used by both Romeo and Juliet once they fall in love. Whereas Romeo is hopelessly normal in his courtship before meeting Juliet, afterwards his language becomes infinitely richer and stronger. He is changed so much that the Mercutio remarks, “Now art thou sociable” (2.3.77).
    The play also deals with the issue of authoritarian law and order. Many of Shakespeare’s plays have characters who represent the unalterable force of the law, such as the Duke in The Comedy of Errors and Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet. In this play, the law attempts to stop the civil disorder, and even banishes Romeo at the midpoint. However, as in The Comedy of Errors, the law again seems to be a side issue, one which cannot compete with the much stronger emotions of love and hate.
    4. Beowulf
    Beowulf is considered to be the longest and greatest poem extant in Old English. It has recently been made famous by the Beowulf movie, Beowulf game, Beowulf 3d, and the Beowulf trailer. Totalling 3,182 lines, Beowulf was written sometime between 720 – 796 a.d. It has been preserved in the Cotton Vitellius A XV manuscript, in the British Museum, which was written about the year 1000. There is no specific literary source for the Beowulf epic. Many of its characters and digressions belong to the Germanic tradition preserved through the oral traditions of the minstrels. We know nothing, however, of Beowulf’s author.
    The story of Beowulf opens by recounting the career of Scyld Scefing, a king sent by God to the Danes. After Scyld’s death the Danes prosper under his descendants. One of those descendants, Hrothgar, builds the Danes a great hall called Heorot. Heorot is soon invaded by Grendel, a half-human monster who is hated by God. The Danes are helpless against these attacks until the hero Beowulf arrives to aid them. He battles Grendel in hand to hand combat in Heorot and kills the monster by tearing off its arm. Grendel’s mother then comes to avenge her son. Beowulf and Hrothgar follow her to her lair in a disgusting lake, where Beowulf fights Grendel’s mother in her hall at the bottom of the lake. Beowulf almost loses, but with the aid of God is eventually victorious. He is lavishly rewarded and returns to his own land where he tells his adventures to his uncle, King Hygelac. The poem then jumps fifty years into the future when Beowulf is in old age and king of the Greats. He then fights his last battle agains a dragon that is guardian of a cursed treasure. He tries to fight the dragon alone, but can only defeat it with the aid of a younger relative, Wiglaf. The dragon is killed, but mortally wounds Beowulf in the battle, and the old king passes away while gazing on the cursed treasure. The death of Beowulf marks the decline of the Geats, who are now surrounded by enemies made in previous campaigns. Consequently, the poem ends in mourning for both Beowulf and his nation.
    http://www.beowulfepic.com/

    5. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Cantebury Tales.
    In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him. Though narrated by different pilgrims, each of the tales is told from an omniscient third-person point of view, providing the reader with the thoughts as well as actions of the characters. The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s.
    Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company. In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are Palamon and Arcite; in the Miller’s Tale, Nicholas and Alisoun; in the Wife of Bath’s Tale, the errant knight and the loathsome hag; in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, the rooster Chanticleer. The struggles between characters, manifested in the links between tales, mostly involve clashes between social classes, differing tastes, and competing professions. There are also clashes between the sexes, and there is resistance to the Host’s somewhat tyrannical leadership.• As he sets off on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, the narrator encounters a group of other pilgrims and joins them. That night, the Host of the tavern where the pilgrims are staying presents them with a storytelling challenge and appoints himself judge of the competition and leader of the companyGeoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
    If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.
    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/facts.html

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  6. Nilam Mantika (NIM: 0812150029)

    1. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet is one of William Shakespeare’s famous works of all time. Romeo and Juliet was initially a tragic romance in ancient times. Romeo and Juliet’s story is based on the story in Italy. Romeo and Juliet first staged in 1597. Shakespeare uses dramatic structure. Romeo and Juliet have performed many times in the form of drama, film, musicals and opera. In the 20th century, Romeo and Juliet have been adapted into various versions of films such as Romeo and Juliet in 1936. Narrated in the city of Verona, Italy there are two families of mutually hostile superpower for a long time, the Montague and Capulet families. Romeo from the Montague family fell in love with Rosaline from the Capulet family. In the middle of the mutual admiration of each other, they should swallow their disappointment upon learning that was born from a family of mutual hostility. However, this pair of teenagers do not want to give up faced with a family feud, with the help of Romeo’s friend, the Pastor Lawrence, they were married secretly. Love is opposed to her despair. In addition to the body of Juliet, he swallowed poison and died instantly bought. But some time later, she was wake up with an empty hope. She actually saw the lifeless body of her husband. Feeling no longer have a reason to live, she slowly took the knife to kill herself.
    In social life, these stories are often found in real life. When parents do not agree with the couple, the individual is increasingly felt in love with her partner. Romeo and Juliet story of a young bride who fell in love, but is hampered by both their families against each other. Through this work, William Shakespeare successfully presents the nuances of the classic romance of love and tragedy. Romantic, but tragic, that’s the general picture of the legendary love story of Romeo and Juliet.

    http://anakmadiun.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/romeo-dan-juliet-kisah-cinta-sepanjang-masa/

    2. Edmund Spenser’s Faery Queen
    Faery queen is a poem English by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. This tells about several knights, each representing a particular virtue, on their quests for the Faerie Queene, Gloriana. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, and must defeat both theological error and the dragon of deception to free the parents of Una (“truth”). Guyon is the knight of Temperance, who must destroy the fleshly temptations of Acrasia’s Bower of Bliss. Britomart, a woman in disguise as a male knight, represents Chastity; she must find her beloved and win his heart. Artegall, the knight of Justice, must rescue the lady Eirene from an unjust bondage. Cambell and Triamond, the knights of Friendship, must aid one another in defense of various ladies’ honor. Finally, Calidore, the knight of Courtesy, must stop the Blatant Beast from spreading its slanderous venom throughout the realm.
    In post Lutheran Protestant reformation, there was vehement protest between the still many Roman Catholics and Protestants occupying England. As an extremely devout Protestant, Spenser was especially annoyed by slanderous material against the Queen; moreover, Spenser saw the Roman Catholic Church full of idolatry and corruption. Thus, while his Protestant sensibilities and sentiments towards the Roman Catholic Church color the entire work, they are principally displayed in the “battles” of The Faerie Queene, which often symbolize “battles” between Rome and London.

    http://www.gradesaver.com/the-faerie-queene/study-guide/short-summary/
    http://www.online-literature.com/edmund-spenser/faerie-queene/

    3. Thomas More‘s Utopia
    Utopia is a book by Thomas More in 1516. It depicts a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. This term has been used to describe both intentional communities that are trying to create an ideal society, and fictional societies portrayed in literature which. Geographically nature, Utopians have made use of their natural resources. The Utopians are people morally developed even though they were not Christians. The Utopians believe that pride is the root of great evil. Thus, the Utopians have eliminated wealth, nobility, private property, and currency. All persons working with the same hour, and although the authorities are excluded from public employment, they worked to set a good example for others.
    Utopia describes a condition in which the leaders of various religions accept knowledge as part of human life and agrees to remove all the superstitious beliefs based. Man with God is defined as the science or the supernatural. Religion and God are used as a factor motivating people to believe in themselves and improve themselves out of difficult situations. In Utopia Thomas More, there is a religious tolerance rule; the penalty for violating it is slavery or exile. The only man is vile atheists because they do not believe in reward for good behavior.

    http://www.gradesaver.com/utopia/study-guide/short-summary/
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia

    4. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
    Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare plays in 1599. Julius Caesar is a political leader who is very successful and ambitious in Rome. Caesar was warned that he must “beware the Ides of March”. The prophecy came true and Caesar was murdered. Marcus Brutus was a Roman senator who helps plan and carry out the murder of Caesar. Friend Caesar, Mark Antony gave the funeral oration at Caesar and encourage the assassins of Rome. Brutus took part in the conspiracy for the sake of freedom and plunged the country into civil war.
    Julius Caesar is based on the historical events surrounding the conspiracy against the leaders of ancient Rome. Shakespeare portrays Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March (March 15) by a group of conspirators feared the WHO Ambitious leader would turn the Roman Republic into a tyrannical monarchy. Like the history plays, Julius Caesar Gives voice to some late-16th-century English political concerns. When Shakespeare wrote Caesar, it was pretty obvious that the 66-year-old Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was not going to produce an Heir to the throne, and her subjects were stressed out about what would happen upon the monarch’s death. Until now, Julius Caesar is often taught in schools as an introduction to Shakespeare. Julius Caesar is also considered to be the least sexy of Shakespeare’s dramatic works, which, for some, makes it a “safe” option in classrooms full of teenagers.

    http://www.william-shakespeare.info/shakespeare-play-julius-caesar.htm
    http://www.shmoop.com/julius-caesar/

    5. Christopher Marlowe‘s Dr. Faustus
    Dr. Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after the death of Christopher Marlowe. In 1616, twenty-three years after the death of Christopher Marlow, different versions of Dr. Faustus was published. Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe’s work is a story about a scholar and magician. It tells about a Renaissance man who had to pay the medieval price for being one.” In the middle ages, the highest wisdom was knowledge of the divine achieved through God’s grace, bestowed in revelation. However, in the Renaissance, one finds abundant deprecation of the contemplative life rooted in faith and abundant praise of the active life, the study of political and social man.

    Dr. Faustus is not responsible people who are highly educated in terms of the material world but has no connection to spirituality and faith. Faustus search for spirituality and faith not through religion but through the devil. He asks Satan to gain power and knowledge in the black arts. Faustus do not believe in God anyway even when the good angel and his scholars tells him that redemption is possible if he decides to change his mind and turn to God, but his pride never lets him.

    http://www.shvoong.com/books/1695258-concept-despair-dr-faustus/
    http://voices.yahoo.com/book-summary-doctor-faustus-christopher-marlowe-5039280.html?cat=38

    Reply

  7. 1. Faeries Queen
    The Faerie Queen was written by Edmund Spenser (1590-1596), an allegorical romance designed to glorify Queen Elizabeth I of England, is celebrated as one of the greatest and most important works of English verse. The Faerie Queen tells the stories of several knights, each representing a particular virtue, on their quests for the Faerie Queen, Gloriana. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, and must defeat both theological error and the dragon of deception to free the parents of Una (“truth”). Guyon is the knight of Temperance, who must destroy the fleshly temptations of Acrasia’s Bower of Bliss. Britomart, a woman in disguise as a male knight, represents Chastity; she must find her beloved and win his heart. Artegall, the knight of Justice, must rescue the lady Eirene from an unjust bondage. Cambell and Triamond, the knights of Friendship, must aid one another in defense of various ladies’ honor. Finally, Calidore, the knight of Courtesy, must stop the Blatant Beast from spreading its slanderous venom throughout the realm. Each quest is an allegory, and the knight given the quest represents a person’s internal growth in that particular virtue. Such growth happens through various trials, some of which the knights fail, showing how personal development is a struggle requiring the aid of other forces and virtues to make it complete. Although Spenser was living during the time where Middle English was being used He felt the Old English form was more conducive to connecting King Arthur to Elizabeth I and the Tudor Dynasty.

    http://www.enotes.com/faerie-queene

    2. Mandeville’s Travels
    The Travels of Sir John Mandeville was written in about 1357 and a 30-year account of Sir John Mandeville odyssey across Europe, North Africa, the Far East, and Arab. The Travels became the primary source for geographic information over the next two centuries. Two prominent historical figures are unreliable guides Mandeville was Leonardo da Vinci and Christopher Columbus. He claimed to be the English knights of St Albans. However, there is no proof of citizenship or if he really lived. The Travels provide a broad overview of the world during the fourteenth century and how the world viewed Mandeville, with instructions and geographical marks to travel overland or by sea. Mandeville tells of his meeting with others. He also goes into detail about the culture and customs and their religious views or lack thereof. Throughout the journey, Mandeville focuses on moral and religious.

    http://www.oppapers.com

    3. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
    The Tragedy of Julius Caesar has written by William Shakespeare in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar. Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the most visible character in its action; he appears in only three scenes, and is killed at the beginning of the third act. Julius Caesar is a highly successful but ambitious political leader of Rome and his goal is to become an unassailable dictator. Marcus Brutus speaks more than four times as many lines, and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship. After defeating Pompey children in battle Cassius and Brutus die knowing they will probably both, they smiled at each other and holding hands. However, Brutus won the stage of the battle, but victory is not conclusive. The next day, Brutus fought again. He lost and committed suicide. The story ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony. Caius Marius was a leading man in Rome who had saved the Roman Republic a few years before by defeating two German tribes, Teutones (102) and the Cimbri (101). The relationship between Marius and Julius family is near: Marius married the sister of the Emperor’s father. So, Caesar had a strong family. Modern historians tend to believe that it means that Marius tried to achieve political objectives through the People’s Assembly. Opposing groups, the optimates, playing the political game in the senate.

    http://www.william-shakespeare-quotes.info/julius-caesar-quotes/index.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Caesar_(play)

    4. The Caterbury Tales
    The Canterbury tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer. This is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The Middle English period (1066-1500). The pilgrims, who come from all walks of life, telling each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury under the leadership of Harry Bailly, the host of Tabard, the pilgrims were introduced by a brief sketch of life in the General Prologue. Beginning with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their way to Canterbury to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Chaucer brings together people from the ranks of many people: Knight, head of the monastery, Monk, the Merchant, The Man of Law, The Franklin, Clerk, The Miller, The Reeve, this pardoner; The Wife of Bath and many others.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales

    5. Romeo and Juliet
    Shakespeare has written entirely on the love story of Romeo and Juliet. Believed written between 1591 and 1595, this drama was first published in a quarto version in 1597. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, a long feud between the Montague and Capulet families disrupts the city of Verona and causes tragic results for Romeo and Juliet. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet are young teenagers who fall deeply in love but their families are bitter enemies. They married in secret because of the feud between their families. They make every effort to hide their relationship but the love story ends in tragedy when Romeo and Juliet die. Romeo and Juliet is a picture of love and its pitiable fate in a world whose atmosphere is too sharp for this, the tenderest blossom of human life. They were created for each experience love at first sight, every consideration disappears before the irresistable impulse to live for one another; under circumstances hostile in the highest degree to their union, they unite themselves by a secret marriage, relying simply on the protection of an invisible power. Religion similarly demands priorities that Romeo and Juliet cannot abide by because of the intensity of their love.

    http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet/themes.html

    Reply

  8. Name: Christine Valentina Sitorus
    Student Reg Number: 0812150033 (Group A)

    1. Beowulf

    Beowulf is a poem that came from Scandinavia, but is not known when the poem was composed. The poem is related to Christianity. The poem was modified from several poets from age to age. The results of these copies are known to Anglo-Saxon England. Some experts argued that the poem was made in the late 10th century. Beowulf is a classic story that contains a good over evil. The poem was opened in Denmark, where there is Grendel is terrorizing the kingdom at that time. The prince Beowulf Geatish help them with a group of soldiers. Beowulf and Grendel held a gun battle in the end the monster’s arm ripped off. There are a lot of joy among the Danes at that time. Grendel’s loathsome mother takes her revenge, and makes a brutal attack upon the king’s hall. Beowulf seeks out the hag in her underwater lair, and slays her after an almighty struggle. Once more there is much rejoicing, and Beowulf is rewarded with many gifts. The poem is more famous after 50 years later. Now the king of Geats, its own territory is faced with a raging dragon that has been keeping the hoard. Beowulf enters the dragon mound and kill the enemy before he himself was mortally wounded. Beowulf is buried by the king’s funeral, and became a lamentation of the dead hero.

    Beowulf is a story related to the Sociological on the life of the state. Beowulf is a good leader for Denmark and its power can be spread. Because of his power spread, she eventually became famous. He did not enjoy his position but he have the king sebgai guilt over his betrayal of Hrothgar.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/beowulf/
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/synopsis

    2. Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood

    The Dream of the Rood is one of the central documents in the ancient English Literature. Vision and mission of poetry is not known exactly when made but the scholars agree that the most probable date of composition was during the 8th century. This rhyming poetry is consist of sadness. The themes of The Dream of the Rood is a representation of the crucifixion as a battle. It is about the crucifixion of Christ, which ended with the victory. In some churches would know this story because the story is very well known in Christian circles. Crucifixion is a process in which a person was tortured so painful that he eventually experience death. However, there is the resurrection of Christ as experienced by the end of the victory. The struggle of the crucifixion until he got a victory.

    This story is associated with a religious story that can be seen as a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ for Christians in England. This story is very interesting for the church to be able to feel the Christ who died and rose eventually. His resurrection is a victory for us. This certainly adds to our insight as Christians.

    Retrieved from:
    http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/98/hhr98_2.html
    http://www.dreamofrood.co.uk/introduction.htm

    3. Edmund Spenser’s Faery Queen

    Faery Queen is an allegory in the form of poetry written by Edmund Spenser. In the Faery Queen there are several figures in which each character is told to have a special meaning. The fisrt half was published in 1950. A second installment was published in 1596. This poem tells about the sanctity and holiness associated with prosperity in the life of the Christian religion. In the first and third books, the author of two knights named describe Redcrosse and Britomart. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, which is like the Apostle Peter, in his ministry to the Lord, he faced many difficulties and problems but it all can make itself as a religious person. In his demonstration, he was united degan Una, which means truth. These include the sanctity of truth that can be achieved through the truth of the Christian life. In different ways, Britomart learns about the love of a Christian: moderation. Redcrossse illustrates shows a result of an unholy life that comes from yourself. The theme of the book to the first and third books are good Christian that can be changed by increasing the good and reduce bad thing. Spenser argued that human character is actually good.

    The poem Celebrates, memorializes, and critiques the Tudor Dynasty (of the which Elizabeth was a part), much in the tradition of Virgil’s Aeneid’s celebration of Augustus Caesar’s Rome. Like the Aeneid, the which states That Augustus descended from the noble sons of Troy, The Faerie Queene Suggests That the Tudor lineage can be connected to King Arthur. In relation to politics, at that time was the hostility between religion and politics. Poetry criticism raised above the level of the propagandists. This poem tells how the crime happened in the Catholic church in which there is corruption. This is contrary to the moral good in man. This poem consists of an allusive allegorical poems in which the character is portrayed Queen Elizabeth I who was instrumental in England. Elizabeth is a frequent example, the Gloriana. The political allegory is often heard in the Elizabeth complex. While the moral allegory is a very consistent and associated with the most clear and accessible.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fqueen/summary.html
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-faeriequeene/themes.html
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-faeriequeene/hist.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene

    4. Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus

    Doctor Faustus is written by Christopher Marlowe.Doctor Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after Marlowe’s death and at least twelve years after the first performance of the play. Doctor Faustus is a character who has the role of children of parents who are on the lower classes. In the field of education, he holds a doctor who has the ability. He argues that the logic is something that people use to argue. According to him, divinity is useless because he thinks that all men must have sinned and thus spake to have sins’ punishable by death complicates the logic of Divinity. He dismisses it as “What doctrine call you this? Que sera, sera” (What will be, shall be). Then, he asked Wagner to call Valdes and Cornelius. They both are very famous magicians. Valdes said that if Faustus wants to have magic, so he should not learn other things. Eventually, Faustus can summon demons, that is Lucifer. After he learned the vicious circle and say the incantation, he saw the devil that appear suddenly. The devil is Mephistophilis. Mephistophilis are followers of Lucifer, and he was always serving Lucifer. Mephistophilis tells about the history of Lucifer and other devils. He also said that has no circumference. It is more of a state of mind than a physical location. The theme of this story is a sin. Of this story can be found that Faustus has the wrong mindset. He is a greedy person. He begins by making a pact with the devil when he fell and trust magic.

    In the perspective historical, the main thought in this story is someone who has knowledge that it can make him think about magic and other mysteries. Marlowe attract significant attention to the feelings experienced by both himself and other thinkers of his day. Marlowe’s Faustus character describes as being a slave to Satan. Faustus can think about good and evil will do something. However, in the end he chose to meet the needs of crime is mortal. In conjunction with the religious, who had fallen into the sin still has a forgiveness that is converted. Faustus knows exactly where things are good and evil, but he was unable to control himself so he went into a bad thing to seek pleasure duniawi.meskipun he knew the consequences that have received if he followed the crime, but he is still choosing evil.

    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_(play)
    http://www.enotes.com/faustus
    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/canalysis.html

    5. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

    Romeo and Julliet is written by William Shakespeare. It is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is the most popular stories. Events in this story started when Romeo met Juliet. Once they meet each other, the feeling of love between them. They fell in love at first sight. They expressed their feelings of love on the balcony. They decide to get married and plan it out. They were married. The rising action continues through the marriage, and the separation. The theme is about love. This play is known for love as many phrases from this play have become famous for the expressions of love. This story describes two people who love each other who never surrendered to the state. They do any way that love can be together. Mercutio Benvolio says that Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo Montague and bring to a duel. When Romeo appears, Mercutio makes a lot of crude jokes, and Romeo, too. There is a nurse who said that the wedding would take place that afternoon at Friar Lawrence. Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence and they are going to get married. However, her mother wants Juliet to marry Paris. Finally, she decided to drink the poison because he refuses to marry Paris. However, Romeo saw the incident and he drank the poison as well. Juliet suddenly woke up and he sees that Romeo is dead. As a result, he was killing himself.

    These stories have the relationship with sociological because these events related to the family who just wants Juliet to marry with Paris. This can be an example for the community about the tragic events of the wedding.

    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://classiclit.about.com/od/romeoandjuliet/a/aa_romeojulietq.htm
    http://summarycentral.tripod.com/romeoandjuliet.htm
    http://www.gradesaver.com/romeo-and-juliet/study-guide/short-summary/

    Reply

  9. Name: Christine Valentina Sitorus
    Student Reg Number: 0812150033 (Group A)

    1. Beowulf

    Beowulf is a poem that came from Scandinavia, but is not known when the poem was composed. The poem is related to Christianity. The poem was modified from several poets from age to age. The results of these copies are known to Anglo-Saxon England. Some experts argued that the poem was made in the late 10th century. Beowulf is a classic story that contains a good over evil. The poem was opened in Denmark, where there is Grendel is terrorizing the kingdom at that time. The prince Beowulf Geatish help them with a group of soldiers. Beowulf and Grendel held a gun battle in the end the monster’s arm ripped off. There are a lot of joy among the Danes at that time. Grendel’s loathsome mother takes her revenge, and makes a brutal attack upon the king’s hall. Beowulf seeks out the hag in her underwater lair, and slays her after an almighty struggle. Once more there is much rejoicing, and Beowulf is rewarded with many gifts. The poem is more famous after 50 years later. Now the king of Geats, its own territory is faced with a raging dragon that has been keeping the hoard. Beowulf enters the dragon mound and kill the enemy before he himself was mortally wounded. Beowulf is buried by the king’s funeral, and became a lamentation of the dead hero.

    Beowulf is a story related to the Sociological on the life of the state. Beowulf is a good leader for Denmark and its power can be spread. Because of his power spread, she eventually became famous. He did not enjoy his position but he have the king sebgai guilt over his betrayal of Hrothgar.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/englit/beowulf/
    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/synopsis

    2. Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood

    The Dream of the Rood is one of the central documents in the ancient English Literature. Vision and mission of poetry is not known exactly when made but the scholars agree that the most probable date of composition was during the 8th century. This rhyming poetry is consist of sadness. The themes of The Dream of the Rood is a representation of the crucifixion as a battle. It is about the crucifixion of Christ, which ended with the victory. In some churches would know this story because the story is very well known in Christian circles. Crucifixion is a process in which a person was tortured so painful that he eventually experience death. However, there is the resurrection of Christ as experienced by the end of the victory. The struggle of the crucifixion until he got a victory.

    This story is associated with a religious story that can be seen as a symbol of the crucifixion of Christ for Christians in England. This story is very interesting for the church to be able to feel the Christ who died and rose eventually. His resurrection is a victory for us. This certainly adds to our insight as Christians.

    Retrieved from:
    http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/98/hhr98_2.html
    http://www.dreamofrood.co.uk/introduction.htm

    3. Edmund Spenser’s Faery Queen

    Faery Queen is an allegory in the form of poetry written by Edmund Spenser. In the Faery Queen there are several figures in which each character is told to have a special meaning. The fisrt half was published in 1950. A second installment was published in 1596. This poem tells about the sanctity and holiness associated with prosperity in the life of the Christian religion. In the first and third books, the author of two knights named describe Redcrosse and Britomart. Redcrosse is the knight of Holiness, which is like the Apostle Peter, in his ministry to the Lord, he faced many difficulties and problems but it all can make itself as a religious person. In his demonstration, he was united degan Una, which means truth. These include the sanctity of truth that can be achieved through the truth of the Christian life. In different ways, Britomart learns about the love of a Christian: moderation. Redcrossse illustrates shows a result of an unholy life that comes from yourself. The theme of the book to the first and third books are good Christian that can be changed by increasing the good and reduce bad thing. Spenser argued that human character is actually good.

    The poem Celebrates, memorializes, and critiques the Tudor Dynasty (of the which Elizabeth was a part), much in the tradition of Virgil’s Aeneid’s celebration of Augustus Caesar’s Rome. Like the Aeneid, the which states That Augustus descended from the noble sons of Troy, The Faerie Queene Suggests That the Tudor lineage can be connected to King Arthur. In relation to politics, at that time was the hostility between religion and politics. Poetry criticism raised above the level of the propagandists. This poem tells how the crime happened in the Catholic church in which there is corruption. This is contrary to the moral good in man. This poem consists of an allusive allegorical poems in which the character is portrayed Queen Elizabeth I who was instrumental in England. Elizabeth is a frequent example, the Gloriana. The political allegory is often heard in the Elizabeth complex. While the moral allegory is a very consistent and associated with the most clear and accessible.

    Retrieved from:
    http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fqueen/summary.html
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-faeriequeene/themes.html
    http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-faeriequeene/hist.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene

    4. Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus

    Doctor Faustus is written by Christopher Marlowe.Doctor Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after Marlowe’s death and at least twelve years after the first performance of the play. Doctor Faustus is a character who has the role of children of parents who are on the lower classes. In the field of education, he holds a doctor who has the ability. He argues that the logic is something that people use to argue. According to him, divinity is useless because he thinks that all men must have sinned and thus spake to have sins’ punishable by death complicates the logic of Divinity. He dismisses it as “What doctrine call you this? Que sera, sera” (What will be, shall be). Then, he asked Wagner to call Valdes and Cornelius. They both are very famous magicians. Valdes said that if Faustus wants to have magic, so he should not learn other things. Eventually, Faustus can summon demons, that is Lucifer. After he learned the vicious circle and say the incantation, he saw the devil that appear suddenly. The devil is Mephistophilis. Mephistophilis are followers of Lucifer, and he was always serving Lucifer. Mephistophilis tells about the history of Lucifer and other devils. He also said that has no circumference. It is more of a state of mind than a physical location. The theme of this story is a sin. Of this story can be found that Faustus has the wrong mindset. He is a greedy person. He begins by making a pact with the devil when he fell and trust magic.

    In the perspective historical, the main thought in this story is someone who has knowledge that it can make him think about magic and other mysteries. Marlowe attract significant attention to the feelings experienced by both himself and other thinkers of his day. Marlowe’s Faustus character describes as being a slave to Satan. Faustus can think about good and evil will do something. However, in the end he chose to meet the needs of crime is mortal. In conjunction with the religious, who had fallen into the sin still has a forgiveness that is converted. Faustus knows exactly where things are good and evil, but he was unable to control himself so he went into a bad thing to seek pleasure duniawi.meskipun he knew the consequences that have received if he followed the crime, but he is still choosing evil.

    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Faustus_(play)
    http://www.enotes.com/faustus
    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/doctorfaustus/canalysis.html

    5. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet

    Romeo and Julliet is written by William Shakespeare. It is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is the most popular stories. Events in this story started when Romeo met Juliet. Once they meet each other, the feeling of love between them. They fell in love at first sight. They expressed their feelings of love on the balcony. They decide to get married and plan it out. They were married. The rising action continues through the marriage, and the separation. The theme is about love. This play is known for love as many phrases from this play have become famous for the expressions of love. This story describes two people who love each other who never surrendered to the state. They do any way that love can be together. Mercutio Benvolio says that Tybalt has sent a letter to Romeo Montague and bring to a duel. When Romeo appears, Mercutio makes a lot of crude jokes, and Romeo, too. There is a nurse who said that the wedding would take place that afternoon at Friar Lawrence. Romeo and Juliet meet at Friar Lawrence and they are going to get married. However, her mother wants Juliet to marry Paris. Finally, she decided to drink the poison because he refuses to marry Paris. However, Romeo saw the incident and he drank the poison as well. Juliet suddenly woke up and he sees that Romeo is dead. As a result, he was killing himself.

    These stories have the relationship with sociological because these events related to the family who just wants Juliet to marry with Paris. This can be an example for the community about the tragic events of the wedding.

    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://classiclit.about.com/od/romeoandjuliet/a/aa_romeojulietq.htm
    http://summarycentral.tripod.com/romeoandjuliet.htm
    http://www.gradesaver.com/romeo-and-juliet/study-guide/short-summary/

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  10. 1. Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare
    Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It is among Shakespeare’s most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers. The plot of this story is based on Italian tale. The story tells about two young people who felt in love, but they came from different family background. Juliet comes from the Capulets and Romeo comes from Montagues. They cannot seem to get along, and between them there have been many deaths. Prince Escalus of Verona warns the two families that if the feud does not stop, the punishment will be death. But this warn is not the matter for Romeo and Juliet to fall in love, they ignore it. Romeo and Juliet really love each other, they didn’t think what would happen if one of their family knew about their relation. Until Juliet’s brother knew about them and thought that it was a big problem for his family. He tried to tell to Romeo that he must stay away from his sister. But Romeo ignored it and he tried to kill Romeo. After that they decide to marry the next afternoon but their family didn’t agree their relationship. Juliet’s mother suggested that Juliet should be married with Paris but Juliet didn’t love him. Suddenly, Juliet drank a poison that made a trick for her family which it can make sure her family if she passed away, she didn’t marry to Paris. Suddenly, Romeo saw her that has passed away; he drank a poison because he really loved her then after Juliet got up and saw the situation that Romeo has passed away, she was sad and she killed herself.
    Based on the story, the writer showed that love and life social class can break anything. From this story the two families try to correct their mistakes.
    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/romeojuliet

    2. Geoffrey Chaucer‘s The Caterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The Canterbury Tales begins with the introduction of each of the pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight’s Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. Congregating at the Tabard Inn, the pilgrims decide to tell stories to pass their time on the way to Canterbury. The Host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each of the pilgrims will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on the return trip. The Host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They decide to draw lots to see who will tell the first tale, and the Knight receives the honor. The Tales reflect diverse views of the Church in Chaucer’s England. After the Black Death, many Europeans began to question the authority of the established Church. Some turned to lollardy, while others chose less extreme paths, starting new monastic orders or smaller movements exposing church corruption in the behavior of the clergy, false church relics or abuse of indulgences. Several characters in the Tales are religious figures, and the very setting of the pilgrimage to Canterbury is religious (although the prologue comments ironically on its merely seasonal attractions), making religion a significant theme of the work.
    The upper class or nobility, represented chiefly by the Knight and his Squire, was in Chaucer’s time steeped in a culture of chivalry and courtliness. Nobles were expected to be powerful warriors who could be ruthless on the battlefield, yet mannerly in the King’s Court and Christian in their actions. Knights were expected to form a strong social bond with the men who fought alongside them, but an even stronger bond with a woman whom they idealized in order to strengthen their fighting ability. Though the aim of chivalry was to noble action, often its conflicting values degenerated into violence. Church leaders often tried to place restrictions on jousts and tournaments, which at times ended in the death of the loser.
    Retrieved from:
    http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/short-summary/

    3. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
    The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599.[1] It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of the conspirators at the Battle of Philippi. It is one of several Roman plays that Shakespeare wrote, based on true events from Roman history, which also include Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra. Although the title of the play is Julius Caesar, Caesar is not the most visible character in its action; he appears in only three scenes, and is killed at the beginning of the third act. Marcus Brutus speaks more than four times as many lines, and the central psychological drama is his struggle between the conflicting demands of honour, patriotism, and friendship.
    The early scenes deal mainly with Brutus’s arguments with Cassius and his struggle with his own conscience. The growing tide of public support soon turns Brutus against Caesar (this public support was actually faked; Cassius wrote letters to Brutus in different handwritings over the next month in order to get Brutus to join the conspiracy). A soothsayer warns Caesar to “beware the Ides of March, which he ignores, culminating in his assassination at the Capitol by the conspirators that day, despite being warned by the soothsayer and Artemidrous, one of Caesar’s supporters at the entrance of the Capitol.Caesar’s assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3 (the other is Mark Antony’s oration “Friends, Romans, countrymen”.) After ignoring the soothsayer as well as his wife’s own premonitions, Caesar comes to the Senate. The conspirators create a superficial motive for the assassination means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others follow in stabbing him; Brutus is last. The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained “the noblest Roman of them all”because he was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome.
    Retrieved from:
    http://www.shmoop.com/julius-caesar/plot-analysis.html
    http://absoluteshakespeare.com/guides/caesar/caesar.htm
    4. Edmund Spenser’s Faery Queen
    Edmund Spenser was born around 1552 in London, England. We know very little about his family, but he received a quality education and graduated with a Masters from Cambridge in 1576. He began writing poetry for publication at this time and was employed as a secretary, first to the Bishop of Kent and then to nobles in Queen Elizabeth’s court. His first major work, The Shepheardes Calender, was published in 1579 and met with critical success; within a year he was at work on his greatest and longest work, The Faerie Queene. This poem occupied him for most of his life, though he published other poems in the interim. It takes place in a mythical land, The Faerie Queen was intended to relate to Spenser’s England, most importantly in the area of religion. Spenser lived in post-Reformation England, which had recently replaced Roman Catholicism with Protestantism (specifically, Anglicanism) as the national religion. There were still many Catholics living in England, and, thus, religious protest was a part of Spenser’s life. A devout Protestant and a devotee of the Protestant Queen Elizabeth, Spenser was particularly offended by the anti-Elizabethan propaganda that some Catholics circulated. Like most Protestants near the time of the Reformation, Spenser saw a Catholic Church full of corruption, and he determined that it was not only the wrong religion but the anti-religion. This sentiment is an important backdrop for the battles ofThe Faerie Queene, which often represent the “battles” between London and Rome.
    Retrieved from:
    http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Edmund:Spenser.html
    5. Dream of the Rood
    The poem is set up with the narrator having a dream. In this dream or vision he is speaking to the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. The poem itself is divided up into three separate sections: the first part (ll. 1-21), the second part (ll. 27-121) and the third part (ll. 122-156). In section one, the narrator has a vision of the Cross. Initially when the dreamer sees the Cross, he notes how it is covered with gems. He is aware of how wretched he is compared to how glorious the tree is. However, he comes to see that amidst the beautiful stones it is stained with blood.[10] In section two, the Cross shares its account of Jesus’ death. The Crucifixion story is told from the perspective of the Cross. It begins with the enemy coming to cut the tree down and carrying it away. The tree learns that it is to be the bearer of a criminal, but instead the Christ comes to be crucified. The Lord and the Cross become one, and they stand together as victors, refusing to fall, taking on insurmountable pain for the sake of mankind. It is not just Christ, but the Cross as well that is pierced with nails. Adelhied L. J. Thieme remarks, “The cross itself is portrayed as his lord’s retainer whose most outstanding characteristic is that of unwavering loyalty”. The Rood and Christ are one in the portrayal of thePassion—they are both pierced with nails, mocked and tortured. Then, just as with Christ, the Cross is resurrected, and adorned with gold and silver. It is honored above all trees just as Jesus is honored above all men. The Cross then charges the visionary to share all that he has seen with others. In section three, the author gives his reflections about this vision. The vision ends, and the man is left with his thoughts. He gives praise to God for what he has seen and is filled with hope for eternal life and his desire to once again be near the glorious Cross.
    Like many poems of the Anglo-Saxon period, “Dream of the Rood” exhibits many Christian and pre-Christian images, but in the end is a Christian piece. Examining the poem as a pre-Christian, or pagan, piece is difficult, as the scribes who wrote it down were Christian monks and who lived in a time when Christianity was already established (at least among the aristocracy) in Anglo-Saxon England. Some argue for the prevalence of pagan elements within the poem, claiming that the idea of a talking tree is animistic, recalling the way in which pagan elements incorporate spirits and other fantastical elements. The belief in the spiritual nature of natural objects, it is argued, recognizes the tree as an object of worship. In his text,Heathen Gods in Old English Literature, Richard North stresses the importance of the sacrifice of the tree in accordance with Pagan virtues. He states that “the image of Christ’s death was constructed in this poem with reference to an Anglian ideology on the world tree. Additionally, North suggests that the author of Dream of the Rood “uses the language of this myth of Ingui in order to present the Passion to his newly Christianized countrymen as a story from their native tradition”. Furthermore, the tree’s triumph over death is celebrated by adorning the cross with gold and jewels.
    Retrieved from:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rood

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  11. 1. Thoma s More‘s Utopia
    Sir Thomas More wrote Utopia in 1516. The work was written in Latin and it was published in Louvain (present-day Belgium). Utopia is a work of satire, indirectly criticizing Europe’s political corruption and religious hypocrisy. More was a Catholic Humanist. Utopia is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More published in 1516. Thomas More is a public servant living in London with his family. He writes a letter to a friend in Antwerp (Belgium) named Peter Giles. Giles is a printer and editor, as well as a clerk for the city. In More’s letter, we read that More is sending Utopia to Giles for editing and publication. Utopia chronicles a conversation that More and Giles enjoyed with a man named Raphael Hythloday. Thomas More and Peter Giles are real persons. In Utopia, they are fictionalized. Their mutual acquaintance, Raphael Hythloday, is entirely invented and fictional. The Utopians are a morally developed people though they are not Christians. Hythloday mentions that the Utopians were eager to hear more about Christianity and that many Utopians had already converted. Most Utopians are monotheists and their religion is similar to Christianity. Some of the Utopians’ beliefs run counter to the moral traditions of the Christian church. The Utopians believe that pride is the root of great evils.
    http://www.gradesaver.com/utopia/study-guide/about/

    2. Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood.
    The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English literature and an example of the genre of dream poetry. The Dream of the Rood, an Anglo-Saxon poem written in the early Middle Ages, Christ’s death and burial is described in a manner which is startlingly different from the original biblical accounts. This story tells about descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and successful reign. He builds a great mead-hall, called Heorot, but the jubilant noise from Heorot angers Grendel, a horrible demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar’s kingdom. Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. The Danes are again overjoyed, and Beowulf’s fame spreads across the kingdom. During the feast, an envious Dane named Unferth taunts Beowulf and accuses him of being unworthy of his reputation. Beowulf responds with a boastful description of some of his past accomplishments. His confidence cheers the Danish warriors, and the feast lasts merrily into the night. At last, however, Grendel arrives. Beowulf fights him unarmed, proving himself stronger than the demon, who is terrified. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. In time, Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings, and, after Hygelac’s son dies, Beowulf ascends to the throne of the Geats. He rules wisely for fifty years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When Beowulf is an old man, however, a thief disturbs a barrow, or mound, where a great dragon lies guarding a horde of treasure
    http://history.hanover.edu/hhr/98/hhr98_2.html
    http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/beowulf/summary.html

    3. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar
    Probably written in 1599, Julius Caesar was the earliest of Shakespeare’s three Roman history plays. The play begins in Rome in 44 B.C. on the Feast of Lupercal, in honor of the god Pan. Marcus Brutus is Caesar’s friend and a Roman praetor. Brutus allows himself to joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule. Caesar’s assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play the conspirators create a superficial motive for the assassination by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber. After Caesar’s death, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained “the noblest Roman of them all” because he was the only conspirator who acted for the good of Rome.
    http://www.enotes.com/julius-caesar

    4. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It is among Shakespeare’s most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers. Romeo and Juliet is a picture of love and its pitiable fate in world whose atmosphere is too sharp for this, the tenderest blossom of human life. Two beings created for each other feel mutual love at the first glance, every consideration disappears before the irresistible impulse to live for one another, under circumstances hostile in the highest degree to their union, they unite themselves by a secret marriage, relying simply on the protection of an invisible power. The love of Romeo was unrequited love. It was a sentiment rather than passion a love that solaced itself in antithetical conceits upon its own misery, and would draw consolation from melancholy associations. In the final story they have paid the penalty of the fierce hatreds that were engendered around them, and of their own precipitancy, but their misfortunes and their loves have healed the enmities of which they were the victims.
    http://www.theatrehistory.com/british/romeoandjuliet001.html

    5. Edm und Spenser’s Faery Queen
    The Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590. In The Faerie Queene, Spenser creates an allegory: The characters of his far-off, fanciful “Faerie Land” are meant to have a symbolic meaning in the real world. Redcrosse, the knight of Holiness, is much like the Apostle Peter: In his eagerness to serve his Lord, he gets himself into unforeseen trouble that he is not yet virtuous enough to handle. His quest is to be united with Una, who signifies Truth–Holiness cannot be attained without knowledge of Christian truth. In his immature state, he mistakes falsehood for truth by following the deceitful witch Duessa. He pays for this mistake with suffering, but in the end, this suffering makes way for his recovery in the House of Holiness, aided by Faith, Hope, and Charity. With newfound strength and the grace of God, he is able to conquer the dragon that represents all the evil in the world. She already has the strength to resist lust, but she is not ready to accept love, the love she feels when she sees a vision of her future husband in a magic mirror. Spenser has a high regard for the natural qualities of creatures; he shows that the satyrs, the lion, and many human characters have an inborn inclination toward the good. And yet, he consistently shows their failure when faced with the worst evils. These evils can only be defeated by the Christian good. High on Spenser’s list of evils is the Catholic Church, and this enmity lends a political overtone to the poem, since the religious conflicts of the time were inextricably tied to politics. He is able to take images from superficial romances, courtly love stories, and tragic epics alike, and give them real importance in the context of the poem. No image is let fall from Spenser’s pen that does not have grave significance, and this gives The Faerie Queene the richness that has kept it high among the ranks of the greatest poetry in the English language.
    http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/fqueen/summary.html

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  12. Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Road Summary
    1.The Dream of the Rood
    The Dream of the Roodis the earliest dream-vision poem in the English language and one of the central documents of Old English Literature. Although no definite date can be assigned to the poem, many scholars agree that the most probable date of composition was during the 8th century. The influence of the poem in Pre-Conquest England is attested to by the fact that a passage from it appears carved on the Ruthwell Cross, a stone monument probably dating from the early 9th century, but the poem may also have influenced many later works in both Old and Middle English. Today, the poem exists in its most complete form in the Vercelli Book, a manuscript of Old English prose and poetry unanimously assigned to the second half of the tenth century. The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English literature and an example of the genre of dream poetry. Like most Old English poetry, it is written in alliterative verse. The Dream of the Rood has three parts: the Dreamer’s account of his vision of the Cross, the Rood’s monologue describing the Crucifixion, and the Dreamer’s resolution to seek the salvation of the Cross. The poem opens with the vision of the Dreamer who sees the Rood raised up and adorned with jewels and gold. After the Dreamer notices a stain of blood on the Cross’ side, the Rood begins to recount its experience as an instrument in the Crucifixion of Christ. The Cross recalls how it was initially cut down in the forest and chosen as the “tree” on which Christ was to be crucified. In a portrayal of the Passion, the Rood parallels Christ, as both are pierced with nails, mocked, tortured, killed and buried. In the same likeness to Christ, the Rood is resurrected soon thereafter and eventually adorned with gold and silver. Announcing its ultimate triumph through its suffering and obedience to God’s will, the Cross declares that it is honoured above all other trees, and commands the Dreamer to tell others what he has seen and heard as an instrument in explaining the salvation message. In the end, the Dreamer is renewed with hope and vows to seek again the glorious Rood.

    The relation to the religious background is
    Despite the possibility of pagan elements, the very nature of The Dream of the Rood is based upon Christian belief. The entire poem deals with the passion, death and resurrection of Christ as a triumph over sin and evil, which is the strongest mark of Christian faith. The dreamer, in his converted state, remarks, “May the Lord be my friend/ he who here on Earth once suffered/ on the hanging tree for human sin/ he ransomed us and gave us life/ a heavenly home.” Here the dreamer realizes that Christ’s death was not only victory in battle, but also the way in which human salvation was secured.

    http://www.dreamofrood.co.uk/introduction.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rood

    2.Beowulf
    Concerning the history of Beowulf a whole library has been written, and scholars still differ too radically for us to express a positive judgment. This much, however, is clear,–that there existed, at the time the poem was composed, various northern legends of Beowa, a half-divine hero, and the monster Grendel. The latter has been interpreted in various ways,–sometimes as a bear, and again as the malaria of the marsh lands. For those interested in symbols the simplest interpretation of these myths is to regard Beowulf’s successive fights with the three dragons as the overcoming, first, of the overwhelming danger of the sea, which was beaten back by the dykes; second, the conquering of the sea itself, when men learned to sail upon it; and third, the conflict with the hostile forces of nature, which are overcome at last by man’s indomitable will and perseverance.
    The Relation of historical background
    The poem deals with legends, was composed for entertainment, and does not separate between fictional elements and real historic events, such as the raid by King Hygelac into Frisia. Scholars generally agree that many of the personalities of Beowulf also appear in Scandinavian sources (specific works designated in the following section).[15] This does not only concern people (e.g., Healfdene, Hroðgar, Halga, Hroðulf, Eadgils and Ohthere), but also clans (e.g., Scyldings, Scylfings and Wulfings) and some of the events (e.g., the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern). The dating of the events in the poem has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the barrows indicated by Snorri Sturluson and by Swedish tradition as the graves of Ohthere (dated to c. 530) and his son Eadgils (dated to c. 575) in Uppland, Sweden. The majority view appears to be that people such as King Hroðgar and the Scyldings in Beowulf are based on real people in 6th-century Scandinavia. Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian personalities such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of the continental Angles.
    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10609/10609-h/10609-h.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

    3. Mandeville Travel.
    The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (1356 or 1366) has been coined as the first travel narrative. Mandeville, claimed to be a knight, traveled for many years around Eur-Asia, Africa, and surrounding areas. The text seems to be heavily charged with Western Christianity, doused with information about the holy land and events of the bible. While abroad, he worked for the sultan and knew the great khan. The text is full of descriptions of exotic and unheard-of creatures, many are descriptions of mutated or deformed humans. Some accounts of his travels and encounters could be reputable, while others are slightly outrageous or otherwise undocumented by anyone else. Copies of the book were supposedly owned by Da Vinci, Colombus, and Chaucer, among others. There exist over 300 extant manuscripts, and this is considered the first time we really are leaving Europe and the bounds of Western Christianity.
    The Relation of Religion Background
    Even though he has conversations with people of different religions, it is doubtful that he was genuinely interested in their religious beliefs. Despite his talks, he always comes to the conclusion that Christianity is far superior.In “relating” the conversations he had with people of other religions, Mandeville always has them concede that Christianity is a much better religion and that Christians are better, more capable people.
    During the Renaissance humanists had to defend their interest in merely reading non-Christian texts. How could John Mandeville during the Middle Ages have expressed interest in other religions without being called a heretic.

    4.The Romeo and Juliet Summary
    Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare’s original.
    Shakespeare’s use of dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.
    The political view of Romeo and Juliet
    Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is obviously a tragedy of impetuous young love. But it is also a play about politics, especially politics as conditioned by Christian morality and religion. The play’s action is determined by the conflict between secular and priestly authority, and by the complex interaction among mercy, love, and punishment as practiced by Escalus, Prince of Verona, and Friar Laurence, the Franciscan. In the course of this action, the Veronese regime is transformed, and the common good determined, in ways more compatible with the friar’s interests than with those of the Prince. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s pictures of the unique problems that determined modern, as opposed to ancient, political life. Shakespeare’s depictions of evil rulers who are justly overthrown marked him as a progressive or even a radical who challenged the doctrine of the divine right of kings. While Shakespeare’s politics are not precisely stated, in his portraits of mob rule (as in Julius Caesar and in Coriolanus) the Bard expresses a basic political conservatism: the common man, the rabble, in Shakespeare’s works does not have the capacity to rule himself. Shakespeare was not an advocate of democratic government, social leveling or state-sponsored welfare.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00004/abstract
    http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/what-shakespeares-political-orientation

    5.Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury tale
    The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly written in verse although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. It is also tell the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
    If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.
    The historical background of The Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales was written during a turbulent time in English history. The Catholic Church was in the midst of the Western Schism and, though it was still the only Christian authority in Europe, was the subject of heavy controversy. Lollardy, an early English religious movement led by John Wycliffe, is mentioned in the Tales, as is a specific incident involving pardoners (who gathered money in exchange for absolution from sin) who nefariously claimed to be collecting for St. Mary Rouncesval hospital in England. The Canterbury Tales is among the first English literary works to mention paper, a relatively new invention which allowed dissemination of the written word never before seen in England. Political clashes, such as the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and clashes ending in the deposing of King Richard II, further reveal the complex turmoil surrounding Chaucer in the time of the Tales’ writing. Many of his close friends were executed and he himself was forced to move to Kent in order to get away from events in London.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales
    http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm

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  13. 1.Cynewulf’s The Dream of the Rood
    The Dream of the Roodis the earliest dream-vision poem in the English language and one of the central documents of Old English Literature. Although no definite date can be assigned to the poem, many scholars agree that the most probable date of composition was during the 8th century. The influence of the poem in Pre-Conquest England is attested to by the fact that a passage from it appears carved on the Ruthwell Cross, a stone monument probably dating from the early 9th century, but the poem may also have influenced many later works in both Old and Middle English. Today, the poem exists in its most complete form in the Vercelli Book, a manuscript of Old English prose and poetry unanimously assigned to the second half of the tenth century. The Dream of the Rood is one of the earliest Christian poems in the corpus of Old English literature and an example of the genre of dream poetry. Like most Old English poetry, it is written in alliterative verse. The Dream of the Rood has three parts: the Dreamer’s account of his vision of the Cross, the Rood’s monologue describing the Crucifixion, and the Dreamer’s resolution to seek the salvation of the Cross. The poem opens with the vision of the Dreamer who sees the Rood raised up and adorned with jewels and gold. After the Dreamer notices a stain of blood on the Cross’ side, the Rood begins to recount its experience as an instrument in the Crucifixion of Christ. The Cross recalls how it was initially cut down in the forest and chosen as the “tree” on which Christ was to be crucified. In a portrayal of the Passion, the Rood parallels Christ, as both are pierced with nails, mocked, tortured, killed and buried. In the same likeness to Christ, the Rood is resurrected soon thereafter and eventually adorned with gold and silver. Announcing its ultimate triumph through its suffering and obedience to God’s will, the Cross declares that it is honoured above all other trees, and commands the Dreamer to tell others what he has seen and heard as an instrument in explaining the salvation message. In the end, the Dreamer is renewed with hope and vows to seek again the glorious Rood.

    The relation to the religious background is
    Despite the possibility of pagan elements, the very nature of The Dream of the Rood is based upon Christian belief. The entire poem deals with the passion, death and resurrection of Christ as a triumph over sin and evil, which is the strongest mark of Christian faith. The dreamer, in his converted state, remarks, “May the Lord be my friend/ he who here on Earth once suffered/ on the hanging tree for human sin/ he ransomed us and gave us life/ a heavenly home.” Here the dreamer realizes that Christ’s death was not only victory in battle, but also the way in which human salvation was secured.

    http://www.dreamofrood.co.uk/introduction.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Rood

    2.Beowulf
    Concerning the history of Beowulf a whole library has been written, and scholars still differ too radically for us to express a positive judgment. This much, however, is clear,–that there existed, at the time the poem was composed, various northern legends of Beowa, a half-divine hero, and the monster Grendel. The latter has been interpreted in various ways,–sometimes as a bear, and again as the malaria of the marsh lands. For those interested in symbols the simplest interpretation of these myths is to regard Beowulf’s successive fights with the three dragons as the overcoming, first, of the overwhelming danger of the sea, which was beaten back by the dykes; second, the conquering of the sea itself, when men learned to sail upon it; and third, the conflict with the hostile forces of nature, which are overcome at last by man’s indomitable will and perseverance.
    The Relation of historical background
    The poem deals with legends, was composed for entertainment, and does not separate between fictional elements and real historic events, such as the raid by King Hygelac into Frisia. Scholars generally agree that many of the personalities of Beowulf also appear in Scandinavian sources (specific works designated in the following section).[15] This does not only concern people (e.g., Healfdene, Hroðgar, Halga, Hroðulf, Eadgils and Ohthere), but also clans (e.g., Scyldings, Scylfings and Wulfings) and some of the events (e.g., the Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern). The dating of the events in the poem has been confirmed by archaeological excavations of the barrows indicated by Snorri Sturluson and by Swedish tradition as the graves of Ohthere (dated to c. 530) and his son Eadgils (dated to c. 575) in Uppland, Sweden. The majority view appears to be that people such as King Hroðgar and the Scyldings in Beowulf are based on real people in 6th-century Scandinavia. Beowulf has consequently been used as a source of information about Scandinavian personalities such as Eadgils and Hygelac, and about continental Germanic personalities such as Offa, king of the continental Angles.
    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10609/10609-h/10609-h.htm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

    3. Mandeville Travel.
    The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (1356 or 1366) has been coined as the first travel narrative. Mandeville, claimed to be a knight, traveled for many years around Eur-Asia, Africa, and surrounding areas. The text seems to be heavily charged with Western Christianity, doused with information about the holy land and events of the bible. While abroad, he worked for the sultan and knew the great khan. The text is full of descriptions of exotic and unheard-of creatures, many are descriptions of mutated or deformed humans. Some accounts of his travels and encounters could be reputable, while others are slightly outrageous or otherwise undocumented by anyone else. Copies of the book were supposedly owned by Da Vinci, Colombus, and Chaucer, among others. There exist over 300 extant manuscripts, and this is considered the first time we really are leaving Europe and the bounds of Western Christianity.
    The Relation of Religion Background
    Even though he has conversations with people of different religions, it is doubtful that he was genuinely interested in their religious beliefs. Despite his talks, he always comes to the conclusion that Christianity is far superior.In “relating” the conversations he had with people of other religions, Mandeville always has them concede that Christianity is a much better religion and that Christians are better, more capable people.
    During the Renaissance humanists had to defend their interest in merely reading non-Christian texts. How could John Mandeville during the Middle Ages have expressed interest in other religions without being called a heretic.

    4.The Romeo and Juliet Summary
    Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare’s original.
    Shakespeare’s use of dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.
    The political view of Romeo and Juliet
    Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is obviously a tragedy of impetuous young love. But it is also a play about politics, especially politics as conditioned by Christian morality and religion. The play’s action is determined by the conflict between secular and priestly authority, and by the complex interaction among mercy, love, and punishment as practiced by Escalus, Prince of Verona, and Friar Laurence, the Franciscan. In the course of this action, the Veronese regime is transformed, and the common good determined, in ways more compatible with the friar’s interests than with those of the Prince. Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s pictures of the unique problems that determined modern, as opposed to ancient, political life. Shakespeare’s depictions of evil rulers who are justly overthrown marked him as a progressive or even a radical who challenged the doctrine of the divine right of kings. While Shakespeare’s politics are not precisely stated, in his portraits of mob rule (as in Julius Caesar and in Coriolanus) the Bard expresses a basic political conservatism: the common man, the rabble, in Shakespeare’s works does not have the capacity to rule himself. Shakespeare was not an advocate of democratic government, social leveling or state-sponsored welfare.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2508.t01-2-00004/abstract
    http://www.enotes.com/william-shakespeare/what-shakespeares-political-orientation

    5.Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury tale
    The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly written in verse although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. It is also tell the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury.
    If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.
    The historical background of The Canterbury Tales
    The Canterbury Tales was written during a turbulent time in English history. The Catholic Church was in the midst of the Western Schism and, though it was still the only Christian authority in Europe, was the subject of heavy controversy. Lollardy, an early English religious movement led by John Wycliffe, is mentioned in the Tales, as is a specific incident involving pardoners (who gathered money in exchange for absolution from sin) who nefariously claimed to be collecting for St. Mary Rouncesval hospital in England. The Canterbury Tales is among the first English literary works to mention paper, a relatively new invention which allowed dissemination of the written word never before seen in England. Political clashes, such as the 1381 Peasants’ Revolt and clashes ending in the deposing of King Richard II, further reveal the complex turmoil surrounding Chaucer in the time of the Tales’ writing. Many of his close friends were executed and he himself was forced to move to Kent in order to get away from events in London.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Tales
    http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm

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