Creating a Master List of Significant Quotes

Joshua Malang – Prof. Flack’s English 6 – British Literature

 

 Creating a Master List of Significant Quotes

Major Work from the Middle Ages:

Beowulf

Quote:

“Do not give way to pride.  For a brief while your strength is in bloom but it fades quickly...” (1761-2).

“Your piercing eye will dim and darken; and death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away.” (1976-8).

Significance or Conveyance:

Life and Tragic Death

You bloom with life and strength, like the seasons, consequently we begin to wither away and death comes whether we like it or not. No matter how amazing you maybe come he is simply a man, this elegy, starting with a funeral and with a praise of his death.

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Major Work from the Middle Ages:

Lanval

Quote:

“I’ve served the king a long time; / I don’t want to betray my faith to him. Never, for you or for you love, will I do anything to harm my lord” (271-4).

Significance or Conveyance:

Honor

Early in the readings of Marie De France: Lanval, the writer tells the readers that even though Lanval is not respected by the King, however Lanval humbly shows his chivalry to the King and his honor towards his knighthood.

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Marjor Work from the Middle Ages:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Quote:

But no wonder if a fool finds his way into folly and be wiped of his wits by womanly guile- it’s the way of the world. Adam fell because of a woman, and Solomon because of several, and as for Samson, was bamboozled by Bathsheba and bore the grief. All wrecked and ruined by their wrongs, if only we could love our ladies without believing their lies. (2414-21)

Significance or Conveyance:

The Norton Anthology states, mentioned in the introduction of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, “Sir Gawain epitomizes …blooming of Arthurian chivalry, and the reputation of the court rests upon his shoulders” (183). The poet also portrays women to be the downfall of many heroic men.

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Major Work from the Middle Ages:

Chaucer’s “General Prologue/Tale”

Quote:

“Although he was born a commoner and continued to associate with commoner in his official lie, he did not live as a commoner/ and although his training and service at court, his wife’s connections, and probably his poetry brought him into contact with the nobility, he must always have been conscious of the fact that he did not really belong to that society of which birth alone a could make a true member. Situated at the intersection of these social worlds, Chaucer had the gift of being able to view with both sympathy and humor the behaviors, beliefs, and pretensions of the diverse people who compromised the levels of society.” (240-241).

Significance or Conveyance:

Satire: In my opinion, with Chaucer’s personal history, and the fact that he mostly told his stories aloud, he was able to convey how people, yet divided into separate classes, do not have to be judged by their given classes and that because one is born into a particular class, this doesn’t mean we have to stereotype, because even the high class can be seen ignorant or fooled by one below his or her own class.

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Major Work from the Middle Ages:

The Book of Margery Kemp

Quote:

“Some great clerks said our Lay cried never so, nor no saint in heaven, but they knew full little what she felt, nor would they not believe that she might have abstained from crying if she wished.” Pg430

Significance or Conveyance:

Obligation

Although God sends vengeance to the world with such acts like earthquakes, he uses Margery to spread the word,  hence even though people do not understand her, since she is not being bad, yet extremely sad, the people seemed to be at awe that she cries with deep feelings her compassion to spread God’s word.

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Major Work from the Middle Ages:

Everyman

Quote:

“All that liveth appaireth (degenerates) fast.” (44)

Significance or Conveyance:

Quoted by God in direct detail that coincides with other related works of the Middle Ages, that basically, in my opinion is plain to see, that with life comes death. You cannot escape death; death is inevitable. Even writing this statement freaks me out and makes me realize too that life is short and do not take it for granted.

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Joshua Malang – The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale Blog

         The Norton Anthology states, in the Introduction to The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, “in her polemical wars with medieval clerks of Oxenford, the Wife of Bath seems ironically to confirm the accusations of the clerks, but at the same time she succeeds in satirizing the shallowness of the stereotypes of women and marriage in antifeminist writings and in demonstrating how much the largeness and complexity of her own character rise above the stereotype” (282). I agree with the statement because what I got from the text is that she is openly admitting that even though she is not a virgin, much like the prime example Christ, she is still playing her stereotypical role of being a wife.

God clepeth (calls) folk to him in sondry wise,

And everich hath of God a propre yifte,

Som this, som that, as him liketh shifte (ordain).

Virginitee is greet perfeccuioun,

And continence eek with devocioun,

But Christ, that of perfeccion is welle,

Bad nat every wight he sholde go selle (108-14)

 

 Its like she is saying that ironically wife’s exist in the holy text too, so women aren’t necessarily virgins to be Godly, but to be a good wife like others before her, she is fulfilling her role too. I would characterize The Wife of Bath as an early feminist because in my opinion she is expressing to the readers that she struggles with the concept of equality. She mentions:

Of shrewed Lamech (the first man whom the Bible mentions as having two wives…he is cursed, however, not for his marriages but for murder) and his bigamye?

I woot wel Abraham was an holy man,

And Jacob eek, as fer as evere I can,

And eech of hem hadde wives mo than two,

And many another holy man also. (60-64)

 

I’m thinking she is letting us know how it is unfair that men can have more than wives but it is not alright for women to have multiple husbands. To support my answer, The Wife of Bath quotes:

                I wol persevere: I nam nat precious (fastidious).

                In wifhood wol I use myn instrument

                As freely (generously) as my Makere hath it sent.

                If I be daungerous, God yive me sorwe:

                Myn housbande shal it han both eve and morwe (morning),

                                Whan that him list (when he wishes to) come forth and paye his dette.

                An housbonde wol I have, I wol nat lette ( I will not leave off)

                Which shal be bothe my dettour (debtor) and my thral (slave)

                And have his tribulacion withal (as well)

                Upon his flesh whil that I am his wif.

                I have the power during al my lif

                Upon his propre (own) body, and nat he:

                Right thus th’Apostle tolde it unto me,

                And bad oure housbondes for to love us weel.

                Al this sentence (sense) me liketh everydeel (entirely). (154-168)

 

                Which in my opinion, she is mentioning how God called women to be either virgins or in her case be married and use her “flower” to procreate. So I see her thinking that her having plenty of husbands is alright, in which she does it in her opinion justly. She also mentions that Godly men before had multiple wives so why does that differ from her with husbands. So she is showing her feminist ways in such, that why are men allowed, so why not women. Like how I mentioned above, I like how she chooses Biblical texts as her reference. One in particular as I interpret my own paraphrase, “in wifehood will I use my instrument as freely as my Maker has it sent, if I am dangerous with it God will be done, my husband shall have it both in the evening and morning, to pay his debt which he owes-which he is both my debtor and my slave…” (155-61).  She is confident saying that the Apostle stated that she has the power over her husband’s body, in which he is instructed to love her, pay his debt by giving himself to her, and she is pleased to have this in her favor “everydeel”.

Beowulf Storytelling and Boasting - Question #2

Joshua Malang

Professor Flack

Brit Lit Fall 12’

Beowulf Question

Choice: 2

Why are boasting and storytelling so important in the medieval warrior culture of Beowulf? What function do they serve in the epic?

In the epic poem, Beowulf, in my opinion, the poet writes in a boastful and storytelling manner to help readers create a more fantastical approach or reading.  Also, as a reader Beowulf seems more intriguing to read as the poet chooses this style. Think about it, do you want to hear about some guy who took a boat to a foreign land, fought a few bad people and might of died in the process-or!- “what kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in your coats of mail, sailing here over the sea-lanes in your steep-hulled boat?...Never before has a force under arms disembarked so openly…Nor have I seen a mightier mat-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here…(Lines 237-249). It’s like hearing a story of Ireland from American (bland, lazy accent) or better yet a thick, heavy Irish accent coming from an actual Celtic storyteller.

I, as a reader, enjoyed the boastfulness Beowulf carried. I usually feel the opposite and frown upon those who think too highly upon themselves, but in this case, I enjoyed how he and others bragged about things like, “a thane, they declared, with the strength of thirty in the grip of each hand” (lines 380-381) and how Unferth, yet disliked him but the author still bragged for Beowulf with lines 511-519 stating, “the ocean swayed, winter went wild in waves, but you vied for seven nights; and then he outswam you, came ashore the stronger contender.” I personally enjoyed those lines, because if I were to envision what was going on, my mind sees rough sea waters like the ones from that George Clooney, Mark Walberg movie and Beowulf easily plowing through the waters like some X-man character. Like a stated in class, Beowulf reminds me of legendary tall tale like a Paul Bunyan or John Henry.

                I will not take the credit, but give credit where its do, Professor Flack had an interesting point when she helped me realize that the poets and singers would “boast” for others was intentional for various reasons. She mentioned it help draw parallels with comparisons for instance, “Great Queen Modthryth... if any retainer ever made bold to look her in the face, if any eye not her lord’s stared at her directly during daylight, the outcome was sealed: he was kept bound, in hand-tightened shackels, racked, tortured until doom was pronounced…even a queen outstanding in beauty must not overstep like that...a queen should weave peace, not punish the innocent with loss of life for imagined insults.” (Lines 1932-1943). It makes one think how cruel things can be back then, and if your weird like me it’s somewhat cool, it “wows” me, keeps me wondering what else is strange (how things compare to other women back then and even in today’s world). I do wonder though, what if women were able to express themselves as well. I say this because I feel women are very creative and very well at story telling as well. It’s a shame women of those were not typically known as singers and poets, because I like female artists of today and they help me look at things from different perspectives.

                Beowulf, the legendary one man wrecking crew, also boasted in quite interesting way that intrigued me. Even when he was accepting the role of death, he foretold how, if he was to fall to Grendel, how it might be. I like this, because it also showed that he too can be defeated and if he did, it might go like this, “If Grendel wins, it will be a gruesome day; he will glut himself on the Geats in the war-hall… he will carry me away as he goes to ground, gorged and bloodied; he will run gloating with my raw corpse and feed on it alone, in a cruel frenzy fouling his moor-nest.” (Lines 442-451) Now if those lines don’t make you use your imagination than I’m afraid you watch too much television and you need to start letting your mind mentally visual things. I enjoyed letting my mind create these heroic characters, monsters, and come on, a dragon- you got to have fun doing so.

 

 

Beowulf Helpful Link

Can't go wrong with wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf

Offers :

1 Story

• 1.1 Structured by battles
  • 1.1.1 First battle: Grendel
  • 1.1.2 Second battle: Grendel's mother
  • 1.1.3 Third battle: The dragon
• 1.2 Structured by funerals
  • 1.2.1 First Funeral: Scyld Scefing (lines 1–52)
  • 1.2.2 Second Funeral: Hildeburg’s kin (lines 1107–24)
  • 1.2.3 Controversial Funeral: Lay of the Last Survivor (lines 2247–66)
  • 1.2.4 Third Funeral: Beowulf (lines 3137–82)

2 Historical background

3 Sources and analogues

4 The Beowulf manuscript

• 4.1 Provenance
• 4.2 Writing
• 4.3 Transcription

5 Authorship and date

• 5.1 Debate over oral tradition
• 5.2 Dialect

6 Form and metre

7 Interpretation and criticism

8 Translations and glossaries

9 Artistic adaptations

10 Notes

11 Bibliography

• 11.1 Dictionaries
• 11.2 Text
• 11.3 Audio
• 11.4 Scholarship

12 References

13 External links