SectionIBritishLiteratureSecondEdition

AGeneralIntroductionWhendid“BritishLiterature”begin?Anyanswertothatquestionmustbeproblematic,fortheveryconceptofBritishliteratureisaconstructionofliteraryhistory,aconceptthatchangedovertime.Thereareno“British”charactersinBeowulf,andBritishscholarsandauthorshadnoknowledgeofthepoembeforeitwasdiscoveredandeditedinthenineteenthcentury.Althoughwritteninthelanguagecalled“Anglo-Saxon,”thepoemwasclaimedbyDanishandGermanscholarsastheirearliestnationalepicbeforeitcametobethoughtofasan“OldEnglish”poem.Oneoftheresultsofthe

NormanConquestwasthatthestructureandvocabularyoftheEnglishlanguagechangedtosuchanextentthatChaucer,ifhehadcomeacrossamanuscriptofOldEnglishpoetry,wouldhaveexperiencedfarmoredifficultyconstruingthelanguagethanwithMedievalLatin,French,orItalian.IfaKingArthurhadactuallylived,hewouldhavespokenaCelticlanguagepossiblystillintelligibletonativespeakersofMiddleWelshbutnottoMiddleEnglishspeakers.

ItmightnotbesoimportantwhenBritishliteraturebegan.However,itisrathernecessarytomentionBeowulfandChaucerifweshouldlearnBritishliterature.Firstly,let’stakeabrieflookatBeowulf.Beowulfisconsideredanepicpoeminthatthemaincharacterisaherowhotravelsgreatdistancestoprovehisstrengthatimpossibleoddsagainstsupernaturaldemonsandbeasts.ThepoetwhocomposedBeowulf,whileobjectiveintellingthetale,nonethelessutilizesacertainstyletomaintainexcitementandadventurewithinthestory.Anelaboratehistoryofcharactersandtheirlineagesarespokenof,aswellastheirinteractionswitheachother,debtsowedandrepaid,anddeedsofvalor.

Thenlet’sgotoGeoffreyChaucer,whowasthefirstEnglishpoetinhistoryandrankswithShakespeareasthemostpopularandwidelyreadofallpoetst