ENGLISH PROSE OF THE 15thC.

Englishlit-reofthe 15^thc. is a transitoryone from Middle Ages to Renaissance. Poetsoftheperiodweremostly imitating Chaucer; number of prosaic works was not big and the only work standing out of the general mass would be Morted’Arthur prose romance. Simultaneously, the 15^th c. English literature produced a rich layer of oral tradition. English and Scottish ballads of the period gave rise to a number of productive plots and new subgenres. This was also a period of development of folk drama, which influenced the Renaissance drama of the next century.

Awidelydevelopedgenreofthe 15^thc. inEnglandwasepistolary prose. Therewasanumberoffamily archives preservedfromthisc. This century in the history of English literature also viewed the appearance of a new prosaic genre – prose romance. Mainreasonsforchangingfrompoetictoprosaicliterature were social & political situation in the country as well the accepting mode of the books. Theywerenolongersungbutread by nobility & townsmen. One of the first attempts in creating prose romance was anEnglishtranslation of The Voiage & Travaile of Sir John Maundevile, Knight, which was considered to be the best source of the oriental life.Thebookwasplannedasaguide-book for pilgrims, who decided to visit Holy Land. However, the author widened his narrative & gave the account of his travel not only to Palestine, but toEgypt, Syria, Arabia, Chaldea,Turkey, India & China. The book was filled with miracles and monsters, combining pagan and Christian sources, thus creating the Ifantastic prosaic romance.

WilliamCaxtonalso assisted in establishing a new genre. He published the story of Charles the Grete, 1485, which was a prose rendering of a few French chansons de geste; in1489Caxton published The Right Plesaunt & Goodly Historye of the Foure Sonnes of Aymon, about Carl the Great’s fight with mutinous vassals. HealsopublishedabookaboutGodfrey of Bouillon(1481); astoryParis & Vienna, 1488, about medieval adventures in France. In1485Caxton’s Westminster typography published Malory’s prose romanceLe Morte d'Arthur. Caxton was of dubious thought about the truthfulness of King Arthur personality but he published it with respect to tradition & organized it into a number of books. The book’s author ThomasMalorywas a mysterious figure. Itisonlyknownthathewasanobleman, knewFrenchand wrote his romance within 1469-1470while being imprisonedduring the reign of Edward IV. Caxtoneditedthemanuscript&divideditinto21books&507 chapters.

Two versions survive to the present day. The first, a print edition, was edited and produced by William Caxton. The second, known as the Winchester Manuscript, was discovered in 1934 at Winchester College and was “written by two professional scribes working together some time during the years 1470 to 1483” (Malory's Arthurian Manuscript: The Basics). There is much debate over the way in which these 2 versions relate to each other, and many of the differences between the Caxton & Winchester texts—as noted by Peter J.C. Field—“are scribal errors in which one is (often obviously) wrong and the other right” (New Arthurian Encyclopedia 295). Field observes that certain drastic & deliberate changes are made—the most notable being the shortening of the Roman War narrative in the Caxton version. Scholars continue to debate whether Caxton or Malory authorized these alterationsbecause many of the notable references to crusade and imperial conquest are affected by these alterations.Meg Roland identifies six key passages in Malory that address matters of crusading. The first concerns a Saracen invasion of Britain during the early years of Arthur's reign, in the midst of the young king's attempts to consolidate his territory. Merlin warns Arthur that “Sarezynesarlonded in their contreiesmo than 40000, andbrenneandsleand have leydesyege to the castell Wandesborow, and make gretedestruccion: therefore drede you natthys [thre] yere” (Vinaver 25). This passage may well tap into fears of invasion inspired by Ottoman Turkish expansion. In many ways, this moment in the narrative demonstrates, as Roland observes, Arthur's ability to consolidate internal power while also moving against a foreign invader. The emphasis on crusade is largely peripheral in this episode.

The second episode in the Morte where references to crusading appear is the Roman War narrative. But Malory does not present the war as Arthur's last great victory but rather as a culmination of his youthful kinghood. He may have moved the Roman War chronologically forward for the simple reason that he would have been unable to include the stories that followed if he had continued to tell of Mordred's treachery at that early point in his work. At the same time, however, Malory may have sought to elevate this battle against exotic (largely Eastern) enemies even more by “rescuing it” from the problematic ending. By distancing the Roman War from Arthur's decline and fall, the glory of Arthur's success against Rome is highlighted dramatically.

But while a certain “crusading spirit” exists in the Winchester version, Caxton seems to amplify and alter the references to crusade in his version of the Roman War account, editing key aspects of the narrative in order for it to read, as Catharine Batt observes, more like “a conventional crusade than...the Winchester [version]” (Malory's MorteDarthure, p.81, as referenced by Roland). Caxton may well have chosen to suspend the vision of a crusade to the Levant until the conclusion of the work. Additionally, Caxton may have wished to retain the vision of a major crusade for his depiction of Godefrey de Bouillon in a different portion of his Nine Worthies production. Removing this reference to Jerusalem also presents Arthur as a wise ruler who understands the necessity of a balance between external expansion & internal consolidation. There are other references to matters of crusadein the book of Tristram,toward the conclusion of Malory's work, when the narrator refers to the myth of the “once & future king” and in the concluding passage of the Morte:

And sommeEnglysshebookesmakenmencyon that they wente never oute of Englond after the deth of syrLauncelot—but that was but favor of makers. For the Frensshe book makethmencyon—and is auctorysed—that syrBors, syr Ector, syrBlamour, and syrBleoberiswente into the Holy Lande, thereasJesuCryst was quycke and deed. And anone as they had stablysshedtheyrlondes, for the book saith, so syrLauncelotcommaunded them for to do or ever he passydoute of thys world, these foureknyghtesdyd many bataylles upon the myscreantes, or Turkes.And there they upon a Good Fryday for Goddes sake.

The romance corresponded to a great number of romances written about the adventures of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin, etc. Thefirst 4books were dedicated to Merlin & Arthur. Vbook & books XIX-XXI were mainly based on a 13^th c. alliterative poem The Death of Arthur. VI-VIIbookswerebasedonaFrenchromanceaboutLancelot, booksVIII-XcorrespondedtoFrenchromanceaboutTristan, books XI-XVIII,give the account of the St.Grail quest.Thus, averycomplexnarrativewascreated, inwhichKingArthurandhiswifeGuinevere are not always the protagonists. Therearenumerousepisodes, adventuresfollowingoneanother, oftenwithoutacertainmotifandreaders’ preparation: braveknights, encased in armour fightoneanother, fairexilesfindshelterinthetwilightofdensewoods, dwarves/themagicianMerlin, giftedwithamiraculoustalentofprophecy, unmasks secret relations between the charactersand announces troubles, which they can’t explain/prevent. OneofthemainparticipantsofthenumerousadventuresisLancelot,tormentedwithhislovetohissovereign’swife, queenGuinevere, tryingtogettheSt. Grailinvain, becauseofasinhangingoverhim;Tristram, fatallyinlovewithIsolde; evilMordred, who kidnapped Guinevere andrevolted against Arthur; insidious and often ridiculoussteward Sir Kay.

TheremanynewepisodesinthegeneralnarrationeithercreatedbyMaloryhimself/ takenfromunknownsources. Thegoodexamplewouldbethebook 7 The Adventures of Garethas well as a sad story about a fair Lady of Astolatinserted into the 18^th book & the beginning of the 20^th.Gareth is the youngest brother of Sir Gawain,and the son of Lot and Morgause of Orkney,whocametothecourtofArthurasakitchenboy; forthebeautyofhishandshewascalled “Beaumains”; in a year and a day he was knighted by Sir Lancelot andremained devoted to him.Heaccompaniedtheking’sdaughterLynettewhowenttorescuehersister Lyonors. Shelivesinthecastle “Dangerous”, where she is kept by Sir Mors, i.e. Death. SirGarethfought 4knightswhobaffledhisway,- Night, Dawn, Noon &Evening. Obviously, theywerethesymbolsoftemptation,correspondingtohumanaging; havingconqueredalltheenemies, theknighthadtofightwiththelastenemy - Death,he won and acquired a bride from the castle, a symbol of eternal salvation. He plays a significant role in Malory's romance as an exemplar of chivalry. This picture of Gareth, who avoids even his own brothers when they act less than chivalrously, is one of the elements that comes together in the final scenes of the Morte to produce the tragic ending. Lancelot blindly slays Gareth in his rescue of Guinevere from the stake. When Gawain hears of this, he turns against Lancelot and demands that Arthur pursue him to punish him, thus setting the stage for Mordred's takeover. In Tennyson's Idyll of Gareth and Lynette, although Gareth, like almost everyone in Camelot, is not what he seems, he proves himself better than he seems to the sharp-tongued Lynette & the misjudging Sir Kay: he defeats a series of knightly opponents and rescues Lyonors. Gareth also figures in modern works like T. H. White's The Once and Future King& E. M. R. Ditmas's Gareth of Orkney (1956).

Notwithstandingtheoriginoftheplot, Malory’sinterpretationisquitesymbolic: probably, Gareth’sadventureshistorysymbolicallydepictsaChristian’sstruggleonthelifepath. Malory’snarrationisfullofcharmingnaivety, artlessness andsimple grace. Itwasasifthelastfarewell with the world of legends & fancy of the courtly epoch,however, a bit distorted. Maloryoftentendstomoralising, soberness,discretion&practicalness. HeispartiallyignorantoftheFrenchpoeticworldoffantasy&subtlepsychologism. He balances between the free courtly love& the spousal love with no perfect examples of either as even Tristram’s parents were not happy for long.

LancelotisoneofthemostinterestingMaloryimages; bothinMalory’sbook&itssourcesLancelothadallthenecessarynaturaltalantsandvirtuestowintheSt. Grailbutfilled with the sinful love to the queenhe managed to see the bowl only from afar. However, hissonGalahaddid&heredwellsaninterestingparadoxe – aknightoftheRoundtablewhosworetheoathofcelibacybutinfactdidn’tmarryoutofmorepracticalreasons–marriage would tie him down to a wife, make him forget his armour, tournaments, battles and knightly adventures,and though he opposed even temporary paramours, he became a father to the greatest knight of all times. MaloryalsoinsertedeconomicandfinancialaspectsofTristanandIsoltsentimentallovestory.

Le Morted’Arthur became 1 of the most popular European books of the time. In1568Roger Aschamcomplainedaboutitsabundance in England. Beingthetutorof the futurequeenElizabethI,hewasaveryinfluentialperson&hewroteinhisSchoolmasterthatthepleasureofthebookconsistsintwothings: openmurdersandutterdissipationbecausethenoblestknightskill people without any reason and violate marital fidelity with subtle intricacy. However, this is the book that often replaces the Bible in the households of the royals.

Inthe 16^thc. LeMorted’Arthurhad a special influence upon Spencer’s Fairy Queen. Inthe 17^thc., ifnottotallyforgotten(Milton read it composing his own poem about King Arthur), it was quite neglected. Inthe 18^thc. Malory’sworkwashighlyappreciatedbyThomasWartoninhisTheHistoryofEnglishPoetry(1774-1781), but it was only during the Romanticism that the work was duly resurrected. In1816-1817LeMorted’Arthurwasre-printedthreetimes; themostimportantpublicationbeingRobertSouthey’sin 2v. (1817), withhisintroduction&remarks. WalterScott, whoalludedtothisworkinhisearlypoemTheLadyoftheLake, wroteinEssays on Chivalry, Romance, and DramathatMalory’sbook “isundoubtfully the best prose romanceinEnglish, another RomanistThomas de Quincy called Malory“Herodotus of legends”. AnewwaveofinteresttoLeMorted’ArthursprangoutintheperiodofMiddleAgesardourinthemiddleofthe 19^thс. AlfredTennysonusedMalory’sworkinthe 40s-50sforhisIdyllsoftheKing, borrowing from it a number of plots, ideas, details, archaic figures of speechbut deviating from its inner sense. EpisodeaboutLancelot&ElainetheWhitewasreworkedbyhimearlierinaseparateballadLadyofShalott. WilliamMorrisdiscoveredthebookfortheendofthecenturywriters, especiallyforthepre-Raphaelites; he adored LeMorted’Arthur, introduced it to Rossetti, Burne-Jones & other his friends &transferred his infatuation with that “treasure of literature”. In1857threeOxfordstudents–Morris,Burne-Jones&Swinburne–decoratedthe “Oxford Union” clubwiththefrescoes,illustrating the main scenes of LeMorted’Arthur. TwoofthemrenovatedfadedbeautyofArthurianlegendsnotonlyinartbutalsoinliterature–WilliamMorrisinhisThe Defence of Guenevere and other Poems (1858), Swinburne in his later poems–Tristram of Lyonesse (1882),a verse dramaLocrine (1887)&The Tale of Balen (1896). Malory’sLeMorted’Arthurwas extremely popular till the end of the 19^th c. It produced also a number of parodies, the most famous being Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court(1889),quite negatively percepted by the contemporary criticists. In1893, aneweditionofthebook, richlydecoratedbyAubreyBeardsley,waspublished; populareditionsfollowed, thenchildrenadaptations; intheendofthecentury.

Date: 2015-01-11; view: 874