Medieval literature

Origin of theatre

The origin of theatre in Britain were linked to religious celebration in fact these performances to places in the nave of church but son they moved out.
Miracle plays gave dramatic shape to the events of bible; they were staged by the members of trade guild on movable stages wagons called pageants. The actors were all amateurs.
Morality plays had characters who weren’t taken from the bible but were personification of the human vices and virtues.

Medieval ballad

Medieval ballad is a sung componement that tell dramatic story in series of rapid flashes. Popular ballad are a mixture of dialogue and narration; the narrator don’t speak in first person. Every stanza is made for four-line and usually rhyming ACBC. There are a lot of repetition and refrain; there isn’t a moral aim. The main themes are : supernatural, love, war and family tragedies; the character are supernatural or real. There are four type of ballad : Ballads of magic, border ballad, ballads of love and ballads of outlaws.

Lord Randal

Lord Randal is a popular ballad of an anonymous author. It is set to the house of Lord Randol in the afternoon when he returned form the greenwood and wanted lied down. He has been poisoned with eels fried by his true love and his hawks and his hounds died because ate his leavings. The mother asked him what leaved to his sister, to his brother and to his mother whit oral testament, while arsed his true love.

Narrative poem

Narrative poem tells story in verse and contains lot of narrative elements like a setting in time and in place, the description of characters and the narrator is in first person. It have a lay outlook of the life; it is linked with the society of the time and describe their lifestyles. It have a didattic aim.

Canterbury tales

Canterbury tales deals with thirty people of every strate of society that do a pilgrimage to visit the Canterbury abbey. It is sett in spring when there is a rebirth of nature and of human spirit. The pilgrims meet in the Tabard Inn. The host of the in suggest that every pilgrims should tell four stories, two while they going to Canterbury and 2 while they come back.
The work consist of a General Prologue and twenty-four tales. The tales are usually preceded by a prologue, which introduces the theme of the tale, and is followed by an epilogue. Canterbury is the symbol of the celestial city itself, the end of life; and the journey of the pilgrims becomes the allegory of the human life.
The power of saint is presented as restorative of the sick, so the seasonal restoration of nature parallels a supernatural kind of restoration that knows no season.
Chaucer wanted to give an images of English society but he didin’t include the aristocracy or peasants because, the first, wouldn’t have travelled with commoners instead, the peasants, couldn’t afford the trip.