EN3590
University of Warwick
Summer Examinations 2015
Further Explorations in Middle English Literature
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Time allowed: 2 hours, plus 15 minutes reading time beforehand.
Please answer BOTH Section A and Section B.
Read carefully the instructions on the answer book and make sure that the particulars required are entered on each answer book used.
Do not repeat material from the assessed essay or between sections of the exam.
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Section A (50 marks)
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Write a critical commentary on TWO of the following extracts.
i)
As he come prikand out of toun,
Com a voice fram heven adoun,
That noman herd bot he,
And sayd, “Thou knight, Sir Amiloun,
God, that suffred passioun,
Sent the bode bi me;
Yif thou this bataile underfong,
Thou schalt have an eventour strong
Within this yeres thre;
And or this thre yere be al gon,
Fouler mesel nas never non
In the world, than thou schal be!
“Ac for thou art so hende and fre,
Jhesu sent the bode bi me,
To warn the anon;
So foule a wreche thou schalt be,
With sorwe and care and poverté
Nas never non wers bigon.
Over al this world, fer and hende,
Tho that be thine best frende
Schal be thi most fon,
And thi wiif and alle thi kinne
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Schul fle the stede thatow art inne,
And forsake the ichon.”
That knight gan hove stille so ston
And herd tho wordes everichon,
That were so gret and grille.
He nist what him was best to don,
To flen, other to fighting gon;
In hert him liked ille.
He thought, “Yif y beknowe mi name,
Than schal mi brother go to schame,
With sorwe thai schul him spille.
Certes,” he seyd, “for drede of care
To hold mi treuthe schal y nought spare,
Lete God don alle His wille.”
from Amis and Amiloun
bode: warning
eventour: adventure
mesel: leper
fer and hende: far and near
ichon: every one
grille: fearsome
nist: did not know
flen: flee
beknowe: make known
spille: kill
ii)
Bidderes and beggeres faste aboute yede
Til hire bely and hire bagge were bredful ycrammed;
Faiteden for hire foode, foughten at the ale.
In glotonye, God woot, go thei to bedde,
And risen with ribaudie, tho Roberdes knaves;
Sleep and sory sleuthe seweth hem evere.
Pilgrymes and palmeres plighten hem togidere
To seken Seint Jame and seintes in Rome;
Wenten forth in hire wey with many wise tales,
And hadden leve to lyen al hire lif after.
I seigh somme that seiden thei hadde ysought seintes:
To ech a tale that thei tolde hire tonge was tempred to lye
Moore than to seye sooth, it semed bi hire speche.
Heremytes on an heep with hoked staves
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Wenten to Walsyngham – and hire wenches after:
Grete lobies and longe that lothe were to swynke
Clothed hem in copes to ben knowen from othere,
And shopen hem heremytes hire ese to have.
I fond there freres, alle the foure orders,
Prechynge the peple for profit of the wombe:
Glosed the gospel as hem good liked;
For coveitise of copes construwed it as thei wolde.
Manye of thise maistres freres mowe clothen hem at likyng
For hire moneie and marchaundise marchen togideres.
For sith charite hath ben chapman and chief to shryve lordes
Manye ferlies han fallen in a fewe yeres.
from William Langland, Piers Plowman, Prologue
yede: went
bredful: brimful
Faiteden: begged falsely
Roberdes knaves: vagabonds
plighten hem: pledged themselves
Walsyngham: Walsingham in Norfolk, major medieval pilgrimage destination
lobies: lubbers, large clumsy people
swynke: labour
copes: ecclesiastical robes
chapman: merchant
shryve: confess
ferlies: strange events, wonders
iii)
Withinne the temple, of sykes hoote as fyr
I herde a swogh that gan aboute renne,
Whiche sikes were engendered with desyr,
That maden every auter for to brenne
Of newe flaume; and wel espyed I thenne
That al the cause of sorwes that they drye
Cam of the bittere goddesse Jelosye.
The god Priapus saw I, as I wente,
Withinne the temple in sovereyn place stonde,
In swich aray as whan the asse hym shente
With cri by nighte, and with hys sceptre in honde.
Ful besyly men gonne assaye and fonde
Upon his hed to sette, of sondry hewe,
Garlondes ful of freshe floures newe.
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And in a prive corner in disport
Fond I Venus and hire porter Richesse,
That was ful noble and hautayn of hyre port –
Derk was that place, but afterward lightnesse
I saw a lyte, unnethe it myghte be lesse –
And on a bed of gold she lay to reste,
Til that the hote sonne gan to weste.
Hyre gilte heres with a golden thred
Ibounden were, untressed as she lay,
And naked from the brest unto the hed
Men myghte hire sen; and, sothly for to say,
The remenaunt was wel kevered to my pay,
Ryght with a subtyl coverchef of Valence –
Ther was no thikkere cloth of no defense.
from Chaucer, The Parliament of Fowls
sykes: sighs
swogh: sound of wind
drye: suffer, endure
Priapus: Roman god of gardens and fertility
aray: state
shente: harmed, disgraced
hautayn: dignified
weste: go westward
pay: pleasure, satisfaction
Valence: French textile centre
iv)
And than anoon sche saw Seynt Anne gret wyth chylde, and than sche preyd
Seynt Anne to be hir mayden and hir servawnt. And anon ower Lady was born, and
than sche besyde hir to take the chyld to hir and kepe it tyl it wer twelve yer of age
wyth good mete and drynke, wyth fayr whyte clothys and whyte kerchys. And than
sche seyd to the blyssed chyld, "Lady, ye schal be the modyr of God." The blyssed
chyld answeryd and seyd, "I wold I wer worthy to be the handmayden of hir that
schuld conseive the sone of God." The creatur seyd, "I pray yow, Lady, yyf that grace
falle yow, forsake not my servyse." The blysful chyld passyd awey for a certeyn
tyme, the creatur being stylle in contemplacyon, and sythen cam ageyn and seyd,
"Dowtyr, now am I bekome the modyr of God." And than the creatur fel down on hir
kneys wyth gret reverens and gret wepyng and seyd, "I am not worthy, Lady, to do
yow servyse." "Yys, dowtyr," sche seyde, "folwe thow me, thi servyse lykyth me
wel." Than went sche forth wyth owyr Lady and wyth Josep, beryng wyth hir a potel
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of pyment and spycys therto. Than went thei forth to Elysabeth, Seynt John Baptystys
modir, and, whan thei mettyn togyder, eythyr of hem worshepyd other, and so thei
wonyd togedyr wyth gret grace and gladnesse twelve wokys. And than Seynt John
was bor, and owyr Lady toke hym up fro the erthe wyth al maner reverens and gaf
hym to hys moder, seyng of hym that he schuld be an holy man, and blyssed hym.
Sythen thei toke her leve eythyr of other wyth compassyf terys. And than the creatur
fel down on kneys to Seynt Elysabeth and preyd hir sche wold prey for hir to owyr Lady that sche mygth do hir servyse and plesawns. "Dowtyr, me semyth," seyd
Elysabeth, "Thu dost ryght wel thi dever." And than went the creatur forth wyth owyr
Lady to Bedlem and purchasyd hir herborwe every nyght wyth gret reverens, and
owyr Lady was receyved wyth glad cher. Also sche beggyd owyr Lady fayr whyte
clothys and kerchys for to swathyn in hir sone whan he wer born, and, whan Jhesu
was born sche ordeyned beddyng for owyr Lady to lyg in wyth hir blyssed sone. And
sythen sche beggyd mete for owyr Lady and hir blyssyd chyld. Aftyrward sche swathyd
hym wyth byttyr teerys of compassyon, havyng mend of the scharp deth that he schuld
suffyr for the lofe of synful men, seyng to hym, "Lord, I schal fare fayr wyth yow; I
schal not byndyn yow soor. I pray yow beth not dysplesyd wyth me."
from The Book of Margery Kempe
besyde: busied
potel: vessel
pyment: spiced wine
compassyf: compassionate
Bedlem: Bethlehem
herborwe: lodgings
ordeyned: prepared
swathyd: swaddled
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Section B (50 marks)
Write an essay in response to ONE of the questions below. Do NOT write an essay upon the module unit (romances, Piers Plowman etc.) that you wrote upon in your 5000-word assessed essay.
1. Discuss the representation of the family in Sir Gowther and Sir Degaré.
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2. Compare Sir Orfeo and Havelok the Dane as enquiries into the character of good kingship.
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3. Examine the presentation of sin in Piers Plowman.
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4. In what ways, and to what ends, does Langland mix the allegorical and the literal in Piers Plowman?
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5. ‘The naive wanderer in the dream vision encounters a cyber world, rich and strange’ (Sarah Stanbury). Compare and contrast the ‘cyber worlds’ of any two or more medieval dream poems.
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6. To what extent do the dream visions you have read offer a re-evaluation of received truths?
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7. John Norton-Smith describes the style of The Kingis Quair as ‘the blending of different aspects of literary topoi […] into a medley, various yet whole’. Discuss The Kingis Quair or any other medieval dream poem or poems in the light of this statement.
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8. Discuss the representation of the female body in Middle English anchoritic and/or hagiographic writing.
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9. Examine the relationship between ecclesiastical authority and female spiritual experience in the writings of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe.
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