Beowulf Research Paper

RESEARCH PAPER:
Changes in Literature through Time.
MELANIA SANCHEZ BULCHI

1.INTRODUCCION.
Literature is said to be the mirror of the society. The theme and style of writing have changed due to important historical, religious and political events that took place and lined every piece of writing in every period. So it is important to analyze and compare these periods to see the different changes. The novel "Beowulf", from the Anglo-Saxon period, started the British tradition. "Beowulf" introduced many of the standard themes and conventions used in adventure stories ever since. Then, “The Canterbury Tales” give great insight into the fourteenth century’s reflections of social change, religious controversies, and gender expectations. During
It began as a listing of people on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, and then continued with each person telling a tale or story along the way. He details each person’s occupation, personality, and clothing with historical accuracy and societal perspective. Chaucer was born into middle class, but then placed in an aristocratic home as a page. This allowed Chaucer to understand the affairs of upper and middle class, as well as their relationship to the lower class. Because of this, he had an ability to uniquely write about those in all social ranks with humor and accuracy, while also reflecting the society’s changes. During this period many changes took place, one of them is related with feminist ideas. This change would eventually cause England to move away from being a completely patriarchal society. The Norton Anthology points out that there were many anti-feminist writings that the medieval church fostered. Women during this period were expected to be wholesome and submissive to their husbands. Chaucer had written a character in order to oppose these writings, “The Wife of Bath”, during her story, she conveys her feelings towards who should rule a house. Being a very feminist woman, she felt that responsibility should lie with the wife. Also Chaucer shows that sex was no longer something that only men sought but also that women have
Contrary to this, in “The Canterbury Tales” the major themes are courtly love, that is the ideal form of love -non sexual- and chivalry, that is the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor and dexterity in arms. The style is characterized by rhyming couplets. That means that every two lines rhyme with each other. It's also in iambic pentameter (the same style as Shakespeare), meaning that in each line there are ten syllables, and a heavily emphasized (stressed) syllable follows a less emphasized (unstressed) syllable. Shakespeare also follows the iambic pentameter also called "blank verse". Hamlet, is not only written in verse but also in prose. The verse is more ellegant than the prose. The prose is just talk, how we talk every day. One of the main theme is mortality, the weight of one's mortality and the complexities of life and death are introduced from the beginning in Hamlet. In the wake of his father's death, Hamlet can't stop considering the meaning of life and its ending. Another theme is madness, at first by