Chaucer
A person can almost wholly learn the history of the world though literature that has been written. This is because the people and times have such a great influence on the writers and their work. Authors did not simply grab ideas from the sky. These ideas came from their mind; they wrote about what they knew. And what they knew is what surrounds them, whether it be war, peace, or a time of transition. In the early centuries, religion ruled the land and people. The first rulers came about from the idea that God or some other Supreme Being from up above sent forth these people to rule over the land. Literature from these times was highly influenced by religion. Almost every piece of work up until the 18th century contains some kind of religious reference. Evidence of the role and impact of religion in society is shown in the epic poem Beowulf of the eighth century and Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales of the fourteenth century. The time in which Chaucer lived was "one of the most disagreeable periods of our national history" (Legouis 80). The Black Death destroyed a third of the population and many people turned to the church for help. Goeffery Chaucer, being "the great poetical observer of men, who in every age is born to rec
Beowulf is an epic written in the eighth century, a time that was also dominated by religion and this is evident in the story of the great warrior. The author, who is unknown, has been called a "skilled Christian poet who has chosen to retell the story of pre-Christian hero in such a way as to impart certain moral lessons" (Goldsmith 2). This poet does so by describing Beowulf to be this man with superhuman strength and ability. One might almost say that he represents Jesus. The people feel that he has been sent to them by God to save them from Grendel, the treacherous monster that is taking over the land. This fight is part of the "feud between God's people and the race of Cain" (Goldsmith 3), and Beowulf uses God to help him defeat Grendel. Many times while fighting, Beowulf refers to God for help, he believes in God and that "fate shall allot, the lord of man kind" (Kennedy 82). As Beowulf dies, he gives thanks "to the Lord of all, to the Prince of glory, Eternal God" (Kennedy 89). He feels that it is time for him to die and he is glad that he got to do what he could and defeated Grendel (Cain). ord and eternize" (Blake 51), wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century in England. Religion dominated this time period in history; and therefore, it played a huge role in literary work. The Tale's plot is based on a very religious practice, a pilgrimage. The narrator of the Tales starts out by saying that he is "re
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 969
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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