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Depiction of Society in Literature in Old and Middle English

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Anglo-Saxon Society


  • The first feature of Anglo-Saxon society is that they were religious men. In the first half of the Old English, the Anglo-Saxons held pagans beliefs, and in the second half Christianity dominated the Anglo-Saxon society; their adaptation is not only switching from one practice to another but generating something new out of the old legacy and their fresh theories and knowledge.
  • The oral tradition was very much present in Anglo-Saxon society, which provided us with the sight of dead societies (Janovsky). Some written texts of the time survived today i-e Beowulf and others. 
  • The Anglo-Saxons were a war-centered civilization. The warrior code in Anglo-Saxon society is elucidated through the poem Beowulf, in which the hero fights to save his people (Dogra).
  • Courage and bravery are other aspects of Anglo-Saxon society, people were brave enough, and their bravery is depicted in their literature as people having great physical strength like Beowulf, Fadlan of “The thirteenth warrior.”
  • Beowulf provides an insight into that the Anglo Saxon were ferocious nomads of the sea. They existed on the coasts of the sea, Baltic and the North Sea. They were very diligent people.
  • In Anglo-Saxon society, women hold a very high place. They amused the warriors with the drinks and presented them with gifts; for instance, Beowulf was presented with honor and cheers when he returned after defeating the enemies, and his victory was celebrated (Ohidujjaman).
  • After reading the literature of the time, it is concluded that Anglo-Saxon society had some distinct traits. It contains the elements of war, heroic deeds, courage and bravery, and incredible belief in the religion.

Middle English Society

  • Every society is well depicted through its literature; similarly, the literature of Middle English is the byproduct of its civilization and reflects the significant aspects of the society that were prevalent during the epoch.
  • The fourteenth century of England contains one of the great poets known as Geoffrey Chaucer, and his Canterbury Tales is one of the prime examples of the depiction of society in a humorous way. 
  • In Middle English, the social class system was very predominant. The first class is of nobility and knights, and then comes the working class peasants; it is reflected in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. As the prologue writer, he first introduced the knight and the squire who belong to the upper social setup(Bolon). 
  • Social rigidity is also echoed in the prologue, evident through Miller, belonging to the lower class who makes fun of the knight’s tale.
  • Chaucer also highlights the snags of the people with the Church as many characters belonging to the Church, in the prologue, are depicted as corrupt, like the nun and the prioress. They are more concerned about being courtly and not being religious. Friar in the tale is a greedy and verbose man.
  • Chaucer also explicated the values people hold in society i-e the tale of the pardoner and the Wife of the Bath.
  • The Canterbury tale, in general, is an accurate representation of the civilization of the Middle Ages and the illustration of the people belonging to all social classes of the time and gives us insight into the hierarchy that was present in the Middle Age society.

The impact of religion on the society

Impact of religion in Anglo-Saxon Society:

  • As it is known that the Anglo-Saxon period started from 450 AD till the Norman Conquest, many texts of the time survived, including Beowulf, The Wanderer, and The Dream of the Rood, and the record of these texts were kept by monks of the time, these texts were not available in their original form, but their copies were kept, and from these copies, much about the religion and their impact on that society could be learned(McGillivray).
  • The Anglo-Saxon community of pagans was illiterate. Therefore, they were left with no such outstanding written records that indicate much about their religion. However, if we take some of their text, we find pagan qualities in Anglo-Saxon literature(Gallardo). They worshipped different gods.
  • After converting from paganism to Christianity, the poems comprise purely the Christin source, for instance, The Dream of the Rood, which is a Christin story articulated from the cultural standpoint of the Anglo-Saxon. In actuality, the Dream of the Rood narrates the death of Jesus from the viewpoint of the Christin Cross. This Cross is depicted as the combatant standing with his leader, Jesus. It is explicated in the poem that Rood is aware that the king will soon die, but he stands with the king with all courage and strength. This is an instance of the union of warriors in Anglo-Saxon civilization, which will lead us to the fact that the warrior union was a religious tie among the clans.
  • After converting to Christianity, the poets of the time took religion as a theme of their poetry. The two critical bards of the time include Caedmon and Cynewulf, who wrote poems on religious leitmotifs.
  • It is concluded that religion played a very significant role in the lives of Anglo-Saxon society, and it had a profound impact on them, reflected through their literature.

The impact of religion on Middle Age Society

  • In the Middle Ages, people believed strongly in religion and contained solid religious values; the people in the age were Roman Catholics and had a strong faith in it, and the Roman Catholic Church provided these people with the religious aspects of their lives so people would live with these believes accordingly.
  • Monks of the time were literate. They read the Latin language, as Bible was in the Latin language, and explained it to ordinary people. People substantially impacted religion, so many decided to work in the cloisters. Most knights tried their best to receive clemency for their immoralities visiting on a crusade(J.Mark).
  • Most medieval literature was written at that time to teach the Christin tenets to the masses. The prose and poetry beautifully portrayed the viciousness of sin and the magnificence of good deeds, and most critics had the view that the purpose of the drama was to give religious education to people(Khan).
  • In medieval times, Church gained popularity due to the wealth Roman Catholic Church produced during that era. They made a good amount of money by collecting taxes. One who could not pay tax would have to suffer from the punishment of endless damnation. The Black Death incident convinced people that God chastised them.
  • Divine work was extensively available in Middle English. Very few works in the Middle age were written out of the religious context, which shows the deep impression of religion on the society of Middle English.

 

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