Final Reflective Paper for British Literature
Bridging The Gap: British Authors’ Appeal To The Common Man
As our class ventured through the history of British literature, I began developing an understanding of the cultural characteristics that evolved within the country over time. One of the most consistent and intriguing aspects of British culture, that is evident through distinguished English authors, is the country’s appeal to the commoner by way of literature. It is evident in The Canterbury Tales with the move away from the sole use of legends of glory with knights in shining armor and more towards lewd stories with sex and violence. Renowned plays such as Shakespeare’s Henry IV, part I also show this appeal by humanizing royalty and showing that not all born of noble blood act with chivalry. We can also see this trend in Coleridge and Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads as the poets use straightforward language and inviting rhyme schemes.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales shows the dichotomy of 14th century British society by contrasting the chivalrous and glorified tales of English antiquity with the rough and genuine tales of England’s lower classes. This all-encompassing approach spoke to a wide audience due in part to stories such as “The Miller’s Tale” which sparks fascination with sex, scandal, and violence. I was able to explore this topic both through my research paper “The Potential for True Love in The Miller’s Tale” and my short analysis “Reading Response #3: The Miller’s Tale”. We see these reoccurring obscene themes throughout the narrative. For example, as I explore in my research paper “True Love in the Miller’s Tale” “When Nicholas courted Alison, he did so in a very offensive and vulgar way. He approached the young lady, grabbed her and “held her by the haunches hard and tight” and demanded she make love to him at once (Chaucer 85). This mating ceremony hardly follows that of the chivalrous ideal if the time” (Burgess “The Potential for True Love”).
We have had opportunities to analyze several of the tales Chaucer produces in his novel, but after researching “The Miller’s Tale” I found that it epitomizes the lewd and violent aspects that would have drawn in a larger following from lower classes. The tale does so by expanding British stories and folklore beyond the well-known and long-sung narratives that glorify the bravery and nobility of knights and royalty. The Miller’s Tale humanizes the upper echelon of England’s social classes by contrasting stories such as “The Knight’s Tale” with stories such as “The Miller’s Tale” that speaks to character flaws such as sexual desire and jealousy that all human contain to some degree.
Through both my analytical essay and reading response on the tale, I found that one major theme in the story is duplicitous and lust-filled love. Where we find chivalry, courteousness, and courage in the Knights Tale, we are shown the darker sides of love in the Millers Tale (Burgess “The Potential for True Love”). As I noted in my Reading Response artifact, we see this when Nicholas makes a cuckold of John with the carpenter’s wife Alison, because of his social class and sexual desire (Burgess, Reading Response #3). We also see it in Absolon as the young perish clerk looks lustfully at the women of his church and as he gets his love-driven retribution at the end of the tale by jamming a hot iron up Nicholas’ arse (Burgess “The Potential for True Love”). It was through these appeals to the more biological and barbaric side of human nature that Chaucer attracted new crowds of readers.
Shakespeare is perhaps the most identifiable playwright to emerge from Britain’s long and noteworthy list of authors. Shakespeare’s plays often did not attract the aristocratic crowds that one may imagine. As we have learned through class discussion, the author’s works were often performed in an open-air theatre with standing room for commoners who would engage the performers. This fluency between the front-row viewers and the actors that was instilled into performance’s of Shakespeare’s plays brought a fluidity to the showings that cannot be captured in other venues such as modern day film. Consequently, through these crowd-to-actor interactions, Shakespeare’s plays had a fan base built largely on Britain’s common man.
Additionally, Shakespeare left a lot of room for interpretation in his plays. He did not create side notes to dictate specific attitudes or cues for body language as some playwrights do. To me, this makes Shakespeare’s works more captivating as he passed on his literary masterpiece’s to the world, but still allows room for creative innovation for other to recreate the play in a new light. In our class this semester I had a chance to compare my personal interpretation of Act III Scene II of Henry IV Part I with the Globe Theatre’s version of the excerpt in my artifact “The Power of Perspective: Dysfunctional Relationships in Henry IV part I”. Through this comparison I was able to see how differently two parties can interpret the same short segment of an entire play. For example, my analysis shows the divergence of translations between my views of Act III of the play, and that of the Globe Theatre’s. Where the Globe Theatre gave King Henry a chiding tone towards his son, I saw the monarch speaking with more uncertainty (Burgess, Dysfunctional Relationships). The Globe theatre at one point used body language to give Harry a childish disposition where I saw Harry begging for retribution from his father (Burgess, Dysfunctional Relationships). These are just a few examples from a part of a play, which shows how much creative control Shakespeare truly gives to his audiences in an entire performance.
Shakespeare also used the characters of his plays to express messages sympathetic to England’s lower classes. One example of this can be seen in Henry IV Part I. Through my writing response to Henry IV Part I titled “Character Development and Unmasking the Pomp and Circumstance Of Regality” I was able to draw the connections Shakespeare made that I believe humanized the British monarchy to a degree in the eyes of commoners. One example can be seen in the playwright’s portrayal of King Henry as a usurper. As I noted in my analysis of the play “Unmasking Pomp and Circumstance” the light in which the king is painted makes a viewer question whether the notion of a monarch having royal blood by birth is even true (Burgess, Unmasking Pomp and Circumstance). Shakespeare incorporated the juvenile and delinquent escapades Prince Harry engages in with his fellow royal reveler Falstaff such as highway robbery, soliciting prostitution, and spending ungodly hours in taverns (Burgess, Unmasking Pomp and Circumstance). These acts were not thought to be fit of a man who would one day be king. Shakespeare addressed these fabled thoughts of England’s upper echelon, and by showing a more realistic side of what can happen inside the palace walls, the playwright shows commoners how similar they are to their worshipped leaders.
Lyrical Ballads is a collection of 19th century poems that nearly any literate man or woman can understand to some degree. This period felt the progressive reverberations of the Industrial Revolution that not only widened Britain’s manufacturing capability, but also improved British literacy rates (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”). With a widened audience, innovative thinkers such as Coleridge and Wordsworth decided to appeal to the common man by creating poetry with simpler verse and move away from the aristocratic poetry of old. The poem “We Are Seven” is an excellent example of this social movement to the lower classes as I explore in my analysis of the poem “What Can I Believe In: Searching For Faith Through Poetry.” The poem itself focuses on a choice encounter between an older gentleman and a young girl. In their encounter they engage in an existential dialogue that makes the reader ponder questions of mortality and what lies beyond the grave. When analyzing the style and structure of the poem, I believed I could recognize simplified poetry that does not overcomplicate the message the story is supposed to deliver (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”). For instance, repetition is a key aspect of the poem, as the girl remains adamant in her opinion when the grown man tries to persuade her otherwise. One example of the man attempting to sway the child’s opinion comes when he references the afterlife (beyond the churchyard). He says “ ‘How many are you then,’ said I, ‘If they two are in Heaven?’ The little Maiden did reply, ‘O Master! we are seven!’ ” (lines 61-64). Yet, the little girl remains unwavering in her outlook often repeating “Nay, we are seven.” (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”).
This misinterpretation between the thought processes of a child and an adult is something everyone can relate to. Everyone at one point in his or her life has likely had a clashing of opinions with a growing child and has failed at convincing them otherwise (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”). Whether or not it is a result of a misunderstanding between the two parties, or a true confliction of thoughts on a subject is another matter. However, what is important is that the poet creates a relevancy to all people and therefore to the common man. A structural element Wordsworth uses that appeals to England’s lower classes is the simple yet elegant ABAB rhyme structure the poet applies (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”). Music and song were some of the best forms of expression for all socioeconomic classes of Wordsworth’s time and carrying this over to his poetry brought a harmonious aspect to the poem that all citizen’s could relate to (Burgess, “Searching For Faith Through Poetry”).
As we see in this reflection, British literature has produced extraordinary works of literature over time through innovative authors such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, and Coleridge. As the work in mu artifacts reflects, I end this class with the understanding that although these bright minds were separated by time, they have all shown us in their own unique ways an appeal to England’s common man. Whether it be contrasting stories of knights and chivalry with the more relatable human experiences of lust-filled love and jealousy, humanizing the upper echelon of English society, or using straightforward and inviting language, these authors have all shown a move away from England’s antiquated practices. They have shown an interest in not only glorifying British aristocracy, but in appealing to and developing the literacy of the everyday citizen.
Works Cited
Burgess, Samuel. “What Can I Believe In: Searching For Faith Through Poetry” 3/28/14
Burgess, Samuel. “Reading Response #3: The Millers Tale” 1/25/14
Burgess, Samuel. “The Potential for True Love in The Miller’s Tale” 2/4/14
Burgess, Samuel. “Writing Response to King Henry IV Introduction: Character Development and unmasking the pomp and circumstance of regality” 2/14/14
Burgess, Samuel “The Power of Perspective: Dysfunctional Relationships in Henry IV Part I” 3/13/14