History of English Literature – Development of Middle English Prose and Verse
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 provides clear details about the landmarks, politically, socially and culturally about the division. The Norman conquest imposed a French-speaking ruling class on England which resulted as the upliftment of Anglo-French as the literary language of the highest social classes and Anglo-Saxon. The English which finally emerged bringing down French as the language of literature in England was a great change, starting from the vocabulary to traditions. Hence in English poetry, the rhyming verses of French replaced the Anglo-Saxon.
Further, the French prose didn’t avert French influence from making verse the medium of middle English history. The French influence introduced rhyme instead of alliteration and blocked the range of English prose. The form in which Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse survived was less technically subtle or moreover, we can say the greater form of the Anglo-Saxon period which represented oral tradition. The middle English prose was said to be religious. These were clear, analytical and impressive. One of them is, “Sixteen Revelation of Divine love”, by Julian of Norwich which is fantastically presented, based on the English spirituality.
Secular writings and translations in prose came into practice in the last quarter of the fourteenth century. The stylish and extravagant representation was much different from that of religious tradition. Chaucer is known as the father of English literature and has a remarkable contribution. “Tale of Melibeus” is something worth remembering and “Equatorie of the planets”, was an astronomical translation by him.
The fifteenth century wasn’t very fruitful and juxtaposed in the field of English literature. The works consisted of little originality and artistic importance. In this period, the prose was derived on trial and error method. William Caxton, Hugh Latimer, Sir Thomas More, were some of the famous writers of the fifteenth century.
The middle English verse is based on rhyming at the end. The fourteenth and fifteenth-century poets made rhymes with alliterative characteristics to make the poems decorative and to give them an ornamental touch. So this has proved to be a promising starting point in building the structure and organization of the verse.
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