Lesson 1

Middle Ages

Middle Ages, the period in European history from the collapse of Roman civilization in
the 5th century CE to the period of the Renaissance (variously interpreted as beginning
in the 13th, 14th, or 15th century, depending on the region of Europe and other
factors).

The term and its conventional meaning were introduced by Italian humanists with

invidious intent. The humanists were engaged in a revival of Classical
learning and culture, and the notion of a thousand-year period of darkness and
ignorance separating them from the ancient Greek and Roman world served to highlight
the humanists’ own work and ideals. It would seem unnecessary to observe that the
men and women who lived during the thousand years or so preceding the Renaissance
were not conscious of living in the Middle Ages. A few—Petrarch was the
most conspicuous among them—felt that their lot was cast in a dark time, which had
begun with the decline of the Roman Empire. Indeed, Petrarch would provide
something of a founding statement for the humanists when he wrote, “For who can
doubt that Rome would rise again instantly if she began to know herself?”

In a sense, the humanists invented the Middle Ages in order to distinguish themselves
from it. They were making a gesture of their sense of freedom, and yet, at the same
time, they were implicitly accepting the medieval conception of history as a series of
well-defined ages within a limited framework of time. They did not speak of Augustine’s
Six Ages of the World or believe in the chronology of Joachimite prophecy, but they
nevertheless inherited a philosophy of history that began with the Garden of Eden and
would end with the Second Coming of Christ. In such a scheme, the thousand years
from the 5th to the 15th century might well be regarded as a distinct respectable period
of history, which would stand out clearly in the providential pattern. Throughout
European history, however, there has never been a complete breach with medieval
institutions or modes of thought.

Did you know? Between 1347 and 1350, a mysterious disease known as the
"Black Death" (the bubonic plague) killed some 20 million people in Europe
—30 percent of the continent’s population. It was especially deadly in
cities, where it was impossible to prevent the transmission of the disease
from one person to another.

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The Black Death

Between 1347 and 1350, a mysterious disease known as the "  Black Death "
(the bubonic plague) killed some 20 million people in Europe—30 percent of
the continent’s population. It was especially deadly in cities, where it was
impossible to prevent the transmission of the disease from one person to
another.
The plague started in Europe in October 1347, when 12 ships from the
Black Sea docked at the Sicilian port of Messina. Most sailors aboard the
ships were dead, and those who were alive were covered in black boils that
oozed blood and pus. Symptoms of the Black Death included fever, chills,
vomiting, diarrhea, terrible aches and pains – and then death. Victims could
go to bed feeling healthy and be dead by morning.
The plague killed cows, pigs, goats, chickens and even sheep, leading to a
wool shortage in Europe. Understandably terrified about the mysterious
disease, some people of the Middle Ages believed the plague was a divine
punishment for sin. To obtain forgiveness, some people became
“flagellants,” traveling Europe to put on public displays of penance that
could include whipping and beating one another. Others turned on their
neighbors, purging people they believed to be heretics. Thousands of Jews
were murdered between 1348 and 1349, while others fled to less populated
areas of Eastern Europe.
Today, scientists know the plague was caused by a bacillus called   Yersina
pestis , which travels through the air and can also be contracted through the
bite of an infected flea or rat, both of which were common in the Middle
Ages, especially on ships. 

Medieval Literature

Medieval literature is defined broadly as any work written in Latin or the vernacular
between c. 476-1500 CE, including philosophy, religious treatises, legal texts, as well as
works of the imagination. More narrowly, however, the term applies to literary works of
poetry, drama, romance, epic prose, and histories written in the vernacular (though
some histories were in Latin). While it may seem odd to find histories included with
forms of fiction, it should be remembered that many 'histories' of the Middle Ages
contain elements of myth, fable, and legend and, in some cases, were largely the
product of imaginative writers.

Language & Audience

Literary works were originally composed in Latin, but poets began writing in vernacular
(the common language of the people) as early at the 7th century CE.
Vernacular literature was further popularized in Britain in the Kingdom of

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Wessex by Alfred the Great (r. 871-899 CE) in an attempt to encourage widespread
literacy, and other nations then followed suit.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 CE established French as the language of literature and

transformed the English language from Old English (in use c. 500-1100 CE) to Middle
English (c. 1100-1500 CE). The stories written during both these eras were
originally medieval folklore, tales transmitted orally, and since most of the population
was illiterate, books continued to be read out loud to an audience. The aural aspect of
literature, therefore, affected the way it was composed. Writers wrote for a
performance of their work, not a private reading in solitude.

Literacy rates rose during the 15th century, and with the development of the printing
press, more books became available. The act of reading by one's self for personal
pleasure became more common and this changed the way writers wrote. Thomas
Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (written 1469, published 1485 CE) is the earliest novel in the
west – a work written for an individual audience with layers of personal meaning and
symbolism – and lay the foundation for the development of the novel as recognized in
the present day.

Early Development

Medieval vernacular literature evolved naturally from the folktale which was a story
recited, probably with the storyteller acting out different parts, before an audience.
Medieval English literature begins with Beowulf (7th-10th century CE) which was no
doubt a story known much earlier and transmitted orally until written down. This same
pattern of development holds for the literature of other countries as well. The
storyteller would gather an audience and perform his or her tale, usually with variations
based on the audience, and members of that audience would then retell the story to
others.

Wiglaf & Beowulf

J.R.Skelton (Public Domain)

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Early written medieval literature is mostly legend or folktale set down on a page rather
than recited but the storyteller still needed to gather and hold an audience and so
wrote in the vernacular to be understood and in poetic meter to be remembered.
Poetry, with its regular cadence, sticks in the mind far better than prose. Poetry would
remain the preferred medium for artistic expression throughout most of the Middle
Ages. Latin prose, except in some outstanding cases, was reserved for religious and
scholarly audiences. For entertainment and escape from one's daily life, people listened
to a storyteller read from a good book of verse. Lyric poetry, ballads, and hymns were
poetry, of course, but the great chivalric romances of courtly love and the high
medieval dream vision genres were also written in verse as were epics, and the French
and Breton lais (short-story poems).

Initially, medieval writers were anonymous scribes setting down stories they had heard.
Originality in writing in the Middle Ages (as in the ancient world) was not high on the
list of cultural values and early writers did not bother to sign their works. The actual
names of many of the most famous writers of the Middle Ages are still unknown. Marie
de France is not the actual name of the woman who wrote the famous lais – it is a pen
name – and Chretien de Troyes' name translates from the French as "a Christian of
Troyes" which could refer to almost anyone. It was not until the 13th and 14th
centuries CE that authors began writing under their own names. Whether known or
anonymous, however, these writers created some of the greatest works of literature in
history.

Other Forms of Literature

Other forms of literature besides poetry included:

 drama
 histories
 fables.

Drama in the Middle Ages was essentially a teaching tool of the Church. Morality plays,
mystery plays, and liturgical plays all instructed an illiterate audience in acceptable
thought and behavior. Passion plays, reenacting the suffering, crucifixion, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, were popular Easter entertainments but morality plays
were presented year-round. The best-known of these is Everyman (c. 1495 CE), which
tells the story of a man facing death who cannot find anyone to accompany him to
heaven except his good deeds. This allegory grew out of an earlier Latin type of
literature known as the ars moriendi (art of dying) which instructed people on how to
live a good life and be assured of heaven.

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Histories in the Early Middle Ages (476-1000 CE) frequently rely on fable and myth to
round out and develop their stories. The works of historians such as Gildas (500-570
CE), Bede (673-735 CE), and Nennius (9th century CE) in Britain all contain mythic
elements and repeat fables as fact. The most famous example of this is Geoffrey of
Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain  (1136 CE) written in Latin. Geoffrey claimed
to be translating an ancient historical work he recently discovered when in fact he was
making most of his 'history' up out of his own imagination and pieces in older actual
histories which lent themselves to the tale he wanted to tell. His grand vision of the
early kings of Britain focuses largely on the story of the heroic Arthur and it is for this
reason that Geoffrey of Monmouth is recognized as the Father of the Arthurian Legend.

Geoffrey of Monmouth
ndl642m (CC BY-NC-ND)

Fables almost always featured anthropomorphized animals as characters in relaying

some moral lesson, satirizing some aspect of humanity, or encouraging a standard of
behavior. The most popular and influential cycle of fables were those featuring Reynard
the Fox (12th century CE onwards) whose adventures frequently brought him into
conflict with Isengrim the Wolf. Reynard is a trickster who relies on his wits to get him
out of trouble or to gain some advantage.

In one tale, How Reynard Fought Isengrim the Wolf , Isengrim challenges Reynard to a
fight to the death to win the favor of the king. Reynard knows he cannot win but also
cannot refuse so he asks his aunt for help. She shaves off all his fur and coats him in
slick fat and he winds up winning because the wolf cannot get hold of him. The fable
ends with Reynard being commended by the king. As with most fables, the underdog
comes out a winner against overwhelming odds, and this theme made the tales of
Reynard the Fox, and other similar characters, immensely popular.

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Poetic Forms & Famous Works

Even so, the most popular and influential works were the stories told in verse. The
earliest poem in English whose author is known is Caedmon's Hymn (7th century CE)
which is a simple hymn praising God composed by an illiterate shepherd who heard it
sung to him in a vision. His song was written down in Old English by an unnamed scribe
at Whitby Abbey, Northumbria and first recorded in the writings of Bede. The simple
beauty of this early verse became the standard of Old English poetry and evident in
works like The Dream of the Rood (a 7th-century CE dream vision) and
later The Battle of Maldon (late 10th century CE).

Between these two works, the epic masterpiece Beowulf was written, which relies on
the same cadence of the alliterative long line rhythm to move the story forward and
impress the tale upon an audience. This verse form resonates in the present day as well
as it must have in the past since recitations and performances of Beowulf remain
popular. The story is the epic tale of the lone hero facing down and defeating the dark
monster that threatens the people of the land; a theme perennially popular from
ancient times to the present day.

A later French work, The Song of Roland (11th century CE), is another epic which
explores the same theme. In the French work, however, the 'monster' is given the
human form of the Saracens threatening Christian lives and culture. Roland, the great
knight of Charlemagne, is finally called upon to hold the pass of Roncevaux against the
advancing enemy and gives his life to protect his king, country, and comrades from the
invaders. The poem was so popular it is said to have been sung by the Norman troops
at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 CE to boost morale.

Romances, which became quite popular with the European aristocracy, began to
flourish in the 12th century CE in southern France. Chretien de Troyes (l. c. 1130-
c.1190 CE), poet of the court of Marie de Champagne (l. 1145-1198 CE) is the best
known of the romantic poets and certainly among the most influential. Chretien's poems
about the damsel in distress and the brave knight who must rescue her became quite
popular and contributed to the development of the legend of King Arthur and his
Knights of the Round Table, which would finally be fully realized by Malory.

The romance genre, whether given in poetry or prose, relies on the audience's
acceptance of the concept that true love can never last or is unattainable. At the end of
the story, one or both of the lovers die or must part. The concept of a happily-ever-
after ending, popular in medieval folklore, rarely concludes a written medieval romance.
According to some scholars, this is because the romantic literature of courtly love was a
cleverly coded 'scripture' of the Cathars, a heretic religious sect persecuted by
the medieval Church. The Cathars ("pure ones" from the Greek Cathari) claimed they

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were the true faith and worshipped a goddess named Sophia (wisdom) who bore a
number of similarities to the Virgin Mary.

According to the scholarly theory regarding the Cathars and the medieval romance, the
damsel in distress is Sophia and the brave knight is the Cathar adherent who must
protect her from danger (the Church). Two of the most powerful women of the Middle
Ages, Marie de Champagne and her mother Eleanor of Aquitaine (l. c. 1122-1204 CE)
were both associated with the Cathar heresy and both patronesses of writers of the
romances such as Chretien de Troyes, Andreas Cappelanus, and most likely Marie de
France, so there is some historical support for the theory.

Whether the romances were allegorical works, their elevation of women in the fictive
worlds of the chivalric hero influenced the way women were perceived – at least in the
upper classes – in everyday life. The genre was developed further in the 12th and 13th
centuries CE by poets such as Robert de Boron, Beroul, and Thomas of Britain, and the
great German artists Wolfram von Eschenbach (l. 1170-1220 CE) and Gottried von
Strassburg (c. 1210 CE), who all contributed significant aspects to the Arthurian
legend.  

Canterbury Tales
SkedO (Public Domain)

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By the time of the 14th century CE, however, the medieval view of woman-as-property
had been largely replaced by the novel concept of woman-as-individual famously
exemplified by Geoffrey Chaucer in the character of the Wife of Bath in The  Canterbury
Tales. Women appear in Chretien's works as strong individuals in the 12th century CE –
most famously the character of Guinevere in the poem Lancelot  or the Knight of the
Cart – but the Wife of Bath is much more rounded and complete individual who owes
her composition as much to the French fabliaux (a short story told in verse) as to the
romances or figures from folklore.

The elevation of womanhood reached its apex in the poetry of Petrarch (l. 1304-1374
CE) whose sonnets to the persona of Laura continue to resonate in the modern day.
Petrarch's work was so popular in his time that it influenced social perceptions not only
of women but of humanity in general which is why he is often cited as the first
humanist author.  

While the romances entertained and edified, another genre sought to elevate and
console: the high medieval dream vision. Dream visions are poems featuring a first-
person narrator who relates a dream which corresponds to some difficulty they are
experiencing. The most famous of these is The Pearl by an unknown author, Piers
Plowman by William Langland, and Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, all from the 14th
century CE. The genre usually relies on a framing device by which a reader is presented
with the narrator's problem, is then taken into the dream, and is then brought back
again to the narrator's waking life.

In The Pearl, the narrator is grieving the loss of his daughter, has a dream of her new
life in heaven where she is safe and happy, and wakes reconciled to the loss of his
"precious pearl without a price". The father's grief is relieved by God allowing him to
see where his daughter has gone and how she has not ceased to exist but has simply
found a new and brighter home. Piers Plowman also reveals the goodness and love of
God to the dreamer, a man named Will, who is taken on a journey in his dreams in
which he meets the good plowman, Piers, who represents Christ and who teaches him
how to better live his life.  

Chaucer's Book of the Duchess (his first major long poem, c. 1370 CE) departs from the
religious theme to focus on grief and loss and how one lives with it. In this work, the
narrator's true love has left him and he has been unable to sleep for years. While
reading a book about two lovers who have been parted by death, he falls asleep and
dreams he meets a black knight in the woods who tells him of his own true love, their
happy life together, and finally of his grief: his wife has died. The poem explores a
central question of the courtly love romances: was it better to lose a lover to death or
infidelity? The narrator never answers the question. When he wakes from the dream,
he tells the reader he was so amazed by it that he will write it down as a poem; he
leaves it up to the reader to answer the question.

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 Dante, Florence Cathedral
Vitosmo (CC BY-NC-SA)

The medieval dream vision reaches its greatest height in Dante Alighieri' s Divine
Comedy (14th century CE) in which the poet is taken on a journey through hell,
purgatory, and paradise in order to correct the path he was on and assure him of the
truth of the Christian vision. The Divine Comedy is not an actual dream vision – the
narrator never claims he has fallen asleep or that the events are a dream –
but Dante draws on the trappings of the genre to tell his story. So closely does
The Divine Comedy  mirror the progression, tone, and effect of the high medieval dream
vision that contemporaries – and even Dante's own son – interpreted the piece as a
dream.

Conclusion

Although poetry continued as a popular medium in the Late Middle Ages, more writers
began working in prose and among these were a number of notable women. Female
Christian mystics such as Julian of Norwich (l. 1342-1416 CE) and Catherine of Sienna
(l. 1347-1380 CE) both related their visions in prose and Margery Kempe (l. 1373-1438
CE) dictated her revelations to a scribe who recorded them in prose. One of the most
famous writers of the Middle Ages, Christine de Pizan (l. 1364-c.1430 CE) wrote her
highly influential works in prose as did the great Italian artist Giovanni Boccaccio (l.
1313-1375 CE) best known for his masterpiece, the Decameron.

The Arthurian Legend, developed from the 12th century CE onwards, was rendered in
prose in the Vulgate Cycle between 1215-1235 CE and the edited version known as
the Post-Vulgate Cycle (c. 1240-1250 CE) which provided the basis for Malory's work.
Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur codified the Arthurian Legend which was then enhanced and
reworked by later writers and continues to exert influence in the present day.

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Although scholars continue to debate precisely which work should be considered the
first novel in English, Malory's work is always a strong contender. William Caxton,
Malory's publisher, was one of the first to benefit from the new printing press invented
by Johannes Gutenberg c. 1440 CE. Gutenberg's press ensured that medieval literature,
largely anonymous and free to whomever wanted to publish it, would survive to
influence later generations of readers.   

__________
Sources:

https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/middle-ages

https://www.britannica.com/event/Middle-Ages

https://www.worldhistory.org/Medieval_Literature/

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 Lesson 2
The Parliament of the Birds and Canterbury Tales

The Parliament of Birds

The Parliament of Fowls is also known as The "Parlement of Foules", "Parliament of

Foules," "Parlement of Briddes," "Assembly of Fowls" or "Assemble of Foules". The
poem has 699 lines and has the form of a dream vision of the narrator. The poem is
one of the first references to the idea that St. Valentine's Day was a special day for
lovers. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The
Parliament of Fowls has been passed down in fourteen manuscripts (not including
manuscripts that are considered to be lost).

Scholars generally agree that the poem has been composed in 1381-1382. Composed in
the tradition of French romances (while at the same time questioning the merits of that
tradition), this poem has been called one of the best occasional verses in the English
language. Often thought to commemorate the marriage of Richard II to Anne of
Bohemia in 1382, it describes a conference of birds that meet to choose their mates
on St. Valentine’s Day. The narrator falls asleep and dreams of a beautiful garden in
which Nature presides over a debate between three high-ranking eagles, all vying for
the attentions of a beautiful female. The other birds, each of which represents a
different aspect of English society, are given a chance to express their opinions;
Chaucer uses this device to gently satirize the tradition of courtly love. He handles the
debate with humour and deftly characterizes the various birds. Although the debate on
love and marriage is never resolved, the poem is complete in itself and ends on a note
of joy and satisfaction.

Canterbury Tales

Chaucer’s great literary accomplishment of the 1390s was The Canterbury Tales. In it a

group of about 30 pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames
from London, and agree to engage in a storytelling contest as they travel on horseback
to the shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury, Kent, and back. Harry Bailly, host of
the Tabard, serves as master of ceremonies for the contest. The pilgrims are introduced
by vivid brief sketches in the General Prologue. Interspersed between the 24 tales told
by the pilgrims are short dramatic scenes presenting lively exchanges, called links and
usually involving the host and one or more of the pilgrims. Chaucer did not complete
the full plan for his book: the return journey from Canterbury is not included, and some
of the pilgrims do not tell stories. Further, the surviving manuscripts leave room for
doubt at some points as to Chaucer’s intent for arranging the material. The work is

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 nevertheless sufficiently complete to be considered a unified book rather than a
collection of unfinished fragments. Use of a pilgrimage as a framing device for the
collection of stories enabled Chaucer to bring together people from many walks of life:
knight, prioress, monk; merchant, man of law, franklin, scholarly clerk; miller, reeve,
pardoner; wife of Bath and many others. Also, the pilgrimage and the storytelling
contest allowed presentation of a highly varied collection of literary genres:
courtly romance, racy fabliau, saint’s life, allegorical tale, beast fable, medieval sermon,
alchemical account, and, at times, mixtures of these genres. Because of this structure,
the sketches, the links, and the tales all fuse as complex presentations of the pilgrims,
while at the same time the tales present remarkable examples of short stories in verse,
plus two expositions in prose. In addition, the pilgrimage, combining a fundamentally
religious purpose with its secular aspect of vacation in the spring, made possible
extended consideration of the relationship between the pleasures and vices of this
world and the spiritual aspirations for the next, that seeming dichotomy with which
Chaucer, like Boethius and many other medieval writers, was so steadily concerned.

About the Author

Geoffrey Chaucer, (born c. 1342/43, London?, England—died October 25, 1400,

London), the outstanding English poet before Shakespeare and “the first finder of our
language.” His The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of the greatest poetic works in
English. He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the
management of public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he
was trusted and aided by three successive kings—Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.
But it is his avocation—the writing of poetry—for which he is remembered.

Geoffrey Chaucer, from the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury

Tales.Photos.com/Jupiterimages

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 Lesson 3
The Decameron

The Backdrop of the Decameron

At the time when Boccaccio wrote Decameron, Italy was experiencing a monumental
crisis and what would be historically known as the Black Death. Traders from Genoa
owned the city of Kaffa, which is now known as Theodosia. This city borders the Black
Sea and was a great location to monopolize the trading industry, attracting many
competitors. One of the competitors was Kipchak khan Janibeg and his Mongolian army.
Kipchak khan Janibeg laid siege to Kaffa until his soldiers started to die quickly from the
Plague. In a last attempt to control Kaffa, his army dumped their own soldiers' plague-
infected corpses into the city. How? They used catapults that are normally used to
throw boulders and fireballs over walls.
The traders quickly dumped the bodies into the sea and fled back to Italy, not realizing
that they were already infected. First, the Black Death hit the coastal cities of Italy, and
then it began to wipe out cities all over Italy as people fled the coast.

Decameron Summary

It's Florence, Italy, 1348, and the Black Death has ravaged the city. Whole families
have died. Neighborhoods are empty. Chaos reigns and the routines of daily life have
been abandoned. In the church of Santa Maria Novella, a group of seven young
gentlewomen gather to pray and discuss their sad life, hoping to find some way of
alleviating their suffering. The oldest of the group, Pampinea, hits on a solution: road
trip.

It seems like a good idea to get out of a city filled with contagion. There's nothing to do
but watch the bodies pile up and hear the news about who died. Plus, it's dangerous to
stay somewhere where all social and moral controls are gone and people are
succumbing to "carnal pleasures." Better to leave for the country and enjoy the beauty
of nature where the houses are far enough apart that you're not watching your
neighbors die every time you look out the window. The prevailing medical advice at the
time suggested that healthy air and a cheerful frame of mind could decrease your
chances of catching the deadly disease.

But the ladies are afraid of traveling alone. After all, women are irrational and fickle,
and without a man in charge they won't be able to get anything done. Fortune is kind in
that moment and sends three young men of their acquaintance into the church. The

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ladies seize the opportunity—and the young men—and they have their posse ( brigata in
Italian) ready to go.

They don't have to travel far to escape the horrors of the city, and in about two miles
they reach a lovely palace where they've arranged to stay. It has all the amenities:
ample living space, servants, beautiful gardens, nature everywhere in the form of
singing birdies, gentle breezes and clear flowing water. Once they arrive, they realize
that all kinds of mischief might happen if they get bored, so they invent a storytelling
game to occupy their time. They set the rules, choose a "Queen" to rule them for the
first day, and the structure of their two-week stay is set in motion.

The ten young people spend the next two weeks (except for four days of religious
observances) telling one story per day each on a chosen theme. Each day has a new
king or queen that chooses the theme and makes arrangements for their meals and
entertainment. It's the regimen of storytelling, they say, that refreshes them and keeps
them on the straight and narrow path while they're away from the city, so that no one
will gossip about them.

After telling a hundred stories on themes like the Power of Fortune, Unhappy Loves and
Pranks Played by Wives on Their Husbands—and one relo to a new palace just to mix
things up—the brigata return to the city to face their fate.

Note: In Boccaccio's day, chapter titles were really just brief descriptions of the
chapter's content. (Remember those "Friends" episodes like "The One Where Chandler
Can't Remember Which Sister?") For your comfort and convenience, Shmoop has
thoughtfully shortened the names of the chapters in our Detailed Summary. For
example, "Tancredi, Prince of Salerno, kills his daughter's lover and sends her his heart
in a golden chalice; she besprinkles the heart with a poisonous liquid, which she then
drinks, and so dies" helpfully becomes, simply, "Tancredi, Prince of Salerno."

About the Author

In the 1300s, Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian scholar, famous for his works in
Italian and in Latin. More than 700 years later, Boccaccio is still celebrated for his
influence on European literature. Geoffrey Chaucer, who would go on to be called the
founder of English literature, actually copied Boccaccio's work Teseida to write the
'Knight's Tale,' the first story of the famous Canterbury Tales. 'The Knight's Tale' was
later turned into a Hollywood movie in 2001.
Boccaccio published several works in his lifetime, but Decameron was his masterpiece.
It was also the work that Shakespeare used to write his play, All's Well That Ends Well.

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 Lesson
The Tale of Genji

Overview
The Tale of Genji centers on the life and loves of a handsome son, HikaruGenji, born to an
Emperor during the Heian Period.

In the story, the beloved concubine of the Emperor gives birth to Genji and dies soon after.
Raised within the Royal Family, Genji has his first illicit affair with Fujitsubo, the young wife
of the Emperor. She gives birth to a boy who was raised by the unknowing Emperor as his
own son. Although feeling guilty because of this affair Genji goes on to have numerous
other affairs with other court ladies including Utsusemi, Yugao, Murasaki-no-ue, and
Hanachirusato. At one point, Genji's adultery with a lady of the opposite faction results in
his being exiled for a period to Suma After a short time, he returns to the capital, where he
rises further in status and position being appointed to high official ranking reaching the
apogee of his career. However, his newly wed young bride, Onna-Sannomiya, has an illicit
affair that results in a child, Kaoru, reminding Genji of his own similar past actions. Then
Murasaki-no-ue, Genji's real love and wife, in fact, if not in law, of more than twenty years,
passes away. Left in deep despondence Genji decides to leave the capital to enter a small
mountain temple.

The Tale of Genji continues, although without the hero Genji. In his place are Kaoru, his
grandson, and Niou-no-miya, Kaoru's friend. These two youths carry on the Genji tradition
with the princesses in the palace at Uji. The story centers on the young lady, Ukibune,
whose heart and mind is set a flutter by the courtship of these two young men.

Structure of Story

Composed of 54 chapters, The Tale of Genji is broadly divided into three sections. The first
part of thirty-three chapters concerns itself with the first half of Genji's life starting with
Chapter Kiritsubo and ending with Chapter Fuji-no-uraba (Arthur Waley's translation of The
Tale of Genji, Part 1 Chapter 1 to Part 4 Chapter 5). The second portion begins with the
marriage of Onna-Sannomiya to a commoner in Chapter Wakana Part I (Ibid., Part 4
Chapter 6) and ends with Chapter Mirage (Ibid., Part 4 Chapter 12). There is a chapter
following this that is entitled "Hidden Behind the Clouds" which has no text. This chapter is
not found in The Tale of Genji.

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The third section starts with Chapter Niou (Ibid., Part 5 Chapter 1) in which Kaoru plays
the major role. It ends with Chapter The Bridge of Dreams (Ibid., Part 6 Chapter 13). From
Chapter The Bridge Maiden (Ibid., Part 5 Chapter 4) to the end shifts the stage to Uji city
and is thus often called the Uji Appendix.

About the Author

Murasaki Shikibu, (born c. 978, Kyōto, Japan—died c. 1014, Kyōto), Japanese writer

and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genjimonogatari (c. 1010; The Tale of
Genji), generally considered the greatest work of Japanese literature and thought to be
the world’s oldest full novel.

The author’s real name is unknown; it is conjectured that she acquired the sobriquet of
Murasaki from the name of the heroine of her novel, and the name Shikibu reflects her
father’s position at the Bureau of Rites. She was born into a lesser branch of the noble
and highly influential Fujiwara family and was well educated, having learned Chinese
(generally the exclusive sphere of males). She married a much older distant cousin,
Fujiwara Nobutaka, and bore him a daughter, but after two years of marriage he died.

Some critics believe that she wrote the entire Tale of Genji between 1001 (the year her
husband died) and 1005, the year in which she was summoned to serve at court (for
reasons unknown). It is more likely that the composition of her extremely long and
complex novel extended over a much greater period; her new position within what was
then a leading literary centre likely enabled her to produce a story that was not finished
until about 1010. In any case this work is the main source of knowledge about her life.
It possesses considerable interest for the delightful glimpses it affords of life at the
court of the empress Jōtōmon’in, whom MurasakiShikibu served.

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Genjimonogatari: Miotsukushi, centre detail of left screen of a pair of sixfold screens by Sōtatsu, colour
on gold-leafed paper; in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo. TheSeikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo

MurasakiShikibuMurasakiShikibu.Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (The Joan Elizabeth Tanney

Bequest; M.2006.136.313), www.lacma.org

The Tale of GenjiScroll painting depicting a funeral ceremony in a scene from The Tale of Genji.The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rogers Fund, 1912, (12.134.11), www. metmuseum.org

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Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geoffrey-Chaucer
http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/what/index.htm
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Tale-of-Genji
https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/decameron/summary
https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-decameron-by-giovanni-boccaccio-summary-
lesson-quiz.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Shikibu-Murasaki

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