LESSON 5: European Literature

Europe and European Literature Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth.
Physically and geologically, Europe is the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, west of Asia. Europe is bounded
to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Sea, to
the southeast by the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea and the waterways connecting the Black Sea to
the Mediterranean. To the east, Europe is generally divided from Asia by the water divide of the Ural
Mountains, the Ural River, and by the Caspian Sea. European literature refers to the literature of Europe. It
includes literature in many languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in
English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by
the Scandinavians and Irish. Important classical and medieval traditions are those in Ancient Greek, Latin,
Old Norse, Medieval French and the Italian Tuscan dialect of the renaissance. European literature, also
known as Western literature, and can also be defined as the literature written in the context of Western
culture in the languages of Europe, as several geographically or historically related languages. Diverse as they
are, European literatures, like Indo-European languages, are parts of a common heritage belonging to a race
of proud nations which boast the likes of Homer who wrote Iliad and Odyssey, Virgil who wrote the Aeneid,
Dante who wrote Divine Comedy, Chaucer who wrote Canterbury Tales. These, and other literary
masterpieces form part of what we call as Western Canon.

The history and catalogue of the European literature is so rich that it is quite close to impossible to
describe it and give justice to its entire list of great works and even greater writers in an introduction.
However, to give learners a little background information, European literature refers to the literature in many
languages; among the most important of the modern written works are those in English, Spanish, French,
Dutch, Polish, German, Italian, Modern Greek, Czech, Russian, Bosnian and works by the Scandinavians and
Irish. Important classical and medieval traditions are those in Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Norse, Medieval
French and the Italian Tuscan dialect of the renaissance are also part of its collection.

The Medieval Period (500-1500) of European literature already saw masterful works like Beowulf, The
Song of Roland, The Nibelungenlied, and seminal work of Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. The
mentioned works of art was followed by even more popular titles, because during the Renaissance Period,
writers like Edmun Spencer (The Faerie Queen), John Milton (Paradise Lost), and William Shakespeare
(Romeo and Juliet ;Macbeth) took the level of its literary standard into a whole new high.

Following the Medieval Period was the Age of Enlightenment (1700-1800) and at its center was a
celebration of ideas – ideas about what the human mind was capable of, and what could be achieved through
deliberate action and scientific methodology. Many of the new, enlightened ideas were political in nature.
Writers like Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were the torchbearers of Enlightenment literature and
philosophy.

No other period in English literature displays more variety in style, theme, and content than the
Romantic Movement (1798-1870) of the 18th and 19th centuries. Romanticism is concerned with the masses
and not with the middle class, the individual more than with society. With writers like Mary Shelley and her
masterpiece, Frankenstein and Lord Byron’s Don Juan, the focus of literature shifted from the scientific to the
mysterious.

Then came the Victorian Period. The name given to the period is borrowed from the royal matriarch of
England, Queen Victoria. The Victorian writers exhibited some well- established habits from previous eras,
while at the same time pushing arts and letters in new and interesting directions. Victorian novelists and
poets like Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Gustave Flaubert, George Eliot,
Fyodor Dosteyevsky, and Thomas Hardy wrote with simplicity, truth and tempered emotion.

Realism (1820-1920), the next period in European literature, is precisely what it sounds like. It is
attention to detail, and an effort to replicate the true nature of reality in a way that novelists had never
attempted. Famous writers during this period were Franz Kafka, William Butler Yeats, T.S. Eliot, and Vicente
Biasco Ibanez, among others.

Naturalism (1870-1920) sought to go further and be more explanatory than Realism by identifying the
underlying causes for a person’s actions or beliefs. In Naturalism, the environment played a large part in the
narrative structure. Emile Zola, one of the most influential writers in this period of literature, provided
inspiration and model in writing during this period.

Crime and punishment is a profound example of how some of the principles of existentialist (1850-
today), the next literary period. Doytoyevsky’s story shows that thinking can be perverted, leading to ethical
decay and personal destruction. Anotherwriter, Franz Kafka, has also been associated with 20 th century
existentialism. But the name most related to existential literature is Albert Camus.

The Modernist Period (1910-1965) in literature presented a new way of living and seeing the world.
Writers are now free to try new concepts in writing like the use of the unreliable narrator, among others.
Modernism was set in motion, in one sense, through a series of cultural shocks where the poets took fullest
advantage of the new spirit of the times, and stretched the possibilities of their craft to lengths not previously
imagined.
 All these period in literature influenced and led to what is now seen in the works of 21 st century
European writers. ("21St Century Literature Of The Philippines And Of The World (1) Scribd" 2020)

Examples of European Literature

Example # 1

The Miracle of the Sword and Stone

Now Arthur, the prince, had all this time been nourished in Sir Ector’s house as his own son, and was
fair and tall and comely, being of the age of fifteen years, great in strength, gentle in manner, and
accomplished in all exercises proper for the training of a knight.

But as yet he knew not of his father, for Merlin had so dealth that none save Uther and himself knew
aught about him. Wherefore it befell, that many of the knights and barons who heard King Uther speak before
his death, and call his son Arthur his successor, were in great amazement; and some doubted, and others
were displeased.

Anon the chief lords and princes set forth each to his own land, and, raising, armed men and
multitudes of followers, determined everyone to gain the crown for himself; for they said in their hearts, “If
there be any such a son at all as he of whom this wizard forced the king to speak, who are we that a beardless
boy should have rule over us?”

So the land stood long in great peril, for every lord and baron sought but his own advantage; and the
Saxons, growing ever more adventurous, wasted and overran the towns and villages in every part.

Then, Merlin went to Brice, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and advised him to require all the earls and
barons of the realm and all knights and gentlemen-at-arms to come to him at London, before Christmas,
under pain of cursing, that they might learn the will of Heaven who should be king. This, therefore, the
archbishop did, and upon Christmas Eve were met together in London all the greatest princes, lords, and
barons; and long before day they prayed in St. Paul’s Church, and the archbishop besought Heaven for a sign
who should be lawful king of all the realm.

And as they prayed, there was seen in the churchyard, set straight before the doorways of the church,
a huge square stone having a naked sword stuck in the midst of it. And on the sword was written in letters of
gold, “Whoso pullet out the sword from this stone is born the rightful King of Britain.”

At this, all the people wondered greatly; and, when Mass was over, the nobles, knights, and princes
ran out eagerly from the church to see the stone and sword, and a law was forthwith made that whoso should
pull out the sword should be acknowledged straightway King of Britain.

Then, many knights and barons pulled at the sword with all their might, and some of them tried many
times, but none could stir or move it.

When all had tried in vain, the archbishop declared the man whom Heaven had chosen was not yet
there. “But God,” said he, “will doubtless make him known ere many days.”

So ten knights were chosen, being men of high renown, to watch and keep the sword, and there was
proclamation made through all the land that whosoever would, had leave and liberty to try and pull it from
the stone. But though great multitudes of people came, both gentle and simple, for many days, no man could
ever move the sword a hair’s breadth from its place.

Now at the New Year’s Eve, a great tournament was to be held in London, which the archbishop had
devised to keep together lords and commons, lest they should grow estranged in the troublous and unsettled
times. To the which tournament there came, with many other knights, Sir Ector, Arthur’s foster-father, who
had great possessions near to London, and with him came his son, Sir Key, but recently made knight, to take
his part in jousting, and young Arthur also to witness all the sports and fighting.

But as they rode towards the jousts, Sir Key found suddenly he had no sword, for he had left it at his
father’s house; and turning to young Arthur, he prayed him to ride back and fetch it for him. “I will with a
good will,” said Arthur, and rode fast back after the sword.

But when he came to the house he found it locked and empty, for all were gone forth to see the
tournament. Whereat, being angry and impatient, he said within himself, “I will ride to the churchyard and
take with me the sword that sticketh in the stone, for my brother shall not go without a sword this day.”

So he rode and came to the churchyard, and alighting from his horse he tied him to the gate, and went
to the pavilion, which was pitched near the stone, wherein abode the ten knights who watched and kept it,
but he found no knights there, for all were gone to see the jousting.

Then he took the sword by its handle, and lightly and fiercely he pulled it out of the stone, and took
his horse and rode until he came to Sir Key and delivered him the sword. But as soon as Sir Key saw it, he
knew well it was the sword of the stone, and riding swiftly to his father, he cried out, “Lo! here, sir, is the
sword of the stone, wherefore it is I who must be king of all this land.”
 When Sir Ector saw the sword, he turned back straight with Arthur and Sir Key and came to the
churchyard, and there alighting, they went all three into the church, and Sir Key was sworn to tell truly how
he came by the sword. Then he confessed it was his brother Arthur who had brought it to him.

Whereat Sir Ector, turning to young Arthur, asked him – “How gottest thou the sword?”

“Sir,” said he, “I will tell you. When I went home to fetch my brother’s sword, I found nobody to deliver
it to me, for all were abroad to the jousts. Yet was I loath to leave my brother swordless, and, bethinking me of
this one, I came hither eagerly to fetch it for him, and pulled it out of the stone without any pain.”

Then said Sir Ector, much amazed and looking steadfastly on Arthur, “If this indeed be thus, ‘tis thou
who shalt be king of all this land – and God will have it so – for none but he who should be rightful Lord of
Britain might ever draw this sword from that stone. But let me now with mine own eyes see thee put back the
sword into its place and draw it forth again.”

“That is no mystery,” said Arthur, and straightway set it in the stone. And then Sir Ector pulled at it
himself, and after him Sir Key, with all his might, but both of them in vain; then Arthur reaching forth his
hand and grasping at the pommel, pulled it out easily, and at once.

Then fell Sir Ector down upon his knees upon the ground before young Arthur, and Sir Key also with
him, and straightway did him homage as their sovereign lord.

But Arthur cried aloud, “Alas! mine own dear father and my brother, why kneel ye thus to me?”

“Nay, my Lord Arthur,” answered then Sir Ector, “we are of no blood-kinship with thee and little
though I thought how high thy kin might be, yet wast thou never more than foster-child of mine.” And then he
told him all he knew about his infancy, and how a stranger had delivered him, with a great sum of gold, into
his hands to be brought up and nourished as his own born child, and then had disappeared.

But when young Arthur heard of it, he fell upon Sir Ector’s neck, and wept, and made great
lamentation, “For now,” said he, “I have in one day lost my father and my mother and my brother.”

“Sir,” said Sir Ector presentlym, “when thou shalt be made king, be good and gracious unto me and
mine.”

“If not,” said Arthur, “I were no true man’s son at all, for thou art he in all the world to whom I owe the
most; and my good lady and mother, thy wife, hath ever kept and fostered me as though I were her own; so if
it be God’s will that I be king hereafter as thou sayest, desire of me whatever thing thou wilt and I will do it;
and God forbid that I should fail thee in it.”

“I will but pray,” replied Sir Ector, “that thou wilt make my son Sir Key, thy foster-brother, seneschal
of all the lands.”

“That shall he be, “said Arthur; “and never shall another hold that office, save thy son, while he and I
do live.” (Simoun Victor D. Rodoblaco, Brilliant Creations Publishing,

Literary Note

Archetypes are universal symbols that encapsulate the collectively-inherited unconscious idea, pattern of
thought, image, etc., that is, universally present in people. Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung described several
archetypes that are based in the observation of differing but repeating patterns of thought and action that re-
appear time and again across people, countries and continents.

The following are information on the different archetypes for characters.

Eight Male Archetypes

Chief Leader, tough; decisive; goal-oriented; over-bearing; top of his

Bad boy Rebel; the boy from the wrong side of the track; bitter; crash
idealist; charismatic, street-smart, hates authority

The best friend Kind, responsive, decent, regular, Mr. Nice Guy; doesn’t enjoy
confrontation, values teamwork

Charmer Fun, irresistible; not too responsible or dependable; rouge, not

The lost soul Tortured, secretive, unforgiving; vulnerable, creative but loner

The professor Logical, introverted, inflexible, boring; genuine about feelings,

The swashbuckler Man of action, physical endearing, fearless, explorer

Eight Female Archetypes

Boss Leader; tough; decisive; goal-oriented; over-bearing; top of her

The Survivor Sizing up everyone, mysterious, manipulative, tough

The spunky kid Rebel; bitter; crash idealist; charismatic, street-smart, hates
authority

The Free Spirit Fun, irresistible, not too responsible or dependable; rouge, not
crazy about hard work

The waif Damsel in distress; childlike innocence

The librarian Proper but with underlying passion

The crusader Woman of action, physical endearing, fearless, explorer

The nurturer Takes care of everyone

(https://www.scribd.com/document/412634387/21st-Century-Literature-of-the-Philippines-and-of-the-
World-1)

Detective story is an exciting type of popular literature with a very gripping story telling technique in
which a crime is introduced, investigated, and ultimately solved. Writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, Dan Brown, James Patterson and John Grisham are some of the more popular names when it
comes to detective story writing.

Elements for detective stories would usually include an almost flawless crime, an innocent suspect,
law officers that are inept, the cunning detective who will reveal the real culprit, and the denouement where
the detective explains how he solved the puzzling crime.

The most popular detective work is Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Holmes enigmatic appeal drew
millions of fans into following his adventures along with his companion, Dr. Watson. Holme’s popularity still
remains 126 years after his first appearance even generating new versions like the Japanese animé, Detective
Conan, the BBC’s famous television show Holmes, and Hollywood blockbusters which stars Robert Downey
Jr.

The popularity of detective stories relies heavily on the suspense it creates and the reader’s
anticipation for the revelation. By far, serial writers of the 21 st century have not failed their fans yet.

(https://www.scribd.com/document/412634387/21st-Century-Literature-of-the-Philippines-and-of-the-
World-1)

Read the summary of the story A Study in Emerald. The story follows the cliffhanger plot
device. In fiction writing, the cliffhanger technique features a main character in a precarious or difficult
dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction.

EXPLORE

Directions: Identify and write the name of the city whose landmark is shown below. Choices are given in the
box below.

Athens Tokyo Manila

Paris New York Beijing Moscow

Jerusalem Rio de Janeiro London

__________________

1.
________________________

3.
___________________

4. _______________________
5.

______________________

FIRM-UP
Directions: Create a timeline to note the important periods in European literature as written in the
introduction. Use the space given to indicate your answer.

DEEPEN
Directions: Watch the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s Stone and prepare a comic strip to
create the highlights of the movie.

TRANSFER
Based on Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s Stone movie, remake the scenes of the movie show it through a
Gallery Walk/Post Card showing the vivid description of the place where it happened.