Christianity in the Early Literature of England

The Christian religion had a profound impact on the early literature of England. Generally, Christianity had little hold in Britain before the Fourth Century and Salway argues that toleration of pagan practices lasted for a long time after the initial introduction of Christianity (46-47). However, such toleration was gradually withdrawn despite opposition from the Roman aristocracy who saw the old religion as central to Rome (Salway 47). Therefore, there existed in England, for a time, and literature such as "Beowulf" demonstrates, the co-existence of Christianity and the old pagan Roman religion. Salway notes, however, that starting in the Fourth Century, the hunting of heresy by the State began to add a new dimension to the politics of loyalty (47). Consequently, from the fourth century on, it was generally in an author's best interest to claim allegiance to Christianity.

M.H. Abrams states that the typological mode of interpreting the Bible was inaugurated by St. Paul and developed by the early Church Fathers as a way of reconciling the Jewish history and laws of the Old Testament with the Christian revelation of the New Testament (89). He quotes St. Augustine's expression of the principle: "In the Old Testament the New Testament is concealed; in the New Testament the Old Testament is revealed" (Abrams 89). This means that in typological theory, the key persons, actions, and events narrated in the Old Testament ar

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e stories. Howard calls the setting of the pilgrimage "so obvious that it is a wonder no one had thought of it before " (402). In medieval England, the pilgrimage was the central institution of the church. The overt purpose of such pilgrimages was to adore the relics of saints. The antitype of the pilgrimage was the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. All other pilgrimages were types of this one. Thus, Chaucer's choice of a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas operates as a type of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem (Howard 402). What is particularly significant about Chaucer's pilgrimage, however, is the types of stories he introduces on the pilgrimage. Howard observes that storytelling was a common diversion on pilgrimages, and the pilgrims were famous for telling "whoppers" about their travels (Howard 403). Thus, despite the stated religious purpose of a pilgrimage, it also possessed a dark, unrespectable side against which the church and state argued. Howard notes that pilgrims "not only told tales to keep themselves amused, they flirted and gambled, ate and drank to excess, swore, and misbehaved even in the shrines themselves: we read of sexual escapades in dark corners" (Howard 403). Thus, Chaucer's pilgrimage demonstrates si

Category: Literature - C