British Literature from the Middle Ages

Part One: Julian of Norwich-A Book of Showings

Chapter five of Julian Norwich’s A Book of Showings clearly expresses the beliefs and wants of the mystical writers. The Mystics sought a total relationship with God and denied worldly things or anything unholy a place in their lives. They also believe that because God loves them, he will preserve them and take care of them. The Mystics also refer to their own experiences to justify and exemplify their love and relationship with God.

Julian writes that she cannot be truly happy and at peace until she is one with God. This is the relationship that the Mystics write about and share. In her analogy with the hazelnut-like object, she says that “everything has being through the love of God”; which goes along the lines of the Mystics’ view that without God there is nothing. These revelations that Julian has have come from her own experience and understanding. She speaks of what she saw, what she experienced, and what she understood. She receives her visions and understanding from God.

Part Two: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight represents the other side of literature during the Middle Ages. This story has the elements of adventure, romance, and chivalry that were important during that time. While certainly not as bawdy as Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, this story does provide a contrast between the secular and sacred stories of the time period. This story also shows difference between what was important to the different sectors of the population at the time.

Gawain, and his knightly counterparts, does what is expected of him; he stands up for his lord. This is an entirely different lord than the Mystics would stand up for, but it is the same idea. Just as Julian of Norwich refers to herself as an unworthy creature, Gawain admits that he is weaker and less important than Arthur. He is willing to give his life for his king, just as the Mystics were willing to give their lives for theirs.

Part Three: Tying it all together

A majority of the other stories that we’ve read this semester have had some characteristics from the two selections I chose. Although both Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe both speak of the mystical experience in their works, none of the other passages ties everything up and presents what the mystics believe in the way that Chapter five of Julian’s A Book of Showings does.

Most people are knowledgeable about the Arthurian romances and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has all the elements. There is bravery in Beowulf, but it lacks the romance that is in Gawain. Even from the Canterbury Tales has the stories of the Knights and the ways of aristocracy presented. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight presents all of these ideas in one story and represents how the other half lived.