Summary: Written in the 14th century, The Canterbury Tales has stood the test of time as a landmark in the development of English literature. This innovative "frame story" owes its classic standing and impact to the diversity both of the narrators and of the styles of tales they tell. In this program, expert commentators Dr. Christiania Whitehead and Dr. Peter Mack, both of the University of Warwick,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: A scholarly program that reaches out to students of The Canterbury Tales to relate its characters and themes to everyday life in late-14th-century England. Period art of exceptional richness is combined with location photography that retraces the April pilgrimage to Archbishop Becket's shrine at Canterbury; excerpts are read from various tales; and the famous beginning is heard in Middle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: With the Norman invasion, English became a third language in its own country, behind French and Latin. In this program, Melvyn Bragg examines the impact of Old French on the development of English. Manuscripts, tapestries, and dozens of curious etymologies help illustrate a tremendous influx of vocabulary pertaining to romance, chivalry, and, of course, food. The influence of Eleanor of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006