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Medieval Feminism
ENGL 361 and WGST 322 | Spring 2020 | Dr. Myra Seaman
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I have not tried to Old/Middle English since 201/202 when we had to read Canterbury Tales without the translation and it was just as hard as I remember. Speaking out loud was definitely useful but I found the most useful and effective thing was to use the audio recording and look at the reading alongside listening to the recording. The margin words were incredibly useful as I would not have been able to figure out the the meaning of those sentences without the explanations but I felt like, after listening to the audio recording, that there were a lot of other sentences that could have used explanations on the margins but they did not have them. I will say that as the text went on I noticed how it was getting a little bit easier to read the text for myself so even a little practice helped. Sometimes I found it easier to read the page once and then once I got the gist of what was going on I would go back, or rewind the audio again. The audio also helped hear the rhyme and rhythm of the poem and I feel like it allowed me to take in the work moreso than if I just read it.
While it did take me awhile to get used to the middle English (and referencing the notes in the margins), I think that I was able to get the general gist of the plot. As I would get tripped up on some word spellings versus pronunciations, I do worry that I missed some of the details for the text. Because I was working to put together the pieces of the plot, I may have missed some of the details that are important in other ways. With this being said, hearing the pronunciation of the words made it less difficult than I had initially anticipated. And with time, I certainly felt more comfortable than I did upon first approaching it.
I had a similar experience while reading the story. I never had to read Old/Middle English throughout high school or college; there were always translations available. Although it isn’t the most difficult thing to read, It did often halt the flow of my usual reading pace. While I read a good portion of it without hesitation, there were a few words or phrases that were confusing to me. I spent a good bit of time attempting to find translation of certain words, often with no success. After a while, I had to attempt to assume what the words meant or use context clues. There were a few things that I realized I missed while reading the story after listening to the lecture. Having reading a piece without translation, i think I will be more likely to try reading the Middle English version first, then reference the translated version (if offered) so that I can have an understanding of the text if I feel lost while also experiencing the text how it was originally written.
The Middle English was definitely a bit challenging. I had never read Middle English texts before and it was an interesting task. It wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be just by looking at the text and I was able to understand it pretty well for the most part. One thing I did find valuable about reading “Saint Margaret” this way was that I was reading it as it was originally written, which I thought was kind of cool. One thing that did trip me up a lot though was the spelling differences so it took me a bit longer than usual to read a text of that length.
I’ve encountered Middle English in previous classes so I felt pretty comfortable with what to expect for this reading. It takes a little more time to decipher the spelling and make connections for the meanings of certain words, but I find it helps to take notes along the way to help myself figure out the plot and details. I think the Medieval period is really enchanting in the first place, so reading this text in its original Middle English form made it that much more interesting for me.
This was my first experience with Middle English, and this class has been my first experience with medieval literature. There was most certainly a learning curve throughout the process of reading it, however once I got the hang of it, it became slightly easier. I still struggled at times to understand the story but I tried to keep myself engaged and at least understand the surrounding context. Something that made it easier was reading it to myself out loud. This definitely allowed me to comprehend more of the story, but it made it slightly more difficult for me to remember details. Reading the text aloud really did increase the fluidity of the poem however. It really allowed the rhyme scheme and the rhythm of the poem stand out, which I really appreciated.
I have had several encounters with Middle English before so this was very familiar to me. While I still find it daunting to process when first looking at it, it gets easier when it’s read out loud. The spelling becomes less important and it’s easier to understand it once you just start moving through it.
I agree with this and it’s how I felt reading the text. As long as I can gather the general gist of what is being said in a particular sentence, then I’m comfortable with reading it. There are select words that I find myself getting tripped up on, but I use the margin and the surrounding words as a way to decipher what it possibly means even without knowing exactly. It honestly can be a challenging puzzle sometimes reading medieval texts, but I find it fun at times.
It was very difficult for me to understand the story. Usually with longer pieces I try to skim to get a general understanding and read closer at the important parts, but with this skimming just made it more confusing. Even reading slowly, however, I really struggled to understand what was happening. The footnotes were too sparse to really help me, personally. Having the introduction helped me a lot more.
I didn’t have any issues with the language. It was written at the same time most of my sources from my research with 15th century England historically are, so I’m rather familiar with the language. It’s just become natural once getting a few sentences in to understand the language as its written.
I have read passages in Middle English before in a British Literature class here at the college of Charleston. I have never, however, read an entire story in Middle English and analyzed it without a translation. I though it was very interesting and not as difficult as I expected. I think having to think more about what certain words meant and how they fit in the context, given that their spelling is not the same as now, pushed me to think deeper into the meaning and what was going on. In that same respect, though, it also made it somewhat hard to connect certain things together and remember what had happened in the story. I had to reread sentences and parts many times.
This was my first encounter with Middle English. I am a WGST major, so I don’t come across these texts often. 😉 I did not struggle with it as much as I thought I would, which is good. The words in the margins and reading aloud helped me a lot. I read the text before the audio version was emailed, so I didn’t get to listen to that. It was definitely harder to read Middle English because I had to translate the words to English, then compose the meaning of the sentence, then connect everything to the bigger picture. Like I said though, it was kind of fun and not too difficult.
I really enjoyed reading this in the Middle English. It takes a little longer, since I can’t skim, but I sort of like that it forced me to read each line. I found it super helpful to read aloud and sound out the words. The only daunting thing about it is the inconsistent and somewhat random seeming spelling.
This is the first time I have ever read Middle English, and quite honestly, I was a bit nervous that I would struggle immensely. I was pleased to find that after the first couple of minutes reading, it got a little bit easier to understand. The footnotes did help clarify some of the confusion I may have had, but the one negative thing that I experienced was the amount of time it took me to read everything. I had to slow down reading to understand what I was reading, and sometimes I had to re-read lines.
At first, reading the story of St. Margaret was slightly difficult. The spellings (often using the vowel y, or omitting letters) was confusing. Also, the reversal of nouns and verbs was tricky. But as I became used to this type of writing, it was a lot easier to read. I actually enjoyed figuring out the spellings and even found it fun. For example, in Margaret line 66, the spelling “wyffe” to mean wife. Understanding the connotations of the role of being a wife in the middle ages, plus figuring out what this outdated spelling meant, was one example of my process with Middle English.
I have had some practice with Middle English before, but it took me a little bit of time to completely understand every word. I do appreciate it though because it really allows me to zone in and think about the text while trying to understand Middle English as well. I did have some difficulties with pronouncing and the spelling as well. I kind of stumbled over sentences a few times before being able to get it figured out. I think your audio of you speaking Middle English definitely helped as well. It made me hear it and understand it better.