Chapbooks: Guy of Warwick
Chapbooks analysis by Nicholas Hausman
Chapbooks: Definition and Origins
A chapbook is "a small book or pamphlet containing poems, ballads, stories, or religious tracts" (dictionary) The term is still ud today to refer to short, inexpensive booklets. The context I am using it in is that of the Early Modern period in England. Chapbooks were small, cheaply produced books, most often octavo or duodecimo printings of twenty-four pages, sold without a cover. Pamphlets were similar to chapbooks, but they can be divided by their content. Pamphlets generally concerned matters of the day, such as politics, religion, or current events. Chapbooks were timeless books of jest and tales that often sprang out of folklore. Chapbooks were so called becau they were sold by peddlers known as chapmen. Chap comes from the Old English for trade, so a chapman was literally a dealer who sold books. Chapmen would carry boxes containing the conveniently sized editions, either in town on street
corners, or traveling through the countryside. They typically sold their wares for twopence or threepence, and stocked a large variety of titles. Among the types of content contained in chapbooks were romantic tales of chivalry, religious and moral instruction, cookbooks, guides to fortune telling and magic, and bawdy stories full of innuendo.
Chapmen traveled through England as early as the 1570s (Watt) lling books to whoever they could. Chapbooks followed broadsides as early print products for people of lesr means and learning than the wealthy. Broadsides reprented print for the mi-literate: two of the main forms were ballads and pictures, neither of which depended heavily on reading. Ballads would be bought and sung by musicians who could read. People who heard the songs might repeat them in alehous or inns, relying on memory. In this way the songs could change into new songs which would later be transcribed, or devolve into a meaningless jumble of words. Broadsides containing large woodcuts were also popular. They typically featured some sort of moral lesson or biblical saying. Even tho who could not read at all could make u of the broadsides by hanging them on the wall. The one line or so of text could be remembered or inferred from the picture.
At this early stage of print, text was not static. Works moved back and forth between oral and print forms. We will e an example of this movement if we trace the history of the story Guy of Warwick. I
t originated in the Middle Ages, when it was sung as a heroic ballad. Sometime between 1200 and 1400 it was written as a manuscript. At that point, the physical copy would have been accessible only to the scholarly and rich, but the common
微型房车folk still would have known the name of Guy through hearing the song or story. The story was printed in the first decades of the 1500s for a gentry audience. The educated people who were rich enough to buy books were known to read on occasion to their less fortunate neighbors. In the late 1500s, the story was abridged into a broadside ballad, and was once again heard in song form. In the late 1600s, it was turned back into book form in twenty-four page chapbooks, and conditions at that point were allowing more people access to the inexpensive books.
Books became cheaper to print as they aged, which is one of the factors that allowed a text to pass from an expensive edition only affordable by the wealthy, to a chapbook version. As the process and machinery of printing was refined it became generally cheaper. For a particular book, woodcuts could be reud from one version to the next. Also, the upper-class literati grew bored with the same works after they went out of fashion, so printers could make more money off the same stories by vulgarizing them and lling them to the middle to lower class.
Chapbooks saw an increasing audience between 1500 and 1700, becau more people were learning to read as the literacy rate ro. Although it is impossible to figure out how many people could read that far back, we can look at general trends of schooling. More scoolteachers were employed in the early 1600s than before. Even though records of literacy tend to show us only tho people who could read and write, there were probably many more people who could only read. As Spufford posits, children were receiving just enough education to teach them to read, before they were presd into working to make money for their families. Evidence exists that members of even the poorest social class were able to read, including laborers and women.
备孕需要做什么准备Guy of Warwick: Summary of the Story
约束理论I cho to examine Guy of Warwick in particular becau of its popularity and availability. It is a typical chapbook story of the romantic type, and it is often prented as indicative of the genre. Both Spufford and Watt mention it and u it as a benchmark to show the amounts of chapbook sales. Many printings were made of the Guy chapbooks, which shows that they sold well. Guy's story was a very popular one, and it has a long history. The English loved stories of their heroes in the Early Modern period, and the departure from historical fact to fantastical adventures made it exciting for readers across class boundaries.
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I will now prent a plot summary bad on a 1700s chapbook of 144 pages. Guy was born an English gentleman. However, he had no wealth in land and was the son of a steward to Lord Roband. As a young man, Guy fell in love with Lord Roband's daughter, Phaelice, for her amazing beauty. He propod marriage to her, but she rejected him on the basis that
he is far below her in status. After making a point of the materiality and greediness of women, Guy decided to go out and make a name for himlf through bravery and strength, in order that Phaelice would accept him as a husband.
So began the adventures of Guy, as he armed himlf and headed for France in arch of opportunities to test his arm and rai his reputation. Guy soon encountered the maiden Dorinda who had been fally imprisoned as part of a plot. Guy fought the three men who had lied in order to pace her in prison, and he killed two of them. The other one fled. However, while sailing away, Guy's ship encountered and was attacked by the ship of Philbertus, the mastermind behind the plot. Guy singlehandedly cut a path through his enemies, and they eventually gave up and retreated. Guy next visited Germany, where he entered a tournament of jousting and martial prowess. He bested all his competitors and as a reward for winning was promid the hand of Princess Blanch. Guy remained true to his love for Phaelice and gave up the opportunity to marry Blanch, instead promising to rve
her as a knight. Guy returned to England with the riches that had been the remainder of his prize. He once again propod to Phaelice, but she turned him down again. She was not overly impresd by the deeds that he had thus far performed, and said that she could not marry him until he carried out even greater feats of heroism.
On Dunsmore-Heath in England, a gigantic cow was terrorizing the countryside and killing any man who tried to stop it. This cow was twelve feet high and eighteen feet long, and was destroying everything it saw. Guy heard reports of the beast, and went to try his luck. After a fierce battle he emerged victorious, the monster dead at his feet. The King of England was so thankful that he knighted Guy. Guy then traveled to Byzantium, to battle the heathens, and return that city to Christian control. Once again, no man could stand up to Guy's strength, and he slaughtered the Saracens and Turks, and recovered Byzantium. Some time later, Guy was walking through the woods and he came upon sixteen ruffians assaulting an Earl and Lady. The ruffians did not stand a chance. Continuing through the woods, Guy happened upon a battle between a lion and a dragon. He decided to watch the fight and aid whichever creature was losing. The lion was getting the worst of it and appeared to be almost finished. Guy stepped in and defeated the dragon. After the fight was over, the lion licked Guy's feet to show its thanks. Guy went on more adventures and killed a giant boar and the dragon of Northumberland.
After all the acts of heroism, he returned home to Phaelice, who finally agreed to marry him. The two were happily wedded. Unfortunately, soon after the marriage, Roband died. Upon the loss of his father-in-law, Guy was thrown into despair. He reflected upon his adventures, and renounced them as sins of his youth. Despite his lifelong quest for Phaelice, Guy left his new bride, and began a pilgrimage to atone for past errors. He put on the robes of a pilgrim, left his sword and armor behind, and vowed to tell no one who he was, for at that point, Guy was known throughout the land. On his pilgrimage, he ran into a man who was utterly depresd. Guy promid to help the man. It tuned out that the man's sixteen children had been taken hostage by a giant. Guy slew the giant and returned the man's children. After a few more similar adventures, Guy retired to a cave to be alone with his
melancholy thoughts. When he was about to die, he found a nearby farmer and told him to take a ring to Phaelice. She received the ring and ran out to find Guy, who she had been longing for all tho years. They were reunited and embraced, but Guy died in her arms. Phaelice followed him to the grave within two weeks.
Analysis of the Story in Terms of Orality
甲的组词In his book, Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong writes about the characteristics of orally bad thought that are distinct from chirographically (writing) or typographically bad thought.
I will now examine the story of Guy of Warwick for evidence of oral thought, bad on Ong's characteristics.
国标槽钢The story contains many features of orally bad thought: both words as power and actions, and memory aids, the two main categories distinct to oral thinking. The characters exist on the level of actions and words, not introspective abstraction. Except for the stage in Guy's life when he decides to repent for his violence, actions dominate the book. Even dialog between characters is rare, and not very realistic. For example, when Guy first speaks to Phaelice, he gives a monologue of veral paragraphs. The natural back and forth is abnt. Also, the characters are flat. We do not e into their heads; they are basically type characters. We never find out what drives them, or the complex web of thoughts that caus them to take certain actions. Likewi, description in the book is spar. The dragons are not detailed in all their terrible features; instead the author calls up the already developed image of a dragon into the mind of the viewer. The concrete nature of the story points to oral thought. Abstraction and psychological ideas are products of print culture. Their abnce is easily noticeable to readers today, becau in our heavily print-bad society, we have become accu
stomed to eing abstract ideas and descriptions. Without them, the story ems simple and flat. To a member of a culture without much print or writing, the story would have emed different. In Ong (53-54), people from predominantly oral cultures had trouble defining words. They assumed that everyone already knew, for example, what a tree was. Oral people would have an image of a dragon or a giant in their minds, and only unusual features that affect the story would need to be noted. Actions and words were the important elements for people from oral cultures. The verbal and physical conflict between characters was what made up the mental life of the people.
少先队活动有哪些Prai was another feature that came from oral culture. Guy is praid for his sword of flame, and his overpowering strength and bravery. The words em trite and insincere to us today, but as Ong writes, "...Prai goes with the highly polarized, agonistic, oral world of good and evil, virtue and vice, villains and heroes" (45). Prai was part of an oral western rhetorical tradition, and it made its way into print in this story. Prai went along with the designation of Guy as a "heavy" character, or one who is larger than life. Characters of this type were important in oral cultures, becau their heroic features aided memory.
When nothing could be recorded, things had to stand out to be remembered. Guy has the strongest arm, and the best blade. He literally ems to be larger than other characters in the story, perhaps a
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pproaching the height of a giant. Guy's enemies also had to be unusual to stand out. The giant cow of Dunsmore-Heath is a good example of a bizarre crature that aids memory. Other examples in Guy of Warwick are a giant boar, and the fight between the dragon and the lion. Stories in oral cultures were episodic, and the story of Guy incorporates this element as well. Certain episodes could be inrted or deleted bad on the memory of the storyteller, in an oral culture. The ability to lengthen or shorten a story without affecting the plot is also uful in print culture. One of the chapbook versions cuts a 232 page book down to twenty-four pages without changing the story much. A later chapbook then expanded it back to 144 pages. The story could be easily changed bad on the audience the printer was aiming at. Redundancy was a key element to oral storytelling, becau it was necessary to repeat things that the audience might have misd. Several of Guy's adventures are repetitive: he fights two dragons, and two giants. The differences between the episodes are small, so this feature probably came from the oral tradition. Another memory aid was the u of common numbers. Guy saves a man's sixteen children and defeats sixteen ruffians. The number sixteen must have had some significance to people of the time.
Three Editions: Evolution of a Book
I looked at three editions of Guy of Warwick at the Houghton Library at Harvard. One was an expensi
ve bound edition from the 1500s, one was a short chapbook from 1695, and the third was a longer chapbook from the 1700s. The differences between the three editions show us something about oral residue in printed works, as well as the role print played in fixing the English language as standard and unchanging.
The earliest version that I examined was a bound book of 282 pages from the 1500s. It would have been affordable only to the rich, and it was written in ver and difficult language. Its intended audience was the educated, upper-class man. Its print conventions display its extravagance, as well as the changes in print between the Sixteenth Century and today. The text was entirely in gothic print, with large letters and margins. The lines were justified only on the left, leaving lots of white space to the right of the words. Page numbers were not printed, and only a few woodcuts were included. The large amount of empty space and large type were signs of luxury. Paper was the most expensive part of the book, so to leave parts of it empty showed that one had money to spare.
This book was very hard for me to read, showing the many changes that have occurred in printing and language. The gothic text and different symbols for letters made trying to read
