Essay Sample on William Caxton: Preserving Medieval Literature and its Significant Cultures

The development of medieval literature all over the continent has resulted majorly from the writers whose works reflect the typical society within AD 450 through 1453. In this regard, William Caxton was among the outstanding writers who existed during the period and has greatly influenced contemporary literature in profound measures. The tactful stemming of the medieval literature by preserving the significant cultures alongside heroic adventures with the works of Caxton clearly describes stages of development of literature. In bringing out the underlying message in every work, the writer foregrounded certain themes that have significant meanings in the medieval literature.

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William Caxton brought forth the themes of language and voice to clarify the information and every occurrence that led to the apparent transformation that medieval literature has undergone. The author has explained the underlying relationship between the Old and Middle English and how they led to the innovations in the printing press (Blake and Norman 227). Various aspects of language and voice are explored in the Caxton works by explaining the progressive channels that the Old English followed to achieve the standards of Middle English. For instance, the author describes how the changing of grammar in form of pronunciation and spelling occurred alongside the factors considered while borrowing words from French and Latin to incorporate in the Middle English (Blake and Norman 229).

Also, Caxton works foreground the theme of heroes and heroine. The author states some of the renowned heroes in ancient English literature. For instance, the author clearly states the activities that Beowulf to King Arthur did in the process of literature development (Blake and Norman 230). Besides, Caxton states the typical traits of the medieval heroes alongside other significant contributions that they did in the process of literature development. The characteristics also depict certain revelations about society in the Middle Age. For instance, some of the mentioned traits of King Arthur were that he was passionate about diversity. Thus, the implication of the character in the medieval development process is that instilling new ideas to people requires one to be a 'man of the people'.

Caxton brings the theme of gender and sexuality while trying to explain the medieval development process. The author critically examines the representations of gender, sex, and relationships and their contribution to the Middle English transformation. Thus, he incorporates multiple concepts from the different works of women writers to create a feeling of honor and recognition in the whole process of medieval development. For example, Caxton draws examples from the literary works of Margery Kempe, Julian of Norwich and Christine de Pizan (Blake and Norman 223). The recognition substantiates his work in the explanation of the medieval growth process as he implicates that the survival of the developmental process also depended on the women's works. The consideration makes the theme of gender and sexuality and their contribution to medieval transformation more apparent.

Caxton's works also bring out the theme of faith and religion. The author narrates the underlying stories about the saints and demons and their impacts on medieval development. He connects the stories to certain reflections on life and death along with God ad salvation. Thus, the process by which the development process navigates the matters of faith and religion gets clear. Caxton states that the Late Middle Age was characterized by various challenges and calamities like famine, plague, and war (Hellinga and Lotte 332). The author adds that the misfortunes impacted the European population by lowering it rapidly which in turn called for the intervention of some religious doctrines to save the medieval development process. Caxton mentions ancient dignitaries like Hetta Howes who encouraged the Europeans to lead Christian lives to protect people from possible extinction. This also implied how Caxton's literary explanations were connected to the existence of supernatural beings.

Caxton works critically foreground the theme of myths, monsters alongside imaginations. He investigates the borderlines that separate the typical and imaginary world in the development of medieval literature. Caxton explains the fears that the Medieval Europeans had when they pondered over the predicament of a real and imaginary journey in the medieval development process. For instance, Caxton presents Josephine Livingstone to be contemplating over the two existing travel of tradesmen like in the book of John Mandeville, and The Travels of Marco Polo and medieval maps (Higgins and Iain 312). The considerations bring out the theme of myths, monsters, and imaginations more clearly and practically.

The works of Caxton, therefore, pose different impacts on art and later generation. For example, the progressive movement that Caxton made in bringing the printing press to England facilitated the flow of various literary works. The printing press facilitated the published literary works by writers like Chaucer, Malory, Gower, Cicero and Virgil (Hellinga and Lotte 335). The inception will have a great impact on the later generation since they will have increased access to the publications regarding medieval development. They may opt to follow the same procedure that the authors in the Middle Ages used in promoting medieval development which may lead to a decline in the upcoming literature development. It is because the future society will have different people with different belief hence the ancient approaches may not work effectively during the coming days.

Besides, Caxton's introduction of a limited number of technical changes concerning the previous production process may lead to unclear modes of production in future literature. The author applies varying font sizes with no clear explanation of when to use a particular font. For instance, the commissioning of woodcuts to illustrate literary works was used in the edition of Mirror of the World (1481) for the first time (Hellinga and Lotte 342). The woodcuts were later used in most of the proceeding works like in The Canterbury Tales, after Caxton first used it. The same trend may be experienced in the later generation which may, in turn, lead to loss of meaning in some literary works.

Caxton's works may also create new reading markets in the future generation. Since the author was never contented by drawing on pre-existing outlets for his publications, he endlessly created newer markets for various kinds of writing. For instance, the publication of series of romances was among the most sustained efforts o Caxton and it became a new literary form in literature in the 15th century (Higgins and Iain 322). The future generation may keep up to the trend hence facilitating the inception of a new readership.

On balance, Caxton has applied unique writing styles to explain the concept of medieval development in his works. The author has utilized the element of self-expression by keeping the information presented in their original forms. Caxton has pointed out how everyone has a unique face that cannot be similar to the other. Besides, he has made the message clear by introducing the aspect of historical and cultural importance. The two elements have a great impact on stirring an individual's desire to obtain particular information. The message has, therefore, remained precise and clear.

Works Cited

Blake, Norman Francis. William Caxton and English literary culture. A&C Black, 1991. https://books.google.com/books?

Hellinga, Lotte. Caxton in focus: the beginning of printing in England. Vol. 317. London: British Library, 1982. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/Higgins, Iain Macleod. The book of John Mandeville: with related texts. Hackett Publishing, 2011.