英国文学简史Literature of the Renaissance重点整理.doc

Unit 2 Literature of the Renaissance& Religious Reformation F The reason: A natural corollary of popular disaffection with depravity and corruption of Catholic church and the holy clerics as well as the desire and anger on the part of more enlightened minds for reform and improvement.Starting in Germany by Martin Luther, echoed positively throughout many European areasF The Protestants: the Lutherians, the Calvinists, F The major doctrines: the purity of church and the simplification of judgment by God through faith with no mediation from church or priest F The contribution: emancipation of mans mind from religious tyranny and fanaticism; affirmation of the considerable progress of man epistemology; facilitation of individual expression and critical thinking & Renaissance giants of West EuropeBasic knowledge: 14th century in Italy The revival or rebirth of Greek and Roman learning: art, literature, philosophy, thinking, New view of life, new outlook on the world, new attitude toward living Renaissance ageMedieval agethe exaltation of man and absorption in earthly lifeThe interest in God and life after deathThe dominance of Materialistic philosophy and scientific thoughtThe popularity of religious mysticism and fanaticism and superstition as well as church dogmasExploration of the infinite capabilities of man to conquer all sectors of the universe; the appearance of individual expression and critical thinkingMans servitude under the omnipotence and omniscience of God;total submission and acceptance in face of the church and other forms of external power and control ;the universe is mysterious and unknown to manHumanists: aggressive, ambitious, adventurous, confident, acquisitive, dynamic; Medieval mind: submissive, conservative, superstitious, restrictive, v Italy Petrarch Boccaccio Ariosto Tassov FranceMontaigne Rabelais v Germany Holland MartinLuther Erasmusv Spain Cervantesv England Thomas More Marlowe ShakespeareProgressive standing: Abolition of private ownership No idleness but participation in physical labor No exploitative monarchy but equality and democracy in social relationship Socialization of production and distribution Public education on the basis of rationalism Condemnation of the all-powerful money Religious tolerance Opposition to asceticism and promotion of mans existence by nature Limitations: Strict adherence to conformity A slave society A hint of superpower politics Male supremacy A utopian socialism with no feasible basis& The features of Elizabethan Age Political situation: centralization of monarchy; relevant peace at home and overseas; favorable political atmosphere for art and culture development Religion: weakened Catholic power in mental dictatorship after Religious Reformation and the inroads of Protestantism Strengthened economic and military power : geographical discoveries, imperial colonization, expansive oversea trades and domestic manufacture industry In social customs: the bohemian lifestyle prevails as a result of the full emancipation of human emotion, mind and behavior with no restriction In human life: the spirit of adventure and experiment permeates all the fields of human activities as a result of the full development of mans epistemology and knowledge and capability An age of talents and marvelous accomplishments by human beings In literature: poetry, drama and prose are all booming & Innovations in verse form Skeltonic verse (doggerel打油诗): short lines frequently of two or three feet each; quick recurring rhymes in a rapid movement of verse; a very effective vehicle for Skeltons biting satire and vigorous humor.Tottels Miscellany: Indebtedness to Petrarchan sonnet both in the theme of a lovers entreaties to his mistress and the rhyme scheme of abbaabbacdecde.Sir Thomas WyattLyrical poetry: the introduction of song quality reminiscent of native English folk poetry of early date; emphasis on earthly love over the otherworldly chivalric love of medieval romancesEarl of Surrey First user of blank verseEdmund Spenser “The poets poet”The Shepheardes CalenderPastoral poetry: the dialogues between shepherds or soliloquies; about everyday life of country people, their feelings and attitudes and their simple life of harmony with nature; a means of making critical comments upon contemporary life The Spenserian Stanza: A nine-line stanzaic form with the rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc and with the first 8 lines in iambic pentameter and the 9th line iambic hexameter; suitable for dreamy and meditative works A poet: Astrophel and Stella the first to write a whole series of sonnet sequence (plus 11 songs) to celebrate his love for a woman A romancer: Arcadia the earliest specimen of pastoral literature as the first venture in pastoral tradition, anticipating Shakespeares As You Like It A critic: Defence of Poesie (Apology for Poetry) the earliest critical work in English literary history& Pastoral literary tradition1. The combination of the tradition of chivalric romance with the pastoral2. There is the story of love and chivalry, of wars and intrigue as well as treachery and high passion, told though a long and complicated plot3. Few realist details and no vivid portraits of characters“Shepherd boys pipe as though they world never be old”& Euphuism夸饰文体: extremely artificial language The use of balanced sentence construction and some artificial elaborations in language, including antithesis and alliteration, which is doubled up, either direct or crossed“Let my rude birth excuse my bold request”“Although I have shrined thee in my heart for a trusty friend,I will shun thee thereafter as a trothless foe” The employment of images and similes taken either from ancient mythology and history or from classical and medieval unnatural natural history and also the use of quotations from and references to classical authors. & University Wits: Christopher MarloweA poet: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (or Come live with me, and be my love)A dramatist:One-man tragedy: insatiability Tamburlaine the Great The Tragical History of Doctor FaustusThe Jew of MaltaOne-man tragedy: the medieval concept of tragedy as beginning with the rise of the hero from his humble origin to the zenith of his success and ending with his downfall or death, in theme the poet voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power and authority via those central charactersMarlowes mighty line: blank verse& The giant of all age: William Shakespeare v His life and profile of his literary career The earliest period (1590-1601)Nine of his ten history playsTragedies: Romeo and Juliet; Julius CaesarComedies: The Merchant of Venice; Much Ado about Nothing; As You Like It; Twelfth Night154 sonnets The second period (1601-1608)Tragedies: Hamlet; Othello; King Lear; MacbethTragi-comedy: Alls Well that Ends Well; Measure for Measure; Troilus and Cressida The last period (1609-1613)Tragi-comedy: Cymbeline; The tempest; The Winters Tale; Henry VIIIv Shakespearean sonnetsl A demonstration of his attitudes toward the society of his time and toward his own experience in lifel Themes and ideas reflected Entreaties of love Mild criticism of the prevailing conditions at the royal court in England of that time Condemnation of certain common social vices and evils Utterances of his personal miseries caused by social evils l Shakespearean sonnet with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef ggl Economy and intensity in language Sonnet CXVI(116) Sonnet LXVI(66)v Shakespearean histories Henry VI, part 1 Henry VI, part 2 Henry VI, part 3 【First to bring fame】 Richard III 【First of importance】A typical representative of Machiavellianism; exposure of brutal bloodshed, unscrupulous treachery and intrigueThe first effective use of long soliloquizing for central figures in Shakespearean tragedies l Henry IV, part 1 Sir John Falstaff as a typical character in typical circumstancel Henry IV, part 2 l Henry V “The king is but a man, as i am”The only king eulogized for declaiming the bourgeois theory of democracy and social equality【High watermark of achievement】l King John l Richard II 【Two types of kings】l Henry VIII Sympathy for the oppressed against the oppressors Upholding those rulers benignant to the people while condemning the brutal and tyrannous ones Horror for any possibility of political turbulence and civil wars and longing for state unityv . Shakespearean comediesl The Comedy of Errors l Loves Labours Lost l The Two Gentlemen of Verona l The Taming of the Shrew l The Merry Wives of Windsor l A Midsummer Nights Dream l The Merchant of Venice l Much Ado About Nothing l As You Like It l Twelfth Night, or What You Will All the worlds a stageAnd all the men and women merely players Consistent hatred for the oppressors and sympathy for the oppressed Characterization of new women of the Renaissance The use of disguise The indulgence in earthly life rather than afterworldv Shakespearean tragedies l Romeo and Juliet l Julius Caesar l Hamlet l Othello l King Learl Macbeth Dark tragedies as embodiment of the darkness of the society of that period The essence of tragedy: the sharpened contradictions in the political and social arena are reflected though the life-and-death struggles between the evil forces and the idealist heroes or heroines, with the latter all becoming victims in their conflict with tyranny and hypocrisy and treachery. Modernity of Shakespeare: Exteriorization of the inner workings of the minds of the tragic heroes through long soliloquizingWhat a piece of work is man;How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty!In form and moving how express and admirable!In action how like an angel!In apprehension how like a god!The whips and scorns of time,The oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely,The pangs of despised love, the laws delay,The insolence of office and the spurnsThe patient merit of the unworthy takes.v Shakespearean tragi-comedies l Measure for Measurel Alls Well that Ends Welll Cymbelinel The Winters Talel The Tempestv Shakespeares characteristics in dramatic creations l Shakespeares dramatic cosmos: highly moral, the sense of certitude and justice l Shakespeares huge hu