3rd week_daniel_defoe the neoclassical period (新古典主义时期) 英美文学赏析 教学课件

The neoclassical Period (新古典主义时期),I. The time period:,The neoclassical period is between the return of the Stuarts to the English throne in 1660 and the full development of Romanticism which came with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798.欧洲文艺复兴后产生了一种主张理性至上、尊重传统道德价值、倡导公民义务等的新古典主义文艺思潮，也就是启蒙主义运动。,II. The Age of Enlightenment:,1. The outline:A. The definition:The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement. B. The source:It flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. C. The nature:The movement was a furtherance延续与发展 of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.D. The purpose:Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas.,2. The rational principle:,A. principles:The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. They held that rationality or reason should be the only, the final cause of any human thought and activities. B. The significance:It provided theory for the French Revolution of 1789 and the American War of Independence in 1776.C. The humanistic ideas:The enlighteners advocated universal education. They believed that human beings were limited, dualistic, imperfect, and yet capable of rationality and perfection through education.,3. The literature features:,Literature at the time, heavily didactic教诲的 and moralizing, became a very popular means of public education.,III. The literature forms:,1. The sentimental Literature:2. The Gothic novels:3. Gothic novels -mostly stories of mystery and horror which take place in some haunted or dilapidated Middle Age Castles -were turned out profusely by both male and female writers. 4. Others: Eulogizing颂扬 or lamenting哀悼 lyrics; The romantic poems; the theatrical world; the witty and satiric prose.,IV 主要作家作品,A. John Bunyan 约翰*班扬 The Pilgrims Progress 天路历程B. Alexander Pope 亚力山大*蒲伯 An Essay on Criticism 批评论C. Daniel Defoe 丹尼尔*笛福Robinson Crusoe 鲁宾逊漂流记D. Jonathan Swift 乔纳森*斯威夫特 Gullivers Travels 格列佛游记E. Henry Fielding 亨利*费尔丁The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling汤姆琼斯F. Samuel Johnson塞缪尔*约翰逊 A Dictionary of the English LanguageG. Richard Brinsley Sheridan理查*比*谢立丹The School for Scandal 造谣学校H. Thomas Grey托马斯*格雷 An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard墓园挽歌,Daniel Defoe: 1660-1731,Son of James and Mary Foe, a merchant family committed to Puritanism (Presbyterians)Sound education at Mortons Academy. Only Anglicans could graduate from Oxford or Cambridge.1684: Marries Mary Tuffley, an heiress with 3,700 a year.,Fought briefly in the Duke of Monmouths rebellion against James II.Bankruptcy and debt turned him towards writing.1701: writes “The True Born Englishman” 真正英国人1703: Pilloried for writing “The Shortest Way with Dissenters.” 消灭不同教派的捷径,Defoes Robinson Crusoe,1719: First volume of Robinson Crusoe. A hit with lower and middle classes.Based on the experience of Alexander Selkirk.1722: Moll Flanders. A novel that draws on his own experience in Newgate prison.,Crusoe: 1810 edition,His life,was born in London in a butchers family, not obeying his fathers will, he developed his interest in business, though his business underwent many ups and downs, yet he was never beaten; He never went to university, but he received a good education in one of the best Dissenting academies His marriage with an heiress named Mary Tuffley brought him the sizeable fortune of 3,700 pounds as dowry. When he died in 1731, he left his wife and daughters fairly well provided. His quick mind, abundant energy and never-failing enthusiasm always brought him back on his fleet after a fall.,Facts to be Rememberedabout his Life,Defoe was a jack-at-all-trades, who developed his interests largely with the working classes.He was a radical Non-conformist (非国教)in religion, and was intended by his father for the independent ministry.Defoe was a journalist and pamphleteer, good at making “good story”Defoe knew prison life.At the age of nearly 60, he turned to fiction and wrote the great work by which he is best remembered. Robinson Crusoe earned him good reputation and fortune as well.,His social outlook,As a member of the middle class, Defoe spoke for & to the members of his class & his novels enjoyed great popularity among the less cultivated readers. In most of his works, he gave his praise to the hard-working, sturdy middle class & showed his sympathy for the downtrodden, unfortunate poor.,His major works,Defoe is generally considered the first great realistic novelist in English fiction. He based his stories on current events & materials, such as the maps & logs 日志of actual sea voyages, personal memoirs& historical or eyewitness reports.Perhaps his most popular novel is Robinson Crusoe (1719), an adventure story based partly on the actual experience of a man who had been trapped on a deserted island. A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), sometimes considered his best work, has such a colorful & detailed account of the London plague of 1664 & 1665 that it seems to have been written by an observer on the scene. Defoes third masterpiece, Moll Flanders摩尔弗兰德斯(1722), is a lively novel tracing the adventures of a female rogue. Told in the form of confessions, the narrative includes vivid descriptions of the courts, prisons, & other social institutions of Defoes era.,The Characteristics of his Works,Deal with the personal history of some of the heroes and heroinesThe all-powerful influence of material circumstances or social environment upon the thoughts and actions of the hero or the heroin and the struggle of the poor unfortunate for mere existence, mixed with their desire for great wealth are highlighted.The first literary works devoted to the study of problems of the lower-class people. His novels enjoyed great popularity among the middle class.,The Characteristics of his works,Defoe was a very good story-teller. He had a gift for organizing minute details in such a vivid way that his stories could be both credible& fascinating. His sentences are sometimes short, crisp & plain, & sometimes long & rambling, which leave on the reader on impression of casual narration. His language is smooth, easy, colloquial & mostly vernacular. There is nothing artificial in his language: it is common English at its best.,Robinson Grusoe (1719),The Story,It is based upon the experiences of Alexander Selkirk, or Seleraig, who had been marooned (放逐) in the uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez off the coast of Chile in South Pacific Ocean and who had been lived there in solitude for five years from 1704-1709 and later rescued. However, Defoe himself didnt acknowledge this resource.,Robinson Crouse, an adventure story very much in the spirit of the time, is universally considered his masterpiece. In the novel, Defoe traces the growth of Robinson from a naive & simple youth into a mature & hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life. The realistic presentation of the successful struggle of Robinson single-handedly against the hostile nature proves the best part of the novel.,General Comment,The heroan embodiment of the Spirit of individual enterprise and colonial expansionan empire-builder, colonizer, a foreign trader a man against nature and living through different stages of human civilization in a seemingly primitive environmentwhen Friday came, he became an exploiter, colonizer,The book a glorification of bourgeois qualities of individualism, private enterprise, and even labor. an illusion that the existence of the individual and not that of the collective mass, was the starting point of human history.,Features of Robinson Crusoe,The protagonist Crusoe represents the rising Bourgeoisie Strong Realism: -Elements of autobiography-Dealing with practical matters-Detailed, vivid description-Objective narration,The Major Points in Robinson Crusoe,setting (time) -From 1659 to 1694setting (place) -York, England; then London; then Sallee, North Africa; then Brazil; then a deserted island off Trinidad; then England; then Lisbon; then overland from Spain toward England; then England; and finally the island againNarrator: Robinson Crusoe, the protagonist,The hero,Self-independent; perseverant; inspiring and innovating, adventurous, colonial mind; practicalHe is no flashy hero or grand epic adventurer,He does not boast of his courage in quelling the mutiny, and he is always ready to admit unheroic feelings of fear or panic, as when he finds the footprint on the beach. Crusoe prefers to depict himself as an ordinary sensible man, never as an exceptional hero.,Friday,The first nonwhite character to be given in a realistic and individual portrayCRUSOE seems to think that Friday is so uncivilized that he has to be taught how to eat and drink. He names him and he teaches him to call him master. Obedient, friendly, kind and humane Fridays actions show the humble, submissive attitude of the savage who seems to consider Crusoe a man worth the greatest respect and submission.,The skill of the novel,its detail in the semblance of the authentic told in a simple, straightforward style, adding to the realistic effect of the story.,Significance of the Novel,starting the tradition of realistic description and presenting authentic details which are important for the later development of the novel.Robinson Crouse, an adventure story very much in the spirit of the time, is universally considered his masterpiece. In the novel, Defoe traces the growth of Robinson from a naive & simple youth into a mature & hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life. The realistic presentation of the successful struggle of Robinson single-handedly against the hostile nature proves the best part of the novel.,Significance of the Novel,Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience & persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile natural environment. He is the very prototype of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist. In describing Robinsons life on the island, Defoe glorifies human labor & the puritan fortitude不屈不挠, which save Robinson from despair & are a source of pride & happiness .He toils for the sake of subsistence生存, & gets his reward.,Character analysis,The character Robinson is not common sailor. He is a businessman who takes overseas business as his cause. He is also a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience & persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile natural environment. He is the very prototype of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist. Robinson is a bourgeoisie with adventurous spirit . Robinson is a bourgeoisie of practical spirit. Robinson is bourgeoisie of colonizing character. A.The artistic character of the novel: the concreters of the description and vividness. The author does not express the character with his words but let the character show himself in his own action. B.Limitation: a.simple structure b. loose and repletion c. minor characters lack much impression,Selected Reading: Part 4 Summary,It takes some weeks for Robinson to recover his full strength. He marvels at this deliverance from sickness. More serious reading of the Bible commences. The narrator now looks at his past life with complete horror. His thoughts are directed to a higher nature. The rainy season is dangerous to his health, so he spends little time walking about. Crusoes habitation is set; he feels that he wants to explore the rest of the island. When the weather improves, he goes about and sees many meadows. He also finds some tobacco growing.,In the woods there is fruit growing in great abundance, and a spring of fresh water. Robinson tries to being fruit back, but he is gone so long it spoils. He resolves to try again. Returning to his home, Crusoe finds that some of his grapes have been trod upon. There must be wild creatures thereabouts. He hangs the remaining grapes to dry them into raisins. Robinson loves the wilder part of the island so dearly that he resumes his thoughts of a new habitation, and decides to simply build another one and have two homes: a sea coast house and a country house. He finishes in time for the next rainy season. His cats are breeding with wild cats on the island, so he is forced to kill some of them, that his food supply is not entirely diminished. The year anniversary of his arrival is unhappy. He prays again to God.,He has learned the rainy season from the dry season, and decides to plant crops of rice and corn. The first crop is a good one, so Robinson extends the arable land. He busies himself with the farming and with making finer household items, like baskets. He moves frequently between his two homes. His greatest desire at the moment is for a pipe. On an exceptionally clear day, he spies a line of land, but he cannot be sure where it is. He is sure, however, that the inhabitants are cannibalistic savages. He discovers more animals on his rambles around the island. Many times the narrator sleeps outdoors, in trees to protect himself. When he comes home, however, he is always very happy. He has tamed a parrot and a young goat, who follow him endlessly.,The two year anniversary arrives, and it is still solemn, but with much more joy in Robinsons heart. His desires in life are completely altered. He decides he can be more happy in this existence than in his previous one. Scripture reading is done daily and methodically. The narrator finds that his crops are being eaten by birds. He shoots one and uses it successfully as a scarecrow. The next goal is to try and make bread. His parrot Poll now talks. Robinson makes some very good pots and jars. He then forms a stone mortar to beat the corn into meal, and a sieve to dress it. Over hot embers he bakes the batter and gets corn bread. This new technique leads to an enlargement of the barns, to hold more corn.,Analysis of this Part,The isle is a place of reflections, and justification of fate continues. The reader repeatedly observes the narrator marveling at the course of events and attributing all of the goodness to Providence and God. Strangely enough, he fails to notice that much of the wonderment comes about because of his own hard work-figuring out how to make the corn bread is actually a large accomplishment, and a credit to Crusoes diligence and intelligence. However, this self-deceit acts as another psychological trick. In essence it steers Robinsons perspective from the negative towards the positive. (1),If he can look upon the corn bread as a gift rather than a product of hard labor, he can be more grateful for its existence. Every little amenity that Crusoe finds is treated in this manner. The grapes are fine, the raisins rich. They make Robinson feel blessed, and are emblems of a charmed life. We can extend this idea to the narrators general outlook on his solitary life. Robinson examines his past life and is absolutely horrified with himself. The diction is a bit extreme, but illustrates the mindset of our main character. If he can convince himself that he is living a more wholesome life on this island, he can be happier now than he was in his life in his former world. The island is paradoxical, because it simultaneously becomes a haven and a threat. (2),It will overwhelm and conquer Crusoe if he does not make it his paradise. The psychological tricks are survival tactics. We can see that gradually, he is becoming more callused. He kills the cats when they are too numerous, and he no longer give his food a second thought-he eats goats and turtles with relish. Yet as Robinson speaks of how distinct this new life is from the indulgent one he has left behind, he seems to work awfully hard to recreate the indulgences. The fact that he has two residences is highly comical. Even more so is his manner of classifying them: country house and sea-coast house. Appa