新编英国文学选读 罗经国 北外课堂笔记整理版 北京大学出版社

1、1. Chapter One The Anglo-Saxon Period (450 1066)1. Historical backgroundThe Celts the Brythons.The Iron Age.The ceremonies of May Day and the cult of mistletoe.From 55 BC to 407 AD, the Roman Empire, a slave society.London was founded.Little influence on the cultural life of the Celts,Town with name

2、s ending in “chester” or “caster”.De Bello Gallico by Julius Caesar and Germania by Publius Cornelius Tacitus450 AD, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.“angul” means a hook; “seax” means a short sword.Around 500 AD, the Celtic King Arthur fought against Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of Wessex. Camel

3、ot, King Arthurs capital.Later 8th, the Danes, or the Vikings.King Alfred the Great of Wessex (849-899)Harold, the last Saxon King William the Duke of Normandy.597, Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to England and the first converted king was King Ethelbert of Kent.2. Northumbrian School and

4、 Wessex literaturetwo highlights in the development of the Anglo-Saxon literature.Monasteries and abbeys in the kingdom of Northumbria. Caedmon in the 7th turned the stories in the Bible into verse formParaphrase. Inspired by God.The Venerable Bede (673-735), wrote in Latin The Ecclesiastical Histor

5、y of the English People from Caesar to 731. It was Bede who told about the story of Caedmon.The reign of King Alfred (871-899)First, Latin books into West Saxon dialect. It is said that King Alfred translated the history of Bede.Second, the launching of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, from Caesars conque

6、st to 1154.Third, created a style of Anglo-Saxon prose which was not obscure.3. Anglo-Saxon poetryThe earliest is Widsith and the last is Maldon.BeowulfAs early as the 6th in oral formWritten down in the 8th.The manuscript preserved dates back to the 10th and in Wessex dialect.One datable fact in th

7、e poem is a raid on the Franks by Gelac in 520.3183 lines.Danish King Hrothgar built a hall called Heorot.Grendel for 12 years.Beowulf, nephew to King Hygelac of the Geats. With 14 companions.Hrothgars friend Aeschere killed by Grendels mother.Killing Grendels mother with a magic sword in the cave.O

8、ne of the 12 companions, Wiglaf, helped Beowulf kill the dragon.Physical strength demonstrates his high spiritual qualities.A mixture of paganism and Christian elements.Old English Poetry: 1. The technical structure:1) Every line consists of two clearly separated half lines between which is a caesur

9、a. The two parts of the line are united by alliteration, a form of initial rhyme, which is the repetition of the same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that are next to or close to each other.2) Every half line consists of two feet and each foot is made up of an accented syllable

10、 and a varying number of unaccented syllables.3) Generally there are 3 alliterations per line, two in the first half line and one on the first foot of the second half line.2. The scop also used a figurative language called “kenning”, a metaphor usually composed of two words, which becomes the formul

11、a of a special object: “helmet bearer” for “warrior.”3. The use of repetition and variation. Same idea expressed more than once by synonyms.PS: 第4頁第2段第3行經Word自動更正提示以及維基百科確認，“Ecclesiatical”為印刷錯誤，應為“Ecclesiastical”。2. Chapter Two The Norman Period (1066-1350)1. Historical background1066, the battle of

12、 HastingsThe Normans, also descendants of Scandinavian marauders, having seized a wide part of northern France.Accelerated the feudalism in England.Large tracts of land by the king, barons, knights and the church.A peasant uprising in 1381.2. Middle EnglishFor 3 centuries after the Norman conquest,

13、two languages were used side by side in England: Latin and French.Words and expressions from Latin and French and Greek in the 14th.Inflectional forms dropped and grammar simplified.3. Religious literatureThe issue of personal salvation.Moral and spiritual responsibilities of individual rather than

14、his ethical and social responsibilities.Conventional theme: homiletic paraphrases of the Gospels4. Romance and the influence of French literatureThrough French literature the introduction of Italian literature.Chief breeding ground was the aristocratic society in France in the 12th and early 13th an

15、d was introduced into England in the second half of the 13th and the 14th.In subject matters, romance naturally falls under three categories.1) The matter of France: the exploits of Charlemagne the Great and Roland, a national hero in the 8th, Chanson de Roland.2) The matter of Rome: Alexander the G

16、reat and the siege of Troy.3) The matter of Britain: the Arthurian legend, Sir Gawain, Launcelot, Merlin, the Holy Grail, the death of King Arthur.Sir Gawain and the Green KnightWritten about 1375-1400.About 2500 lines.Four “fyttes”.Green ChapelFirst day, a deer; second day, a boar; the third day a

17、fox. A girdle. the Order of GarterA true knight should not only dedicate himself to the church but also should possess the virtues of great courage, of fidelity to his promise, and of physical chastity and purity.It contained several element which prepared for a new culture.A vivid portrayal of the

18、hero and a fine analysis of his psychology.A well unified and exciting plot full of climaxes and surprises.The three hunting scenes and the three bedchamber scenes are closely related with each other.A mixture of Anglo-Saxon poetry, the musical effect of which depends on the alliterated initial syll

19、ables and French poetry, the musical effect of which depends on the fixed number of accented and unaccented syllables in a verse line. Paragraphs of long alliterative lines of varying length are followed by a single line of two syllables, called “the bob”, and a group of four-stressed lines called “

20、the wheel”, i.e., a set of short lines forming the concluding part of a stanza.3. Chapter Three The Age of Chaucer (1350-1400)Historical backgroundChaucer and William Langland (1330?-1400?) and the writer of Sir Gawain were contemporaries.But he deserves a period of his own.Two historical events whi

21、ch their influence can be detected in the writings of Chaucer and Langland: The Hundred Years War from the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) to the reign of Henry VI (1421-1471), or from 1337-1453; the peasant uprising of 1381, the reign of King Richard II.The Hundred Years War for the French throne.T

22、he first seven English kings were in fact living in France.Starting from King Henry III, England became the principal concern of the English kings.An awakening of national consciousness in England. No longer vassals to the French but claimed that they had the right to succeed the French throne. And

23、the French language was gradually replaced by the native tongue.Peasant uprising. John Ball: “When Adam delved and Eve span / Who was then the gentlemen?”From Kent to London under the leadership of Wat Tyler.William Langland and another writer John Wycliff (1324?-1384) expressed peoples hatred for t

24、he church and the government.John Wycliff (1324?-1384)One of the first figures who demanded to reform the church.Translated the Bible into standard English. Fixed a national standard for English prose to replace various dialects. Father of English prose.Many pamphlets in Latin to attack the feudal l

25、ords and the church. Opposed to the claim of the Pope to the English throne. Civil authority had the right to deprive the church of the property if it proved unworthy of peoples trust. The views were taken over by the peasants in their uprising.William Langland (1330?-1400?)Piers Plowman, or The Vis

26、ion of Piers Plowman, another alliterative poem besides Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Giving a realistic picture of the 14th century England.The form of allegory, a story or description in which the characters and events symbolize some deeper underlying meaning, and serve to spread moral teaching

27、. An allegory has a double meaning. A primary or surface meaning, and a secondary meaning, or underlying meaning. In an allegory, abstract qualities or ideas, such as patience, purity or truth, are personified as characters in the story.The visions the poet had on a May morning.A high tower TruthA d

28、eep dungeon the Father of FalsenessPeople from all walks of life, laymen and religious people.Gluttony.Lady Meed (bribery) to be married to Falseness but protested by Theology. The king proposed to marry her to Conscience but failed. Meed is expelled and Conscience and Reason become kings counseller

29、s.Conscience preaching to the people and Repentance moving their hearts, including the Seven Deadly Sins. People came to seek for truth but no one knows the way. Then Piers Plowman appears. This episode suggests that man should do the task that falls to his lot.Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1340-1400)Born i

30、n a wine merchant family with rising fortunes.Grew up in London.1357, a page at court.1359, joined the army in the Hundred Years War and was taken prisoner.1360, returned to England and married a maid of honour of the queen.For the next ten years in the Continent on diplomatic missions.1382, Control

31、ler of Customs at the port of London.1386, PM from KentJohn of Gaunt (Duke of Lancaster. 1340-1399. English soldier. The fourth son of Edward III, he ruled England during his fathers last years and in the beginning of Richard IIs reign.) as his patron.- A great variety of occupations and experiences

32、 as well as close observation of life made him familiar with the lives of various classes.Died on Oct 25, 1400, the Poets Corner in WestminsterAbbey.Works divided into 3 periods, corresponding to the 3 periods of his life.(1) 1360-1372, wrote under the influence of the French literature, even transl

33、ated French poems himself. Poem The Book of the Duchess, much of conventional romance elements in it.(2) 1372-1386, under the influence of the Italian literature. Troilus and Cryseyde, adapted from a long poem by Boccaccio, the writer of The Decameron. The Parliament of Fowls and The House of Fame.(

34、3) the last 15 years of his life. The Canterbury Tales between 1387 and 1400. A general prologue and 24 tales that are connected by “links”.Tarbard Inn. 29 pilgrims to St. Thomas Becketts tomb at Canterbury.The host is Harry Bailey. Expected to tell 120 tales, i.e. each person tells 4 tales.The sign

35、ificance of The Canterbury Tales(1). A comprehensive picture of Chaucers time. The gentle class; the burgher class, the wife of Bath included, who has married five times; the professionals. All persons connected with the church are drown with touches of gentle irony and mild satire, with the exception of the poor parson. His satire can be the bitterest in the portrayal of the pardoner and t