文艺复兴1therenaissanceperiod

1、桃花依旧笑春风The Renaissance Period (1485-1660)1 I Brief IntroductionThe Renaissance (French for rebirth; Italian: Rinascimento, from re- again and nascere be born was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading t

2、o the rest of Europe . its influence affected literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism and human emotion in art.22 Theoretical base：the rising of humanismA

3、 Core：Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors.B Base：It was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.3II. Background: the society was in its transition from the feudalism to capitalismThe

4、New Monarchy Henry VII (1485-1509) founded the Tudor dynasty, a centralized monarchy of a totally new type, which met the needs of the rising bourgeoisie composed by merchants and handicraftsmen. The Wars of Roses(1455-1485) : Richard II the last king by direct succession, died without heirs. The Ho

5、use of LancasterThe red rose, the House of York, the white rose. When Richard died, his throne is lost to Henry IV by usurpation, the first king of Lancaster. Henry the VII inherited down from the House of Lancaster, but later on he married Elizabeth of York house, hence the Tudor dynasty, which rec

6、oncile the two sides by marrying.4 Absolute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. (from 1558 to1603).52. The Reformation Henry VIII (1509-1547) declared him to be the “supreme Head of the English Church and Clergy , confiscated the property of the Church, thus e

7、nriching the new bourgeoisie nobility. The Protestant reformation:Jonh Wycliffe (1320-1384)-the Morning Star of the ReformationMan stands directly under God and needs no mediation from church and priest.63. The Rise of BourgeoisieThe enclosure movementThe Commercial expansion-Queen Elizabeth encoura

8、ged exploration and travelThe war with Spain (1588)-a victory of England over Spain is also the triumph of the rising young bourgeoisie over the declining old feudalism7III. The Renaissance and HumanismTwo features of the intellectual movement1.A thirsting curiosity for the classical literature-admi

9、re the Greek and Latin works2. The keen interest in activities of humanity- admire human beauty and human achievement8Humanism ( the key-note of the Renaissance)According to humanist: both man and the world are hindered only by external checks from infinite improvement. Man could mould the world acc

10、ording to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of reason.All things that move between the quiet poles/ Shall be at my command-Christopher Marlowe9* The Beginning of the English Renaissance (1495-1558) Thomas More: Utopia. * The Elizabethan Period(1558-162

11、5). Poetry: Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser, Shakespeare Drama: Marlowe, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson (comedian)Prose: Francis Bacon 10IV. The literature of the period1. The Beginning of the English Renaissance (1495-1558)Renaissance reached England late. In the late half of the 14th century, Chaucer v

12、isited Italy, the introduction of printing to England by William Caxton brought the classical works to England. It was only near the end of 15th century until Henry VIII access to the throne in 1509 that a notable Renaissance took place in England.The writers in this period:Oxford Reformers and Thom

13、as More. 11Revival or rebirth of classical arts, culture and philosophy after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. Its a great cultural and intellectual movement swept the whole of Europe. The movement was from 1485 to 1625 marked by an awakening interest in learning in the individual and the wor

14、ld of nature. The key word for it is humanism, which emphasizes the belief in human beings, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. It originally indicates a revival of classical arts and learning after the dark

15、ages of medieval obscurantism. Its aim is to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval time and introduce new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie. Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe are all famous literary figures.12Oxford Reformers: They are William Grocyn, Thomas Linna

16、cre, and John Colet, who were reformers, professors, graduates and students of Oxford University, with Thomas More as their representatives. They traveled to Italy or France to come into contact with the spirit of the Renaissance humanism and accepted the new philosophy and culture that were rising

17、there, and they began to spread the ideas of the Renaissance in England after they returned. They made Oxford University as a center of the classical studies. Their new world outlook prepared the way for the appearance of a new literature in the second half of the 16th century.13Thomas More (1478-15

18、35)(the first and foremost humanist)Life: in 1529 the Lord Chancellor of England under Henry VIII in 1535 beheaded on a false charge of treason2. works: Utopia (1516)- Mores masterpiece, written in the form of a conversation between More and Hythloday, a returned voyager. It is divided in two books.

19、 The first contains a long discussion on the social conditions of England. In the second book is described in detail an ideal communist society, Utopia. Utopia: (from Greek)-no place which is adopted by More as the name of his ideal commonwealth.143. Specific Introduction of UtopiaBook I : is a pict

20、ure of contemporary England with forcible exposure of the poverty among the laboring class, the greed and luxury among the rich, and an eagerness fro war on the part of the rulers.-the savage laws Hythloday, a learned man has been to Utopia, a kind of “Nowwhere Land” mentioned the Utopians and their

21、 wise laws. 152) Book II: nine sections-a sketch of an ideal commonwealth3) Significance: Utopia offers the best ideal social system possible that could be offered at the time. It outlines the ideal set of basics governing human institutions and regulating human life. On the whole the Utopian system

22、 represents a substantial improvement over the existing system of England16Contribution: a. More understood that the principle “From everyone according to his capacities, to everyone according to his needs” is the only practical basis fro a communist society.b. More touched upon the question of the

23、separation of town and country.c. More emphasizes the importance of labor for every member of the Utopian society, and insists upon a maximum working day of six hours, which ensures the provision of all necessaries.17Limitation:Though a great thinker, More was no revolutionary in sense of wishing to

24、 arouse the people or to start any revolutionary movement among the exploited class.There is also the slave system, retaining the features of class exploitation.No means was founded to realize the Utopian system at that time.18安能摧眉折腰事权贵，使我不得开心颜。李白19Francis Bacon (1561-1626)20Francis Bacon -the found

25、er of English materialist philosophyLife Bacon was born in London, studied law at Cambridge at the age of 12, was part of the embassy in France until 1579, and became a member of Parliament 1584 at 23 . In 1596 he became a Queens Counsel. In 1618, having risen to Lord Chancellor. He was charged to b

26、ribe-taking and deprived of his office, fined and banished from London. From then on he devoted himself to science and writing, in both Latin and English. Satirist Alexander Pope called Bacon “the wisest, brightest, and meanest of mankind”? Li Bai212. Bacons works: *Essays(随笔) (1597)- characterized

27、by pith and brevity - 58 Bacon is the first English essayist. * Advancement of Learning(学术的推进(1605)-a seminal work discussing scientific method; the founder of Modern science in England * New Instrument （新工具）(1620) -a statement what is called the Inductive Method of Reasoning. *The New Atlantis（新大西岛

28、） (1626)-describing a utopian state in which scientific knowledge is systematically sought and exploited 223.Essays by Bacon Montaign(1533-1592)a. Bacons Essays covers a wide variety of subjects, such as love, truth, friendship, parents and children, beauty, studies , riches, youth and age, garden,

29、and many others. They have won popularity for their precision, clearness, brevity and force. Many of his sentences have become wise old sayings. -”Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark.” “ Reading makes a full man。” Some of the best reading include “Of Truth”, “ Of Beauty”, “ Of Studies”

30、23b. The style of Bacons essay:The language is very neat, prt and weighty. The sentences are very short and the author likes to use more loose and compound sentences, which are called loose and free style in Bacons time. Bacon also likes to use more co-ordinate conjunctions than the subordinated one

31、s, such as “as, since, because”. Whats more important is that he likes to use parallelism, and his topics are very clear and exact, full of epigrams like a poem. So we can say his style is conciseness of expression and simplicity of diction. 24Of Studies Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and

32、for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business.读书足以怡情，足以傅彩，足以长才。其怡情也，最见于独处幽居之时；其傅彩也，最见于高谈阔论之中；其长才也，最见于处 世判事之际。 25Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously;