英国文学笔记

1、A Brief Outline of British Literature History?Medieval Literature (5 A.D. -1485) ( 中世纪文学 ) Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 1400 )2. The English Renaissance (1500-1625) (文艺复兴时期文学)Thomas More（ 1478 1535）Edmund Spenser（1552 1599）Christopher Marlowe （ 1564 1593）Francis Bacon （ 1561 1626）William Shakespeare（ 1564

2、 1616）3. The Seventeenth century (17th century)( 17世纪文学 )John Milton（1608 1674）John Donne （ 1572 1631）John Bunyan （ 1628 1688）4. English Enlightenment and neo-Classicism (17th century -18th century ) (英国启蒙运动和新古典主义文学 )Alexander Pope （ 1688 1744）Jonathan Swift（ 1667 1745 ）Daniel Defoe（ 1660 1731）Henry

3、 Fielding（ 1707 1754）5. Romanticism in England (1798-1832) ( 浪漫主义时期文学 )Robert Burns（ 1759 1796）William Blake（ 1757 1827）William Wordsworth (1770 1850)Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 1834)George Gordon Byron(1788 1824)Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822)John Keats (1795-1821)6. English Realism (1830s-1918)

4、 ( 现实主义时期文学) /Victorian Age (1832 1901)Robert Browning (1821 1889)Alfred Tennyson ( 1809 1892)Jane Austen (1775 1817)The Bronte SistersCharles Dickens (1812 1870)William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 1863)Thomas Hardy (1840 1928)Joseph Conrad ( 1857 1924)Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)George Bernard Shaw (1856-

5、1950)7. Modernism (1918-1945) ( 现代主义文学)T.S. Eliot (1888 1965)William Butler Yeats (1865 1939)James Joyce (1882 1941)Virginia Woolf (1882 1941)D.H. Lawrence (1885 1930)?1. Medieval Literature (5 A.D. -1485) (中世纪文学 )Beowulf贝奥武夫 : the national epic of the English people.romance (浪漫传奇 )： the most prevai

6、ling kind of literature in feudal England1Theme: loyalty to king and lordKing Arthur and his knights of the Round Table 亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 高文爵士和绿衣骑士Geoffrey Chaucer (1340- 1400)Literary Position: The father of English poetryMasterpiece: The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集（Old Englis

7、h ）Literary Achievements: Heroic couplet ( 英雄双韵体 )2. The English Renaissance (1500-1625)文(艺复兴时期文学 )The word Renaissance means（revival复活）. The term originally indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism（蒙昧主义） .Humanism: the essence

8、 of RenaissanceEdmund Spenser (1552- 1599): the poets poetMasterpiece :The Faerie Oueene仙后Thomas More（ 1478-1535）Masterpiece: Utopia （乌托邦）Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593):most gifted of the University Wits（大学才子派）.Masterpiece: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. 浮士德博士的悲剧Francis Bacon (1561-1626 )L

9、iterary Position: the founder of modern science in England; one of the earliest essayist(散文家）in English languageMasterpiece : Essays论说文集Of Studies (论读书 )William Shakespeare(1564 1616)Literary Position: not of an age, but for all time ,the greatest giant of English language and poetic form,one of the

10、 founders of realism in world literature, one of the greatest writers in the worlds literature.Literary Achievements:38 plays (comedies(喜剧） , histories（历史剧） , tragedies（悲剧） , tragicomedies/romances（悲喜剧）2 narrative poemssonnets (Sonnets 1-126 addressed to a young man, Sonnets 127-152 addressed to Dar

11、k Lady , Sonnets 153-154 addressed to Cupid, the God of love in Greekmythology )Plays (4 periods)1. First period (1592-1594): His apprenticeship in plays.Historical plays: King Henry VI亨利六世 , Richard 查理三世Comedies: Love sLabour sLost 爱的徒劳Second period (1595-1600): Mature period, a marked increase in

12、the knowledge of humanism Romeo and Juliet罗密欧与朱丽叶(4 大喜剧 ): A Midsummer Night s Dream仲夏夜之梦The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人2As You Like It皆大欢喜Twelfth Night 第十二夜Third period (1601-1608): Flourishing period, a period of gloomy and depression (4 大悲剧 ): Hamlet 汉姆雷特Othello 奥赛罗King Lear 李尔王Macbeth麦克白Fourth perio

13、d (1608-1612): The period of romantic drama in the form of tragicomedies Reconciliation plays: The Winter s Tale冬天的童话 , The Tempest暴风雨3. The Seventeenth century (17th century)( 17世纪文学 )Historical backgroundThe English revolution （英国革命 ） and the Restoration （王朝复辟） .Causes: the conflict between the mo

14、narch and Parliament; the persecution of the PuritansThe bourgeois Dictatorship and the RestorationGlorious Revolution a bloodless revolutionThe constitutional monarchy.John Milton (1608 1674)Literary PositionA master of the Blank verseThe greatest English revolutionary poet of the 17th centuryOne o

15、f the greatest poets of the English languageLiterary AchievementsPoemsParadise Lost 失乐园(1667): his masterpiece The greatest epic in English literature.Paradise Regained (1671) 复乐园Samson Agonistes (1671) 力士参孙Paradise Lost 失乐园 John MiltonIntroductionLong epic in 12 booksWritten in blank verseBased on

16、Genesis创世纪 in the Old Testament Dramatizes the Biblical account of humanitys banishment.Theme Milton s aimed purpose: justify the ways of God to man （昭示天道对人的公正） Real purpose: Challenge the restored monarchGod tyrannical, represents the kingSatan rebelling against monarchLove between Adam and Eve hum

17、an pursuit for happiness, the spirit of RenaissanceWriting features Milton style: Sonority 洪亮 , Eloquence 雄辩 , Majesty 尊严 , Grandeur 壮美The blank verseLong and involved sentencesJohn Donne (1572-1631) Literary Position founder of Metaphysical School（玄学派） the greatest of the metaphysical poets.3Litera

18、ry AchievementsSongs and Sonnets 歌与十四行诗The Flea 跳蚤Holy Sonnets圣十四行诗: Holy Sonnet 10Features of metaphysical poetry: conceits（奇喻） strange paradoxes（悖论） far-fetched （牵强的） imageryJohn Bunyan (1628-1688):Masterpiece: The Pilgrim s Progress天路历程4. English Enlightenment and neo-Classicism (17th century -18

19、th century )(英国启蒙运动和新古典主义文学) (1688-1798)Historical BackgroundComparatively peaceful development under the constitutional monarchyA compromise between Tory and WhigThe leading navel power in Europe2. The Industrial Revolution工业革命Unprecedented technical innovationsRapid growth of industry and commerce

20、The EnlightenmentAn intellectual movement in Europe began in the late 17th and 18th centuries and ended with the French revolution of 178918th century : Age of Reason/ Age of Enlightenment1. Importance a lasting heritage for the 19th and 20th centuryit marked a key stage in the decline of the church

21、 and the growth of modern secularism(世俗主)it served as the model for political and economic liberalism.The development of Poetry : neo-Classicism 新古典主义Characteristic of neo-Classicism1). Emphasizing reason rather than emotion, form rather than content.2). Didactic and satirical3). Heroic Couplet ( 英雄

22、双韵体 )4). Town poetry writing for the rising bourgeoisieAlexander Pope (1688-1744)Literary Position an outstanding enlightener The greatest and the most important representative of the English classical poetry.The Rise of FictionDaniel DefoeJonathan SwiftHenry FieldingFictionThe mainstream of 18th ce

23、ntury literature, & The rise and growth of realistic novel the most prominent achievement of 18th century English literatureDaniel Defoe (1660-1731)Literary PositionFather of English novel4Literary Achievements: Robinson Crusoe(1719)鲁宾逊漂游记Defoes masterpieceThe first English novel in a real senseThe

24、first English realistic novelRobinson CrusoeDaniel DefoeTheme: to sing the praises of human labor to celebrate the strength of human rational will to conquer the natural environment to beautify colonialism & Negro slaveryPlot:run away from home becomesailor a planter in Brazil to an uninhabited isla

25、ndbecause of shipwreck made a living there all by himselfnegro namedsaveFridaywho became his servant back to England visit the remote island again and Friday waskilled3. Robinson Crusoe s characterization:typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical, diligent, a restless curiosity to kno

26、w more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges; shrewd, care about money and good at managing; courageous and intelligent to overcome all kinds of obstaclesJonathan Swift (1667-1745)Literary Positionone of the greatest masters of English Pr

27、osea master satirist（讽刺作家）Style of Swift s prose:simple, clear and vigorous. His famous sayingProper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style”influenced a lot laterwriters.Literary AchievementsBooksThe Battle of Books 书籍之战A Tale of Tub 一个桶子的故事Guliver s Travels格列佛游记 his masterpiec

28、e: a satire on the whole English society of the 18th century.PamphletsThe Draper s Letters一个布商的书信A Modest Proposal 一个温和的建议 (A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents)Guliver s Travels格列佛游记 Jonathan SwiftPlot:Part I: A Voyage to Lilli

29、putPart II: A Voyage to BrobdingnagPart III: A V oyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg and JapanPart IV: A V oyage to the Country of the HouyhnhnmsHenry Fielding (1707-1754)Literary AchievementsThe History of Tom Jones, A Founding 弃儿汤姆琼斯Literary Position5 The founder of English realist

30、ic novel-setting up the theory of realism in literary position.5. Romanticism in England (1798-1832) 浪(漫主义时期文学 )Pre-Romanticism: Latter half of the 18th centuryRobert BurnsWilliam BlakeRomantic revivalA strong protest against the bondage of Classicism (=Formalism)A recognition of the claims of passi

31、on and emotion.RepresentativesRobert Burns (1759-1796) 罗伯特彭斯 William Blake (1757-1827)威廉布莱克Robert Burns (1759-1796)Literary position the national poet of Scotland A poet of the peasants, a poet of the peopleLiterary AchievementsPoems chiefly in the Scottish Dialect 苏格兰方言诗集A Red, Red Rose一朵红红的玫瑰 ,Aul

32、d Long Syne 昔日时光A Mans A Man for A. That无论何时都要保持尊严My Hearts in the Highlands 我的心在高原 .ThemeLove and friendshipThe natural beauty of his native ScotlandThe life and label of the common peopleThe patriotism of his compatriots and their struggle for libertyFeatures of his poetryScottish dialectWilliam B

33、lakeLiterary Position a Pre-Romantic or a forerunner （先驱）of the Romantic poetry of the 19th centuryLiterary Achievements :Songs of Innocence 天真之歌Songs of Experience经验之歌Songs of Innocence天真之歌 Written for children, express the poets delight in life.a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and inno

34、cent world without evils andsufferingsTo depict the happy condition of a child before it knows anything about the pains of experience.Simple without being na? ve, childlike without being childish, innocent, everything seems to be in harmony.e.g. The Lamb 羔羊Songs of Experience经验之歌Much mature workThe

35、atmosphere is no longer sunny but sad and gloomy.Presenting a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone.6e.g. The Tiger 老虎The Age of Romanticism (1798-1832)Political and social factorsThe American and French revolution: an upsurge of national liberation and democra

36、tic movementsAmerican revolution (1775-1783) The formation of the independent United States.French revolution of 1789 Liberty, equality and fraternity 2. The Industrial RevolutionIntellectual Background -Shift from emphasis on reason to instinct and emotion General characteristic features (style)Sub

37、jectivismSpontaneitySingularitySimplicity: everyday language spoken by the rustic peopleA dominating note of melancholyA freer verse formRomantic PoetryLake poets (湖畔派诗人 ) the passive or escapist romanticists: Wordsworth, Coleridge,Southey detesting the real world, escaping from the reality.Revoluti

38、onary poets( 革命派诗人 ) (Active or radical) romanticists: Byron, Shelley, Keats striving to strengthen man s will to live and raise him up against the darkness in the world.Lake Poets (湖畔派诗人 )William WordsworthSamuel Taylor ColeridgeRobert SoutheyWilliam Wordsworth (1770-1850)Literary Position Poet Lau

39、reate 桂冠诗人 （ 1843） the best and the most famous romantic poet A great poet of natureLiterary AchievementsLyrical Ballads (1798) 抒情歌谣集:The Prelude (1850) 序曲： Wordsworth s autobiographical poem. Major works:I wondered lonely as a cloud 我好似一朵流云独自漫游Lucy Poems 露西The Solitary Reaper 孤独的收割女Major concernNat

40、ureThe life of ordinary peoplePoetic features Simplicity and purity of his language.Lyrical Ballads (1798) 抒情歌谣集 William WordsworthWritten by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor ColeridgeMarked the break with the conventional poetic tradition of 18th century classicism, and the beginning of romanticism in

41、English poetryThe preface serves as the manifesto of the English romantic movements in poetry.The principle of poetry: All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling. 7所有好诗都是强烈感情的自然流露. William WordsworthSamuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)Literary positionPoet, critic, and philosophe

42、r of Romanticism.Literary AchievementThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) 古舟子吟Kubla Khan (1816)忽必烈汗Robert Southey (1774-1843)Revolutionary Poets （革命派诗人）George Gordon ByronPercy Bysshe ShelleyJohn KeatsGeorge Gordon Byron (1788 1824)Lifeborn in a noble familyinherited the baronial titlegraduated fr

43、om Cambridge Universityentered House of Lordsstrongly criticized by those conservatives and at last left England stayed in Italy and then Greecedied in Greece at 36Literary Positionone of the most excellent representatives of English Romanticism.His literary career was closely linked with the strugg

44、le and progressive movements of his age.Major WorksChild Harold sPilgrimage 恰尔德哈罗德游记One of his most readable booksDon Juan 唐璜His masterpieceByronic Heroes The men with fiery and unbending will express the poet s own ideal of freedom. The men who rise against tyranny and injusticeDon Juan 唐璜 George G

45、ordon Byron1. Hero of the long poem:Don Juan, a Spanish young man born in a noble family; strange adventures he has experienced (Greece, Turkey, Russia and England);2. A panorama of the whole Europe and a strong satirePercy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822)Literary Position The great poet of revolutionary

46、romanticism in England.The most wonderful lyric poet England has ever producedMajor Works Prometheus Unbound 解放了的普罗米修斯 lyrical drama Ode to the West Wind 西风颂Artistic Features Lyrics intensity8Lyrics on politicsLyrics on natureLyrics on love Revolutionary ardency Optimistic idealism Image （意象） & symb

47、ol （象征）Ode to the West Wind西风颂It made Shelley the greatest English lyrical poet, and is the lyric of lyrics.1. Main ideaThe old world must go, a new word must come with the Spring, laden with fresh sweet promises for suffering humanity.2.1). Stanza West wind isBlowing over the landDriving dead leave

48、s awayCarrying the seeds to wintry bed so that they would grow up next year.Both a destroyer and preserverA destroyer of old, useless, decaying things, such as dead leaves.A preserver of new, life-going things, such as seeds.2). Stanza West wind isSweeping in the skyGathering the loose cloudsPrepari

49、ng a storm with black rain, lightening and hailCalling the dirge of the dying year3). Stanza West wind isMoving across the seaFrom the Mediterranean to the Atlantic OceanBecoming stronger and strongerEven frightening the sea vegetation4). Stanza The poet compares “ I ” to and with the west wind if s

50、Poetic inspirationThe poet s personality5). Stanza The poet s wishesTo share the spirit of the west windTo use his poem to quicken a new birth and awaken the earthThe poet s prophecyIf winter comes, can spring be far behind?West wind: A symbolStrength, powerChange of seasonApproaching revolutionThe

51、poet s personalityThe poetic inspirationA revolutionary spiritThe destroyer of the old worldthe preserver of the new world9Hope for the new lifeJohn Keats (1795 1821)Literary AchievementShort Poems of the numerous short poems by Keats, the most important are his sonnets andodes.Ode on Melancholy 忧郁颂

52、 Ode to Nightingale夜莺颂 Ode to Autumn秋颂Ode on a Grecian Urn 希腊古瓮颂Features1. A clean split with 18th century classicism.Byron& Shelley: attempted to remold the contemporary society with both poetry and political action.Keats: restricted his application of the principle of liberty to the sphere of Art.

53、2. Beauty in truth, truth in beauty.（美即现实，现实即美）Keats found beauty in nature, in literature, esp. poetry, and in human struggle for liberty.English Realism (1830s-1918) (现实主义时期文学 ) /The Victorian Age (1832 1901)Charles DickensWilliam Makepeace ThackerayThe Bront? SistersHistorical backgroundThe Victo

54、rian Age First Period (1832-1848): a time of social unrest The mid-Victorian Period (1848-1870): The heyday of the Victorian Age The last period: (1870-1901): The decay of Victorian valuesThe end of poetry poemThe rise of novels Novel: dominant literary genreCritical RealismAppeared in 19th century

55、and flourished in 1840s and early 50sRepresentativesCharles DickensThackerayThe Bront? Sisters3. Basic characteristicsTo expose and criticize the evil and injustice of capitalist societyTo satirize the ruling classes and show sympathy for the common peopleEssentially democratic and humanistic attitu

56、deAiming at social reform rather than revolution.Charles Dickens (1812 1870)Literary Position The greatest and outstanding representative of English critical realism Literary Achievements: Three periods The 1st period (1836-1841): Na?ve optimism, Virtue will triumph in long run. Sketches By Boz 博兹特写

57、集 The Pickwick Papers 匹克威克外传 Oliver Twist 雾都孤儿10Nicholas Nickleby 尼古拉斯尼克尔贝The Old Curiosity Shop 老古玩店The 2nd period (1842-1850): period of excitement and irritation, his na?ve optimism aboutcapitalism was profoundly shaken.American Note 美国札记Martin Chuzzlewit 马丁 朱述儿维特Dombey and the Son 董贝父子David Copp

58、erfield 大卫 科波菲尔The 3rd period (1851-1870): a Period of steadily intensifying pessimism, his loss of hope for English bourgeoisBleak House 荒凉山庄Hard Times 艰难时世 Little Dorrit小杜丽A Tale of Two Cities 双城记Great Expectation 远大前程 /孤星血泪Our Mutual Friend 我们共同的朋友Features of Dickenss NovelsCharacter Sketches & E

59、xaggeration( grotesque characters)Broad Humor & Penetrating SatireComplicated & Fascinating PlotThe Power of ExposureWilliam Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)Literary PositionOne of the outstanding representatives of English critical realism.A great satiristLiterary AchievementsVanity Fair 名利场 his mas

60、terpieceThe Bront? SistersCharlotte Bront? Jane Eyre 简爱Emily Bront? Wuthering Heights 呼啸山庄 Anne Bront? Agnes Grey 艾格尼斯格雷Themes of Jane EyreThe criticism of the bourgeois system of educationJane Eyre, the heroine of the novel, maintains that women should have equal rights with men.Jane Austen (1775-1