English Literature of the Victorian Age 维多利亚时期的英国文学

English Literature of the Victorian Age1. The Victorian Period:Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides withthe reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from1836to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history. II. Historical Background1. economy: Industrial Revolution (1760 – 1840)2. politics: Chartist movement (1838 – 1848) 宪章运动3. science: Darwin’s theory of evolution(1859)4. society: the women question Queen Victoria ( 1837 – 1901)The early years of the Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems.III. Critical Realism1. definition----English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the 40s and in the early 50s. It found its expression in the form of novel. The critical realists, most of whom were novelists, described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint.2. Features:Victorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude & diversity. It was many-sided & complex, & reflected both romantically & realistically the great changes that were going on in people’s life & thought. Great writers & great works abounded.a. introduction of characters from the working classb. strong hatred for vices in the societyc. an illusion of bringing about social justice and harmony by reformsd. an interest in woman emancipation (Charlotte Bronte)3. Representatives:Charles Dickens; William Thackeray etc.4. Features of Victorian novelsIn this period，the novel became the most widely read & the most vital & challenging expression of progressive thought. While sticking to the principle of faithful representation of the 18th-century realist novel, novelists in this period carried their duty forward to the criticism of the society & the defense of the mass. Although writing from different points of view & with different techniques, they shared one thing in common, that is, they were all concerned about the fate of the common people. They were angry at the inhuman social institutions, the decaying social morality as represented by the money-worship & Utilitarianism & the widespread misery, poverty & injustice. Their truthful depiction of people’s life & bitter & strong criticism of the society had done much in awakening the public consciousness to the social problems & in the actual improvement of the society.Victorian literature, in general, truthfully represents the reality & spirit of the age. The high-spirited vitality, the down-to-earth earnestness, the good-natured humor & unbounded imagination are all unprecedented. In almost every genre it paved the way for the coming century, where its spirits, values & experiments are to witness their bumper harvest.The Chartist Movement （1836-1848）The English workers got themselves organized in big cities & brought forth the People’s charter, in which they demanded basic rights & better living & working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of people’s signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.UtilitarianismAlmost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost & brought greater suffering & poverty to the working mass.Critical RealismThe Victorian Age is an age of realism rather than of romanticism-a realism which strives to tell the whole truth showing moral & physical diseases as they are. To be true to life becomes the first requirement for literary writing. As the mirror of truth, literature has come very close to daily life, reflecting its practical problems & interests & is used as a powerful instrument of human progress.Dramatic MonologueBy dramatic monologue, it is meant that a poet chooses a dramatic moment or a crisis, in which his characters are made to talk about their lives, & about their minds & hearts. In “listening” to those one-sided talks, readers can form their own opinions & judgments about the speaker’s personality & about what has really happened. Robert Browning brought this poetic form to its maturity & perfection & his “My Last Duchess” is one of the best-known dramatic monologues.Further Reading:After the Reform Bill of 1832 passed the political powerfrom the decaying aristocrats into the hands of the middle-class industrial capitalists, the Industrial Revolution soongeared up. Towards the mid-century, England had reachedits highest point of development as a world power. Andyet beneath the great prosperity & richness, there existedwidespread poverty & wretchedness among the workingclass. The worsening living & working conditions, themass unemployment & the new Poor Law of 1834 with itsworkhouse system finally gave rise to the Chartist Movement (1836-1848).During the next twenty years, England settled down to a time of prosperity & relative stability. The middle-class life of the time was characterized by prosperity, respectability & material progress.But the last three decades of the century witnessed the decline of the British Empire & the decay of the Victorian values.Ideologically, the Victorians experienced fundamental changes. The rapid development of science & technology, new inventions & discoveries in geology, astronomy, biology & anthropology drastically shook people’s religious convictions. Darwin’s The Origin of Species (1859) & The Descent of Man (1871) shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. On the other hand, Utilitarianism was widely accepted & practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness.Charles Dickens (1812-1870)I. Life:1. a middle class family2. once was a child labor in a shoe-blacking factory3. a clerk, a reporter, a writer4. the poets’ cornerII. Major Works1. Oliver Twist;雾都孤儿2. David Copperfield;大卫·科波菲尔(autobiographical)3. Hard Times; 艰难时世4. A Tale of Two Cities双城记III. three periodsa. optimismb. frustrationc. pessimism1. Period of youthful optimistSketches by Boz 《博兹札记》(1836); The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club 《匹克威克外传》(1836-1837); Oliver Twist 《雾都孤儿》or 《苦海孤雏》(1837-1838); Nicholas Nickleby《尼古拉斯·尼克贝》(1838-1839); The Old Curiosity Shop《老古玩店》( 1840-1841); Barnaby Rudge《巴纳比·拉奇》(1841)2. Period of excitement & irritationAmerican Notes 《美国纪行》(1842); Martin Chuzzlewit 《马丁·翟述伟》(1843-1845)；A Christmas Carol 《圣诞颂歌》(1843); Dombey & Son 《董贝父子》(1846-1848); David Copperfield 《大卫·科波菲尔》(1849-1850)3. Period of steadily intensifying pessimismBleak House 《荒凉山庄》( 1852-1853); Hard Times 《艰难时世》(1854); Little Dorrit 《小杜丽》(1855-1857); A Tale of Two Cities 《双城记》(1859); Great Expectations 《远大前程》or 《孤星血泪》(1860-1861); Our Mutual Friend 《我们共同的朋友》(1864-1865); Edwin Drood 《艾德温·德鲁德之谜》(unfinished) (1870)Distinct Features of His Novels1. Character Sketches & ExaggerationIn his novels are found about 19 hundred figures, some of whom are really such “typical characters under typical circumstances”, that they b ecome proverbial or representative of a whole group of similar persons.As a master of characterization, Dickens was skillful in drawing vivid caricatural sketches by exaggerating some peculiarities, & in giving them exactly the actions & words that fit them: that is, right words & right actions for the right person.2. Broad Humor & Penetrating SatireDickens is well known as a humorist as well as a satirist. He sometimes employs humor to enliven a scene or lighten a character by making it (him or her) eccentric, whimsical, or laughable. Sometimes he uses satire to ridicule human follies or vices, with the purpose of laughing them out of existence or bring about reform.3. Complicated & Fascinating PlotDickens seems to love complicated novel constructions with minor plots beside the major one，or two parallel major plots within one novel. He is also skillful at creating suspense & mystery to make the story fascinating.4. The Power of ExposureAs the greatest representative of English critical realism, Dickens made his novel the instrument of morality & justice. Each of his novels reveals a specific social problem.5.unnatural happy endingHis Literary Creation & Literary AchievementsCharles Dickens is one of the greatest critical realistic writers of the Victorian Age. It is his serious intention to expose & criticize in his works all the poverty, injustice, hypocrisy & corruptness he saw all around him. In his works, Dickens sets a full map & a large-scale criticism of the 19th-century England, particularly London. A combination of optimism about people & realism about society is obvious in these works. His representative works in the early period include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield & so on.His later works show a highly conscious modern artist. The settings are more complicated; the stories are better structured. Most novels of this period present a sharper criticism of social evils & morals of the Victorian England, for example, Bleak House, Hard Times, Great Expectations & so on. The early optimism could no more be found.Charles Dickens is a master story-teller. His language could, in a way, be compared with Shakespeare’s. His humor & wit seem inexhaustible. Character-portrayal is the most outstanding feature of his works. His characterizations of child (Oliver Twist, etc.), some grotesque people (Fagin, etc.) & some comical people (Mr. Micawber, etc.) are superb. Dickens also employsexaggeration in his works. Dickens’ works are also characterized by a mixture of humor & pathos. William Makepeace ThackerayI. Lifea. born in India;b. studied in Cambridge;c. gambling and bad investmentsd. has to make a living by writing articles for newspapers and magazines.II. featuresa. Just like Dickens, Thackeray is one of the greatest critical realists of the 19th century Europe. He paints life as he has seen it. With his precise and thorough observation, rich knowledge of social life and of the human heart, the pictures in his novels are accurate and true to life.b. Thackeray is a satirist. His satire is caustic and his humour subtle.c. Besides being a realist and satirist, Thackeray is a moralist. His aim is to produce a moral impression in all his novelsIII. Vanity Fair ----masterpiece1. title: from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.2. Subtitle: “A novel without a hero”the bourgeois and aristocratic society as a wholeno positive characters (c) female3. plot( p193 -196)Read the story from P137 to P138 by yourself. Make clear about the development of the plot and relations between main characters. (Rebecca Sharp, Amelia Sedley, Joseph Sedley, Sir Pitt Crawley, Rawdon Crawley, Lord Steyne, George Osborne, William Dobbin)Amelia: good-natured, sentimental, and simple-mindedGeorge Osborne: snobbish, caustic, selfish and simple-mindedJoseph Sedley: vain, selfish, effeminateWilliam Dobbin: good-natured, honestIII. Comparison between Thackeray and Dickenssimilarities:① both representatives of critical realism;② both novelists, humorists;③ both criticized the Victorian society satirically.2. differences:① D described the common people, T mainly described the lives of aristocrats and rich people.②D was a sentimentalist. T was a cynic who doubted the goodness of human nature as a spectator.③ D advocated social reforms, T was not a crusader for good causes.④ D was a romanticist, T was against all romantic conventions.George eliotI. life1. George Eliot (1819-1880), pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans, was born on Nov. 22, 1819 into anestate agent’s family in Warwickshire, England.2. Though brought up under strict religious influences, she early abandoned religious beliefs, adopted agnostic opinions about Christian doctrine, & showed a great interest in social & philosophical problems.3. At the age of 39, she started he literary career. Being a woman of intelligence & versatility, she quickly found herself ranking high among the great writers.4. In 1857, she wrote her first three stories which were later published in book form under the title of Scenes of Clerical Life.II. Literary Career1. her three most popular novels came successively, Adam Bede (1859), The Mill on the Floss (1860) & Silas Marner (1861), all drawn from her lifelong knowledge of English country life & notable for their realistic details, pungent characterization & high moral tone.2. 1863, Romola, a full elaborately documented story of Florence in the time of Savornarola.3. Felix Holt, the Radical, her only novel on English politics.4. 1872, Middlemarch, a panoramic book, George Eliot’s greatest achievement5. 1876, last novel, Daniel Deronda.These novels, together with a number of poems & a collection of satirical essays, The Impressions of Theophrastus Such, constitute a formidable body of work from a woman frail in health & working constantly under the apprehension of failure or worthlessness.III. Achievements1. Writing at the latter half of the 19th century & closely following the critical realist writers, George Eliot was working at something new.2. By joining the worlds of inward propensity & outward circumstances & showing them in the lives of her characters, she starts a new type of realism & sets into motion a variety of developments, leading in the direction of both the naturalistic & psychological novel.3. In her works, she seeks to present the inner struggle of a person & to reveal the motives, impulses & hereditary influences which govern human action.4. She is interested in the development of a soul, the slow growth or decline of moral power of the character.5. Eliot holds the belief that a certain act in daily life will produce a definite moral effect on the individual.6. Most of her novels are characterized by two features: moral teaching & psychological realism. IV.The theme of her worksAs a woman of exceptional intelligence & life experience, George Eliot shows a particular concern for the destiny of women, especially those with great intelligence, potential & social aspirations. In her mind, the pathetic tragedy of women lies in their very birth. Their inferior education & limited social life determine that they must depend on men for sustenance & realization of their goals, & they have only to fulfill the domestic duties expected of them by the society. Their opportunities of success are not even increased by wealth.Charlotte Bronte & Emily BronteI. Life of the Bronte sistersCharlotte(39), Emily(30) ,Anne(29)1. born in Yorkshire moors, daughters of a poor country clergyman.2. 2 elder daughters died in the charity school3. Charlotte and Emily once worked as governessesII. Jane Eyre 简·爱III. Wuthering Heights 呼啸山庄1. Plot (P264-268)a story about two families and an intruding stranger2. Point of view: first person point of view;3. narration: two dramatic narrators (Mr. Lockwood, and Nelly Dean)IV. detail-reading (268-278)1. content: Final meeting of Heathcliff and Catherine before Catherine’s death2. narrator: Nelly Dean3. their love: passion, love, agony, horror4. Catherine:a common girl who met an uncommon love. In her heart, the struggle between true love and tradition never ceased, and finally caused her early death.5. theme :a. criticism upon the materialism and social discrimination.b. hatred and revenge are meaningless; only love lasts forever.6. features: Romantic color (private passion and personal emotions; description of nature; Gothic elements)Gothic NovelThe word “Gothic”originally implied medieval, but in the later 18th century, when the Gothic novel became influential, the word added the implication of mystery, horror and supernatural. Gothic novel is a type of prose fiction which flourished in 1790s and early years in the 19th century. It once refers to the novel which produces stories set in lonely frightening Gothic places. It is now generally applied to literature dealing with the strange, mysterious and supernatural designed to invoke suspense and terror in the readers.On Gothic NovelThere is a strong Gothic strain in many mainstream 19th century works, including the works of the Brontes, Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and Hawthorne.In the 20th century, the genre flourished notably in popular horror fiction and films.Jane eyreSignificance:1. one of the most popular & important novels of the Victorian age.2. its introduction to the English novel the first governess heroine.II. Point of viewfirst person point of viewIII. Character (Jane Eyre)1. a naïve, kind-hearted, noble-minded woman who pursues a genuine kind of love.2. a middle-class workingwomen (governesses) struggling for recognition of her rights & equality as a human being.3. possessed of strong feelings, fiery passions & extraordinary personalities.IV. Themethe struggle of an individual towards self-realization.V. Style1. realism (criticism of the existing society) combined with romanticism (horror, mystery & prophesy)2. intensity of vision and passion3. The vividness of her subjective narration, the intensely achieved characterization4. vivid description of her intense feelingsVI. Detail-reading (Chapter XXIII)Jane finds herself hopelessly in love with Mr. Rochester but she is aware that her love is out of the question. So, when forced to confront Mr. Rochester, she desperately & openly declared her equality with him & her love for him. The passion described here is intense & genuine.Alfred Tennyson (1809－1892)I. life1809: Born at Somersby rectory, 4th son of the rector.1827: Poems by Two Brothers. Enters Trinity College, Cambridge.1829: Friendship with Arthur Hallam. love with Emily Tennyson.1831: Father dies.1832: brother Edward goes insane.1833: Hallam dies.1834: love with Rosa Baring1838: Engaged to Emily Sellwood.1840: Engagement broken off.1844: Has an emotional breakdown.1850: In Memoriam published anonymously. Marries Emily Sellwood. Appointed Poet Laureate. 1852: Son Hallam born.1862: Has first audience with Queen Victoria.II. Works:1. Poems by Two Brothers2. Poems, Chiefly Lyrical3. Poems (two volumes)4. The Princess5. Maud6. The Idylls of the King7. In MemoriamIII. Break, break, break(p294)IV. Features:1. T’s thoughts on the problems of life, death and immortality2. the conflict between the spirit and the flesh3. classical materialsRobert Browning & Elizabeth BarrettI. LifeLegendary love, happy marriageII. E’s WorksFrom Sonnets from the Portuguese(p305)III. Features:1. theme: love2. Feature: reason & emotion3. significance: set up new belief for Victorians who were thrown into a crisis in faithRobert BrowningRobert Browning (1812-1889) was born in a well-off family & received his education mainly from his private tutor, & from his father, who gave him the freedom to follow his own interest. In 1833, he published his first poetic work Pauline, which brought great embarrassment upon him. But in his second attempt Sordello (1840), he went too far in self-correction that the poem became so obscure as to be hardly readable. He even tried play writing but failed. All these frustrating experiences forced the poet to develop a literary form that suited him best & actually give full swing to this genius, i.e. the dramatic monologue.In 1846, Browning married Elizabeth Barrett, a famous poetess whose famous book of love poetry was Sonnets from the Portuguese. In 1869 Browing’s masterpiece, The Ring & the Book, came out. In 1889, Browning died & was buried in the Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, beside Tennyson.My Last Duchess"My Last Duchess" is Browning’s best-known dramatic monologue. The poem takes its sources from the life of Alfonso II, duke of Ferrara of the 16th-century Italy, whose young wife died suspiciously after three years of marriage. Not long after her death, the duke managed to arrange a marriage with the niece of another noble man. This dramatic monologue is the duke’s speech addressed to the agent who comes to negotiate the marriage. In his talk about his "last duchess," the duke reveals himself as a self-conceited, cruel & tyrannical man. The poem is written in heroic couplets, but with no regular metrical system. In reading, it sounds like blank verse.V. the Dramatic Monologue戏剧独白The dramatic monologue is a soliloquy in drama in which the voice speaking is not the poet himself, but a character invented by the poet, so that it reflects life objectively.Thomas Hardy(1840-1928)I. Life (novelist and poet)a. Born in Dorchester —“Wessex”b. close to peasantryc. belief in evolutionII. Works:1. Tess of the D’Urbervilles《德伯家的苔丝》2. Jude the Obscure《无名的裘德》3. The Return of the Native《还乡》4. Far from the Madding Crowd《远离尘嚣》5. The Mayor of Casterbridge《卡斯特桥市长》III. Tess of the D’Urbervilles1. subtitle “a pure woman”2. Plot (p315-319)3. Pessimistic philosophy; critical realism; symbolism; naturalism;IV. H’s Ideas of FateMost of Hardy’s novels are tragic. The cause is not man’s own behavior or his own fault but the supernatural forces that rule his fate. According to Hardy, man is not the master of his destiny; he is at the mercy of indifferent forces which manipulate his behavior and his relations with others.John Galsworthy(1867-1933)I. lifeBorn in a rich bourgeois familyA representative of bourgeois realism in English novel of 20th centuryII. work1. The Island Pharisees岛国的法利赛人2. The Man of Property有产业的人3. Forsyte Saga福尔赛世家4. The End of the Chapter尾声III. Forsyte Saga(p352-356)1. powerful sweep2. brilliant illustrations3. deep psychological analysis4. satire & criticismIV. point of viewG’s works give a complete picture of English bourgeois society. Yet his criticism was limited to the spheres of ethics and aesthetics. Facing the crisis of British imperialism and the growing forces of socialism, Galsworthy began to idealize the decadent bourgeoisie.1. Modernism in English Literature prevailed during the 20s and 30s of the 20th century2. OriginThe concept of modernism emerged in the eighteenth century when the classicists mocked those who opposed them and called them modernists. Now it is a comprehensive term applied to international tendencies and movements in all creative arts in the 20th century. In a broad sense, it is applied to writing marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression.3. Major philosophical Influences on modernism1) Darwinism 2) Marxism 3) Freudianism4. Major ideas of modernism1) It employs a distinctive kind of imagination. Thus it practicessolipsism( 唯我论). It believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it.2) It implies a historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, loss and despair. It rejects traditional values and assumptions. And it looks forfresh ways of looking at man’s position and function in the universe.Many modernists are philosophical existentialists.3) It elevates the individual and his inner being over social man andprefers the unconscious to the self-conscious. It celebrates passion andwill over reason and systematic morality.4) It rejects the traditional rhetoric by which tradition values and assumptions were communicated. It is bent on stylistic innovations and experiments with language, form, symbol and myth.4. Modernist movements1)Symbolism 2)imagism 3)aestheticism 4)expressionism5) the stream of consciousness 6)surrealism 7) existentialism8) theatre of the absurdLawranceI. TitleThe representative of psychological fiction.II. Life(p415-417)III. works(1) Sons and Lovers儿子与情人(2) The Rainbow虹(3) Women in Love恋爱中的女人(4) Lady Chatterlay’s Lover 查泰莱夫人的情人IV. Sons and Lovers1. autobiographical2. the Oedipus complex3. themea) the damage caused in family relationship by industrial forceb) the split of human beingsc) natural love as the only cureWoolfI. title:The representative of “stream of consciousness”school of novelII. LifeA novelist, critic and feminist; nervous breakdown since childhood; self-suicide III. Works1. Mrs. Dalloway达洛维夫人2. To the Lighthouse到灯塔去3. The Waves海浪4. A Room of One’s Own一间自己的房间5. Modern Fiction现代小说IV. Mrs. Dalloway (p441-445)V. point of view1. She challenged the traditional way of writing.2. She thought the depiction of details darkened the characters.3. She called the writers for writing about events of daily life that gave one deep impression.V. Influence(1) The stream of consciousness presented by Joyce and Woolf marks a total break from the tradition of fiction and has promoted the development of modernism.(2) However, because of the newness in form but hard to understand, this kind of fiction cannot attract readers.(3) The writers showed interest in the psychological depiction of the bourgeoisie but neglected the conflict that most people cared about at that time.James joyceI. Title: the representative of the “stream of consciousness”school of novelII. “stream of consciousness”1. definition:a psychological term indicating “the flux of conscious and subconscious thoughts and impressions moving in the mind at any given time independently of the person’s will”2. time: in the 20th century3. foundations:a. the literary device of “interior monologue”内心独白b. Freud’s theory of psychological analysisIII. J’s worksa. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man青年艺术家的画像b. Dubliners都柏林人c. Ulysses尤利西斯d. Finnegans Wake芬尼根觉醒IV. significance of his worksa. He changed the old style of fictions and created a strange mode of art to show the chaos and crisis of consciousness of that period.b. From him, stream of consciousness came to the highest point as a genre of modern literature.c. In Finnegans Wake, this pursue of newness overrode the normalness and showed atendency of vanity.William Butler Yeats(1865-1939)I. title“the greatest poet of our age –certainly the greatest in this (English) language”-----T. S. Eliot II. LifePoet and dramatistIrishLifelong love for Maud GonneIII. Works1. The Responsibilities责任2. The Land of Heart’s Desire理想的国土3. When You Are Old4. The Winding Stair盘旋的楼梯5. The Hour Glass时漏6. The Tower塔IV. FeatureHe is a celebrated and accomplished symbolist poet, using an elaborate system of symbols in his poems. But read as a whole, his poetry is elucidated by itself and gives the reader many memorable stanzas and lines of great poetry. (moon, water, rose)V. Themes1. Patriotism;2. love;3. civilization;4. age;5. the relation between imagination, history and the occultVI. When you are oldWhen you are old and gray and full of sleep,And nodding by the fire, take down this book,And slowly read , and dream of the soft lookYour eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;How many loved your moments of glad grace,And loved your beauty with love false or true,But one man love d the pilgrim soul in you,And loved the sorrows of your changing face;And bending down beside the glowing bars,Murmur, a little sadly, how love fledAnd paced upon the mountains overheadAnd hid his face amid a crowd of stars.George Bernard Shaw(1856-1950)I. TitleA representative of critical realism in modern English literatureII. lifeIreland;socialist Movement;criticize the evil of capitalism;support the forces of revolution and democracyIII. works (plays unpleasant)Widower’s Houses 鳏夫的房产Major Barbara巴巴拉少校Heartbreak House伤心之家Mrs. Warren’s Profession华伦夫人的职业The Apple Cart苹果车。