英美文学部分作家的介绍和评论

Enlightenment ------Age of Reason, Age of Neoclassicism,The Enlightenment movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept the whole western Europe in the 18th century.Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason, equality and science. They advocated universal education, believing that the best way to improve human society is to educate the people, to free them of false beliefs, prejudice, superstitions, misunderstandings--.Literature of the ageThe prevailing literary trend between the Restoration and the advent of romanticism at the beginning of the 19th century is referred to as Neoclassicism.The neoclassicists admired the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers, particularly those of Augustus Age( Horace, Virgil and Ovid). They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. What they sought were proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions in an effort to delight , instruct and correct human beings.So in England arose a polite, urbane, art.Some features of neoclassical literature1.witty, intellectual and restrained2.polished form3.didactic and satirical; writer had the duty to educate as well as entertain people,satire being an effective means of correcting people’s folly and weaknesses.4.city life and man-made object preferred; city life gives a sense of order while ruralwild life, natural landscape were coarse, chaotic and disorderly.The major representative of neoclassical poetry is Alexander Pope.Pope strongly advocated Neoclassicism, emphasizing that literary works should be judged by classical rule of order, reason, logic, restrained emotion, good taste and decorum.Pope made his name as a great poet with the publication of an Essay on Criticism in 1711.“A little learning is a dangerous thing”“True wit is Nature to advantage drest,What oft was Thought, but ne’er so well expressed.”“To err is human, to forgive, divine.”Modern English novel:In strict sense, a novel is a long prose narrative telling the story of ordinary people in ordinary and probable situations. It gives a realistic representation of life of the common people. The most important pioneers were Defoe, Richardson and Fielding.Daniel Defoe(1660-1731)Life: full of surprising adventures; experienced both poverty and prosperity, persecution ( stands for three days in the pillory) and popularity; a merchant, a spy, a journalist, a pamphleteer, a poet and a novelist. In religion, a radical non-conformist, a puritan. Considered an enlightener, writing to educate and uplift the common people.Characteristics of his novels:The central characters in his novels are usually lower-lass people, the down-trodden, the unfortunate and the criminals, like whore, pirate, pickpocket, rogue. Known as Picaresque novel. The central idea of his novels is man is good and noble by nature, but may be corrupted by an evil social environment. His novels are the first literary works devoted to the study of the problems of the lower class people. The details of his novels are usually organized in a vivid way and his stories are both credible and fascinating. He wanted his readers to regard his novels as true stories and so he deliberately avoids all art in writing.His language is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular.The literary significance of Robinson Crusoe:Based on the experience of a Scottish sailor A. Selkirk;The growth of Robinson from a naïve and artless youth into a shrewd and hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life. A real hero, a typical 18th c English middle class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against hostile natural environment and also against human fate. In describing R’s life on the island, he glorified human l abor and the puritan fortitude. From an individual laborer to a master and colonizer, Crusoe seems to have gone through several stages of human civilization.Theme: man can improve his condition through labor and struggling with nature. Questions:1.the characteristics of D efoe’s novels.2.the literary significance of Robinson Crusoe.。