英国文学史及作品选读 Chapter 7

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5. Pre-Romanticism in English Poetry Prein late 18th Century
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4.1
Henry Fielding (1707-1754)
Writing career: As a playwright: 1730-1737, wrote 25 plays----mostly comedies; filled with political and social satire; exposed the corruption of state officials, the vices, hypocrisy, greed and cruelty of English Bourgeois class. As a novelist: 4 major novels: Joseph Andrew (1742); Jonathan Wild Great; (1743) Tom Jones; (1749) Amelia (1751)
Fielding was disgusted with the excessive sentimentality and ethics of Pamela. So he wrote a novel to criticize it. Shamela (i.e. Shameful Pamela)
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4.3 Samuel Johnson
“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”: The letter symbolizes the independence from the patron for the first time in literary history. In 1747, a bookseller Robert Dodsley suggested the idea. The Plan was addressed to Earl of Chesterfield.
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3.4
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745):
Forerunner of the modern sociologist, social worker, economic planner: correct a social evil by means of a theoretically conceived plan. Sift viewed human society with contempt and has been called a cynic and even a misanthrope. “ A Modest Proposal”: His pity for the oppressed, ignorant, populous, and hungry Catholic peasants of Ireland; his anger at the rapacious English absentee landlords.
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In art and literature: neo-classicism great respect for the classical artists. Harmony, proportion, balance and restraint In economic thought: state inference did violate to the law of nature; favored laissez-faire policies.
Chapter Ⅶ The Eighteenth Century
1688-1798
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1. Historical background:
The Constitutional monarchy set up by parliament in 1688 was a compromise between the bourgeoisie and the aristocrats. The cultural life had undergone remarkable changes. Newton’s scientific discovery and the philosophy of John Locke affected people’s thinking of the world. Reason rather than superstition dominated. English literature was influenced by French enlighteners and ancient Roman writers. Neo-classicism was the leading literary trend in early 18th century.
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3. English Literature in Early 18th century:
Alexander Pope Joseph Addison and Richard Steele Daniel Defoe Johathan Swift
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3.1 Alexander Pope (1688-1744):
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Enlightenment
Originated in France: to use critical reason to free minds from prejudice, authority, oppression. In religion: secular; Deism: the universe is set in motion by a God as a self-regulating mechanism; everything was operated according to natural laws, which could be understood by the human mind.
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3.3 Daniel Defoe (1661-1731)
A pioneer novelist of England, a prolific writer of books and pamphlets. Defoe’s versatility: a merchant, economist, politician, journalist, pamphleteer, and a novelist. Robinson Crusoe: The hero is typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical and diligent. Defoe beautifies colonialism and Negro slavery. Moll Flanders: It is written in an autobiographical form called memoir. Defoe introduces, for the first time, a lowly woman as the subject of literature.
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4.2 Fielding vs. Richardson Samuel Richardson (1689-1761):
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded: In a series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Yong Damsel to Her Parents” (1740)
2011-6-19 7Fra bibliotek3.2 Periodical Literature in Early 18th-Centruy England: Addison and Steele
The Tatler: edited chiefly by Steele; out of
the total of 271 numbers published of the periodical, Steele wrote 188, and Addison only 42, while together they did 36 others. The Spectator: a daily from Mar. 1, 1711 to Dec. 6, 1712, not including the revival of it by Addison alone in 1714. It is a collaborative projects. The style is more mature than that of The Tatler.
Essay on Criticism
Pope asserts that the chief requirement of a good poet is natural genius coupled with a knowledge of the classics and an understanding of the rules of poetry (literature). Couplet: consists of two lines of verse forming a discrete unit of meaning. Heroic couplet: consists of two lines of rhymed iambic pentameter. An appropriate form for the classical rhetoric and logical development of the ideas.
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