刘意青《简明英国文学史》配套题库【课后习题】(维多利亚时期小说家)【圣才出品】
刘意青《简明英国文学史》课后习题详解（文艺复兴与莎士比亚英国文艺复兴时期文学）【圣才出品】
刘意青《简明英国⽂学史》课后习题详解（⽂艺复兴与莎⼠⽐亚英国⽂艺复兴时期⽂学）【圣才出品】第3章英国⽂艺复兴时期⽂学1.How did England become the most powerful country during the Tudor reign? Key:The Tudor reign reached its summit during the time of Queen Elizabeth (reigning1558-1603),who adopted moderate policies to achieve a balance both between the rising middle class and the feudal lords and between the Protestants and the Catholics.It was a peaceful time and England became a powerful state.In 1588the English navy defeated the Spanish invincible Armada and thus eliminated her most dangerous enemy on the high seas and in the world trade. English ships started to visit lands all over theworld,including America and other distant countries.They brought home great wealth and fortunes and set up the first English colonies overseas as well.2.What does the word“Renaissance”mean and why do we call this historical period the English Renaissance Period? Key:Renaissance is a French word,meaning“rebirth”or“revival”,and in this particular context,it means the revival of arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome after the long years of neglect in the medieval time.In England,at first a great number of classical works were translated into English in the15th and16th centuries and English scholars and men of letters showed a strong interest in ancient Greek and Roman art and science.They followed in the wake of the intellectual and literary movement which began inthe14th century in Italy and later spread to France,Spain,Holland and other western European countries.This was usually called the Renaissance Movement in England and its ideal was Humanism.3.Give a brief account of Thomas More’s life and his major work Utopia.Key:Sir Thomas More(1478-1535)was the most prominent humanist of this period,and he was also a Parliament member and a judge by profession.He devoted his spare time to writing and wrote the famous book Utopia in Latin, which was published in1516.In the book More meets a traveler at Antwerp,who has seen a place called Utopia,or“Land of Nowhere”,where communism is adopted as the social system,education is offered to all people,including women,and religious differences are tolerated.It presents More’s ideal of the best possible government form.And since then the word“Utopia”has been used all over the world for ideals that are usually beyond human reach./doc/850d88410266f5335a8102d276a20029bc646312.html Spenser’s major literary work and tell what it is about.Key:Spenser’s major literary work is The Faerie Queene.(1)It is an allegorical romance in verse.According to his plan,there should be 12books,each telling the adventures of one knight dispatched by the Faerie Queen,Gloria,who represents glory in general and Queen Elizabeth in particular.(2)According to his contemporary thought,the virtuous man knows how togovern himself,and thus is qualified to govern others.(3)In the poem Spenser identifies the good ruler with the good man and emphasises the importance of education.(4)But Spenser only managed to finish six books,in which the six virtues of Truth,Temperance,Friendship,Justice,Chastity,and Courtesy are presented./doc/850d88410266f5335a8102d276a20029bc646312.html more writers(poets and playwrights)of this period and tell what you know about them.Key:(List out some writers in this period and introduce their lives and major works according to the textbook.)6.What are Bacon’s chief contributions?Key:Bacon’s chief contributions are that he wrote many significant works,which have become great wealth of human being.7.Who was the greatest playwright before Shakespeare?Discuss one of his plays. Key:Christopher Marlowe was the greatest playwright before Shakespeare.The Tragical History of Dr.Faustus,written in blank verse,is Marlowe’s masterpiece.The story is taken from a medieval German legend,but Marlowe emphasizes humanistic ideals through Faustus’pursuits.Fed up with the four subjects of medieval knowledge(theology,philosophy,medicine and law),he turns to magic to seek the supernatural.Finally he succeeds in raisingMephistophilis,the Devil’s servant and strikes a contract with him,by which Mephistophilis will satisfy his desires such as conjuring the spirit of Alexander the Great in a king’s court,marrying Helen of Greece,and so on.And in exchange for all these services done for him,he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil.He goes through endless spiritual and moral struggles between good and evil during his transaction with Mephistophilis.But,he also shows the Renaissance human spirit of pursuing knowledge and infinite power,as well as the courage to challenge fate and authority.Although Marlowe’s drama lacks variety of characterisation and construction,his success with the blank verse and his mighty dramatic lines mark him as the most important predecessor of Shakespeare.8.What kind of comedy is Ben Jonson’s special contribution?And as a playwright how different is Ben Jonson from Shakespeare?Key:“Comedy of humours”is Ben Jonson’s special contribution.He forms a nice contrast to Shakespeare.(1)Jonson’s theory of“humours”reduces his characters to types,who represent greed,vanity,falsehood,etc.They are flat,one-sided and have no development.Unlike him,Shakespeare digs deep into human nature and depicts the complexities of human relations.(2)Ben Jonson advocates classic Roman and Greek masters,strictly observes the three unities and disapproves of any mixture of the tragic with the comic,while Shakespeare creates according to his own judgment and the taste of the audience,and is very flexible in his handling of drama rules set by hispredecessors.Their differences were so obvious that later Samuel Johnson described one as the poet of art and the other as the poet of nature.However,Jonson could not but see the great talent in Shakespeare,and as a good playwright and a learned man himself,he also admired his rival.。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》课后习题详解（18世纪英国文学小说的兴起）【圣才出品】
刘意青《简明英国⽂学史》课后习题详解（18世纪英国⽂学⼩说的兴起）【圣才出品】第9章⼩说的兴起1.Discuss the social and historical elements that promoted the birth of the modern novel in England.Key:There are several factors that promote the rise and the first flowering of the English novel.First,as we’ve said in the previous section,in the18th century science and technology developed fast,and printing grew as one of the most prosperous trades.Therefore,books were quickly printed and in comparatively larger numbers.Second,with the growth of capitalist economy,the middle class grew strong to become the dominant element in all the aspects of social,political and economic life of England.And with it an urban economy also came into being. Big cities like London increased in number in the country and farmers or the agricultural population swarmed into the city to gradually settle down as traders, servants,workers and apprentices.These new settlers in the cities formed a reading public that badly needed to improve themselves and they provided the necessity and possibility of the flourish of a book market.Third,with the development of industry,women were deprived of their previous opportunities of spinning and weaving at home.Without a way to earn a living,women who failed to marry into a family with secure financial means to support them were forced to work as maids,or became thieves,prostitutes orkept women in the cities.These women,no matter as an idle wife of a rich man,or as a servant girl,joined the public readers and some of them even became writers themselves who sold popular literary works to earn a living.Thus,by mid-18th century,a large book market had been established in England that sold reading stuff of all kinds,from journals and newspapers,political pamphlets,conduct books,travel guides,manuals for house decoration,ghost stories,romances,etc. to serious literature of poetry,drama and prose work written by classical masters like Swift and Johnson.2.Discuss Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe as a typical middle-class novel.Key:Readers of China are mostly familiar with this novel.In the past we emphasised Crusoe’s imperialist and capitalist side,because Marx says in his On the Capital that Crusoe is the typical representative of the rising capitalist class whose sole interest is to expand and exploit,and in Crusoe’s adventures we see how capital is accumulated at the early stage of capitalism.While what Marx says is correct,he only sees the story from a political and economic point of view.As a literary figure,Crusoe is more than just a money-grabbing capitalist and colonialist.He also shows many positive sides of the rising middle class,such as the love for labor,the industrious and thrifty life style,courage to explore strange lands,a curiosity to know the world,and the strong desire to test one’s own strength and establish one’s individual identity.3.What kind of novel did Richardson write?And discuss his two major novels toshow your points.Key:All Richardson’s novels and writings preach the Puritan ideology of hard work,honesty,thrift,industry,and,most of all,the importance of living a virtuous life.For example,his Pamela,or Virtue Rewarded and Clarissa,or The History of a Young Lady.In Pamela,or Virtue Rewarded,Pamela grew up into a beautiful and virtuous young woman with good taste and refined manners,getting through many hardships and threats,and finally she is married to his young master Mr.B, which indicates that her virtue is rewarded. In Clarissa,or The History of a Young Lady,unlike Pamela in birth,Clarissa Harlowe was the daughter of a rich merchant.She was both beautiful and virtuous and had her own share of wealth given to her by her grandfather.But such a young lady could not choose to marry a man she liked and respected,for her father and brother forced her to marry a rich but disgusting and vulgar merchant,in order to merge the property and wealth of the two families.To escape the hatedmarriage,Clarissa,inexperienced and innocent,fell into the hands of a rake Mr.Lovelace and was deceived and kidnapped to a brothel,and later drugged and raped.Although afterwards Lovelace realised his true feelings for Clarissa and proposed marriage,the virtuous girl could neither forgive him nor herself for harboring illusions toward a rake.Finally,she sought a slow suicidal death and wrote her own story as a warning to all the young women.4.How did Fielding name his panoramic novels?What are the main features of his novels?Key:Fielding named his panoramic novels“comic epic in prose”.Epics are usually written in verse,and the subjects are always adventures and heroic deeds of the heroes of noble birth.But here Fielding tells us that he has written a prose work with the epic scope and power,but the main protagonists are common people and even people of the low social status.This is a real revolution in the Western literary history in which literary genres abide by a rather strict rule of levels of style.Although Parson Adams and Joseph are still comic roles,they are no longer minor characters,but the centre of the story.In this experiment of Fielding’s,the new novel has paved way to the more realistic representation of common people’s experiences in the19th century.5.Why do we say that Tristram Shandy is a strange and difficult novel?In what way does this novel anticipate the postmodern novel tendencies?Key:We have several reasons to call Tristram Shandy experimental and difficult. First,it is perhaps the first English novel that does not respect the plot’s time sequence.Second,the book is made difficult by Sterne with a lot of typographical oddities.And third,he has employed a lot of sexual jokes such as his own unfortunate accidents during his mother’s conception of him and later the doctor’s crushing of his nose.Sterne is the first novelist who anticipates the postmodern violation of the temporal sequence of a narrative.。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》配套题库【考研真题精选+章节题库】(18世纪英国文学(1688-1780))
第4部分18世纪英国文学（1688-1780）一、填空题1.Henry Fielding has been regarded as“_____”,for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel.（吉林大学2007研）【答案】Father of the English Novel【解析】亨利·菲尔丁被誉为“英国小说之父”。
2.A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift is a sharp_____against the social injustice in_____.（天津外国语学院2011研）【答案】satire,Ireland【解析】1729年斯威夫特发表的《一个温和的建议》是对英国政府对爱尔兰人民剥削压迫的极度讽刺。
这一宣传册建议爱尔兰的穷人把刚满一周岁的孩子卖给富人，富人可将孩子做成美餐，而穷人也将获得一笔收入。
3.The English novel began to prosper in18th century as a new literary genre.In this period there appeared a number of great novelists such as_____,Daniel Defoe, and_____.（天津外国语学院2011研）【答案】Jonathan Swift,Samuel Richardson【解析】18世纪英国文学的小说家主要有Defoe，Swift，Richardson，Fielding，Smollett and Sterne等。
4.Author:_____Title:_____.（南京大学2007研）At other times,the like battles have been fought between the Yahoos of several neighborhoods,without any visible cause:those of one district watching all opportunities to surprise the next,before they are prepared.But if they find their project has miscarried,they return home,and,for want of enemies,engage in what I call a civil war among themselves.【答案】Author:Jonathan Swift Title:Gulliver’s Travels【解析】题中文段节选自乔纳森的《格列佛游记》。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》配套题库【章节题库】(7-8章)【圣才出品】
第7部分世纪末和现代主义文学（1880-1930）一、填空题1._____is the representative among the writers of aestheticism and decadence.The Picture of Dorian Gray is a typical decadent novel written by him.【答案】Oscar Wilde【解析】奥斯卡·王尔德（Oscar Wilde）是19世纪末英国唯美派剧作家、诗人、小说家和文学批评家。
《道林·格雷的画像》（The Picture of Dorian Gray）是王尔德最出色的作品，最为详细地阐述了他的颓废主义思想。
2.The Happy Prince and Other Tales and The House of Pomegranates are two collections of_____written by Oscar Wilde.【答案】children’s stories3.The reputation of_____rests largely on two of his novels:Animal Farm and_____.（大连外国语学院2008研）【答案】George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-four【解析】《1984》和《动物庄园》是英国作家乔治·奥威尔最负盛名的作品。
4.Through the military life experience of Guy,and disillusionment of his dream of elimination of the evils through just wars,Evelyn Waugh explores in his work, _____,the nature of war.【答案】Unconditional Surrender【解析】伊夫林·沃在小说《无条件投降》（Unconditional Surrender）写到，盖伊希望通过战争消除罪恶的梦想最终破灭，从而以此来探索自己对战争本质的认识。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》配套题库【课后习题】(英国文艺复兴时期文学)【圣才出品】
第3章英国文艺复兴时期文学1. How did England become the most powerful country during the Tudor reign? Key: The Tudor reign reached its summit during the time of Queen Elizabeth (reigning 1558-1603), who adopted moderate policies to achieve a balance both between the rising middle class and the feudal lords and between the Protestants and the Catholics. It was a peaceful time and England became a powerful state. In 1588 the English navy defeated the Spanish invincible Armada and thus eliminated her most dangerous enemy on the high seas and in the world trade. English ships started to visit lands all over the world, including America and other distant countries. They brought home great wealth and fortunes and set up the first English colonies overseas as well.2. What does the word “Renaissance” mean and why do we call this historical period the English Renaissance Period?Key: Renaissance is a French wor d, meaning “rebirth” or “revival”, and in this particular context, it means the revival of arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome after the long years of neglect in the medieval time.In England, at first a great number of classical works were translated into English in the 15th and 16th centuries and English scholars and men of letters showed a strong interest in ancient Greek and Roman art and science. Theyfollowed in the wake of the intellectual and literary movement which began in the 14th century in Italy and later spread to France, Spain, Holland and other western European countries. This was usually called the Renaissance Movement in England and its ideal was Humanism.3. Give a brief account of Thomas More’s life and his major work Utopia.Key: Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) was the most prominent humanist of this period, and he was also a Parliament member and a judge by profession. He devoted his spare time to writing and wrote the famous book Utopia in Latin, which was published in 1516.In the book More meets a traveler at Antwerp, who has seen a place called Utopia, or “Land of Nowhere”, where communism is adopted as the social system, education is offered to all people, including women, and religious differences are tolerated. It presents Mo re’s ideal of the best possible government form. And since then the word “Utopia” has been used all over the world for ideals that are usually beyond human reach.4. Name Spenser’s major literary work and tell what it is about.Key: Spenser’s major litera ry work is The Faerie Queene.(1) It is an allegorical romance in verse. According to his plan, there should be 12 books, each telling the adventures of one knight dispatched by the Faerie Queen, Gloria, who represents glory in general and Queen Elizabeth in particular.(2) According to his contemporary thought, the virtuous man knows how to govern himself, and thus is qualified to govern others.(3) In the poem Spenser identifies the good ruler with the good man and emphasises the importance of education.(4) But Spenser only managed to finish six books, in which the six virtues of Truth, Temperance, Friendship, Justice, Chastity, and Courtesy are presented.5. Name more writers (poets and playwrights) of this period and tell what you know about them.Key: (List out some writers in this period and introduce their lives and major works according to the textbook.)6. What are Bacon’s chief contributions?Key: Bacon’s chief contributions are that he wrote many significant works, which have become great wealth of human being.7. Who was the greatest playwright before Shakespeare? Discuss one of his plays. Key: Christopher Marlowe was the greatest playwright before Shakespeare.The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, written in blank verse, is Marlowe’s masterpiece. The story is taken from a medieval German legend, but Marlowe emphasizes humanistic ideals through Faustus’ pursuits. Fed up with the four subjects of medieval knowledge (theology, philosophy, medicine and law), heturns to magic to seek the supernatural. Finally he succeeds in raising Mephistophilis, the Devil’s servant and strikes a contract with him, by which Mephistophilis will satisfy his desires such as conjuring the spirit of Alexander the Great in a king’s court, marrying Helen of Greece, and so on. And in exchange for all these services done for him, he agrees to sell his soul to the Devil. He goes through endless spiritual and moral struggles between good and evil during his transaction with Mephistophilis. But, he also shows the Renaissance human spirit of pursuing knowledge and infinite power, as well as the courage to challenge fate and authority. Although Marlowe’s drama lacks variety of characterisation and construction, his success with the blank verse and his mighty dramatic lines mark him as the most important predecessor of Shakespeare.8. What kind of comedy is Ben Jonson’s special contribution? And as a playwright how different is Ben Jonson from Shakespeare?Key: “Comedy of humours”is Ben Jonson’s special contribution.He forms a nice contrast to Shakespeare. (1) Jonson’s theory of “humours” reduces his characters to types, who represent greed, vanity, falsehood, etc. They are flat, one-sided and have no development. Unlike him, Shakespeare digs deep into human nature and depicts the complexities of human relations. (2) Ben Jonson advocates classic Roman and Greek masters, strictly observes the three unities and disapproves of any mixture of the tragic with the comic, while Shakespeare creates according to his own judgment and the taste of theaudience, and is very flexible in his handling of drama rules set by his predecessors.Their differences were so obvious that later Samuel Johnson described one as the poet of art and the other as the poet of nature. However, Jonson could not but see the great talent in Shakespeare, and as a good playwright and a learned man himself, he also admired his rival.。
简明英国文学史问题及答案
简明英国文学史问题及答案Quiz (1)1.The first settlers of the British Isles were Celt, and Britain got its name from a branch of thispeople called Briton. But later they were driven to live in Scotland, Wales and Ireland.不列颠群岛的第一批定居者是凯尔特人，Britain的叫法则就是来源于他们的一个叫做Briton（不列颠人）的分支。
但后来他们被驱赶到苏格兰，威尔士和爱尔兰居住。
2.The Angles, Saxons and Jutes were Germanic tribes originally living on the Continent. Theymoved to the British Isles and became the ancestors of the English people.盎格鲁人、撒克逊人和朱特人是最初居住在大陆的日耳曼部落。
他们搬到不列颠群岛，成为英国人的祖先。
3.The most important event of the Old English Period was Norman Conquest, which tookplace in the year 1066.古英语时期最重要的事件是1006年发生的诺尔曼征服。
4.The Roman Catholic Church sent St. Augustine to England in 597 to convert the Englishpeople to Catholicism.罗马天主教会于597年将圣奥古斯丁派遣到英格兰，使英国人皈依天主教。
/doc/f77344205.htmltwo poems of this period apart from Beowulf: Widsith, and The Seafarer.请列出这段时期的除了《贝奥武夫》两首诗：Widsith(威德西斯)和The Seafarer(水手) 6.Beowulf is an epic of Alliterative lines, andit tells the events that took place on theContinent before they moved to the British Isles.贝奥武甫（Beowulf）是一首头韵体裁的史诗，它讲述了在大陆迁移到不列颠群岛之前发生的事件。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》课后习题详解(维多利亚英国文学 维多利亚时期小说家)【圣才出品】
第15章维多利亚时期小说家1.Choose to discuss one of Dickens’novels.Key:A Tale of Two Cities is a novel telling about individual destinies in a gigantic and turbulent social change like the French Revolution.The two cities referred in the title are Paris and London and the main characters shuttle between the two cities with the former as the center of all conflicts and dangers whereas the latter as the stronghold of safety and the final retreat of the victims of revolution. Unlike his other novels,this one adopts the basic tone of a romantic tale.This novel has always been well received mostly for its thrilling story and the dramatic depiction of characters.It is also good material for films and TV shows. In it we see clearly Dickens’profound sympathy for the exploited and oppressed French peasant class and the persecuted Doctor Manette.Besides the horrible rape and killing and the kidnapping of the innocent doctor to bury his whole life in prison,Dickens’strong accusation of the dissipated and cruel French aristocratic class is also shown in the famous episode of the marquis’carriage dashing through the small town and running over a poor child.Without even stopping,he throws a handful of coins out of the carriage and then orders the carriage to dash ahead,leaving the poor father howling with the dead boy in his arms.Although Dickens’sympathy is with the down-trodden French people,his attitude toward French Revolution is critical.In the novel,he depicts therevolutionary people of Paris as mobs who,guided by hatred,persecute and kill many people indiscriminately.They are described as mad with their intense desire of revenge.Madam Defarge is shown to sit in their inn knitting all day before the revolution.What she knits into the shawl is the names of those who will be sent to the guillotine as soon as they rise up to power.In the end,when trying to kill Darnay’s wife Lucie and their child,this mad woman is shot to death by Lucie’s old nurse in a very comic way.Dickens is not at all alone in abhorring the terror of the mobs after the French Revolution.Some critics criticise him for vilifying revolutionary masses as mad avengers like Madam Defarge.But we can defend him with his equal exposure and criticism in the novel of the cruelty of the French aristocracy.Dickens is, therefore,fully shown as a humanitarian writer advocating moderate reforms to better the society.2.Analyse Vanity Fair to show Thackeray’s thematic emphasis and novelistic style. Key:The sub-title of the book,“A Novel Without a Hero”emphasizes the fact that the writer’s intention was not to portray individuals,but the bourgeois and aristocratic society as a whole.In Vanity Fair,Thackeray has produced a gallery of characters from different strata of the English bourgeois and aristocratic circles.Except for Amelia and Dobbin,all the others are negative in one way or another with Rebecca Sharp topping all in her unscrupulous maneuvers and greed.She has become a classicimage in English literature as well as in life to represent that category of people. However,she is also a victim of that vanity-fair kind of social life.Although his depiction of the positive character Amelia is comparatively weaker,Thackeray’s satirical power and depth in this masterpiece are universally acknowledged not only in his contemporary time,but for always.3.Discuss the romantic elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.Key:In Jane Eyre,the story is romantic in nature with realistic reflections of Victorian values and social problems.In recent years,critics are paying more attention to its natural images and fairy-tale sub-structures and its references to the Bible and other literary works,which is the element of inter-textuality shown in it.For instance,Jane’s marriage to Rochester,a wealthy man from a higher class,is suggestive of the fairy tale Cinderella.Starting from Jane’s Thornfield life till the end,the novel turns from realistic exposure of the Victorian society to a romantic love affair in an almost secluded country place where strong passion, hidden secret and even Gothic settings and unexpected turns of events replace the cruel but sober reality of life in the first part.Wuthering Heights tells a story of class persecution and revenge.Love in the novel is tragic,morbid and devastating.However,in some critics’mind, Wuthering Heights resembles one of the Gothic romances of the latter part of the 18th century,with its atmosphere of horror on the lonely moor remote from the outside world,and its melodramatic effects and fantastic motifs.ment on George Eliot and her novel Middlemarch.Key:George Eliot was a talented and diligent writer.She was plain,worked hard for accomplishment to win love from her family and friends.She was brave enough to pursue her true love with a married man.She had her own selfhood. Middlemarch is regarded as Eliot’s masterpiece.It is a multi-dimensioned presentation of the provincial life in a small town called Middlemarch.There are two main plot lines:one with Dorothea Brooke’s growth,her marriage and remarriage as its central story,and the other with Doctor Lydgate’s pursuit of his professional ambition and the shattering of his dreams by his wrong marriage and the small town politics.Dorothea is Eliot’s portrait of an honest and courageous woman,who is always sincere and sympathetic toward others and has a strong sense of duty where family,friends and society are concerned.Although she is too idealistic and simple at the start,and makes quite a number of mistakes in her judgment and choice of life,her noble heart and character strength guarantee that she takes lessons from her mistakes and goes on courageously to face life.Eliot describes her musical voice,which shows her as possessing feelings and passions, but at first she is blind to her own nature and obsessed entirely with her intellectual pursuit.But in her second marriage she is able to correct her own mistake.In choosing Ladislaw,an easygoing artist who does not pretend to be authority in any field,she lets her feelings take control.She is Eliot’s ideal ofwhat we should be,that is,a person with all the basic good qualities who develops and matures through life and whose noble and benevolent heart brings good to the community.。
刘意青《简明英国文学史》课后习题详解(17世纪英国文学 德莱顿与班扬)【圣才出品】
第7章德莱顿与班扬1.Choose either Absalom and Achitophel or Mac Flecknoe and analyse it to show Dryden’s satirical power.Key:Mac Flecknoe is a parody of the heroic epic poem,a satire on Thomas Shadwell(c.1642-1692)who had had a number of different political,religious and literary views from Dryden’s and had openly criticised Dryden’s drama pieces as an abuse to the tradition handed down by Ben Jonson.The two were not on good terms for years.In this poem Dryden makes use of Richard Flecknoe(?-1678),an Irish poet and dramatist whom Dryden despised as dull and unaccomplished.The title “Mac Flecknoe”means“son of Flecknoe”,and the poem describes the coronation ceremony of Shadwell to succeed to the throne of his father Flecknoe to be the poorest and most dull poet of all times.The coronation parade passes through a very small area,which is to be the scope of the kingdom of Mac Flecknoe and all the guests attending the ceremony are cheating publishers and swindlers.Twelve owls fly overhead,which is a mock parody of the earliest Roman rulers who had12hawks to guide them to the site where they built up Rome. After the parade comes to an end,Flecknoe speaks to praise his small reign, boasts of his power,and wishes his son to do better than he.2.Why is Dryden called“Father of English Literary Criticism”?What are hisliterary views presented in Of Dramatick Poesie?Key:Dryden shows a certain preference for the English drama and a patriotic enthusiasm in defending the innovative achievements of English playwrights.He has shown foresight and good taste in his evaluation.Therefore,he is called “Father of English Literary Criticism”by Samuel Johnson.Of Dramatick Poesie(1668)is written in dialogues.On the day when celebrating the defeat of the Dutch on the sea by the English navy,four poets sailed on the Thames and discussed the comparative merits of English and French drama,as well as the merits of the old and new English drama.At first Dryden lets the characters emphasize the importance of following the Neoclassical model of French dramatists.But soon Neander,one charecter shows his partiality toward English drama,praising Shakespeare,Ben Jonson and some other English playwrights,and defends Dryden’s own heroic plays in which he adopts rhymed verse and mixing tragedy with comedy.He approves the breaking up of the ancient rules of three unities,and in this way he actually negates the principles held up by the French Neoclassicists.3.What kind of a writer is John Bunyan?Key:John Bunyan was born in a pious Puritan family.He received a little education at the local primary school.In1644his father died and his mother remarried not long afterward.Left by himself,he joined the Parliamentary Army at16to fight for the Puritan cause.Upon returning home,Bunyan took up thebusiness of a tinker and spent a lot of time reading the Bible.In1648,Bunyan married.His wife brought him two books:Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and Practice of Piety.They,together with the Bible and the Prayer Book formed the source of Bunyan’s learning and thought.Bunyan was a staunch Puritan.He fought resolutely for his belief and his Christian ideals,in which there was a strong humanistic spirit besides the religious doctrines.In the character Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress,Bunyan praises the optimistic fighting spirit and the unyielding attitude in one’s pursuit of high goals.4.Discuss as well as you can The Pilgrim’s Progress.Key:Bunyan’s immortal work The Pilgrim’s Progress is a religious allegory.It tells a believer’s journey,or rather spiritual journey from this world to Heaven. One day,the writer falls asleep in the open and he has a dream.In the dream he sees a man named Christian standing in the field.There is a heavy bag(his sin)on his back and he is reading a book(the Bible),in which he learns that soon great disasters will befall the city he is living in.The city is called the City of Destruction (the Earth).He appeals to Heaven as to what he should do.At this time an evangelist comes and tells him to leave his home and embark on a journey to the Celestial City(Heaven).Christian goes home and tries to persuade his family members and neighbors to leave with him,but fails.He goes on this journey alone.On the way to the Celestial City,Christian meets with lots of difficulties anddangers.Finally,they see a high hill and angels are waiting for them at the gate of Heaven.Bunyan lived in a very turbulent era.Through Christian’s experiences and mental struggles,Bunyan discusses everyday problems and concerns of his contemporaries in simple and eloquent prose.This explains the extreme popularity it has since enjoyed.In the character Christian,Bunyan praises the optimistic fighting spirit and the unyielding attitude in one’s pursuit of high goals.It is not strange that The Pilgrim’s Progress became a book owned by almost every family in England for two following centuries,a record perhaps only next to the Bible itself.Quiz:I.Choose one correct answer from the four offers given after each of the following sentences or questions:(15%)1.Who was the leader of the Puritan Revolution of England?A.John LilburneB.Oliver CromwelltonD.Charles IIKey:B2.Who was executed as the enemy of the English people after the victory of theBourgeois Revolution?A.James IIB.Queen ElizabethC.Charles IID.Charles IKey:D3.The Glorious Revolution took place in the year of_____.A.1660B.1688C.1642D.1649Key:B4.The Bible was translated under the reign of_____and published in_____.A.King James I,1611B.King Charles I,1625C.King James II,1688D.King Charles II,1660Key:A5.In the early17th century there was a group of court poets represented by JohnSuckling,Robert Herrick,etc.who were called_____.A.metaphysical poetsB.cavalier poetsC.satirical poetsD.lyrical poetsKey:Bton’s poem Lycidas is a(n)_____and his Paradise Lost is writ in_____.A.epic,heroic coupletB.pastoral poem,sonnetC.lyrical poem,rhymed verseD.elegy,blank verseKey:D7.Metaphysical poets are noted for their use of_____.A.blank verseB.conceitsC.alliterationD.typographyKey:B8.In the Restoration Period,drama revived mainly because_____.。
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第15章维多利亚时期小说家1. Choose to discuss one of Dicken s’ novels.Key: A Tale of Two Cities is a novel telling about individual destinies in a gigantic and turbulent social change like the French Revolution. The two cities referred in the title are Paris and London and the main characters shuttle between the two cities with the former as the center of all conflicts and dangers whereas the latter as the stronghold of safety and the final retreat of the victims of revolution. Unlike his other novels, this one adopts the basic tone of a romantic tale.This novel has always been well received mostly for its thrilling story and the dramatic depiction of characters. It is also good material for films and TV shows. In it we see clearly Dickens’ profound sympathy for the exploited and oppressed French peasant class and the persecuted Doctor Manette. Besides the horrible rape and killing and the kidnapping of the innocent doctor to bury his whole life in prison, Dickens’ strong accusation of the dissipated and cruel French aristocratic class is also shown in the famous e pisode of the marquis’ carriage dashing through the small town and running over a poor child. Without even stopping, he throws a handful of coins out of the carriage and then orders the carriage to dash ahead, leaving the poor father howling with the dead boy in his arms.Although Dickens’ sympathy is with the down-trodden French people, his attitude toward French Revolution is critical. In the novel, he depicts the revolutionary people of Paris as mobs who, guided by hatred, persecute and kill many people indiscriminately. They are described as mad with their intense desire of revenge. Madam Defarge is shown to sit in their inn knitting all day before the revolution. What she knits into the shawl is the names of those who will be sent to the guillotine as soon as they rise up to power. In the end, when trying to kill Darnay’s wife Lucie and their child, this mad woman is shot to death by Lucie’s old nurse in a very comic way.Dickens is not at all alone in abhorring the terror of the mobs after the French Revolution. Some critics criticise him for vilifying revolutionary masses as mad avengers like Madam Defarge. But we can defend him with his equal exposure and criticism in the novel of the cruelty of the French aristocracy. Dickens is, therefore, fully shown as a humanitarian writer advocating moderate reforms to better the society.2. Analyse Vanity Fair to show Thackeray’s thematic emphasis and novelistic style. Key: The sub-title of the book, “A Novel Without a Hero” emphasizes the fact that the writer’s intention was not to portray individuals, but the bourgeois and aristocratic society as a whole.In Vanity Fair, Thackeray has produced a gallery of characters from different strata of the English bourgeois and aristocratic circles. Except for Amelia andDobbin, all the others are negative in one way or another with Rebecca Sharp topping all in her unscrupulous maneuvers and greed. She has become a classic image in English literature as well as in life to represent that category of people. However, she is also a victim of that vanity-fair kind of social life. Although his depiction of the positive character Amelia is comparatively weaker, Thackeray’s satirical power and depth in this masterpiece are universally acknowledged not only in his contemporary time, but for always.3. Discuss the romantic elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.Key: In Jane Eyre, the story is romantic in nature with realistic reflections of Victorian values and social problems. In recent years, critics are paying more attention to its natural images and fairy-tale sub-structures and its references to the Bible and other literary works, which is the element of inter-textuality shown in it. For instance, Jane’s marriage to Rochester, a wealthy man from a higher class, is suggestive of the fairy tale Cinderella. Starting from Jane’s Thornfield life till the end, the novel turns from realistic exposure of the Victorian society to a romantic love affair in an almost secluded country place where strong passion, hidden secret and even Gothic settings and unexpected turns of events replace the cruel but sober reality of life in the first part.Wuthering Heights tells a story of class persecution and revenge. Love in the novel is tragic, morbid and devastating. However, in some critics’ m ind, Wuthering Heights resembles one of the Gothic romances of the latter part of the18th century, with its atmosphere of horror on the lonely moor remote from the outside world, and its melodramatic effects and fantastic motifs.4. Comment on George Eliot and her novel Middlemarch.Key: George Eliot was a talented and diligent writer. She was plain, worked hard for accomplishment to win love from her family and friends. She was brave enough to pursue her true love with a married man. She had her own selfhood. Middlemarch is regarded as Eliot’s masterpiece. It is a multi-dimensioned presentation of the provincial life in a small town called Middlemarch. There are two main plot lines: one with Dorothea Brooke’s growth, her marriage and remarriage as its central story, and the other with Doctor Lydgate’s pursuit of his professional ambition and the shattering of his dreams by his wrong marriage and the small town politics.Dorothea is Eliot’s portrait of an honest and courageous woman, who is always sincere and sympathetic toward others and has a strong sense of duty where family, friends and society are concerned. Although she is too idealistic and simple at the start, and makes quite a number of mistakes in her judgment and choice of life, her noble heart and character strength guarantee that she takes lessons from her mistakes and goes on courageously to face life. Eliot describes her musical voice, which shows her as possessing feelings and passions, but at first she is blind to her own nature and obsessed entirely with her intellectual pursuit. But in her second marriage she is able to correct her ownmistake. In choosing Ladislaw, an easygoing artist who does not pretend to be authority in any field, she lets her feelings take control. She is Eliot’s id eal of what we should be, that is, a person with all the basic good qualities who develops and matures through life and whose noble and benevolent heart brings good to the community.。