英美文学知识点

1 English Renaissance period is generally said to have begun in 1798 and ended 1832 with Sir Walter Scott's death .2 William Blake strongly criticized the capitalists' cruel exploitation, saying that the "dark satanic mills left men unemployed ,killed children and forced prostitution."3 William Blake's Marriage of Heaven and Hell makrs his entry into maturity. The "Marriage" means the reconciliation of the contraries, not the subordination of the one to the other.4 the most important contribution William Wordsworth had made is that he was not only started the modern poetry, but also changed the course of English poetry by using ordinary speech of the language and by advocating a return to nature.5 Samuel Taylor Coleridge's achievement as a poet can divided into two remarkably diverse groups: the demonic and the conversational "the Rime of the Ancient Mariner""Kubla Khan""Christabel" belongs to the demonic group.6 Don Juan ,a great comic epic of the early 19th century ,is a poem based on a traditional Spanish legend of a great lover and seducer of women .7 "I fall upon the thorn of life, I bleed"---ode to the west wind8 the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Elizabeth who ruled over England fro 1836 to 1901.9 Charlotte Bronte's first novel is Professor10 most of George Eliot's novels are characterized by two features:moral teaching and psychological realism .11 in George Bernard Shaw's long dramatic career, he wrote 50 plays of a variety of subjects.12 Shaw held that art should serve social purposes by reflecting human life, revealing social contradictions and educating the common people13 Most of Shaw's plays ,termed as problem plays, are concerned with political, economical ,moral or religious problems.14 in John Galsworthy's The Man of Property,it centers on the Soames-Irene-Bosinney triangle.15 Lawrence's poem fall roughly into three categories--satirical and comic poems, poems about human relationships and emotions, and poems about nature.16 James Joyce's first novel is A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The main character is Stephen Dedalus.17 Thomas Hardy divided his own novels into 3series, and Tess of the D'Urbervilles is among the novels of character and environment .18 Living at the turn of the century ,Thomas Hardy is often regarded as a transitional writer.19 The Waves is the climax of Virginia Woolf's experiments in novel form , she is a strong advocator of the feminist movement among the 20th century writers.20 E.M.Foster is a novelist but also a novel critic, his famous book on novel criticism is entitled Aspects of the novel .21 Strife斗争was Galsworthy's most important social work,which gives a profound critical portray of bourgeois society .22 as a realist dramatist, George Bernard Shaw is connected with social,economic ,moral and religious problems in his work . The general mood he expresses in his novel is optimism.23 The Mill on the Floss written by George Eliot is large autobiographical in its early chapters. Her first novel Adam Bede is a rural tragedy played out among the non-conformists in country scenes remembered from her childhood.24 Monk is Oliver's half-brother and in order to retain the whole of their fathers property by getting of Oliver.Great Expectation is a satire on the abuse of the court of chancery.In Litter Dorrit, the most vivid scenes are those in debtor's prison, remembered from Charles Dickens' father's stay in Marshalsea.Hard Times is an earnest attack on the vulgarity and materialism of the rising middle class industrialists25 Thackeray's first literary success came with a series of satirical sketches entitled The Snobs of England.26 John Keats's grave bears the epitaph:here lies one whose name is writ in water.转瞬即逝27 in 1805,Wordsworth completed a long autobiographical poem entitled the Prelude.28 it's the publication of Hours of Idleness闲散时光that brought George Gordon Byron fame. He once said "I awoke one morning and found myself famous"29 To Daniel Defoe is often given the credit for the discovery of the modern novel ,but whether or not he deserves that honor remains an open question.30 British novel came of age in 19th century. Modern English Novel arose in the 18th century.31 Henry Fielding's first novel Joseph Andrews intended as a burlesque of Samuel Richardson's novel Pamela.32 Oliver Goldsmith's best comedy is She Stoops to Conquer,which greatly enhances his fame in literature.33 Dr.Primrose is the central character of the novel The Vicar of Wakefield.34 Jonathan Swift's famous work A Tale of a Tub is a satirical dialogue between Ancients and the moderns in the character of the Bee and Spider.35 The poems by Jonne Donne belong to two categories:the youthful love lyrics, and the later scared verses.36 Celestial city is one of the most remarkable passages in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.37 the one recurrent theme in the poetry of Cavalier poets during the 17th century is love fancies.38 Satan trick Uriel by disguising himself as a cherub in Paradise Lost. Michael tells Adam about the future. Beezlehub is Satan's second-in-command angel. Milton named Urania as his heavenly muse.39 The Sonnet form, originally Italian, was introduced into English verse by Thomas Wyatt and Surrey.40 the ruler of hero in Dr.Faustus is Lucifer.41 the 15th century country has traditionally been described as the barren age in English literature, there is only one prose writer called Thomas Marlowe, who wrote Morte D'Arthur.42 Cadmon is the first known religious poet of England, He is known as the Father of English Song.43 The Waste Land is 433 lines long and is divided into five sections.44 as a young man in the last decades of the 19th century ,W.B.Yeats began poetic career in the romantic tradition.45 The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock is intensely anti-romantic with an evasive sensual atmosphere.46 as a literary figure, John Rivers appears in Bront's Jane Eyre47 Charles Dickens takes the French Revolution as the background of his novel A Tale of TwoCities.Dickens attacks the utilitarian principle that rules over the English educational system and destroys young hearts and minds.48 The hero of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge is a man of self-sufficiency自负。