英美文化对比文学之British literature

British LiteratureAnnual Booker Prize is televised as an important national event, causing a great deal of discussion. The rich variety of theatre performance available in London is one of literature attractions to visitors.Early Writing: much early British writing was concerned with Christianity: Anglo-Saxons produced beautifully illustrated. Few people in this period were literate, because the English language was so different that make native English people give up reading. One of the oldest of these early “Old English”literary works is a long poem from Anglo-Saxon times called Beowulf that tells a story of 6th century Swedish warrior Beowulf. British entered the Middle Ages (1066-1485) in 1066 with Norman Conquest; French became the language of royal court, but The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) who wrote the first poet in English. It is also notable for its diversity, both in the range of social types amongst the 31 pilgrims, and the range in style of the stories they tell. The legend of King Arthur established in literary form with the publication in 1138 of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the King of British, though calling itself a work of history, invented material to fill the broad gaps in the historical records. Le Morte D’Arthur(Death of Aththur) that as the best-known version was completed by Thomas Malory.Elizabethan Drama: drama is the most successful in British culture.The notable playwrights included Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare. Marlowe(1564-1616) was the earliest of this great trio. The Tragical History of Dr Faustus is his famous play, the story is a man who sold his soul to the devil in return for power. William Shakespeare(1564-1616) is the best-known literary figure in the world., his plays fall into categories, or classes. Such as tragedies including Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello; comedies including The taming of the shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, history plays including Richard III, Richard II etc.The 17th century: literature cannot be divided into exact period, thus the late Elizabethans are also Jacobeans. A permanent monument of English literature style commemorates James’ name because of translation of the Holy Scriptures know as the King James Bible(1611), it exerted a greater influence on style and standards of taste than any other single work in English for many generations. The Essays of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) who was a public figure and statesman of important under both Elizabeth and James, but a scandal ended his public service. The Novum Organum(1620),The New Atlantis(1627) were his popular works. John Milton (1608-74) whose literary talents showed themselves in early works. Religious and political disputes also interested Milton, he wrote many pamphlets on these subjects, such as Areopagitica, the epic Paradise Lost, its sequel, Paradise Regained, and peotic tragedy SamsonAgonistes.The 18th century: 18th-century English literature is marked by a rather large shift from the mood and tone of 17th-century literature. For one thing, a second great political disturbance took place in the late 17th century. Wit used in the intellectual activity sets the 18th century apart. The first important dictionary of the language was produced. The novel as a powerful medium was found in the century.Gulliver’s Travels was wrote by Jonathan Swift(1667-1745). Scotland produced a much-loved poet, such as Robert Burns whose poems including Holy Willie’s Prayer, To a Mouse,To a Louse, and songs including Auld Lang Syne, Comin’thro’the Rye. Robinson Crusoe was a famous tale of shipwreck and solitary survival in all literature that was wrote by Daniel Defoe (1660-1731).The Romantic Period: roughly the first of the 19th century makes up English literature’s romantic period, the Industrial Revolution had changed England into a nation of factories. Two poets of offered what had been called romantic poetry’s “Declaration of Independence”. The long autobiographical poem The Prelude and such shorten poems as “My Heart Leaps up When I Behold”were wrote by William Wordsworth, even if the poems style was complex, his friend Coleridge distinguished this. George Gordon Lord Byron(1788-1824), John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley brought the Romantic Movement.The 19th century: this spirit of Romanticism also occurred in the novel such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein(1818). Sir Walter Scott whose voice has a worldwide influence and popularity, his romantic novels including Waverley, Rob Roy, The Heart of Midlothian. Jane Austen, who excelled at this form of writings, is indeed one of the greatest of all English novelists. Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma were her famous works. Perhaps the most famous literary family in British history are the Bronte sisters (Charlotte, Emily, Ann), Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily’s Wuthering Heights being the most successful. Their good friend Elizabeth Gaskell whose novel was North and South was supported in her work by the greatest British storyteller of the 19th century, Charles Dickens whose novel including Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield. The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was the most famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. Thomas Hardy’s better-known novels are The Return of the Native (1878), Tess of the D’Urbervi lles (1891), Jude the Obscure (1896), as a prose writer he is the last of the 19th century, as a poet he belongs to the 20th century.20th Century Literature: summary of complex 20th century is difficult, for the 20th century marked the end of the British Empire, which was replaced by the Commonwealth of Native. It can divide into two stylistic periods: Modernism and Postmodernism. One of the most famous of English Modernist writers is Joseph Conrad whose famous novel is TheHeart of Darkness(1902).Virginia Woolf was part of the intellectual “Bloomsbury group”, her work was concerned with the individual consciousness, especially the female consciousness.Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse(1927), Orlando(1928) are her best-known books, she sometimes used “stream of consciousness”, such as A Room of One’s Own. Moving into the post-war period, one of the most famous novels in English appeared: George Orwell’s 1948, The French Lieutenant’s Woman(1968) was written by John Fowles. But not all writers can be squeezed into the definitions of Modern or Postmodern. Such as Graham Greene whose John Le Carre. Ian Fleming’s fantastic Jane Bond stories are even better known. Among the newer novelists are William Golding, John Braine, and Kingsley Amis.According to those, British literature continues to reflect that complexity.。