英美文学史(英国)知识点汇总

英美文学期末复习

Chapter 1 The Old and Medieval Period 中古时期

An Introduction ：

?最早的英国居民：Celts

?In 43AD , Roman conquered Britain, making the latter a province of Roman Empire.

公元43年，罗马征服英国，将其变成罗马帝国的一个省份。

?In 449 Jutes came to Britain to settle there. Following the Jutes came Angles and Saxons. 449年，朱特人定居英国，紧跟着是安格鲁和撒克逊人。

?Germanic means the Anglos, the Saxons and the Jutes.

日耳曼族包括了安格鲁、萨克逊和朱特人。

?Anglo-Saxon poetry is bold and strong, mournful and elegiac in spirit.

安格鲁撒克逊诗歌大胆而有力，悲伤且忧郁。

?These tribes from Northern Europe together created the united kingdom--Anglo-Saxon England ("Angle-land").

这些来自北欧的部落创建了联合王国--安格鲁撒克逊英格兰(in 449)

?Their dialects naturally grew into a single language called Angle-ish or English, the ancestor of the present-day English.

他们的方言自然而然地成为了一种单一的语言--盎格鲁语或者英语。

?The old English were divided into two groups: ①religious group ②secular group

古英语诗歌被分成两类：①宗教②世俗

?The religious group is mainly on biblical theme.

宗教诗歌通常以圣经为主题。

?Beowulf is the greatest national epic poem.

贝奥武夫是最伟大的民族史诗。

?1066, Norman Conquest.

1066年，诺曼人征服英格兰。

?Norman conquest of Anglo-Saxon England, under William, Duke Of Normandy after the battle of Hasting in 1066, accelerated the development of feudalism in England.

诺曼人征服了安格鲁撒克逊英格兰，在诺曼底公爵威廉的带领下，加速了英格兰的封建主义发展。

?Norman Conquest established a feudal system in England.（Politically）

诺曼征服在英格兰建立了封建主义体制。（政治上）

?The Rome-backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country.

（Religiously）

受罗马支持的天主教堂权力超过了国家权力。（宗教上）

?With the Norman Conquest, the medieval period of English literature started.

随着诺曼征服，中世纪英语文学诞生了。

?The literature which Normans brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure.

诺曼人带来英格兰的文学以其光明、浪漫爱情故事和冒险著称。

?Romance, which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds, is popular literary form in the medieval period.

那些使用叙述诗和三问来歌颂骑士冒险和其他英雄事迹的传奇文学，在中古世纪的文学中广受欢迎。

?The structure of Romance is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward.传奇文学的写作结构：松散&插话式；语言：简朴&直接

?Three major theme of Romance:

传奇文学的三个主要主题：

①The matter of France: about Charlemagne and his peer/knights

关于法国：查理曼大帝和他的骑士

②The matter of Greece and Rome: about Alexander the great and the Trojan War and the fall of Troy.

关于希腊罗马：亚历山大帝、特洛伊战争和特洛伊之衰亡

③The matter of Britain: King Arthur and his Round Table Knight.

关于大不列颠：亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士

?The author of Sir Gawain and Green Knight is the one who produced the best romance of the period.

高文爵士和绿衣骑士的作者创造了该时期最好的传奇文学。

?Old English poetry was divided into two groups: The religious group & The secular group.

中古世纪代表文学人物：Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower

传奇文学的特点：

The Nature of the Romance: 与贵族相关

1）Themes: Loyalty to the king and the lord, which was the corner-stone of

feudal morality.

2）The audience was of noble people from the court or the castle.

3）The Romance had nothing to do with the common people.

4）The Romance were written for the noble, of the noble and in most cases by the

poets patronized by the noble

Folk Ballads 民谣

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later North America, Australia and North Africa.

歌谣是一种体裁，通常是音乐的一种叙述。从中世纪后期到19世纪，歌谣是英国和爱尔兰流行诗歌和歌曲的显著特征，并且在欧洲被广泛使用，一直到后来的北美，澳大利亚，北非。Its stylistic features have derived from their oral nature:

民谣的文体风格源自于他们的口语性：

1.the simple language;

简单的语言

2.its wonderful story which deals only with the culminating incident or climax of a plot.

精彩的故事（只涉及情节的高潮和结局）

3.its dominant mood or tone.

显著的情感基调和语调

4.full use of hyperbole.

充满了夸张手法

5.the use of refrains and other kind s of repetition.

使用了叠句或者是其他的重复

Geoffrey Chaucer

杰弗里·乔叟和坎特伯雷故事集

Geoffrey Chaucer(1343-1400), Father of English poetry, founder of English realism, forerunner of English humanism, and the first great writer who wrote in English language

杰弗里·乔叟是英国诗歌之父,英国现实主义的创始人，英国人文主义的先驱，是第一个用英语写作的伟大作家。

He had three period in his literary career:

在他的文学生涯中有三个阶段：

The French period(The Book of the Duchess)

法语时期：《公爵夫人的书》

The Italian period(Troilus and Criseyde)

意大利语时期：《特洛伊罗斯与克丽西达》

The mature period(The Canterbury Tales)

成熟时期：《坎特伯雷故事集》

?He established the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic meter(the heroic couplet)in English poetry.

在英语诗歌总，他在抑扬格中创建了五个重音的押韵对句（英雄双韵体）

?He wrote in Middle English, London dialect from which Modern English is descended.

他用中世纪英语，伦敦方言进行创作，伦敦方言是现代英语的起源。

His achievements:

1.Forerunner of Humanism 人文主义先驱

2.The founder of English Realism 英国现实主义创始人

3.Father of English poetry (called by John Dryden)英国诗歌之父

4.Master of English Language英语语言大师

?heroic couplet 英雄双韵体（两行相互押韵、每行分五音步的）英雄偶句诗

a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter and written in an elevated style.

双韵体由两行押韵的五步抑扬格组成，以一种振奋的文体写作。

iambic pentameter:五步抑扬格

One iambic = one foot = soft loud. 一个抑扬格=一个音步=一个轻音+一个重音

The Canterbury Tales

?It depicts a rich, tapestry of medieval social life,combining elements of all classes, from nobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves.

坎特伯雷故事集描绘了一个丰富多彩的中世纪社会生活，结合了所有阶级元素，上至贵族、牧师和修女，下至工人、酒鬼和小偷。

?When The Canterbury Tales were written: 1386

坎特伯雷故事集创作时间：1386.（真正静下心创作的时间）

?Planned: 120 tales

计划120个故事

?Completed: 22 and 2 fragments

实际完成22个故事和2个故事碎片

?Remaining: 80 manuscripts

遗留了80个手稿

?Variety of genres: general prologue is estates satire

题材多样：总序为讽刺

?Pilgrimage as a framing device for tales

以朝圣为故事线

序言：

故事发生时间：Spring

朝圣人数：30（加上Chaucer本人）

Why did they go there（朝圣目的）：

①To seek the holy blissful martyr, quick

②To give his help to them when they were sick.

去拜谢恩泽万民的殉难圣徒，因为人们有病时他给予救助。

修女形象：

1.Based on Prioress’s portrait, can you give a possible reason why she is undertaking this pilgrimage? 【课后题】基于对修道院院长的描述，你能说一下她为什么要参加朝圣吗？

--She wants to look for the worldly love. The sentences” Amor vincit omnia” means “Love conquers all”, which can shows the Prioress is a secular person and she doesn’t give up the secular things at all.

她想寻找世俗的爱。“Amor vincit all”这句拉丁文意思是：爱能征服一切。从这句话可以看出她是一个世俗的人并且无法完全放弃世俗的一切。

Chaucer describes the prioress as an example of the basic human paradox, which places what people are in opposition to what they think they are pretend to be.The portrait of the prioress dose seem to be a courtly heroine or romance rather than a nun.The motto"Love conquers all' implies her double pilgrimage to the shrine of Venus and that of Christ.

2.Do you think the Prioress is portrayed by Chaucer as a perfect lady or a perfect nun?

--A perfect lady

3.Which detail suggest that the Prioress may be trying to appear more sophisticated than she really is?

--The way she talks, the language she uses, her table manners and her courtliness.

4.What seems to be the motives offered for the pilgrimage? In what ways are the season and the nature images important factors? 【课后题】

①The motives offered for the pilgrimage is that the pilgrims long to seek the strange countries of distant saints and especially, they want to seek the holy martyr in Canterbury, who gave them help when they were sick.

②At the beginning of the poem, the poet introduces the best season of going pilgrimage by describing the sweet shower in April, which engenders flowers, the west wind, which blows upon the tender shoots, and the small birds in the warm sun, which are making melodies.

③Therefore, the season and nature stimulate people’s desire to go pilgrimage and set the optimistic atmosphere. In these ways, they serve as the important factors for the poet to develop his narration of the stories.

Chapter2 The Renaissance Period 文艺复兴时期（the 14th century---mid-17th century. ）

An Introduction

?Renaissance marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world.

文艺复兴标志着中世纪到现代世界的过渡。

?It first started in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe.

文艺复兴起源于14世纪的意大利，并逐渐传遍整个欧洲。

?The word “Renaissance”means rebirth or revival.

“文艺复兴”一词意味着重生/复兴。

?In essence, it is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe and introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to lift the restriction in all areas placed by the Roman Catholic Church authorities

本质上，文艺复兴是欧洲人文主义思想家和学者尝试去摆脱中世纪欧洲那些旧封建思想并引入表达新兴资产阶级利益观点、取消罗马天主教会对所有地区的限制的一个时期。

?The Renaissance originally refers to the revival of classical arts after the dark ages.

文艺复兴起初指的是古典文学的复兴。

Three historical events of the Renaissance –rebirth or revival:

1. new discoveries in geography and astrology

2. the religious reformation and economic expansion

3. rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture

?Classic Arts:Greek/Roman/Latin.

?Two features of renaissance:

1. It is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. People learned to admire the Greek and

Latin works as models of literary form. 对古典文学的好奇

2. It is the keen interest in the activities of humanity. 注重人本身

?The Wars of the Roses were a series of English civil wars for control of the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the House of Lancaster, associated with a red rose, and the House of York, whose symbol was a white rose.

玫瑰战争：the house of York and the house of Lancaster.

?The final victory went to a relative and claimant of the Lancastrian party, Henry Tudor, who defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The rule of Tudor.

战争最后是Lancaster家族赢得王座。亨利三世建立都铎王朝。

?Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissance.

人文主义是文艺复兴的关键。

?It reflected the new outlook of the rising bourgeois class.

文艺复兴反映了新兴资产阶级的新展望。

?Humanists emphasize the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life and believe that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

人文主义者强调人类的尊严和现世生活的重要性，他们认为人不仅仅拥有享乐权利还有完善自我和创造奇迹的能力。

?They also expressed their rebellious spirit against the tyranny of feudal rule and ecclesiastical domination.

人文主义者还表达了他们对封建制度和教会统治的反抗精神。

?Thomas More, Christopher Mallowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.

英国人文主义代表：Thomas More, Christopher Mallowe and William Shakespeare

?Humanism began to take hold in England when the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus came to teach the classical learning, first at Oxford and then at Cambridge.（1466-1536）

当荷兰学者来到英国传授古典学习时，人文主义开始在英格兰盛行。

Religious Reformation宗教改革

主要发起人：Martin Luther 马丁·路德

?Those reformations improved the common people’s social position, and emancipated the human beings’ thoughts.

影响：提高了普通人的社会地位，解放人们思想。

?William Caxton：the first person who introduced printing into England.

第一个将印刷术传入英格兰的人

Stages and Trends of English Literature of the Renaissance:

文艺复兴时期英国文学的发展趋势

(1)The first stage is the poetry from the introduction of the printing press to the writings of Thomas More, to of Wyatt and Surrey.

第一阶段：从Thomas More著作中对印刷术的介绍，到诗人Wyatt and Surrey的作品【Wyatt 引入意大利十四行诗sonnet；Surrey带来无韵诗Blank verse.】

(2) Then followed the “Elizabethan Age”(1558-1603), especially the last two decades of the 16th century

第二阶段：伊丽莎白时期，尤其是16世纪最后二十年。

a. the poetry of Sidney, Spencer and then John Donne（诗歌）

b. the dramas of the University Wits and Shakespeare (the flowering time) （戏剧最主流）

(3) The last stage is the literature of the Jacobean period.

representative figures: Francis Bacon & Ben Jonson.

Edmund Spenser：

1.Spenser was the greatest non-dramatic poet of the Elizabethan Age.

2.Spenser has been called the “poets’ poet”, because of his idealism, his love of beauty, and his exquisite melody.

3.Spenser has exerted great influence on later poets.

William Shakespeare

?He produced 37 plays, 154 sonnets and two long poems.

37部戏剧，154首十四行诗，两首叙述长诗。

?His life can be divided into 4 stages:

1.The first period (1590-1594) : apprenticeship

Four history plays:

①1590，Henry Ⅵ, part 2 《亨利六世，中》

②1590，Henry Ⅵ, part 3 《亨利六世，下》

③1591，Henry Ⅵ, part 1 《亨利六世，上》

④1592，Richard III 《查理三世》

⑤Titus Andronicus 《泰特斯安特洛尼克斯》Four comedies：

1592，The Comedy of Errors 《错误的喜剧》

1593，Taming of the Shrew 《驯悍记》

1594，Two Gentlemen of Verona《维洛那二绅士》

1594，Love's Labour’ s Lost 《爱的徒劳》

One tragedy：

1593，Titus Andronicus《泰特斯·安德洛尼克斯》

Two narrative poems：

1593，Venus and Adonis 《维纳斯与安东尼斯》

1594，The Rape of Lucrece 《鲁克丽丝受辱记》

2.The second period (1595-1600) : his style and approach became highly individualized.

It is a period of “great comedies”and mature historical plays.

Five histories：

1595，Richard II《查理二世》

1596, King John《约翰王》

1597，Henry IV, part 1 《亨利四世，上》

1597，Henry IV, part 2 《亨利四世，下》

1598，Henry V 《亨利五世》

Six comedies：

1595，A Midsummer Night's Dream 《仲夏夜之梦》

1596，The Merchant of Venice 《威尼斯商人》

1598，The Merry Wives of Windsor《温莎的风流娘儿们》

1598，Much Ado About Nothing 《无事生非》

1599，As You Like It 《皆大欢喜》

1600，Twelfth Night 《第十二夜》

Two Roman tragedies：

1599，Julius Caesar《裘力斯·凯撒》

1594，Romeo and Juliet 《罗密欧与朱丽叶》

3.The third period (1601-1607) ：It is a period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies”.

The tragedies：

1601，Hamlet 《哈姆莱特》(soliloquy)

1604，Othello 《奥赛罗》

1605，King Lear 《李尔王》

1605，Macbeth 《麦克白》

以上四部为“四大悲剧”

1607，Timon of Athens《雅典的泰门》

1602，Troilus and Cressida 《特洛勒斯与克里西达》

Two Roman tragedies：

1606，Antony and Cleopatra 《安东尼与克丽奥佩特拉》

1607，Coriolanus 《克利奥兰纳斯》

Two comedies：

1603，All's Well That Ends Well《终成眷属》

1604，Measure for Measure 《一报还一报》

4. The fourth period (1608-1612)：It is the period of romantic drama.

Four comedies：

1608，Pericles, Prince of Tyre 《泰尔亲王配力克里斯》

1609，Cymbeline 《辛伯林》

1610，Winter's Tale 《冬天的故事》

1611，The Tempest 《暴风雨》

Two histories：

1612，Henry VIII 《亨利八世》

Two Noble Kinsmen 《两贵亲》

Sonnet 18

?Sonnet 18, often alternately titled Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?, is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare.

?Sonnet 18 is a typical English or Shakespearean sonnet.

?Sonnet 18 has the characteristic rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg.

?莎士比亚对文学艺术的表达：permanent

?By putting his love's beauty into the form of poetry, the poet is preserving it forever.

"So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee."

The lover's beauty will live on, through the poem which will last as long as it can be read.

?In the sonnet, the speaker compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. He also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem.

课后题：

1.What images does Shakespeare use in order to strengthen the theme?

summer

2.How does Shakespeare use the final couplet for effect?

?The couplet brings out the theme and comes to a conclusion. the poetry last forever and so does the beauty of the lover. A nice summer’s day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last forever, thus it has a faith in the permanence of poetry.

(情人的美在诗中得到永恒)

3.What is the value or significance of the poem’s theme?

theme：

1)praise your beauty

2)eternal of the poems as a form of arts

The Merchant of Venice 《威尼斯商人》

人物：Shylock/Portia/Bassanio/Antonio

1.Shylock：He lends Antonio 3,000 ducats with a catch: If not paid back on time, Antonio should repay a pound of flesh. 借钱给安东尼

2.Portia：Rich, beautiful and intelligent. 假扮法官裁决Shylock和Antonio的案件

3.Bassanio：He asks his friend Antonio for help: borrow a large sum of money to engage with Portia. 向安东尼借钱娶Portia.

4.Antonio：He helps his friend Bassinio, but gets into trouble with Shylock.向Shylock 借钱，陷入麻烦。

Summary：

The story mainly talks about that Bassanio wants to engage with Portia, but he lacks of money so he asks his friend, Antonio, for help. To help his friend, Antonio borrows a large sum of money from Shylock, a Jew, with a clause that if not paid back on time, Antonio should repay a pound of flesh. As Shylock had been insulted by Christians, he resents all the Christians, including Antonio. After that, Bassanio gains the love of Portia. However, Antonio’s ship doesn’t come back and they are unable to repay the money which means he has to repay a pound of flesh to Shylock. No matter how they begged Shylock for mercy, Shylock insisted on obeying that clause. Finally, Portia pretended as a lawyer, defeating Shylock intelligently and saving Antonio’s life.

重点问题：

Is Shylock in any way a sympathetic character? Why or why not?

Yes, Shylock is a sympathetic character in some way.

At that time, people were more or less hostility to, prejudice against Jews, even oppress, exploit and expel them, which made Jews live a hard life. Besides, Jews were suffering religious prosecute. They were considered to be evil and inferior and couldn’t be equal to Christians. In such environment, it is normal that Shylock has resentment for other people. What’s more, after suffering the death of his wife, he raised his daughter alone and cared much about her, but his daughter’s betray gave him a huge strike. All these factors shaped this pathetic character.

(you can develop your points form racial discrimination and religious persecution, Shylock's sufferings)

John Milton and Paradise Lost 弥尔顿和《失乐园》

John Milton, English poet, pamphleteer, and historian, considered the most significant English author after William Shakespeare. He is also a Puritan writer. He was greatly influenced by his family. Received good education due to the prosperity of his family.

弥尔顿：英国诗人，小册子学者，历史学家，及莎士比亚之后的最具影响力的英国作者，清教徒文学代表。

Three literary periods:

1.Early period:poems written in Cambridge and at Horton;

①On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity《基督诞生晨颂》, first important work.

②L’Allegro《快乐的人》

③Penseroso《幽思的人》

④Lycidas 《利西达斯》, expressing the pathos of his friend Edward King’s premature death. 属于哀歌elegy。

2.Middle-aged period:political articles pamphlets;（背景：Civil War）

1. Areopagitica《论出版自由》a prose work for the freedom of the press.

2. pamphlets on religious reform

Of Reformation in England《论英国改革》

3. Defence of the English People《为英国人民声辩》

4. The Second Defence of the English People《再为英国人民声辩》to answer Salmasius’accusation

3. The period of his old age:three giant works.

①Paradise Lost (masterpiece) 《失乐园》

The poem concerns the biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men"

② 2. Paradise Regained《复乐园》

③ 3. Samson Agonistes《力士参孙》poetical drama

Paradise Lost《失乐园》

1. Milton’s masterpiece.

2. A long epic in 12 books.

3. Taken from the Old Testament--The Genesis. 取自旧约-创世纪

4. Major characters: Satan, God, Archangel, Adam, Eve…

5. It is about Satan’s rebellion against God and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

6. The theme of the poem is a revolt against God’s authority.

What do the main characters resemble?

①God: selfish despot（自私暴君）,cruel, unjust

②Adam and Eve embody Milton’s belief in the powers of man, craving (longing) for knowledge.

③God’s angels are foolish, resembling the court of an absolute monarch.

④Satan is a rebel against tyranny and Satan and his followers resemble a republican Parliament.

1.What qualities sustain him in bottomless perdition?

The obdurate pride and steadfast hate.

2.Though the field may be lost, what is not lost?

the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield"

3.What does Satan say about ambition?

To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

重点：1-20行、50-74行、105-124行

Summary of Paradise Lost:

This story mainly talks about that the fall angel, Satan, defied the authority of God and was sent to hell, which made him want to revenge by breaking the new world created by God. He turned himself into a snake and sneaked into Eden, inducing Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. As God had been foreseen such scene, he asked Archangel Raphael to warn Adam not to be tempted and tell him about the story of Satan and God. However, Eve didn’t restrain herself, eating the forbidden fruit. she also persuaded Adam to eat that fruit. After that, God was furious about them and dispelled them out of the Eden as a punishment. Since then, they had been out of their paradise.

课后题：

1.How does Satan feel about being in Hell according to the poem?

Satan felt angry with God for sending him to the Hell, suffering great tortures. However, his affliction and dismay mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. Although being cast down into Hell, Satan does not repent (后悔) of his rebellion against God, suggesting instead that they might gather their forces for another attack.

2.Satan considers himself the equal to God in reason. How, then, does Satan explain his defeat?

He said that even if he was defeated by God, he didn’t lose his unconquerable will, the pursuit of revenge, the immortal hate as well as the courage never to submit or yield. So what did God win? He would never beg for God’s mercy because it is more shameful than being defeated.

3.How does Satan see himself?

He regarded this defeat as glory and tried to overthrow God again. He said “Better to reign

in hell than serve in heaven”.

4.How is Satan’s pride as tragic as it is heroic?

His pride let him out of paradise and into the hell, which made him suffer great pain and tortures. However, his pride shows his rebellious spirit toward God. Even he was defeated by God, he never lose his faith.

Chapter 3 The Neoclassical Period 新古典主义时期（1660-1798）

1.History Background:

①Political and military unrest 政治军事动荡

https://www.360docs.net/doc/a717350208.html,mercial war

b.constant strife between the monarch and the parliament

c.religious conflict

d.ruling class and laboring poor

②Fast development of England as a nation英格兰的快速发展

a.At home:

Acts of Enclosure 圈地运动

The Industrial Revolution 工业革命

b.Abroad:

Vast expansion of British colonies 英国殖民扩张

So, towards the middle of the eighteenth century, England had become the first powerful capitalist country in the world. 18th中期，英格兰成为世界上第一个强大的资本国家。

③The English bourgeois class英国资产阶级

a.The British bourgeois or middle class believed in the following notions as self-reliance,

self-restraint and hardwork.

英国城市资产阶级或中产阶级，相信三个理念：自律、自立、劳动致富。

b.The political power of the middle class was firmly established.

④An age of Englightment启蒙运动时期(起于法国-传遍欧洲)

a.It was a European intellectual and philosophical movement of the 18th century that

emphasized the use of reason and scientific method. （理性和科学方法的使用）

b.The enlighteners held that through the exercise of reason human beings could clear away

the darkness of ignorance, intolerance and prejudice, and move towards a more just and better life. （理性实践）

c.The enlighteners advocated universal education.They believed that human beings were

limited, dualistic, imperfect, and yet capable of rationality and perfection through education.

问题：

1.What great events happened in this period?

①Restoration 王朝复辟

②the Great Plague大瘟疫

③London Fire伦敦火灾

④Glorious Revolution光荣革命

2. Why we say this period is a “period of unrest”?

①commercial war

②constant strife between the monarch and the parliament

③religious conflict

④ruling class and laboring poor

Neoclassicism:

In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism.

Literary Genre in the Neoclassicism period

1. Poetry

Poetry should be lyrical（抒情的）, epical（叙事的）, didactic（说教的）, satiric or dramatic. Representative : John Dryden, Alexander Pope

2. Novel

the modern English novel现代英语小说

Robinson Crusoe《鲁宾逊漂流记》----the first successful English novel.

注：Robinson Crusoe:

⑤an adventurous tale 冒险故事

⑥ a picture of early capitalist and colonialist activities of England

早期英国资本家和殖民活动。

⑦“first successful English novel” (Page 66)

⑧“one of the originators of realistic fiction”现实主义小说创始著作之一。

Representative：Daniel Defoe

3. Shift

shift of interest兴趣转变

Gothic novels哥特式小说

Graveyard school墓园学派

preromantic poems 前浪漫诗歌

4. Drama

Representative：Richard Brinsley, Richard Steele and Jonathan Swift

A.Daniel Defoe：one of the forerunners of the English realistic novel.

B.Jonathan Swift：Gulliver's Travels---man-like creatures---Yahoos

A modest Proposal----the best model of satire.

C.Richard Brinsley Sheridan：the leading figure among a host of playwrights.

Graveyard Poetry墓园派诗歌

①This term is applied to a minor but influential 18th-century tradition of meditative poems on morality and immortality.

②The best-known example is Thomas Gray’s “Elegy written in a Country Churchyard”. 《墓园挽歌》

③These melancholic poems constitute a significant current of preromanticism.

William Blake and Robert Burns（作家）

一、William Blake

He was a non-conformist and anti-establishment thinker. 不顺从公认习惯的/反抗权威

1.Two Collections:

①Songs of Innocence1789

②Songs of Experience1794

2.Two contrary states of human soul

The former expresses the poet’s delight in life, while the latter’s atmosphere is sad and gloomy.

3.The Marriage of Heaven and Hell（1792）：was infused with mysticism and complex

symbolism; is an important land mark in his poetic career.

4.His works:

?Songs of Innocence （1789）

?Songs of Experience （1794）

?The Marriage of Heaven and Hell（1792）

?The Book of Urizen （1794）

?The Song of Los（1795）

?Milton（1802）----Poem

?The Four Zoas（1803）

?Jerusalem（1804）

二、Robert Burns

①Burns wrote poems and songs in the Scottish dialect and in the tradition of Scottish folk songs. They are short and lyrical and melodious.

②He is regarded as a voice of the Scottish common people and an important poet of the period of preromantic English literature.

③He was considered a pioneer in the Romantic, socialist, and liberalism movements, satirist.

His works：

?O Once I Loved （1774）---first poem

?Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect （1786）--first work

?The Scots Musical Museum（1787）---Scottish song

A Red, Red Rose 课后题【主题：Love&passion】

(1)Why is the word “red” repeated in the first line?

To stir an echo effect and intensify his emotion.

(2)what other similes does the speaker use to describe his love?

Rose and melody.

(3)What images does the speaker use to show his strong love for his beloved?

Seas and Sun.

(4)What other themes does this poem carry beside the love theme?

Love and Passion

Jonathan Swift and Gulliver’s Travels

一、Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667–19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. He is regarded by the Encyclopedia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language, and is less well known for his poetry. He is one of the greatest writers of satiric prose.

His works：

?The Battle of the Books 《书籍之战》（1704）

? A Tale of a Tub 《无稽之谈》（1704）

?Drapier’ s Letters

? A Modest Proposal-- a classic satirical work

?Gulliver’s Travels（1721-1725）----allegorical attack on the vanity and hypocrisy of contemporary courts, statesmen and political parties.

二、Gulliver’s Travels格列夫游记（原名:Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.）

The book contains four parts, each dealing with one particular voyage during which Gulliver meets with extraordinary adventures on some remote island after he has met with shipwreck of piracy of some other misfortune.

Gulliver's Travels(1726),as a whole, is one of the most effective and devastating criticisms and satires of all aspects in the then English and European life - socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, scientifically, and morally. Its social significance is great and its exploration into human nature profound.

Four parts：Lilliput（小人国）, Brobdingnag（巨人国）, Houyhnhnm（马岛）, Flying Island（飞岛）。

● a satire on the Tories(托利党) & the Whigs(辉格党)--也是讽刺封建残余的无知与偏见● a satire on English lords and ladies

● a satire on the conflicts of English society and people

● a satire on corrupted philosophers & projectors

课后题

1.What are the major political practices satirized in Chapter 3, Part1?

it satirized the political practices of choosing officials by rope-dancing, which mainly satires on England's system of political appointments and to refer that England's system is similarly arbitrary.

2.How do you see the Lilliputian Emperor?

①He is only 6 inches tall, but he believes himself taller than the sons of men, which shows his ignorance.

②He also thinks that he can control Gulliver, which shows he is silly.

③He wants Gulliver to help him attack Brobdingnag so as to expand his territory. This proved that the Lilliputian emperor is a greedy man.

3.What aspects of human nature does Swift seem to be satirizing through Gulliver’s huge size in Lilliput?

He mainly wanted to satire Humanity's pretensions(虚荣做作) to power and significance.

4.Do you think Swift’s technique of ridicule is more or less effective than simple, direct criticism? Why?

I think his technique is more effective than simple, direct criticism. On the surface, he just used some ridiculous language to describe some figures, which makes people laugh in reading. However, the implicating meaning will make people think deeper.

Summary of Gulliver’s Travels

The story mainly talks about Gulliver survived in shipwreck, captured by the Lilliputians which are only several inches tall. In this country, there were lots of conflicts and competitions between two parties, the high-heel party and the low-heel party. All lords tried to gain a good position by performing on the rope. The Lilliputian emperor was indulged in power and diversion. He wanted Gulliver to attack Brobdingnag and was refused.

After that, Gulliver got a chance to escape Lilliput and arrived in Brobdingnag. In this country, people are much taller than him. Gulliver was sent to court as a plaything. He boasted to the king about English. The king questioned and criticized the history of England, believing that it was "a mass of intrigue, chaos, murder, slaughter, destruction, revolution and deceit".

Then he came to the flying island and other several islands. In these place, he found that the king and lords were meditating all day long; Scientists did meaningless researches. In witch island, he met a lot of ancient people, finding the stories in history book are retorted and wrong.

Finally, he came to the country of horses, which is full of rational and friendly horses. He talked about his world with the horse and made them shock. He failed to reach his desire of staying there and got back to his own place.

Chapter 4 The Romantic Period浪漫主义时期

An Introduction

Romanticism was an artistic and literary movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and peaked in the first half of the 19th century.

浪漫主义是一场艺术和文学运动，起源于18世纪末的欧洲，并在19世纪中叶达到高潮。

Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and of nature.

浪漫主义显著的特征在于它强调情感和个人主义，并赞颂所有的过去和自然。

English Romanticism begins in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s The Lyrical Ballads and ends in 1832 with Walter Scott’ s death.

英国浪漫主义于1789随着华尔华兹和柯勒律治合作的“抒情诗集”而开始，并随着Walter Scott的死而结束。

In English literature, the key figures of the Romantic movement were a group poets whose works still remain hugely popular. They include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Lord Byron, P. B. Shelley and the much older William Blake.

在英国文学中，浪漫主义运动的主要人物是一群拥有杰出著作的诗人。他们包括：华兹华斯，柯勒律治，济慈，拜伦，雪莱，威廉布莱克。

The romanticists express a negative attitude towards the existing social or political conditions. English Romanticism is a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason.

浪漫主义者对现有的社会和政治情况表达了一种消极态度。英国浪漫主义是英国想象对新古典理性的一种反抗。

The Romantic period is an age of poetry. Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats are the major Romantic poets. The Romantic period is a great age of prose. Coleridge, Hazlitt, Lamb and De Quincey were the leading figures in this new development.

浪漫主义时期是一个诗歌的时代。布莱克，华兹华斯，柯勒律治，拜伦，雪莱和济慈都是这时期的主要浪漫主义诗人。浪漫主义时期也是散文的一个时期，柯勒律治，黑兹利特，兰姆，德昆西是这时期散文发展的领导人物。

Two major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen and Walter Scott. Jane Austen is the first and foremost English women novelist. Walter Scott is noted for his historical novel based on Scottish history and legends.

浪漫主义时期的两个主要的小说家是：简·奥斯汀，沃尔特·斯科特。简奥斯汀是第一个也是最重要的英国女性小说家。斯科特因其基于苏格兰历史和传奇的历史小说而出名。

Gothic novel was one phase of the Romantic Movement. Its principal elements are violence, horror and the supernatural. Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley and The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe are masterpieces of English gothic novel.

哥特式小说也是浪漫主义运动的一个阶段。它的主要元素是：暴力，恐怖，超自然。“科学怪人”和“奥多芙的神秘”是最杰出的哥特式小说。

Poetic dramas were also appeared at that time. Shelley’ s Prometheus Unbound and The Cenci, Byron’ s Manfred, and Coleridge’s Remorse are regarded as the best verse plays during this period.

诗歌戏剧也在这时期出现，雪莱的“被解放的普罗米修斯”和“倩契”；拜伦的“曼弗雷德”；柯勒律治的“懊悔”都被认为是这时期最好的诗剧

总结：

●The romantic period is an age of poetry.

●Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge,Byron, Shelley and Keats are the most representative

writers.

●They explore new theories and innovate new techniques in versification（作诗）.

●They believe that poetry could purify individual souls and society.

注：

湖畔派诗人代表Lake poets:

Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey.

什么是湖畔派？

在文学上，共同反对古典主义传统，向往唯情论，歌颂大自然。通过缅怀中古的淳朴来否定现实的城市文明。消极浪漫主义。早期激进，后期保守。

Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey were known as Lake Poets because they lived and knew one another in the last few years of the 18th century in the district of the great lakes in Northwestern England.

The former two published The Lyrical Ballads together in 1798, while all three of them had radical inclinations in their youth but later turned conservative and received pensions and poet laureateships from the aristocracy.

野兽派/撒旦派作家：

Other greatest Romantic poets are: John Keats, P.B. Shelley and G. G. Byron.济慈，雪莱，拜伦They are referred to as Satanic Poets by Robert Southey for their violent imagination and rebellious spirit.（积极浪漫主义者，强烈的想象力和反抗精神。）

Satanic school（撒旦学派）: rebellious, revolutionary, romantic, short life.（反抗、革命、浪漫、短暂生命）

George Gordon Byron: romantic, revolutionary, satiric, proud and angry

e.g. Don Duan, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Manfred

Percy Bysshe Shelley: revolutionary, prophetic, optimistic

e.g. Prometheus Unbound and "Ode to the West Wind"

John Keats: melancholy, a genius propounding on truth and beauty

e.g. "Ode to the Nightingale", "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode to Psyche" and "Ode to Melancholy"

无论是湖畔派还是野兽派，都属于浪漫主义。（只不过是消极和积极的区别）

Gothic novels：

?The Mysteries of Udolpho -- Ann Radcliffe （1794）

?Frankenstein -- Mary Shelley （1818）