英国文学史选读总结1.docx

英国文学史选读总结1.docx

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英国文学史选读总结1

I.EarlyandMedievalLiterature

1. England’sinhabitantsareCelts.AnditisconqueredbyRomans,theTeutonictribesofAngle,SaxonsandJutes.In1066,atthebattleofHastings（黑斯延斯）,theNormansheadedbyWilliam,DukeofNormandy,defeatedtheAnglo-Saxons.TheAnglo-SaxonsbroughttheGermaniclanguageandculturetoEngland,whileNormansbroughttheMediterraneancivilization（地中海文明）,includingGreekculture,RomelawandtheChristianreligion.ItistheculturalinfluenceofthesetwoconqueststhatprovidedthesourcefortheriseandgrowthofEnglishliterature.

2.Juteslivedandmaintainedcloserelationswithkindred（相似）tribes.

3.TheoldEnglishliteratureextendsfromabout449to1066,theyearoftheNormanconquestofEngland.

4.ThreekindsoflanguagesintheAnglo-Normanperiod:

Norman---French,English---English,Religious---Latin.Twokindsofliterature:

RomansandBallads.“Romans”isaboutupperclass,andnothingtodowithRomans.

5.TheoldEnglishpoetrythathassurvivedcanbedividedintotwogroups:

Thereligiousgroupandthesecularone.

6.Theliteratureofthisperiodfallsnaturallyintotwodivisions――paganandChristian.

7.ThenationalepicoftheEnglishpeople,whichbelongstotheprimitive（原始，早期）literature;Romancecycles,whichbelongtothefeudalist（封建）literature;Folkliteraturewhosesubjectsarefromthelowerclass

8.CaedomisthefirstknownreligiouspoetofEngland,heisknownasthefatherofEnglishsong.

9.ThedidacticpoemTheChristwasproducedbyCynewulf.

10.TheSongofBeowulf

ItdescribesthemostheroicmanoftheAnglo-Saxontimes.ItisaDenmark（丹麦）storywhichusedalliteration,metaphors（隐喻）andunderstatements（轻描淡写）.

•Itisthefirstliterature,England’snationalepic;itwaswrittenbyanunknownscribeatthebeginningofthe10thcenturyandwasnotdiscovereduntil1750

•Itconsistsof3182lines

•TellingastoryaboutanancientheroBeowulf’sfightagainstalakemonster,Grendel,andhismother,amonster,too;Beowulf’sbattleagainstafiredragon.

•Thepoemisanexampleoftheminglingofthenaturemythsandheroiclegends.

12.TheliteraturewhichtheybroughttoEnglandisremarkableforitsbright,romantictalesofloveandadventure,inmarkedcontrastwiththestrengthandsomberness（严峻）ofAnglo-Saxonpoetry.

ThegreatmajorityofRomancesmainlyfallinto3cycles.

A.ThemattersofBritain:

AboutKingArthurandhisknightsoftheRoundTable

B.ThemattersofFrance:

AboutCharlemagneandhispeers

C.ThemattersofGreeceandRome:

AboutAlexander,andaboutthefallofTroy（特洛伊城的陷落）

Ofthesethreecycles,themattersofBritainisthemostimportantone.ThereweremanycyclesofArthurianromances,ChiefofwhicharethoseofGawain,Launcelot（朗斯洛特）,Merlin（默林）,theQuestoftheHolyGrail（寻找圣杯）,andtheDeathofArthur

SirGawainandtheGreenKnight

13.GeoffreyChaucer

•HeisthefatherofEnglishpoetryinthatheintroducesrhymedverse,especiallycouplet,intoBritaintoreplacealliterativeverseformerlyprevailinginBritishpoetryandmakingEnglishtheliterarylanguage.

•HeisalsothefounderofEnglishrealismbecauseTheCanterburyTales,hismasterpiece,providesapanoramaofthelifeinthemedievalEngland.

•Heistheforerunnerofhumanismforinhismasterpiecethekeynoteishumanism.Hepraiseshumanintellect,humanbeauty,humanpassionandhumanlivingenvironment,andaffirmshumanrightstopursueearthlyhappiness.

•写作的三个时期：

TranslatefromFrench;French;Writeinhisownwords:

English

•TheCanterburyTales

Threefeatures:

Plot;Prologue;Language（iambicpentameter）

ThePrologueisasplendidmasterpieceofrealisticportrayal,thefirstofitskindinthehistoryofEnglishliterature.ThePrologueisasplendidmasterpieceofrealisticportrayal,thefirstofitskindinthehistoryofEnglishliterature.

Heroiccoupletisarhymedcoupletofiambicpentameter（五音步抑扬格）.ItisChaucerwhouseditforthefirsttimeinEnglishinhisworkTheLegendofGoodWoman.

14.PopularBallads

•Literatureofthelowerclassinthefeudalistsocietyincludeswrittenfolkliteratureandoralfolkliterature.

•Asforthewrittenfolkliterature,themostimportantwriterisWilliamLangland,whosemasterpieceisTheVisionofPiers,thePlowman.

•Amongtheballadspublished,theRobinHoodballadsareofspecialsignificance.

•ThebestknownoftheearliestcollectionswasgivenbyBishopThomasPercy,namedReliquesofAncientEnglishPoetry.

II.LiteratureoftheRenaissancePeriod

1.Renaissance:

generalspirit---humanism

2.AbsolutemonarchyinEnglandreacheditssummitduringthereignofQueenElisabeth.

3.ThomasMore,ChristopherMarlowe（克里斯托弗马洛）andWilliamShakespearearethebestrepresentativesoftheEnglishhumanists.

4.ThomasMore----Utopia;JohnLyly----Eupheus（艳词）;Marlowe----TheJewofMalta;RobertGreene----GorgeGreen

5.EdmundSpenserwasthepoet’spoet.ThegreatestepicpoemofthetimeisTheFairyQueen.

6.WilliamShakespeareproduced37plays,2narrativepoemsand154sonnets.Abasicformofpoetryconsistsof14linesofiambicpentameter,intricatelyrhymed（abab,cdcd,efef,gg）.

Hisplayscanbedividedintofourtypes:

historicalplays,comedies,tragediesandromantictragic-comedies.

Hisfourwritingperiod:

Apprenticeship;Matureperiod;Greattragedies;Romanticdrama

Sonnet18:

Theme---Artsurvivestime

Hamlet

ItpraiseshumanistsasrepresentedbyHamlet.Heisthescholar,asoldierandastatesman（政治家）;itshowstheinevitableproblemsfacedbythehumanists;Hamlet’sdelayofactionisduetohisawarenessofthepossiblenationaldisasterwhichwillbebroughtaboutbyhispersonalrevengeandhissenseofresponsibilitytoputtheinterestsofhisnationandhispeoplebeforehisown.

7.FrancisBacon

○Essayist,Scientist,Philosopher.

○HismajorworksareTheAdvancementofLearningandNewInstrument.

○HeisalsothefirstgreatEnglishessayist.

○Hisworksmaybedividedintothreeclasses:

thephilosophical,theliteraryandtheprofessionalworks

○In1597FrancisBaconpublishedhisfirstcollectionofessays,theEssays

III.LiteratureoftheRevolutionandRestorationPeriod

1.ThegovernmentofJames1wasbaseduponthetheoryofdivinerightofkings,butthePuritansofferedanothertheoryofdivineright—theindividualconscience.

2.In1649CharlesIwasbeheaded.EnglandbecameacommonwealthundertheleadershipofOliverCromwell.Heimposedamilitarydictatorship（军事独裁）.

In1653OliverCromwellimposedamilitarydictatorshiponthecountry.ItwascalledtheperiodoftheRestorationwhichwasobjectionable（讨厌的）inmonarchy.AfterCromwell’sdeath,monarchywasagainrestoredin1660.

3.Revolutionof1688（GloriousRevolution）meansthreethings:

ThesupremacyofParliament（议会至上）,thebeginningofthemodernEngland（现代英国的开端）,thefinaltriumphoftheprincipleofpoliticallibertyforwhichthePuritanhadfoughtandsufferedhardshipforahundredyears.

4.LiteraryCharacteristics

IntheliteraturealsothePuritanAgewasoneofconfusion,duetothebreakingupofoldideals.ThePuritaninfluenceingeneraltendedtosuppressliteraryart.

5.JohnDonne

•HewasthefounderoftheMetaphysicalschoolofpoetry.

•DonneisbestknownbyhisTheSongsandSonnets.Itcontainsmostofhisearlylyrics.Loveisthebasictheme.

•Sometimesthe“conceits（奇遇）”,astheseextravagantfiguresarecalled,aresooddthatwelosesightofthethingtobeillustrated,inthestartlingnatureoftheillustration.

•Song（“GoandCatchaFallingStar”）,thethemeis“Nowherelivesawomantrue,andfair”

6.JohnMilton

ParadiseLostconsistsof12books,containingabouttenthousandlinesinblankverse（unrhymediambicpentameter）.Basedonthebiblicallegendoftheimaginaryprogenitorsofthehumanrace----AdamandEve,andtellsGodandhiseternaladversary,Sataninitsplot.

Majorpoeticalworks:

ParadiseLost,ParadiseRegainedandSamsonAgonisters.

7.JohnBunyan

Hegivesustheonlygreatreligiousallegory（宗教寓言）

Pilgrim’sProgress,VanityFair

IV.Literatureofthe18thCentury

1.Theageofreason

2.Twoparties:

theliberalWhigsandtheconservativeToriescameintobeing.Howeveranotherpartyalsoexisted,theJacobites,whoaimedtobringtheStuartsbacktothethrone.

3.Characteristicsofliterature:

Realism;Commonpeople;Proserapiddevelopment

3.DanielDefoe

Hisworksarethefirstliteraryworksdevotedtothestudyofproblemsofthelower-classpeople.

RobinsonCrusoe,colonialspirit

（1）Hismarvelous（非凡的）capacity（才能）forwork

（2）Hisboundless（无穷的）energyandpersistenceinovercomingobstacles（障碍）

（3）Hishardstruggleagainstnatureandmakingallbendtohiswill

3.JonathanSwift

ATaleofaTub（satirist）《木桶的故事》

Gulliver’Travels（satire）

Fourplaces:

Lilliput（厘厘普特）,Brobdingnag（布罗卜丁奈格）,theflyingIsland,Houyhnhnm（慧駰国）.

▪ThefirstparttellsabouthisexperienceinLilliput,wheretheinhabitantsareonlysixinchestall）,twelvetimessmallerthanthenormalhumanbeings.Theemperorbelievedhimselftobethedelightandterroroftheuniverse,butitappearedquiteabsurdtoGulliverwhowastwelvetimesastallashe.Inhisaccountofthetwopartiesinthecountry,distinguishedbytheuseofhighandlowheels,SwiftsatirizestheToriesandtheWhigsinEngland.

▪ReligiousdisputeswerelaughedatinanaccountofaproblemwhichdividedtheLilliputians:

“Shouldeggsbebrokenatthebigendorthelittleend?

”

Aboutselectedreading:

Thetheme:

explorationintohumannatureandsatiretoEnglishandEuropeanlife

①Mainplot—partone:

HisexperiencesinLilliputwheretheinhabitantsareonly12timessmallerthannormalhumanbeing

Au