英国文学简史English Literature.docx

英国文学简史English Literature.docx

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英国文学简史EnglishLiterature

EnglishLiterature

I

INTRODUCTION

EnglishLiterature, literature producedinEngland,fromtheintroductionofOldEnglishbytheAnglo-Saxonsinthe5thcenturytothepresent.TheworksofthoseIrishandScottishauthorswhoarecloselyidentifiedwithEnglishlifeandlettersarealsoconsideredpartofEnglishliterature.

II

OLDENGLISH,ORANGLO-SAXON,ERA

This period extends fromabout450to1066,theyearoftheNorman-FrenchconquestofEngland.TheGermanictribesfromEuropewhooverranEnglandinthe5thcentury,aftertheRomanwithdrawal,broughtwiththemtheOldEnglish,orAnglo-Saxon,language,whichisthebasisofModernEnglish（seeEnglishLanguage）.Theybroughtalsoaspecificpoetictradition,theformalcharacterofwhichremainedsurprisinglyconstantuntiltheterminationoftheirrulebytheNorman-Frenchinvaderssixcenturieslater.

A

Poetry

Much of Old English poetrywasprobablyintendedtobechanted,withharpaccompaniment,bytheAnglo-Saxonscop,orbard.Oftenboldandstrong,butalsomournfulandelegiacinspirit,thispoetryemphasizesthesorrowandultimatefutilityoflifeandthehelplessnessofhumansbeforethepoweroffate.Almostallthispoetryiscomposedwithoutrhyme,inacharacteristicline,orverse,offourstressedsyllablesalternatingwithanindeterminatenumberofunstressedones（seeVersification）.Thislinestrikesstrangelyonearshabituatedtotheusualmodernpattern,inwhichtherhythmicalunit,orfoot,theoreticallyconsistsofaconstantnumber（eitheroneortwo）ofunaccentedsyllablesthatalwaysprecedeorfollowanystressedsyllable.AnotherunfamiliarbutequallystrikingfeatureintheformalcharacterofOldEnglishpoetryisstructuralalliteration,ortheuseofsyllablesbeginningwithsimilarsoundsintwoorthreeofthestressesineachline.

All these qualities offormandspiritareexemplifiedintheepicpoemBeowulf,writtensometimebetweenthe8thcenturyandthelate10thcentury.Beginningandendingwiththefuneralofagreatking,andcomposedagainstabackgroundofimpendingdisaster,itdescribestheexploitsofaScandinavianculturalhero,Beowulf,indestroyingthemonsterGrendel,Grendel'smother,andafire-breathingdragon.InthesesequencesBeowulfisshownnotonlyasagloriousherobutasasaviorofthepeople.TheOldGermanicvirtueofmutualloyaltybetweenleaderandfollowersisevokedeffectivelyandtouchinglyintheagedBeowulf'ssacrificeofhislifeandinthereproachesheapedontheretainerswhodeserthiminthisclimacticbattle.Theextraordinaryartistrywithwhichfragmentsofotherheroictalesareincorporatedtoilluminethemainaction,andwithwhichthewholeplotisreducedtosymmetry,hasonlyrecentlybeenfullyrecognized.

Another feature of Beowulfistheweakeningofthesenseoftheultimatepowerofarbitraryfate.TheinjectionoftheChristianideaofdependenceonajustGodisevident.ThatfeatureistypicalofotherOldEnglishliterature,foralmostallofwhatsurviveswaspreservedbymonasticcopyists.MostofitwasactuallycomposedbyreligiouswritersaftertheearlyconversionofthepeoplefromtheirfaithintheolderGermanicdivinities.

Sacred legend and storywerereducedtoverseinpoemsresemblingBeowulfinform.Atfirstsuchversewasrenderedinthesomewhatsimple,starkstyleofthepoemsofCaedmon,ahumblemanofthelate7thcenturywhowasdescribedbythehistorianandtheologianSaintBedetheVenerableashavingreceivedthegiftofsongfromGod.LaterthesametypeofsubjectmatterwastreatedinthemoreornatelanguageoftheAnglo-SaxonpoetCynewulfandhisschool.Thebestoftheirproductionsisprobablythepassionate“DreamoftheRood.”

In addition to these religiouscompositions,OldEnglishpoetsproducedanumberofmoreorlesslyricalpoemsofshorterlength,whichdonotcontainspecificChristiandoctrineandwhichevoketheAnglo-Saxonsenseoftheharshnessofcircumstanceandthesadnessofthehumanlot.“TheWanderer”and“TheSeafarer”areamongthemostbeautifulofthisgroupofOldEnglishpoems.

B

Prose

Prose in Old English isrepresentedbyalargenumberofreligiousworks.TheimposingscholarshipofmonasteriesinnorthernEnglandinthelate7thcenturyreacheditspeakintheLatinworkHistoriaEcclesiasticaGentisAnglorum（EcclesiasticalHistoryoftheEnglishPeople,731）byBede.ThegreateducationaleffortofAlfred,kingoftheWestSaxons,inthe9thcenturyproducedanOldEnglishtranslationofthisimportanthistoricalworkandofmanyothers,includingDeConsolationePhilosophiae（TheConsolationofPhilosophy）,byBoethius.ThiswasasignificantworkoflargelyPlatonicphilosophyeasilyadaptabletoChristianthought,andithashadgreatinfluenceonEnglishliterature.

III

MIDDLEENGLISHPERIOD

Extending from 1066 to1485,thisperiodisnotedfortheextensiveinfluenceofFrenchliteratureonnativeEnglishformsandthemes.FromtheNorman-FrenchconquestofEnglandin1066untilthe14thcentury,FrenchlargelyreplacedEnglishinordinaryliterarycomposition,andLatinmaintaineditsroleasthelanguageoflearnedworks.Bythe14thcentury,whenEnglishagainbecamethechosenlanguageoftherulingclasses,ithadlostmuchoftheOldEnglishinflectionalsystem,hadundergonecertainsoundchanges,andhadacquiredthecharacteristicitstillpossessesoffreelytakingintothenativestocknumbersofforeignwords,inthiscaseFrenchandLatinones.Thus,thevariousdialectsofMiddleEnglishspokeninthe14thcenturyweresimilartoModernEnglishandcanbereadwithoutgreatdifficultytoday.

The Middle English literatureofthe14thand15thcenturiesismuchmorediversifiedthanthepreviousOldEnglishliterature.AvarietyofFrenchandevenItalianelementsinfluencedMiddleEnglishliterature,especiallyinsouthernEngland.Inaddition,differentregionalstylesweremaintained,inliteratureandlearninghadnotyetbeencentralized.Forthesereasons,aswellasbecauseofthevigorousandunevengrowthofnationallife,theMiddleEnglishperiodcontainsawealthofliterarymonumentsnoteasilyclassified.

A

Allegory

In the north and west,poemscontinuedtobewritteninformsveryliketheOldEnglishalliterative,four-stresslines.Ofthesepoems,TheVisionofWilliamConcerningPiersthePlowman,betterknownasPiersPlowman,isthemostsignificant.NowthoughttobebyWilliamLangland,itisalong,impassionedworkintheformofdreamvisions（afavoriteliterarydeviceoftheday）,protestingtheplightofthepoor,theavariceofthepowerful,andthesinfulnessofallpeople.Theemphasis,however,isplacedonaChristianvisionofthelifeofactivity,ofthelifeofunitywithGod,andofthesynthesisofthesetwoundertheruleofapurifiedchurch.Assuch,despitevariousfaults,itbearscomparisonwiththeothergreatChristianvisionarypoem,Ladivinacommedia（TheDivineComedy）,byDante.Forboth,thewatchwordsareheavenlyloveandloveoperativeinthisworld.

A second and shorter alliterativevisionpoem,ThePearl,writteninnorthwestEnglandinabout1370,issimilarlydoctrinal,butitstoneisecstatic,anditisfarmoredeliberatelyartistic.Apparentlyanelegyforthedeathofasmallgirl（althoughwidelyvaryingreligiousallegoricalinterpretationshavebeensuggestedforit）,thepoemdescribestheexaltedstateofchildlikeinnocenceinheavenandtheneedforallsoulstobecomeaschildrentoenterthepearlygatesoftheNewJerusalem.Theworkendswithanimpressivevisionofheaven,fromwhichthedreamerawakes.Ingeneral,poetryandproseexpressingamysticallongingfor,andunionwith,thedeityisacommonfeatureofthelateMiddleAges,particularlyinnorthernEngland.

B

TalesofChivalryandAdventure

A third alliterative poem,supposedlybythesameanonymousauthorwhowroteThePearl,isSirGawainandtheGreenKnight（late1300s）,aromance,ortale,ofknightlyadventureandlove,ofthegeneralmedievaltypeintroducedbytheFrench.MostEnglishromancesweredrawn,asthisoneapparentlywas,fromFrenchsources.MostofthesesourcesareconcernedwiththeknightsofKingArthur（seeArthurianLegend）andseemtogobackinturntoCeltictalesofgreatantiquity.InSirGawain,againstabackgroundofchivalricgallantry,thetaleistoldoftheknight'sresistancetotheblandishmentsofanotherman'sbeautifulwife.

C

Chaucer

Two other important, nonalliterativeverseromancesformpartoftheworkofGeoffreyChaucer.ThesearethepsychologicallypenetratingTroilusandCriseyde（1385?

）,ataleofthefatalcourseofanoblelove,laidinHomericTroyandbasedonIlfilostrato,aromancebythe14th-centuryItalianauthorGiovanniBoccaccio;andTheKnight'sTale（1382?

;laterincludedinChaucer'sCanterburyTales）,alsobasedonBoccaccio.ImmersedincourtlifeandchargedwithvariousgovernmentaldutiesthatcarriedhimasfarasItaly,ChauceryetfoundtimetotranslateFrenchandLatinworks,towriteunderFrenchinfluenceseveralsecularvisionpoemsofasemiallegoricalnature（TheBookoftheDuchess,TheHouseofFame,TheParliamentofFowls）and,aboveall,tocomposeTheCanterburyTales（probablyafter1387）.Thislatterworkconsistsof24storiesorpartsofstories（mostlyinverseinalmostallthemedievalgenres）recountedbyChaucerthroughthemouthsandintheseveralmannersofagroupofpilgrimsboundforCanterburyCathedral,whowererepresentativeofmostoftheclassesofmedievalEngland.Characterizedbyanextraordinarysenseoflifeandfertilityofinvention,thesenarrativesrangefromTheKnight'sTalet