英国文学第一册.docx

英国文学第一册.docx

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英国文学第一册

RomanConquest

Ø55B.C.—JuliusCaesar

ØRomanBritain:

Britannia（aRomanprovince）

Ø410A.D.--withdrew

ØInfluence:

Romanmoodoflife（Turkishbath;castles;fortressed;roads）

TheAnglo-Saxonperiod

EnglishConquest

ØAbout449A.D.—Angles,Saxons,Jutes（Teutonictribes）

ØResistance:

CeltickingArthuratCamelot;kingdomofWessex

ØInfluence:

ancestorsofthepresentEnglishpeople;atransitionfromtribalsocietytofeudalism

ØNameitscentralpart—England（Angla-land）orAnglia

ØLanguage:

oldEnglish—thefoundationofEnglishlanguageandliterature

PS:

British→Britons（byCelts）English（byAngles）

Literature:

Twodivisions:

PaganandChristian

Pagan:

theAnglo-Saxonspoetryintheformoforalsagas

Christian:

Øthewritingsdevelopedunderteachingofthemonks

ØMeantanewlanguage:

theliterarymonk—thecultureandliteraryresourcesoftheLatinlanguage.

Anglo-Saxonpoets:

ØCaedmon—apoeticParaphraseoftheBible

ØCynewulf—onreligioussubjects（TheChrist）

ØUnknownscribes—thegreatepic（TheSongofBeowulf）;poems（Widsith,TheTraveller’sSong;Seafarer）

TheSongofBeowulf

ØTheoldestpoemintheEnglishlanguage

ØTheoldestsurvivingepicintheEnglishlanguage

ØTheonlyexistingmanuscriptwaswrittenatthebeginningofthe10thcenturyandwasnotdiscovereduntil1705.ItreflectseventswhichtookplaceontheContinentatthebeginningofthe6thcentury.

ØThewholeepicconsistsof3128linesandistobedividedintotwopartswithaninterpolation（anadditionmadebytheChristianwhocopiedTheSong）.

ØThewholesongisessentiallypaganinspiritandmatter.

ØApaganpoemofalladvancedpagancivilization;presentanall-roundpictureofthetribalsociety

Thesubjectmatter

ØThispoemof3128linesdescribesthedeedsoftheTuetonic（Scandinavia）heroBeowulf.

ØHrothgar（king）;Heorot（meadhall）;Grendel（monster）;Grendel’smother;dragon

ØAlliteration（headrhyme）;kenning（metaphor）;understatement

ØTheuseofthestrongstressandconsonants;eachlineisdividedintotwohalves,andeachhalfhastwoheavystresses

ØPartlyhistoricalandpartlylegendary

TheAnglo-NormanPeriod

RomanConquest:

1066—William,DukeofNormandy,defeatedtheAnglo-SaxonsatthebattleofHastings.

Influence:

Feudalsystemwasestablished;French

PS:

BlackDeath

Theliterature:

ØThebright,romantictalesofloveandadventure←→thestrengthandsombernessofAnglo-Saxonpoetry

ØEnglishliteratureisacombinationofFrenchandSaxonelements.

ØAbsorbedtheFrenchvocabulary,becametheEnglishlanguage

Thenewliterature:

ØGeoffrey’sHistory—containsthenativeCelticlegendsofArthur

ØTheworkoftheFrenchwriters—madetheArthurianlegendspopular

ØRimingChronicles—historyindoggerelverse（Laysmon’sBrut）

ØMetricalRomancesortalesinverse

Threeclasses:

ØMatterofFrance:

talesaboutCharlemagne（ChansondeRoland）

ØMatterofGreeceandRome:

talesaboutAlexanderandaboutthefallofTroy

ØMatterofBritain:

talesabouttheirheroesArthurandhisknightsoftheRoundTable

CyclesofArthurianromances:

Gawain,Launcelot,Merlin,theQuestoftheHolyGrail,theDeathofArthur

GeoffreyChaucer

Biography:

Ø“fatherofEnglishpoetry”

ØOneofthegreatestnarrativepoetsofEngland

ØServedinavarietyofoccupations:

soldier,ambassador,courtier,officeholder,legislator

ØThefirsttobeburiedinthePoet’sCornerofWestminsterAbbey

Socialenvironment:

ØThesecondhalfofthe14thcentury,feudalsystembeguntocrumble

Ø1381,afamouspeasantuprisingledbyWatTylerandJohnBall

ØThegloryoftheCatholicChurchwasonthewane

Literature:

Works:

ØHetranslatedvariousworksofFrenchauthors:

RomanceoftheRose

ØLongerpoemsintheformofvisionsofavoredintheMiddleAge:

TheLegendofGoodWomen;TheHouseofFame;TheparliamentofFowls

ØLongnarrativepoemTroilusandCressiebaseduponBoccaccio’spoemFilostrato

Features:

ØHisallegoriesandsymbolsaretingedwithrealisticimages.

ØHispoemmarksanewstepintheauthor’sprogresstomaturityandisdistinguishedforitsprofounddelineationofcharacterandtruthfuldescriptionofhumanrelation.

ØHegreatlycontributedtothefoundingoftheEnglishliterarylanguage,thebasisofwhichwasformedbytheLondondialect.

Threeperiods:

ØTheperiodofFrenchinfluence（1359-1372）

ØTheperiodofItalianinfluence（1372-1386）—Chaucer’sowncreativenessshowsitselfthroughborrowedthemes

ØTheperiodofEnglishinfluence（1386-1400）

TheCanterburyTales

ØChaucer’smasterpieceisTheCanterburyTales.

ØGiveapictureofcontemporaryEnglishlife

ØOnly24taleswerewrittenofwhich2areleftunfinished

ØHeroiccouplets

ØOntheirwaytoCanterbury,PilgrimsgatheredatTabardInn.

ØThe“jollyinnkeeper”,HarryBaily,proposedthateachpilgrimshouldtelltwotalesonthewaytoCanterburyandtwomoreonthewayback.

ØThePrologueisasplendidmasterpieceofrealisticportrayal,thefirstofitskindinthehistoryofEnglishliterature.Itprovidesaframeworkforthetalesanditcomprisesagroupofvividpicturesofvariousmedievalfigures.

ØTheKnight;thePardoner;Nun’sPriest;theWifeofBath…

ØInTheCanterburyTales,Chaucercreatedastrikinglybrilliantandpicturesquepanoramaofhistimeandhiscountry.

ØFree-thinking;believesintherightofmantoearthlyhappiness

PopularBallads

The15thcenturyhasbeentraditionallydescribedasthebarrenageinEnglishliterature.ButitisthespringtideofEnglishballads.

ØBalladsareanonymousnarrativesongsthathavebeenperseveredbyoraltransmission.

ØEnglishballadswereprobablycomposedduringthe500yaersperiodfrom1300to1700,fewofthemwereprintedbeforethe18thcenturyandsomenotuntilthe19th.

ØSongsandballadswerewidespreadamongthepopulaceofEnglandandScotland.

ØTheywerecreatedandpreservedbythepeople,termed“PopularBallads”.

ØBedevotedtohistoricalevents

ØTheage-longstrugglebetweentheScotsandtheEnglishisreflectedinthe“borderballads”.

ØBishopThomasPercywasamongthefirsttotakealiteraryinterestinballads

ØDiscoveryofa17thcenturymanuscriptwhichhadbeencopieddownamongagreatwelterofMiddleEnglishverse

ØPublicinhisReliquesofAncientEnglishPoetry

RobinHoodBallads

RobinHoodisapartlyhistoricalandpartlylegendarycharacter.

ThefirstmentionofRobinHoodinliteratureisinLangland’sTheVisionofPiers,thePlowman

TheHistoryofGreatBritain,inLatin,1521

RobinHood,aSaxonbybirth,wasanoutlaw,arobber,robbedonlytherichandnevermolestedthepoorandneedy.

RobinHood’scharacter:

strong,brave,clever,tender-hearted,affectionate,hatredforthecrueloppressors,loveforthepooranddowntrodden

TheballadsofRobinHoodgainedgreatpopularityinthesecondhalfofthe14thcentury.（atthetimeofthepoor’sstruggle）

PS:

humorousballads—GetUpandBartheDoor

TheRenaissance

Historicalbackground:

ØThe16thcenturyinEnglishwasaperiodofthebreakingupoffeudalrelationsandtheestablishingofthefoundationsofcapitalism.

ØTheReformation—HenryⅧ（reigned1509-1547）brokeoffwiththePopeandproclaimedhimselfheadoftheChurchofEngland→furtheredthestrengtheningofEnglishmonarchy

ØTheoldEnglisharistocracyhavingbeenexterminatedinthecourseoftheWaroftheRoses（1455-1485,theHouseofLancasterVStheHouseofYork）

ØNewclass—theclassofbourgeoisie

ØAbsolutemonarchyinEnglandreacheditssummitduringthereignofQueenElisabeth（reigned1558-1603）

ØTheprogressofbourgeoiseconomymadeEnglandapowerfulstateandenabledherin1588toinflictadefeatontheSpanishInvincibleArmada（thetriumphoftherisingbourgeoisieoverthedecliningoldfeudalism）.

ØTheaggravationofthecontradictionbetweenthewealthoftherulingclassesandthepovertyofthepeople→uprisingofthepeasantry（1549,inNorfolk,RobertKet）

Literature

Fromthefirsthalfofthe16thcentury,theEnglishRenaissancebegantodevelopintoafloweringofliteratureandthenEnglandbecame“anestofsingingbirds”.

Renaissance—“rebirth”:

arevivalofclassical（GreekandRoman）artsandsciencesafterthedarkagesofmedievalobscurantism.

✧TheworksofclassicalauthorsweretranslatedintoEnglish.

✧Propagationofclassicallearningandart

✧Humanistsheldtheirchiefinterestinman—hisenvironmentanddoingsandbravelyfoughtfortheemancipationofmanfromthetyrannyofthechurchandreligiousdogmas

EnglishRenaissancePeriodwasanageofpoetryanddrama.

Prose:

ThomasMore—Utopia:

gaveaprofoundandtruthfulpictureofthepeople’ssufferingsandputforwardhisidealofafuturehappysociety.

FrancisBacon

Lyricalpoems:

ØInthefirsthalfofthe16thcentury

ThomasWyatt—thefirsttointroducethesonnetintoEnglishliterature

HenryHoward;EarlofSurrey

ØInthesecondhalfofthe16thcenturylyricalpoetrybecamewidespreadinEngland.

PhilipSidney;ThomasCampion

EdmundSpenser（thepoets’poet）—TheFairyQueen

Novel:

ØDealingwithcourtlifeandgallantry

JohnLyly—Eupheus:

gaverisetotheterm“euphuism”,designatinganaffectedstyleofcourtspeech

ThomasLoge

ØRealistictendencies—devotedtotheeverydaylifeofthelowerclasses

ThomasDeloney;ThomasNashe

Drama:

theepochofRenaissancewitnessedaparticulardevelopmentofEnglishdrama

ChristopherMarlowe（themostgiftedofthe“universitywits”）—madeblankversetheprincipalvehicleofexpressionindrama

RobertGreen—GeorgeGreen,thePinnerofWakefield

WilliamShakespeare（1564.4.23—1616.4.23）

ØThegreatestofallEnglishauthors

ØOneofthefirstfoundersofrea