英国文学1.docx

1、英国文学1教学内容备 注The Medieval Literature (5 A.D. - 1485)Beowulf national epic - The Anglo-Saxon period - Old EnglishGeoffrey Chaucer - the father of English poetry - The Canterbury Tales - first time to use heroic couplet 英雄体双行诗English Literature in the Renaissance (15c-17c)The Renaissance文艺复兴 - rebirth

2、or revivalHumanism人文主义- the essence of the Renaissance, the dignity of human being & the importance of the present life1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser: ornate, florid, highly figured style. Edmund Spenser - the poets poet - Faerie Queene; Spenserian Stanza.The second tendency by Do

3、nne: metaphysical stylecomplexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reactionClassically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. DramaThe drama stands highest in popular estimation: ShakespeareChristopher Marlowe - greatest playw

4、right before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits. - University Wits, the pioneer of English drama Blank verse无韵诗体- The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus - the human passion for knowledge, power and happinessWilliam Shakespeare- above all writers in the past and in the present time3. ProseFranci

5、s Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman, the first English essayist. - a master of numerous and varied styles “Essays”: 58English Literature of the 17th Century John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.Alexander Pope a representative of the Enlightenment and

6、 the greatest poet of the Neoclassical period; he is the first to introduce rationalism to England.John Dryden Poet Laureate, the representative of classicism in the Restoration, father of English Criticism.John Donne & Andrew Marvell - metaphysical poetry玄学诗派 - break away from love poetry, a seemin

7、gly unfocused diversity of experiences and attitudes, and a free range of feelings and moods Conceits John Milton a master poet, and a great prose writer; the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction失乐园 the only generally acknowledg

8、ed epic in English literature since Beowulf. The conflict is between human love and spiritual duty. In heaven, Satan led a rebellion against God with his unconquerable will.复乐园力士参孙- the most perfect example of the verse drama after the Greek style in English.John Bunyan a religious novelist whose st

9、yle was modeled after that of the English Bible. from 天路历程, a religious allegory (寓言), pursue the truthEnglish Literature of Restoration and Enlightenment （English Literature of the 17th century -18th century）Neoclassicism新古典主义 - a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of interest in t

10、he old classical works, order, logic, restrained emotion balance, and harmony & accuracy in literature.Enlightenment启蒙思想(运动) - a progressive intellectual movement, reason (rationality), equality & scienceLiterature of Satire: Jonathan Swift the greatest genius of the age; a superb satirist讽刺作家; one

11、of the greatest masters of English prose. In his opinion, human nature is seriously and permanently flawed 温和的建议格列佛游记, four parts - Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Flying Island & Houyhnhnm.English Novels of Realistic tradition.Daniel Defoe - novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist. - th

12、e first writer study of the lower-class peopleRobinson Cusoe the first realistic novelHenry FieldingFather of English novel, Prose Homer Comic epic in prose The History of Tom Jones, a FoundlingThe writing feature of Tom Jones - “comic epic in prose”, displays a kind of classic epic form. The novel

13、contains 18 books in 3 sections. Section 1: life in the countryside Section 2: life on the highway Section 3: life in LondonLiterature of ProseRichard Steele & Joseph Addison Tatler & SpectatorSamuel Johnson - first combine an English dictionary, last neoclassicist enlightener英文字典Literature of senti

14、mentalismOliver Goldsmith a poet, novelist, dramatist and essayist; one of the representatives of English sentimentalism - the most lovable character in English literature.The Vicar of Wakefield The Deserted VillageLaurence Sterne - one of the oddest and most original of English novelist; a novelist

15、 of the sentimentalist school- His literary career is represented by two works“Tristram Shandy ”(a novel without a regular plot, and is regarded as the most typical novel in world literature) and “A Sentimental Journey”Thomas Gray the leading figure of the Graveyard School. Gray is the most scholarl

16、y and well-balanced of all the early romantic poetsThe Graveyard(墓地) School写在教堂墓地的挽歌.English Drama of the 18th centuryRichard Brinsley Sheridan - the only important English dramatist of the 18th century, the most important English playwright of the 18th centuryHis plays are remembered for their verb

17、al detriment and laughter which his well-planned scenes can create. His plays repudiate the high society for its vanity, great and hypocrisy.情敌 and造谣学校 are regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw.English Literature of the Romantic Age (1798-1832)

18、Romanticism - Characteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4） Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace（5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6） The r

19、eturn to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models（7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritPre-RomanticsRobert Burns the greatest Scottish poet in the late 18th century. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs writt

20、en in the Scottish dialect.His poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humour, pathos, the response to nature all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems,

21、 which marked the sunrise of another day the day of Romanticism.William Blake - Songs of Innocence/Songs of ExperienceSongs of Innocence - a happy and innocence world from childrens eye; Songs of Experience - a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone from men eye

22、s Childhood, paradoxes, a pairing of oppositesRomantic Poets of the first generationThe romantic period began with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridges Lyrical Ballads William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry; the leading figure of the English romantic poet

23、ry, simple, spontaneous, worshipper of nature.He defines the poet as a man speaking to men, and poetry as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion recollected in tranquillity Lake Poets - William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge & Robert SoutheySamuel Taylor Cole

24、ridge: poet and critic - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner；Kubla KhanRomantic Poets of the Second Generation.George Gordon Byron - Don Juan/ When We Two Parted/She Walks in BeautyByronic Hero - Byronic hero拜伦式英雄is a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin, against tyrannical rules or moral prin

25、ciples. Such a hero appears first in恰尔德哈罗德游记. the masterpiece of Byron, a long satirical poemPercy Bysshe Shelley one of the greatest of all English poetspoet and critic terza rima三行体, destructive-constructive potential, hopeful, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? John Keats he wrote best od

26、es in English literature - Beauty is truth, truth beautyEnglish Literature of the Victorian Age(English Literature of Realism)In Victorian period appeared a new literary trend called critical realism. English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the 40s and in the early 50s. It found i

27、ts expression in the form of novel. The critical realists, most of whom were novelists, described with much vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint.Novels of RealistsWater Scott - Novelist and poet Father o

28、f Western European History novels romantic historical novel - IvanhoeJane Austen - neoclassicism, romanticism and realism - Pride and PrejudiceNovels of Critical Realists.Charles Dickens - one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian AgeA Tale of Two Cities; Oliver Twist; David Copp

29、erfield, Great ExpectationsWilliam Makepeace Thackeray - a satirist, one of the most important writers of the English critical realism - The Vanity FairThe Bronte Sisters（1） Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre（2） Emily Bronte and The Wuthering Heights.George Eliot - As a woman of exceptional intelligence

30、 and life experience, she shows a particular concern for the destiny of womenThomas Hardy - novelist and poet; both a naturalistic and a critical realist writer Local-colored, Wessex, novels of character and environment - Ideas of Fate.Tess of the DUrbervilles - experience is as to intensity and not as to durationJoseph Conrad his experience as a sailor made the sea his favorite theme; his works are concerned with the nature and effects of European imperialism both economic and colonial.English Poets of the AgeAlfred Tenn