英国文学史及作品选读Chapter 3Word下载.docx

1、（1） The Hundred Years War（1337-1453）: The result of the war was an awakening of national consciousness in England. And the French language was gradually replaced by English native tongue. （2） The peasant uprising of 1381: It was the result of the conflict between the peasants and feudal lords. （3） 1

2、360-1400 The summit of Middle English literature:2011-6-19 22. The two contemporaries of Chaucer:John Wycliff: The “Father of English prose”. He translated the Bible into Middle English. William Langland: The Vision of Piers Plowman. An allegory.2011-6-1933. Geoffrey Chaucer （ca. 1343-1400）Life: Bor

3、n urban middle class； In the service of the ruling class； The diplomatic mission that sent Chaucer to Italy in 1372 was a milestone in his literary development. He had direct contact with the Italian Renaissance. Perhaps he acquired manuscripts of works by Dante, Petriarch, and Boccaccio.2011-6-19 4

4、4. The Canterbury Tales:（1） The Canterbury Tales is one of the landmarks of English literature, perhaps the greatest work produced in Middle English; The structure of The Canterbury Tales is indebted to Boccaccio's Decameron;2011-6-195（2） The significance of The Canterbury Tales:a. It gives a co

5、mprehensive picture of Chaucers time; b. The dramatic structure of the poem is highly commended; c. Chaucers gentle satire and mild irony made him a pioneering English humorist writer; d. Chaucer wrote in the London dialect of his day. In so doing Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of the Englis

6、h language.2011-6-19 65. “The General Prologue”The prologue is a splendid masterpiece of realistic portrayal, the first of its kind in the history of English literature Summery: As April comes, the narrator begins a pilgrimage to Canterbury from the Tabard Inn at Southwerk. Twentynine people make th

7、e pilgrimage toward Canterbury and the narrator describes them in turn. The Host, a bold and merry man, suggests that on their way to Canterbury each pilgrim tell two tales, and on the way back two more. They draw lots to decide who will tell the first tale.2011-6-19 7In The General Prologue, Chauce

8、r sets up the general structure of the tales and introduces each of the characters who will tell the tales. The characters who tell each of the tales are as important as the characters in the tales that they tell; a significant portion of the action of The Canterbury Tales takes place within the pro

9、logue to each of the tales. The General Prologue in essence serves as a guide. Chaucer only lived to write 24 tales. Some of the stories that remain are only fragments which have either been lost or were never completed by the author.2011-6-1986. Character Analysis:Chaucers pilgrim narrators represe

10、nt a wide spectrum of ranks and occupations. The great variety of tales is matched by the diversity of their tellers; tales are assigned to appropriate narrators and juxtaposed to bring out contrasts in genre, style, tone, and values. These pilgrims exist almost entirely in terms of their profession

11、. Chaucer gives only a few of them character names.2011-6-19 9The pilgrim narrators represent a wide spectrum of ranks and occupationsdiversity The Prioress The Wife of Bath2011-6-19 10The Parson The Plowman The Pardoner, The Host2011-6-1911Notes （1）prioress: （Madam Eglantyne） A nun in charge of a p

12、riory or ranking next below the abbess of an abbey. 小女隐修院院长或大女隐修院副院长 parson: An Anglican cleric with full legal control of a parish under ecclesiastical law; a rector. 教区牧师英国英车圣公会牧师，在基督教法律 下拥有对一个教区的完全的法律控制权；教区 长2011-6-19 12Notes （2）pardoner: A medieval ecclesiastic authorized to raise money for reli

13、gious works by granting papal indulgences to contributors. 出售免罪符的人中世纪获准出售教会的赦 免书而为宗教事务筹钱的神职人员2011-6-19 13Social significance of the work:The Canterbury Tales is Chaucers Masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature. 1. give us a true to life picture of his time. 2. he affirms me

14、n and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the Church. 3. As a forerunner of humanism, he praises mans energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. 4. His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time, attack degeneration of the noble, the heartless of the judge, the corruption of the Chu

15、rch and so on.2011-6-19 14Chaucers writing style:1. His poetry is full of vigor and swiftness. 2.He enriched the poetic forms for the English poetry. and is the first people who made the london vernacular the language of his work and thus make it the foundation for modern speech and establishing Eng

16、lish as the literary language of the country. 3. His language style is rematkably lexible. His prose is easy and informal. His works are full of genial satires.2011-6-19 15Chaucers contribution:1.He introduced into England the rhymed stanzas of various forms to English poetry instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterate verse, especially heroic