英美文学常识之欧阳地创编Word文档下载推荐.docx

1、Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. When he was about 14 years old, he had to leave school to help support his family. In 1582, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 8 years older than him. Later he went to London and became an actor and writer. In 1612 he retired from the stage and retur

2、ned to his hometown and died in 1616.During the 22 years of his literary career, he produced 37 plays, 154 sonnets （十四行诗）and some long poems.Shakespeare produced 16 comedies. His main comedies are: A Midsummer Nights Dream（仲夏夜之梦）, As You Like It（皆大欢喜）, Merchant of Venice（威尼斯商人）, The Twelfth Night（第十

3、二夜）Merchant of VeniceThe story tells us that Shylock, the moneylender of Jew, is disliked by all good men, especially by Antonio, a young merchant of Venice, Bassano, the friend of his friend for help. Antonio has no money and goes to Shylock , who pretends to be kind, but asks Antonio to sign a bon

4、d. When the day to pay the debts comes, Antonio cannot pay the money and the Jew demands the pound of flesh as said in the bond. In court, a young doctor, Portia in disguise saves Antonia.Shakespeare wrote 11 tragedies, among which the most famous are: Romeo and Juliet（罗密欧与朱丽叶）, Hamlet（哈姆雷特）, Othell

5、o（奥赛罗）, King Lear（李尔王）, Macbeth（麦克白）, The Tempest（暴风雨）.HamletThe whole play shows how Hamlet, who represents good and justice, fights against his uncle in whom all the evil things can be seen. This play is regarded as the summit of Shakespeares art.The famous line in the play “to be , or not to be”

6、by Hamlet is often quoted by people.OthelloThe story took place in Venice and Cyprus.The hero Othello is a splendid general. Iago, a very bad man envies Othellos happiness. He tells Othello that his wife betrayed hi. Othello strangles his wife and later kills himself.King LearKing Lear, one of the B

7、ritish kings, wants to divide his kingdom into three parts and bestows each daughter a part. The first two daughters tell him that they love him more than words could express, while the youngest daughter refuses to flatter him. The old king, angry with the youngest daughter, divides the kingdom into

8、 two parts and the elder daughters get them. Later, the old king is treated badly and driven out of the two elder daughters houses. The youngest daughter comes to fight her sisters but is killed. At last, the king dies of grief and sorrow. Some critics have said that King Lear is Shakespeares greate

9、st achievement, which is the most complex in plot and most painful.Among Shakespeares 10 historical plays, Henry IV and Henry V are two remarkable ones. Besides the 37 plays, Shakespeare wrote some long poems and 154 sonnets.He was one of the founders of realism in English literature. His plays are

10、mirrors of his age.2.John MiltonMilton is the greatest writer of the 17th century. In his life and literary career the two dominant historical movements of Renaissance and Refo0rmation combine and receive their most intense and intelligent expression. He towers over his age just as Shakespeare tower

11、s over the Elizabethan age and Chaucer over the Medieval Age.Milton was born in London. He went to Cambridge University and got B.A. and M.A. there. Milton was married to Mary Powell in 1642 but she left him six weeks later. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, Milton began his masterpiece

12、 Paradise Lost（失乐园）. Before his death, he published two other works Paradise Regained（复乐园）and Samson Agonists（力士参孙）, but neither is successful as Paradise Lost.Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is Miltons masterpiece and the greatest English epic. In the poem, God is no better than a selfish despot, who i

13、s cruel and unjust in punishing Satan（撒旦）, the rebel. Adam and Eve embody Miltons belief in the powers of man. Satan is the real hero of the poem.3.Daniel DefoeDefoe was a novelist who has been regarded as the discoverer of the modern novel. His strong creative spirit in novel writing won him the ti

14、tle “Father of English and European Novels”.Defoe was the son of a London butcher. When he was nearly 60 years old, he returned to writing novels. His first novel The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was a great success and Defoe became a well-known writer all over Europe.Ro

15、binson CrusoeThe story is told in the first person singular. At the beginning, we see Crusoes career as a sailor, a merchant and a slave owner. On the voyage to Africa, he met a shipwreck and found himself cast by the sea weaves upon the shore of an uninhabited island. He managed the livelihood ther

16、e by himself. He built a shelter, grew barley and rice and fought against savages. Later he rescued one savage and named him Friday, who became his faithful servant. Finally an English ship came and took him to Europe, thus Crusoe ended his 28-year life on the island. Afterwards, he returned to Engl

17、and and got married. At last, he ailed back to the island and established a colony there.Crusoe represented the English bourgeoisie at the early stage of its development.4.Jonathan SwiftSwift was born in Dublin. After graduation from Dublin University, he went to England and became the secretary to

18、Sir William Temple who treated him badly. During this period, he began to write. Later, in order to join the struggle of the Irish people against their English oppressors, he wrote some pamphlets concerning Ireland. In A Modest Proposal, with bitter irony, Swift suggested that the poor Irish peasant

19、s fatten their one-year-old children and sell them as food to the rich, which is a most powerful blow at the English government.In the period when he was closely linked with the Irish people, he wrote his masterpiece Gullivers Travels（格列佛游记）.Gullivers Travels（1726, amended 1735）, is a novel byIrishw

20、riter and clergymanJonathan Swiftthat is both asatireon human nature and aparodyof the travellers tales literary sub-genre. It is Swifts best known full-length work, and a classic ofEnglish literature.5.William Blake Blakes main works includes: Songs of Innocence（天真之歌）: This collection contains poem

21、s written for children of which the best-known poem is The Lamb（羊羔）.Songs of Experience（经验之歌）: This collection is much mature and is Blakes most important work. The best-known poems in this collection are The Tiger（老虎）, London （伦敦）and The Chimney-Sweeper（扫烟囱的孩子）. This poem in this collection shows t

22、hat the poets eyes are open to the evils and vices of the world.6.Robert BurnsRobert Burns poetry falls into several groups according to the subject matter.Most of Burns poems are lyrics on love and friendship. They have a great charm of simplicity. They are very musical and can be sung. His best kn

23、own lyrics are A Red, Red Rose（红红的玫瑰）, Auld Lang Syne（旧日美好时光）.Burns wrote some poems to express his hatred for the oppression of the ruling class and his love for freedom. Burns is the greatest songwriter in the world. He is the national poet of Scotland. Most of his poems and songs were written in

24、Scotch dialects. He was the peoples poet.7.William WordsworthWilliam Wordsworth was born and grew up in the Lake District. The natural beauty and grandeur of this area was a major source of inspiration for Wordsworth throughout his life. In 1787, he attended Cambridge University. In 1797, he was int

25、roduced to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and became close friends. Their friendship is one of the most important and fruitful friendships in English literature. Later, he accepted the office of a distributor of stamps and was made “Poet Laureate”（桂冠诗人）. He died in 1850 when he was 80 years old.8.George Go

26、rdon ByronByron was educated in CambridgeUniversity, where he led an unbalanced life. In 1815, Byron married Annabella but quarreled with her bitterly. After the birth of their daughter, she left him. Byron left England in 1816 due to the scandals and never returned. In 1824, Byron died of fever in

27、Greece.Byron wrote a lot of lyrical poems. They deal with nature and love. The best-known pieces are She Walks in Beauty（她走在美的光影里）, When We Two Parted（昔日依依别） and Hebrew Melodies（希伯来歌曲）. Byron is chiefly known for his two long poems, one is Childe Harolds Pilgrimage（恰尔德哈罗尔德游记）, the other is Don Juan

28、which is his masterpiece.The story of the poem takes place in the latter part of the 18thcentury. Don Juan（唐璜）is a Spanish youth of aristocratic birth. The long poem describes Don Juans adventures in may countries.Byron is one of the most excellent representatives of English Romanticism. His literar

29、y career was closely associated with the struggle and progressive movement of his age. His poems are favorites of the British workers.9. Percy Bysshe ShelleyShelley went to OxfordUniversity but was expelled after six months .expelled after six months. He had two marriages and the second one was happ

30、y. Later his first wife died and Byron was compelled to leave England in 1818 and spent all the rest of his life in Italy, where he met. Byron. In 1822, he was drowned.Prometheus Unbound （解放的普罗米修斯） is Shellys masterpiece. The story is taken from Greek mythology. According to Greek myth, Prometheus s

31、teals fire from Heaven and is punished by Zeus , who chains him to a rock. Finally Zeus is overthrown and Hercules sets Prometheus free.Shellys short poems on nature and love form an important part of his literary output. His best love lyrics: Ode to the West Wind（西风颂）and Ode To a Skylark（云雀颂）. “If

32、Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” is a famous line in Ode to the West Wind.Shelly loved the people and hated their oppressors and exploiters. Byron called him “the best and least selfish man I ever knew”.10. John Keats Keats was of very humble origin. In 1817, he published his first volume of poems and in 1818 appeared his second volume. Keats personal life was quite unhappy. He died in Rome at the age of 26.His f