文学的常识性知识.docx

1、文学的常识性知识Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales坎特伯雷故事集简介：1. It has 24 stories. 2.It is the description of the pilgrims（朝圣者 ）who tell stories. 3. It is about the life of ordinary people. 4. It gives vivid characters, with humor and satire. 意义：It is the first complete realistic poem of the medieval peri

2、od. His masterpiece and a representative works of the Middle Ages. A framework for the tales Tabard (泰巴客店) Vivid sketches of typical figures from all walks of life24 stories written29 (30) pilgrims to Canterbury All major types of medieval literature The Prologue supplies a miniature(小画像) of the Eng

3、lish society of the time1. How is the setting of the tales described? With such a setting, could you predict the general tone of the tales that are to follow? The poem is set in the early spring, in the suburb of London. General Tone: happy, easy, lively, humorous 2. In your own words, summarize the

4、 character of the knight from the brief introduction in this excerpt. Noble, honorable, brave, wise, humble, gentle, pious3.Character Analysis: The Knight Socially, the Knight is by far the most prestigious person on the pilgrimage. He has fought in many battles and served his king nobly. He is the

5、very essence of chivalry, honor, and courage. Similarly, he is the epitome of gentility, a man who loves truth, freedom, and honor. Everyone in the pilgrimage looks up to and respects him. Despite his elevated position, the knight is also filled with humility. He does not participate in the quarreli

6、ng or complaining, nor does he condemn it. Although he has distinguished himself several times in battle, he never talks about his brave deeds. He is completely satisfied with his station in life and is courteous to the other pilgrims without becoming unfriendly with them. The Knights Tale perfectly

7、 fits the Knight himself. He chooses a story filled with knights, love, honor, chivalry, and adventure. The main emphasis in the story is upon rules of honor, decorum, and proper conduct. For his hero, he chooses the Greek hero of legend, Theseus, the ideal king of Athens, who was the most highly th

8、ought of man in Ancient Greek culture; Thus Theseus, like the Knight himself, is an embodiment of all the ideal human virtues.William Shakespeare生存还是毁灭, 这是个值得考虑的问题: 默然忍受命运暴虐的毒箭, 或是挺身反抗人世无涯的苦难, 通过斗争把他们扫清，这两种行为，哪一种更高贵? 死了，睡着了，什么都完了。倘若在这一种睡眠之中, 我们心头的创痛，以及其他无数血肉之躯所不能避免的打击，都可以从此消失，这正是我们求之不得的结局。死了，睡着了，睡着了

9、也许还会做梦。嗯，阻碍就在这: 因为当我们摆脱了这一具腐朽的皮囊以后, 在那死的睡眠里，究竟将要做些什么梦，那不能不使我们踌躇顾虑。人们甘心久困于患难之中，也就是为了这个缘故。谁愿意忍受人世的鞭挞和讥嘲、压迫者的凌辱、傲慢者的冷眼、被轻蔑的爱情的惨痛、法律的迁延、官吏的横暴和费尽辛勤所换来的小人的鄙视，要是他只用一柄小小的刀子，就可以清算他自己的一生？谁愿意负着这样的重担，在烦劳的生命的压迫下呻吟流汗，倘若不是因为惧怕不可知的死后，惧怕那从来不曾有一个旅人回来过的神秘之国，是它迷惑了我们的意志，使我们宁愿忍受目前的折磨，不敢向我们所不知道的痛苦飞去？这样，重重的顾虑使我们全变成了懦夫，决心的炽

10、热的光彩，被审慎的思维盖上了一层灰色，伟大的事业在这一种考虑下，也会逆流而退，失去了行动的意义。Dilemma of trying to determine the meaning of life and death: Hamlet here weighs the moral ramifications of living and dying. Is it nobler to suffer life passively or to actively seek to end ones suffering? Hamlet compares death to sleep and thinks of

11、the end to suffering and pain. Based on this metaphor, he decides that suicide is a desirable course of action. But, as the religious word “devoutly” signifies, there is more to the question, namely, what will happen in the afterlife. Hamlet immediately realizes the afterlife, and he reconfigures hi

12、s metaphor of sleep to include the possibility of dreaming; he says that the dreams that may come in the sleep of death are daunting, that they “must give us pause.”Hamlet thus concludes that the dread of the afterlife leads to excessive moral sensitivity that makes action impossible:1. Why is sleep

13、 so frightening, according to Hamlet, since it can “end” the heartache and the thousand natural shocks”? Nobody can predict what he will dream of after he falls asleep. Death means the end of life, you may go to or unknown world and you cant comeback,. If he dies, Hamlet s cant realize his will. Tho

14、ugh “sleep” can end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks, it is a state of mind. Hamlet didnt know at all. He is frightened by the possible suffering in the long “dream”. He cant predict what will happen in the sleep, may be good may be evil.2.Why would people rather bear all the sufferings

15、 of the world instead of choosing death to get rid of them, according to Hamlet? Death is so mysterious that nobody knows what death will bring to us. Maybe bitter sufferings, great pains, heartbreaking stories Because people hold the same idea to grunt and sweat under a weary life, but that the dre

16、ad of something after death-the undiscovered country, form whose bourn no traveler returns-puzzle the will, and make us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?” People also are frightened by the myths in another world after death.3. What, after all, makes people lose their determination to take action? Please explain in relation to the so-called hesitation of Hamlet.Conscience and over-consider