英国文学选读笔记.docx

1、英国文学选读笔记英国文学选读笔记Thomas More: Utopia 乌托邦Francis Bacon: Essays 论说文集或 随笔Knowledge is power. BaconEdmund Spencer: Faerie Queen 仙后Our sweetest songs are those that sing of saddest feelings. SpencerWilliam Shakespeare (1564-1616)1. 23rd, April 1564, Stratford-on-Avon2. His Father, a leather merchant 皮货商3.

2、 His school, a local Grammar school for 6 years4. His life, dramatist, actor, poet, proprietor5. His first son, Hamnet6. 4 tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth (Romeo and Juliet)7. Main works: 37 plays, 154 sonnets , 2 narrative plays 戏剧 14行诗 叙事诗Titus Andronicus 泰特斯安德洛尼克斯Taming of the Shre

3、w 驯悍记The Two Gentlemen of Verona 维罗纳二绅士Loves Labors Lost 爱的徒劳A Midsummer Nights Dream 仲夏夜之梦King John 约翰王的生平和逝世Much Ado about Nothing 无事生非The Merry Wives of Windsor 温莎的风流娘们Julius Caesar 朱力叶斯凯撒The Merchant of Venice 威尼斯商人As you like it 皆大欢喜8. Carl Marx: Aeschylus and Shakespeare are the two greatest d

4、ramatic genius the world has ever known.9. His friend: He does not belong to one time, but belongs to all timesWilliam Shakespeares writing feature1. A play in the play.2. Borrow plots from other stories such as Roman, Greek and ancient myth.3. Several threads running through the play.4. Combination

5、 of tragic and comic elements. William Shakespeares writing style1. Tremendous vocabulary (16,000 words, invent words)2. Literary devices (alliteration, simile, metaphor)3. Use poetry in his playWilliam Shakespeares humanistic ideas1. Against cruelty and anti-natural character of civil wars2. Agains

6、t religious persecution, racial discrimination, social inequality.3. Hates rebellion and despises democracyThemes in Shakespeares sonnets1. Express love and praise to a young man2. Immortalize beauty through verses3. Friendship or betrayal of friendshipSonnetOrigin: ItalyMost famous and influential

7、sonneteer: PetrachSelected Reading of Shakespeare: 1. Shakespeares Sonnet 18: a. Ladies in the eyes of Shakespeare are not good and beautiful. His wife is 8 years older than him. b. Iambic pentameterc. Main ideas: i. Quatrain 1: praise the beauty of the young manii. Quatrain 2: changes in life and n

8、atureiii. Quatrain 3: your beauty will last foreveriv. Couplet: your beauty will live in my poem. Immortalize beauty2. An Excerpt from The Merchant of Venicea. How does Shylock justify himself according to the accusation of Duke and Bassanio? 3 reasons.b. Why does Shylock stick to his bond instead o

9、f taking twice his principle?He hates the Christians and is determined to revenge on them because his daughter elopes with a Christian. c. What do you think of Shylock in the early court scene? What about him later?In the early court scene, Shylock is cruel, eloquent, stubborn, tricky, isolated from

10、 law and friendship. In the later court scene, Shylock is greedy, sympathetic and oppressed by Christians. d. What is Shakespeares attitude towards Shylock? He sympathizes those who are oppressed. Antonio is oppressed by Shylock. Shylock is oppressed by Christians.e. The whole play is a tragi-comedy

11、. In the scene, Shylock is the tragic side. Antonio and his friends is the comic side.John Donne (1572-1631)1572 Born in a merchant family1591 Learn law at the Inns of Court in LondonPrivate Secretary to Sir Thomas Egerton, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.1601 29y. Married Egertons niece, Ann More

12、. He worked hard to fight against poverty. However, its a secret marriage. When the marriage was exposed, he was put into jail. The Egertons regarded the marriage as an offence.1617 His wife died. He devoted his time and efforts to his priestly duties, writing sermons and religious poems.1621 Donne

13、was appointed the Dean of St. Pauls and kept the post until his death.John Donnes major work1. Songs and Sonnets, wrote before 1600, 55 love poems. 2. The Elegies and Satires, his elegies wrote for love whereas others wrote for mourning dead people. 3. Holy Sonnets & Sermons, Sonnets wrote about God

14、, sexual life, problem of death and life. Sermons are Christian preaching. John Donne is famed for 3 things1. A great visitor of ladies2. A great frequenter of plays3. A great writer of conceited versesAt his time, John Donne was famed as a preacher. Today, he is famed as a lyric poet. John Donne co

15、mpared parting love to compass, flea compared to the union of lovers. John Donnes conceit can be seen from his Go catching the falling star in which he listed many impossible thingsthe most impossible thing is a womans faith and heart. Metaphysical poetry is commonly used to name the work of the 17t

16、h-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Metaphysical poets are the poets in the 17c England who often unconventionally use conceits and wit. The imagery is draw from everyday life. The form is the form of argument (with God, lover, himself). The diction is simple and the langu

17、age is colloquial but powerful. John Donne is the leading of metaphysical school.Selected Reading of John Donne1. The Sun Rising2. Death, Be not Proud (1)John Milton (1608-1674)1608 Born in London. A Catholic family. His father was both a scholar and a businessman. 1620 Educated at St. Pauls School1

18、625 Educated in Cambridge1643 Married a 17y. girl younger than him1649 Appointed Latin Secretary to Cromwells Council of State1652 Became totally blind. His wife died. He married again. 3 periods in John Miltons life1. English revolution 1649 Charles I beheaded. Cromwell took the power1660 Restorati

19、on. Charles II took the power2. Political ideas: express his political ideas in pamphlets3. Poem: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes. Paradise Lost is a long epic divided into 12 books. The theme is the Fall of Man, i.e. mans disobedience and the loss of Paradise. The original story

20、is taken from Genesis. Adam and Eve are originally in innocent spiritual love. They are punished by God because they eat the apple of the Tree of Knowledge seduced by a serpent. Since they eat the apple, they begin to make love. God thinks they are not innocent. They committed sin. God drives Adam a

21、nd Eve out of Eden. Satan is punished by God to suffer from fire. He knows that he cant win God by power, so he wins God by cheating. He seduced Eve to eat the apple. In Paradise Lost, Satan is the rebel who never bows down to God even when he failed. He is a good military leader. He refuses to ackn

22、owledge the power of God. He is determined to continue the battle. He feels sorrow at the sufferings of those angels. He has led to so terrible a punishment, but he is very cruel. He has indomitable pride, unconquerable rebellion, and the will to evil and power. He said, Only do evil, no good. He tr

23、ies to be as equal as God. Selected Reading of John Milton：An Excerpt from Paradise LostChapter 2 The Neoclassical Period (1600-1798)The age of reason and enlightenment. Its a turbulent period.1660 The Restoration1665 The Great Plague Black Death. 70,000 died, 2/3 homeless. 1688 The Glorious Revolut

24、ion. James II exiled abroad. The persecution of Protestants. James IIs daughter Marry and her wife William turned back to England as figurehead (King and Queen) without power. Power was in the Parliament. England became the first capitalist country with Constitutional monarchy, which marked the end

25、of feudal society. 1798 The publication of Lyrics by WordsworthIndustrial Revolution at the 2nd half of 18cPreparations for the revolution1. money by trading companies, e.g. East India Company； by money investment2. goods, materials colonies, e.g. India, North America3. manpower Act of Enclosure. Th

26、e landless and homeless peasant began to work in cities； the invention of textile machineIn the revolution, Bourgeois (middle class) became the main class in the society. Bankers, landlords, slave traders, merchants, colonists controlled the economy of the country at the time. They believed in self-

27、reliance and hard working. The Giants of the Enlightenment Movement:Voltaire 伏乐泰, Mosteiqeu 孟德斯鸠, Dierot 狄德罗, Rousseau 卢梭. Gothic Novel1. Content: magic, supernatural elements, ghosts, monsters.2. Setting: old castle, graveyard, dark forest3. Atmosphere: horribleJohn Bunyan (1628-1688)1628 Born in a

28、 poor tinkers family. He received little education in a Grammar School1647 Married a Christian woman and became interested in Christianity. 1660 Bunyan began to preach, but he didnt have a preaching license so he was put into jail for 6 years. 1665 Great Plague in England, he was released from jail.

29、 Few months later, he was in jail again for another 6 years.1672 Declaration of Independence, he was released again. 1675 His license of lay preacher was temporarily cancelled and he was in prison again. Throughout his life, he only read one book the Bible. His most famous work is The Pilgrims Proce

30、ss.Bunyans purpose of writing The Pilgrims Process 1. Urge people to abide by Christian doctrine2. To seek salvation through struggling with his own weakness and social evilsThe content of The Pilgrims Process is about Christianity. The title means life is a journey. Its a metaphor. Form of The Pilg

31、rims Process: Allegory1. A story in verse or prose with double meanings or meanings at two levels. 2. Higher lever - concerning moral, religious, or political ideas. Lower level - your understanding of the story. 3. Main characters in the story Christian, Faithful, Hopeful. 4. The description of the

32、 story is realistic religious allegory. Selected Reading of John Bunyan: The Vanity Fair from The Pilgrims ProcessWhy The Vanity Fair is a satire on the ruling class of Egnland?1. Its a symbolic picture of London at the time of Restoration2. In Vanity Fair, everything can be sold and bought, daily necessities