4 Victorian period.docx

1、4 Victorian periodChapter 4 The Victorian Period一 学习目的和要求通过本章的学习，对19世纪维多利亚时代英国的政治，经济，历史，文化背景，对维多利亚时代的诗歌，散文，小说在创作思想上的进步和创作技巧上的改革，以及对该时代主要作家的生平，观点，创作旨意，艺术品特点及其代表作的主题，结构，语言，人物刻画等都有一个全面的了解。 并通过作品选读加深体会感受，增强对作品的理解和鉴赏能力。二 考核要求（一） 维多利亚时期概述 1 识记:（1）维多利亚时期的界定（2）社会政治，经济，文化背景。 2 领会:（1）维多利亚时期的文学特点 （2）批判现实主义小说对后

2、世文学的影响。 3 应用：宪章运动，功利主义，批判现实主义，戏剧独自等名词的解释（二） 该时期的重要作家 1 一般识记：重要作家的生平与创作生涯 2 识记: 重要作品及主要内容 3 领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想，人物塑造，语言风格，社会意义等。 4 应用:（1）狄更斯和萨克雷作品的批判现实主义思想及各自的创作手法，艺术特色。（2）小说简爱，呼啸山庄的主题思想与人物塑造。（3）我逝去的公爵夫?quot;中的戏剧独白。（4）乔泊艾略特和哈代小说中环境，氛围描述与人物内世界的展示。A. Introduction to the Victorian Period1. 识记(1

3、) Definition: the Victorian PeriodChronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from 1836 to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history.(2) Political, Economical & Cultural Backgroun

4、d The early years of the Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. After the Reform Bill of 1832 passed the political power from the decaying aristocrats into the hands of the middle-class industrial capitalists, the Industrial Revolution soon gea

5、red up. Towards the mid-century, England had reached its highest point of development as a world power. And yet beneath the great prosperity & richness, there existed widespread poverty & wretchedness among the working class. The worsening living & working conditions, the mass unemployment & the new

6、 Poor Law of 1834 with its workhouse system finally gave rise to the Chartist Movement (1836-1848). During the next twenty years, England settled down to a time of prosperity & relative stability. The middle-class life of the time was characterized by prosperity, respectability & material progress.B

7、ut the last three decades of the century witnessed the decline of the British Empire & the decay of the Victorian values. Ideologically, the Victorians experienced fundamental changes. The rapid development of science & technology, new inventions & discoveries in geology, astronomy, biology & anthro

8、pology drastically shook peoples religious convictions. Darwins The Origin of Species (1859) & The Descent of Man (1871) shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. On the other hand, Utilitarianism was widely accepted & practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of

9、utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness.2. 领会 (1) Features of the Victorian Literature Victorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude & diversity. It was many-sided & complex, & reflected both romantically & realistical

10、ly the great changes that were going on in peoples life & thought. Great writers & great works abounded. (2) Features of Victorian novelsIn this period, the novel became the most widely read & the most vital & challenging expression of progressive thought. While sticking to the principle of faithful

11、 representation of the 18th-century realist novel, novelists in this period carried their duty forward to the criticism of the society & the defense of the mass. Although writing from different points of view & with different techniques, they shared one thing in common, that is, they were all concer

12、ned about the fate of the common people. They were angry at the inhuman social institutions, the decaying social morality as represented by the money-worship & Utilitarianism & the widespread misery, poverty & injustice. Their truthful depiction of peoples life & bitter & strong criticism of the soc

13、iety had done much in awakening the public consciousness to the social problems & in the actual improvement of the society.Victorian literature, in general, truthfully represents the reality & spirit of the age. The high-spirited vitality, the down-to-earth earnestness, the good-natured humor & unbo

14、unded imagination are all unprecedented. In almost every genre it paved the way for the coming century, where its spirits, values & experiments are to witness their bumper harvest. 3. 应用 Definitions of several terms1) The Chartist Movement (1836-1848)The English workers got themselves organized in b

15、ig cities & brought forth the Peoples charter, in which they demanded basic rights & better living & working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of peoples signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the mo

16、vement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.2) Utilitarianism Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion

17、 of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost & brought greater suffering & poverty to the working mass.3) Critical RealismThe Victori

18、an Age is an age of realism rather than of romanticism-a realism which strives to tell the whole truth showing moral & physical diseases as they are. To be true to life becomes the first requirement for literary writing. As the mirror of truth, literature has come very close to daily life, reflectin

19、g its practical problems & interests & is used as a powerful instrument of human progress.4) Dramatic MonologueBy dramatic monologue, it is meant that a poet chooses a dramatic moment or a crisis, in which his characters are made to talk about their lives, & about their minds & hearts. In listening

20、to those one-sided talks, readers can form their own opinions & judgments about the speakers personality & about what has really happened. Robert Browning brought this poetic form to its maturity & perfection & his My Last Duchess is one of the best-known dramatic monologues. I. Charles Dickens1 一般识

21、记 His Life & Literary CareerCharles Dickens (1812-1870) was born at Portsmouth. His father, a poor clerk in the Navy Pay office, was put into the Marsalsea Prison for debt when young Charles was only 12 years old. The son had to give up schooling to work in an underground cellar at a shoe-blacking f

22、actory - a position he considered most humiliating. We find the bitter experiences of that suffering child reflected in many of Dickenss novels. In 1827, Charles entered a lawyers office, & two years later he became a Parliamentary reporter for newspapers. From 1833 Dickens began to write occasional

23、 sketches of London life, which were later collected & published under the title Sketches by Boz (1836). Soon The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836-1837) appeared in monthly installments. And since then, his life became one of endless hard work. In his later years, he gave himself to publ

24、ic readings of his works, which brought plaudits & comfort but also exhausted him. In 1870, this man of great heart & vitality died of overwork, leaving his last novel unfinished.2. 识记His Major WorksUpon his death, Dickens left to the world a rich legacy of 15 novels & a number of short stories. The

25、y offer a most complete & realistic picture of English society of his age & remain the highest achievement in the 19th-century English novel. In nearly all his novels, behind the gloomy pictures of oppression & poverty, behind the loud humor & buffoonery, is his gentleness, his genial mirth, & his s

26、imple faith in mankind. The following is a list of his novels & other collections in three periods: (1) Period of youthful optimist Sketches by Boz (1836); The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836-1837); Oliver Twist (1837-1838); Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839); The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-18

27、41); Barnaby Rudge(1841)(2) Period of excitement & irritation American Notes (1842); Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-1845); A Christmas Carol (1843); Dombey & Son (1846-1848); David Copperfield (1849-1850)(3) Period of steadily intensifying pessimism Bleak House (1852-1853); Hard Times (1854); Little Dorrit

28、 (1855-1857); A Tale of Two Cities (1859); Great Expectations (1860-1861); Our Mutual Friend (1864-1865); Edwin Drood (unfinished)(1870)3. 领会 Distinct Features of His Novels (1) Character Sketches & ExaggerationIn his novels are found about 19 hundred figures, some of whom are really such typical ch

29、aracters under typical circumstances, that they become proverbial or representative of a whole group of similar persons.As a master of characterization, Dickens was skillful in drawing vivid caricatural sketches by exaggerating some peculiarities, & in giving them exactly the actions & words that fi

30、t them: that is, right words & right actions for the right person.(2) Broad Humor & Penetrating Satire Dickens is well known as a humorist as well as a satirist. He sometimes employs humor to enliven a scene or lighten a character by making it (him or her) eccentric, whimsical, or laughable. Sometim

31、es he uses satire to ridicule human follies or vices, with the purpose of laughing them out of existence or bring about reform.(3) Complicated & Fascinating PlotDickens seems to love complicated novel constructions with minor plots beside the major one, or two parallel major plots within one novel.

32、He is also skillful at creating suspense & mystery to make the story fascinating.(4) The Power of ExposureAs the greatest representative of English critical realism, Dickens made his novel the instrument of morality & justice. Each of his novels reveals a specific social problem.4. 领会 His Literary Creation & Literary Achievements Charles Dickens is one of the greatest critical realistic writers of the Victorian