1英美文学选读重点笔记.docx

1、1英美文学选读重点笔记英美文学选读重点笔记The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of

2、Europe. The Renaissance, which means rebirth or revival, is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance, t

3、herefore, in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church from the

4、 corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilizat

5、ion was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came

6、 to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present lif

7、e, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists. I. Edmund Spenser 1) Main

8、 qualities of Spensers poetrya perfect melody a rare sense of beautya splendid imaginationa lofty moral purity & seriousnessa dedicated idealism 2)语言特点 In his writing, Spenser drew on the conventions & thought of Classical, medieval, & Renaissance literature. However, he added to his fusion of these

9、 diverse elements much that was original, & his works inspired many later English poets. He created a new stanza, called the Spenserian stanza, which is well suited to narrative verse. His skills in writing melodious English verse & his combination of emotion, erudition, & spiritual vision have won

10、him the admiration of generations of English poets. It is his idealism, his love of beauty, &his exquisite melody that make him known as the poets poet.3）代表作The Faerie Queene: 1) It is a long, allegorical poem. In the poem, Spenser dramatized political, religious, & moral themes by personifying them

11、, or making them characters. 2)Plot: The story, which is set against a background of Arthur & medieval legend, deals with the adventures of six knights of the court of the fairy queen named Gloriana, who represents Queen Elizabeth of English. The faerie Queen was left unfinished at Spensers death. I

12、t was originally planned as a 12-book poem. But only 6 books were completed. The poem is particularly admired for the melodic beauty of its language & for its rich content of philosophical & mythological material presented in the form of vivid narratives. II. Christopher Marlowe 1）His Achievements &

13、 InfluenceAchievements: Marlowes greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse & made it the principal medium of English drama. His second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama. The theme of his works is the praise of the Renaissance spirit. His influ

14、ence: A man of wide learning, Marlowe was one of the extra ordinary poets & playwrights of his time. Marlowes mighty line, as Ben Jonson called his blank verse, was one of the most important contributions to the art of English literature. 2）代表作 Dr. Faustus The selection of Actfrom Dr. Faustus is mai

15、nly about Faustus is showing his great ambition, that is, if he had many souls, he would give them all to the Devil so that he could control the world. In portraying Faustus, a more introspective & philosophical figure than Tamburlaine, Marlowe praises his soaring aspiration for knowledge while warn

16、ing against the sin of pride since Faustuss downfall was caused by his despair in God & trust in Devil. . William Shakespeare His Influence 1) Contributions to language Many words and commonly used phrases have been added to everyday English vocabulary through their appearance in Shakespeares works.

17、 2) Effects on literature Shakespeares plays & poetry have had a pervasive influence on world literature. Most of the great literary figures of the world have been inspired & stimulated by his achievement.On the whole, however, Shakespeares contribution has been to the language & spirit of later wri

18、ting rather than to its form. References & parallels to Shakespeares phraseology have occurred in literature since the 16th century.Perhaps the greatest inspiration to subsequent authors has been Shakespeares capacity to depict life in all its complexity & to illuminate mans character & destiny.His

19、Major Works1) Drama A. The Merchant of Venice Theme: to praise the friendship between Antonio & Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit & loyalty, & to expose the insatiable greed & brutality of the Jew.Plot: The play has a double plot (P39) B. Hamlet Hamlet is generally regar

20、ded as Shakespeares most popular play on the stage, for it has the qualities of a blood-and-thunder thriller & a philosophical exploration of life & death. And the timeless appeal of this mighty drama lies in its combination of intrigue, emotional conflict & searching philosophic melancholy. The pla

21、y opens with Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, appearing in a mood of world-weariness occasioned by his fathers recent death & by his mothers hasty remarriage with Claudius, his fathers brother. While encountering his fathers ghost, Hamlet is informed that Claudius has murdered his father & then taken over

22、 both his fathers throne & widow. This, Hamlet, is urged by the ghost to seek revenge for his fathers foul & most unnatural murder. Trapped in a nightmare world of spying, testing & plotting, & apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his fathers death, Hamlet is obliged to i

23、nhabit a shadow world, to live suspended between fact & fiction, language & action. His life is one of constant role-playing, examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger. By characterizing

24、 Hamlet, Shakespeare successfully makes a philosophical exploration of life & death.His Major Theme 1) Shakespeare is against religious persecution & racial discrimination, against social inequality & the corrupting influence of gold & money.2) He was a humanist of the time & accepted the Renaissanc

25、e views on literature.His Literary Achievements1) Characterization His major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others. The soliloquies

26、in his plays fully reveal the inner conflict of his characters. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs. Contrasts are frequently used to bring vividness to his characters. The women in the plays are vivid creations, each differing from the others. Shakespeare was fond of portraying mockin

27、g wenches, such as Kate of the Taming of the Shrew, Rosaline of Loves Labors Lost, & Beatrice of Much Ado About Nothing, but he was equally adept at creating gentle & innocent women, such as Ophelia in Hamlet, Desdemona in Othello, & Cordelia in King Lear. His female characters also include the trea

28、cherous Goneril & Regan, the iron-willed Lady Macbeth, the witty & resourceful Portia, the tender & loyal Juliet, & the alluring Cleopatra.2) Plot Construction Shakespeares plays are well known for their adroit plot construction. He seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from some ol

29、d plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek & Roman sources. There are usually several threads running through the play, thus providing the story with suspense & apprehension.3) Language In Shakespeares time, English grammar & spelling were not yet formalized, so Shakespeare could freely inter char

30、ge the various parts of speech, using nouns as adjectives or verbs, adjectives as adverbs, & pronouns as nouns. Such freedom gave his language an extraordinary flexibility, which enabled him to express his thoughts as easily in poetry as in prose. Most of Shakespeares dramatic poetry is in blank ver

31、se, or unrhymed iambic pentameter. His bland verse is especially beautiful & mighty. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary & idiom. His coinage of new words & distortion of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader.Selected Readings 1) Sonnet 18 Theme: a profound medita

32、tion on the destructive power of time & the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves. Imagery: a summers day-youth the eye of heaven-the sun 2) The Merchant of Venice Theme: To praise the friendship between Antonio & Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit & loyalty, & to expose the insatiable greed and brutality of the Jew.3) Hamlet This is one part of Hamlets most famous monologue. Hamlet, facing the dilemma of action & mind, is hesitating whether he should revenge for his father, which may bring him death, or he should suffer & hide