英美文学欣赏期末复习资料docx.docx

1、英美文学欣赏期末复习资料docxonly 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.3.Spenserian stanza 斯宾塞诗体4.Metaphysical poetry 玄言诗5.The

2、Renaissance her A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his drama.William Shakespeare (1564-1616)1.一般识记 Brief IntroductionWilliam Shakespeare was the greatest writer of plays who ever lived. His friend & fellow playwright Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare was not of an age

3、but for all time. The 18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson described his work as the mirror of life. The 19th-century English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge spoke of myriad-minded Shakespeare. The 20th-century English dramatist George Bernard Shaw stressed his enormous power over language.2.识记

4、 His Life & CareerThe exact date of Shakespeares birth is not known, but his baptism was recorded on April 26, 1564, in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-on-Avon. Since it was customary to baptize infants within two or three days of birth, April 23 is regarded as a reasonable b

5、irth date. It is also the date on which he died in 1616. Generally, his dramatic career is divided into 4 periods.4 tragedies (The Third Period 1601-1609):哈姆雷特Hamlet奥 赛罗Othello李尔王king lear麦克白MacbethHamlet : Hamlet is generally regarded as Shakespeares most popular play on the stage, for it has the q

6、ualities of a blood-and-thunder” thriller & aChapter IThe Renaissance Period1.The Renaissance: The Renaissance marks a transition 过渡 from the medieval to the modem world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering 极盛 of paintin

7、g, sculpture 雕亥!|& literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of 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

8、& astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance, therefore, 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 intere

9、sts of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.2.Humanism: 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 begin

10、ning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization 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 wor

11、ks. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came 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

12、 enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not threads running through the play, thus providing the story with suspense & apprehension.3） LanguageIn Shakespeare*s time, English grammar & spelling were not ye

13、t formalized, so Shakespeare could freely inter charge 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.M

14、ost of Shakespeares dramatic poetry is in blank verse, 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.故事梗概

15、 The Merchant of VeniceTheme: 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.Brief：Portia was a rich mans daughter. According to her father s will, she got three boxes: a gol

16、d box, a silver one , and a lead one （铅盒）.If somebody choosed the box contained her portrait, then she would marry the man.Then, suitorC 求女昏者）from all corners of the world gathered here to marry this fairy maiden.Venice: in the town ,a young man named Bassanio who heard about this news determined to

17、 win Portia. However, he needed three thousand ducat （硬 币）to reach his goal. For lack of money, he had to turn to his good friend, rich merchant Antonio for help.philosophical exploration of life & death. And the timeless appeal of this mighty drama lies in its combination of intrigue, emotional con

18、flict & searching philosophic melancholy.3.领会 His Influence1)Contributions to languageMany words and commonly used phrases have been added to everyday English vocabulary through their appearance in Shakespeares works.2)Effects on literatureShakespeares plays & poetry have had a pervasive influence o

19、n 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 writing rather than to its form.4.领会 His Major Theme1)Shakespeare is against religious pe

20、rsecution & racial discrimination, against social inequality & the corrupting influence of gold & money.2)He was a humanist of the time & accepted the Renaissance views on literature.5.领会 His Literary Achievements1)CharacterizationHis major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones

21、; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.2)Plot ConstructionShakespeares plays are well known for their adroit plot construction. He seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from s

22、ome old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek & Roman sources. There are usually several loved her much more .Antonio got his own property.Happy ending!人物分析ShylockThere is no denying that every thing has two sides.On the one hand,Shylock in this play is the antagonist 敌对角色.He is the model of us

23、urer 高禾U贷者.Most people read him as a bogeyman, a clownish Jewish stereotype. He is selfish, curtly, avaricious and niggard. Once he has the chance to revenge his foe. He will try his best to make the other into deathtrap. In the court, he is clam and wisdom, even fights for several Christians joint

24、attack. But most of his speech is coarse, and sometimes mean. All of this makes people take unkindly to him. But with the several aspects sagacious with Antonio, it makes him be a mult-personality figure. Being a pagan who lives in Christian society he has strong emotion on racial constriction and t

25、he enthusiasm of raising Jewish peoples status. Living in this society, he suffers too much public humiliation and oppression as he says in the following:On the other hand, his frequently mentions of the cruelty he has endured at Christian hands make it hard for us to label him a natural born monste

26、r. Shylock argues that Jews are humans and calls his quest for vengeance 寸艮复 the product of lessons taught to him by the cruelty of Venice citizens. In such condition, his “malicious is much more reasonable. Because after centuries, abusing of the Jews ,especially the holocaust committed by the Nazi

27、 Germany during the Second World War ,it is very difficult to see Shylock as a conventional evil figure.Besides the facial of Shylocks malignance, actually, he is a person whose sense of decency has been fractured by the persecution he endures.Unfortunately, at this time , Antonios money was put int

28、o the business, he could not withdraw it right now. To help his best friend ,Antonio was forced to borrow money from a wealthy Jewish scrivener（放债人）Shylock.Shylock was a usury （高利贷）.Different from Shylock ,Antonio lent money to people and never accepted interest. But this time, Shylock agreed to len

29、d Antonio money without interest. He put forward a strange request. If Antonio could not repay the debt on time, he could cut a pound of flesh from Antonios body. And Antonio signed the contact.With money ,Bassanio went to chase Portia. Luckily, he chose the lead box equipped with Portias portrait .

30、At this moment ,Bassanio heard about Antonio s lawsuit .So he hold a wedding ceremony in a hurry .Meanwhile, Portia maid, Narisa also accepted Bassanios maid proposal.Shylocks daughter, Jessica eloped at the help of Antonio and stole her fathers money and jewelry. So Shylock hated Antonio very much.

31、 When he learned that Antonios loss of offshore investment, he decided to revenge .He sued Antonio.In court, Shylock asked Antonio to perform the contract. In other words , Antonio must cut one pound of flesh from his own body .The judges had no clues to do with Shylock . At the last minute ,a new j

32、udge disguised by Portia came to tackle the matter .According to the contract, Portia agreed Shylock to cut meat from Antonio, but he must master the weight, neither more nor less, just the right amount ,and he must promise cut without a drop of blood and Antonios life safety.Shylock couldnt do it and had to throw in the towel. In this way , Portia skillfully save Antonios life. Finally, everything was illuminated, Bassanio knew his wife was the great judge .He felt very thankful for Portias help and3)The heroic coupletIt means a pair of lin