劉炳善《英國(guó)文學(xué)簡(jiǎn)史》完整版筆記(免費(fèi))

1、英 國(guó) 文 學(xué) 簡(jiǎn) 史 完 全 版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon Period1. The historical background(1) Before the Germanic invasion(2) During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eolderme n(lord

2、) - thane - middleclass (freemen) - lower class (slave or bondmen: theo0 ;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.j. The Overview

3、of the culture(1) The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit. Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.(1) the use of alliteration the use of metaphors and understatements(3) the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsOl

4、d English Proseis prose?(1) The Venerable Bede(2) Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages1. The Historical Background.(1) The year 1066: Norman Conquest.(2) The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.(3) The 11

5、th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;(4) The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church ( Henry II and Thomas);(5) The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta (1215);C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: offi

6、cial languages (the end)(6) The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons conflict between theParliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years War starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the P

7、easants Revo- 1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycli任 The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt (1453)b. The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c. the printing-press William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy (1485)2. The Overview of Literature.(1) the stories from the Celtic lands of

8、Wales and Brittan廠 great myths of the Middle Ages.(2) Geoffrye of Monmouth - Historia Regum Britanniae King Authur.(3) Wace Le Roman de Brut.(4) The romance.(5) the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer. Gawin and Green Knight.1. a general introduction.2. the plot.Langland.1

9、. Life2. Piers the Plowman1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods(1) French period Italian period (3) master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.(1) He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types.(2) He is the fi

10、rst great poet who wrote in the current English language.(3) The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern Englishspeech.V. Popular Ballads.Malory and English Prosebeginning of English Drama.1. Miracle P

11、lays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition

12、of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractionsfigures representing vices and v

13、irtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for th

14、e diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literatur

15、e (1485-1660)Printing press- readership- growth of middle class trade-education forlaypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetusand direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformededucation.Literary style-modeled on the ancien

16、ts.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents.1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style complexity andingenuity.The thir

17、d tendency by Johnson: reactionClassically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe- Shakespeare-Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of

18、 Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard (courtly makers)(1) Wyatt: introducing sonnets.(2) Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidneypoet, critic, prose writer(1) Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c.

19、 courtier. worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella (108) : sonnet sequence to PenelopeDvereuxplatonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativenessbuilding?of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for im

20、aginative literature- beginning? of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser(1) life: Cambridge - Sidneys friend - Areopagus Ireland - Westminster Abbey. worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queene:l The gener

21、al endA romantic and allegorical epic steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory (symbolicmeaning)l Many allusions to classical writers.l Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance

22、Neoclassicism a Christian humanist.(3) Spenserian Stanza.Prose1. Thomas More(1) Life: aRenaissance man , scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded. Utopia: the first

23、English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner (Raphael Hythloday) tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the is

24、land kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of histime.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way,but it possesses an modern

25、character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century whichmoved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissancesecularism.f. the Utopia (3) the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national language

26、s; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History ofRichard III.2) Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and s

27、tatesman(1) life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris knighted - Lord Chancellor 一 bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. philosophical ideas: advancement of science people:servants? andinterpreters of nature method: a child before nature- facts and observations:experimental.3) )“Essays” : 57.a.

28、 he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. (arguments)Drama1. A general survey.(1

29、) Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.(2) two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.(3) the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and mostgifted of the Wits.(1) Life: first interested in class

30、ical poetry then in drama.(2) Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.(3) The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life(1) 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;(2) Grammar School;(3) Queen visit to Castle;(4) marriage to Anne Hathaway;(5) London, the

31、Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor;(6) the 1st Folio, Quarto; Retired, son Hamnet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.(1) Romeo and Juliettragic love and fate(2) The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.(3) Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.(4) Julius CaesarRepubli

32、canism vs. dictatorship.(5) HamletRevengeGood/evil.(6) OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality.(7) King LearFilial ingratitude(8) MacbethAmbition vs. fate.(9) Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason(10) The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetr

33、y(1) Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.(2) Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in darkcomplexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek s

34、cholar, the(Sons of “l(fā)iteralBen)(1) the idea of “humour . an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in Englishliterature.3. Major plays(1) Everyone in His Humour “humour ; three unities.(2) Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century Historical BackgroundOver

35、view of the Literature (1640-1688)1. The revolution period(1) The metaphysical poets; The Cavalier poets.（ 3） Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged withProtestant political and moral conviction2. The restoration period.（ 1） The restoration of Charles II ushered in

36、 a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity（. school of Ben Jonson）（ 2） The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge（ 1662） were influentia

37、l in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rationalcommunication.（ 3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（ 4） The restoration drama.（ 5） The Age of Dryden.Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge visiting the continent involved into

38、therevolution persecuted writing epics.2. Literary career.（ 1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. LAllegre and ILPens eroso（ 1632）are his early masterpieces, in which we find Mil

39、ton a true offspring ofthe Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate,Edward King.（ 2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complet

40、eascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（ 3） The third period is f

41、rom 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the grea

42、test accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（ 1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways

43、 of God to man.（ 2） Paradise Regained.（ 3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Miltons works.（ 1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remember

44、ed about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.（ 2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blankverse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（ 3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style no

45、ted for its dignity andpolish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（ 4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty ofexpression.Bunyan1. life:（ 1） puritan age;（ 2） poor family;（ 3） parliamentary army;（ 4） Baptist society, preacher;（ 5） priso

46、n, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（ 1） The allegory in dream form.（ 2） the plot.（ 3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “ metaphysical poetry ” is commonly used tothdeewsoigrnkastoef the 17thcentury writers who wrote under the influence of John

47、Donne. Pressured by the harsh,uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replacethem with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to breakaway from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for amor

48、e colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded workingout of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were oftencourtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves“ soThe Cavalier p

49、oets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but oftensuperficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fanciescharacterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of theElizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. The

50、y are lighter and neater but less freshthan the Elizabethans.Dryden.1. Life:（ 1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（ 2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（ 3） changeable in attitude.（ 4） Literary career four decades.（ 5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（ 1） He establis

51、hed the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（ 2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.3）He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces tohis poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century1. The Historical

52、 Background.2. The literary overview.（ 1） The Enlightenment.（ 2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, th

53、e Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of pub

54、lic libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favour.（ 3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classicalstandards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John

55、 Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（ 4） Satiric literature.（ 5） Sentimentalism. （ a general description）1. Alexander Pope（ 1） Life:family;health;himself by reading and translating;of Addison, Steele and Swift.（ 2） three groups of poems:Essay on Criticism （ ma

56、nifesto of neo-classicism） ;f. The Rape of Lock;of two epics.（ 3） His contribution:heroic couplet finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;.（ 4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（ 1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（ 2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford

57、, secretary of state, created a literary periodical“ Spectator（ ” with Steele, 1711）（ 3） Spectator Club.（ 4） The significance of their essays.（ 5） eir writings in“ The Tatler ” , and “ The Spectator ” provide a new codfor the rising bourgeoisie.（ 6） ey give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.（ 7） their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre