維多利亞時期文學

1、Part H The Victorian Age（維多利亞時代）A. The Victorian Age1. It refers to the period of the reign of Queen Victoria, from her accession in 1937 and her death in 1901, but the era of literatureis from the Reform Bill（改革法案）in 1932 to the end of the BoerWar （布爾戰(zhàn)爭）in 1902.2. Three phrases :The early Victorian

2、 Period （1832-1854）, the time of troubles, the Reform Bill & ChartismMidVictorianPeriod （1855 1879）, a time of economicprospering, highest point of development as a world power Last Period （18801902）, a time characterized by decay ofVictorian values （e.g. Self-control, family loyalty, thrift, ha

3、rd work, etc）.B. The backgroundAmid the multitude of social and political forces of this great age, four things stand out clearly.First, the age of democracy;Second, the age of popular education, of religious tolerance;Third, the age of comparative peace;Fourth, the age of all the arts and sciences

4、and in mechanical inventions.C. Chartist Movement（憲章運動）Chartist Movement（1836-1848） was organized by the English workers in big cities and brought forth the People' s Charter, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the

5、 government, with hundreds of thousands of people's signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement 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

6、class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.D. Literature Current（文學思潮）1. Chartist literature（ 憲章文學）The English working class created a literature of its ownwhich can be, in full justice, called the Chartist Literature.The Chartist writers introduced a new theme into li

7、teraturethe struggle of the proletariat（無產(chǎn)階級）for its rights.Somegreat Chartist poets are Ernest Jones （1819-1869）, Thomas Cooper （1805-1892）, and William James Linton （1812-1897）.2. Critical Realism（批判現(xiàn)實主義文學）Critical Realism is one of the literary genres that mainly flourished in the 40s and in the

8、early 50s in the 19th century. The critical realists not only gave the criticism to bourgeoisie and all ruling classes, bur also showed their deep sympathy for the commorpeople. Hence humor and satire abound in the English realistic novels of the 19th century. But the critical realists did not find

9、a way to eradicate（ 根除）social evils. They did not realize the necessity of changing the bourgeois society. They were unable to find a good solution to the social contradictions. The chief tendency in their works is not of revolution but rather of reformism. Here we see atonce the strength and the we

10、akness of critical realism. Three greatest representatives of Critical Realism are Charles Dickens（狄更斯）,William Makepeace Thackeray（薩克H ）, andGeorge Eliot（艾略特）.E. ,.F. ,G. ,.H. Some Exercises1. The precisian may limit the Victorian period to the years betweenthe Queen ' s accession in 1837 and h

11、er death in 1901, but a new era really began with the passage of the Reform Bill in1832 andclosed at the end of the Bore war in1902.2. Victorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took onits quality of magnitude and diversity . It was many-sacked and complex, and reflected both romantica

12、lly and realistically the great changes that were going on in people ' s life and thought.3. In the 19th century English literature, a new literary trendcritical realism appeared after the romantic poetry, and flourished in the 40s and in the early50s.4. Critical realism found its expression in

13、the form of novel; mostof the critical realists werenovelists .5. Critical realism reveals the corrupting influence of the rule ofcash upon human nature. Here lies in the essentiallydemocraticand humanistic character if critical realism.6. The Chartist Movement appeared in the 30s of the 19 th centu

14、ry.7. The most important poet of the Victorian Age was Tennyson, next to him, were Robert Browning and his wife.8. The Chartist writers introduced a new theme into literature: the struggle of the proletariat for its rights.9. The Chartist poetry played an important role in the developmentof English

15、proletariat literature; the greatest Chartist poet was Ernest Jones .IJ.Charles Dickens(狄更斯)A. LifeCharles Dickens (1812-1870) was born in a poor family in the Portsmouth. He gave up schooling to work after his father was put into the prison because of the debt. In 1870, he died of overwork.B. The t

16、hree period of his literary career1. the first period of youthful optimismAt this stage Dickens believed that all the evils of the capitalist world would be remedied if only men behaved to each other with kindliness, justice, and sympathetic understanding.Main works in this period:Sketches by BozPic

17、kwick PaperOliver TwistNicholas NicklebyOld Curiosity ShopBarnaby Rudge博茲隨筆匹克威克外傳霧都孤兒尼古拉斯尼克貝老古玩店巴納比盧杰2. the second period of excitement & irritationDickens' second period began from 1842, the year after his first visit to America.Main works in this period:American Notes Martin Chuzzlewit A C

18、hristmas Carol美國札記馬丁 朱杰爾維特圣誕歡歌The ChimesThe Cricket on the HearthDombey and SonDavid Copperfield鐘聲爐邊蟋蟀董貝父子大衛(wèi)科波菲爾3. the third period of steadily intensifying pessimismThe last period of Dickens's literary career began with the publication of "Bleak House" in 1852-1853.Up to this time Di

19、ckens maintained some hope of reform under capitalism but beginning from "Bleak House" there was an "underlying tone of bitterness" which showed the novelist's loss of hope for English bourgeois society.Main works in this period:Bleak HouseHard TimeLittle DorritA Tale of Two

20、CitesGreat ExpectationsOur Mutual FriendEdwin Drood (unfinished)荒涼山莊艱難時世小杜麗雙城記遠大前程我們共同的朋友埃德溫多魯?shù)翪. Distinct Features of His Novels(1) Character Sketches & Exaggeration(2) Broad Humor & Penetrating Satire(3) Complicated & Fascinating Plot(4) The Power of ExposureD. Comments of DickensCharl

21、es Dickens is one of the greatest critical realistic writers ofthe Victorian Age. In his works, Dickens sets a full map& a large-scale criticism of the 19th-century England, particularly London. . Characterization is the most outstanding feature of his works. Dickens also employs exaggeration in

22、 his works. Yet he is a petty bourgeois intellectual. He could not overstep the limits of his class. He failed to see the necessity of a bitter struggle of the oppressed against their oppressors.E. Some works1. The Pickwick Papers匹克威克外傳Plot2. Oliver Twist霧都孤兒PlotThe novel tells the story of a poor c

23、hild named Oliver Twist. He is born in a workhouse and brought up under miserable conditions. After experiencing an unhappy apprenticeship to an undertaker, he runs away to London, where he falls into the hands of a gang of thieves. Then he is madeto be a pickpocket. A benevolent rich old man called

24、 Mr. Brownlow rescues him and takes him home, but the thieves kidnap him and makehim join them once again. A bad person namedMonks, who turns out to be Oliver ' s half -brother, helps the thieves in keeping Oliver in the gang, in order to ruin him and obtain the whole of his father ' s prope

25、rty. Then Oliver is made to help one the thieves in breaking into a lady ' s house. He gets wounded, and comes into the hands of her aunt. Finally the thieves in the gang are punished and Oliver ' s half brother is compelled to confess his evil doing and put into prison. Oliver is adopted by

26、 Mr. Brownlow.F. Some exercises1. Charles Dickens was the greatest representative of English Critical Realism.2. Of all of Dickens ' s novels, David Copperfield is regarded as his masterpiece.3. In A Tale of Two Cities , the two cities are London and Paris in the time of revolution.4. The novel

27、Nicholas Nickleby touches upon a burning question of Dickens ' s time; the education of children in the private schools.5. The novel Oliver Twist tells the story of a poor child namedOliverTwist who was born in a workhouse and brought up under miserable conditions.6. The novel Hard Times makes a

28、 fierce attack on the bourgeois system of education and the bourgeois philosophy Utilitarianism .G. OthersWilliam Makepeace Thackeray（薩克雷）A. His worksThe Books of Snobs 勢力人Vanity Fair 名利場Pendennis潘丹尼斯的歷史The Newcomers紐卡母一家玫瑰與戒指（通話）弗吉尼業(yè)人The Rose and the Ring (fairy tale) Henry Esmond亨利艾斯芒德The Virginia

29、ns (historical novels)B. Characteristics of Thackeray ' s novels1. William Makepeace Thackeray is one of the greatest criticalrealists of the 19th century.The pictures in his novels areaccurate and true to life.He is good at describing the life of theupper class with which he is familiar.2. Thac

30、keray is a satirist.3. He is a moralist. His aim is to produce a moral impression in all his novels.C. Vanity Fair名利場1. The Origin of the TitleThis title was borrowed by Thackeray from The Pilgrim ' s Progress (天路歷程)by Bunyan. It means“a fair, wherein aresold all sorts of vanity. ”2. The Implica

31、tion of the Subtitle-Novel Without a HeroNo exactly positive character About women instead of men Not about some particular person but about the society3. Theme of the novelIn this novel Thackeray describes the life of the upper class ofEngland in the early decade of the 19th century, and attacks th

32、e social relationship of the bourgeois world by satirizing the individual in the different strata of the upper society. It is a world where money grubbing is the main motive for all members of the upper class.4. Characters: A brief comment on Amelia and Becky in Vanity FairIn Vanity Fair Thackeray s

33、uccessfully characterizes two heroines who stand in contrast in their characters and attitudes towards life. Amelia is a character of milk-and-water type, good in nature, tame and moral, sentimental and sympathetic, but unable to master her own fate. Becky, whois more impressively character and can

34、be said to be the real heroine of the novel in a way, is different from Amelia; she is crafty, unscrupulous, and resourceful and she is neverobedient to her destiny and always rebels in order to have a change in her life,regardless of morality and the social judgment of her.The two heroines are, to

35、Thackeray, the victims of the social environment that is inhuman in its nature.5.D. Some exercise1. In 1847, Thackeray published his masterpiece Vanity Fair , which marks the peak of his literary career.2. The sub-title of Vanity Fair is Novel without a Hero. The writer ' s intention was not to

36、portray individuals, but bourgeois and aristocratic society as a whole.3. The main plot of Vanity Fair renders on the story of two women:Amelia Sedlley and Rebecca Sharp, whose characters are sharp contrast.E. othersGeorge Eliot （愛略特）-Pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans.A. Her WorksScenes of Clerical Life教區(qū)

37、生活場景Adam Bede業(yè)當貝德Mill on the Floss弗洛斯河上的磨坊Silas Marner織工馬南Middlemarch米德爾馬奇需要補充B. Some exercises1. George Eliot was the Pseudonym of Mary Ann Evans.2. The author of The Mill on the Floss isGeorge Eliot .3. George Eliot produced three remarkable novels including AdamBede, The Mill on the Floss and Sil

38、as Marner .4. In the novel AdamBede, Adamfalls in love with a village girl called Hetty Sorrel who is seduced and deserted by a squire.C. Others（夏洛特和愛米麗）Charlotte Bronte and Emily BronteCharlotte BronteA. Works of Bronte SistersProfessor教授Jane Eyre簡-愛Shirley雪麗Villette.維萊特Emily BronteWuthering House呼嘯山莊Ann BronteAgnes Grey安格尼斯格雷The Tenant of Wildfell Hall維爾德霍的佃戶B. Jane Eyre1. The theme of the novelThe criticism of the bourg