十八世紀(jì)英國文學(xué)簡介

1、The 18th Century Literature Background The Enlightenment Movement Characteristics Effects Literary divisions Neo-classicism The Rise of the Modern Novel Revival of Romantic PoetryBackgrounds The Glorious Revolution (1688) Religious Conflicts The Expansion of the British Empire The Industrial Revolut

2、ion Two-party Politics Connection Between Politics & Literature The American War of Independence The French RevolutionFrench PhilosophersMontesquieu & VoltaireRousseau, Didero & KantThomas Paine & William GodwinEdmund Burke & Edward GibbonThe Enlightenment Movement It refers to the movement of intel

3、lectual liberation that developed in Western Europe from the late 17th century to the late 18th (the period often called the “Age of Reason”). It culminated with the writings of Rousseau, the philosophy of Kant, and the political ideas of the American and French revolutions. Its central idea was the

4、 need for and the capacity of human reason to clear away ancient superstition, prejudice, dogma and injustice. Its thinking encouraged rational scientific inquiry, humanitarian tolerance, and the idea of universal human rights. The advocates of enlightenment tended to place their faith in human prog

5、ress brought about by the gradual propagation of rational principles. In English, the attitudes of the Enlightenment are found in the late 18th century, in Thomas Paine, William Godwin, Edward Gibbon and so on.Neoclassicism Literary Theory The Restoration Literature (1660-1700): the Age of Dryden Th

6、e Augustan Age (1700-1745): the Age of Pope The Neoclassical Decline (1745-1785): the Time of JohnsonNeo-classicism It refers to the literary principle according to which the writing and criticism of poetry and drama were to be guided by rules and precedents derived from the best ancient Greek and R

7、oman writers. Often employed in contrast with Romanticism, this term has also been used to describe the characteristic world-view or value-system of this “Age of Reason”, denoting a preference for rationality, clarity, restraint, order and decorum, for general truth rather than particular insights.T

8、he neo-classical view of literature included the principle of decorum by which the style must suit the subject matter, and the believe that art must both delight and instruct.The central assumption was that the ancient authors had already attained perfection, so that the modern authors chief task wa

9、s just to imitate them.Chief Characteristics of Neoclassic Literature1.The neoclassics manifested a strong traditionalism2.they believe literature must be perfected by long study and practice and laid much emphasis on the correct, the appropriate, on restraint and discipline, on their style and esta

10、blished rules of their art.3.they regard poetry as imitation of human life and emphasized on representative characteristics and widely shared experience, thoughts, feelings and tastes.4.they believe that the poet is the “makerand he must please the reader by his fictions and craft.5.they invented ne

11、w rules of their own6.the neoclassic poetry is more formal, more artificial, polished, prosaic and dull; the chief form is heroic coupletThe Restoration Literature(1660-1700)The Age of DrydenChief Characters of This Age English literature of this period was influenced by that of France where classic

12、ism was prevailing. There was a great variety in literary forms with John Dryden as the dominant figure.John Dryden(1631-1700) Heroic play: The Conquest of Grenada Blank verse tragedy: All for Love Prose: An Essay of Dramatic Poesy Poetry: Absalom and AchitophelThe MedalA Song for St. Ceciliss DayAl

13、exanders FeastAll for LoveANTONY:How I loved.Witness, ye days and nights, and all ye hours,That danced away with down upon your feet,As all your business were to count my passion!One day passed by, and nothing saw but love;Another came, and still twas only love:我愛得多么熱烈，我愛得多么熱烈，白晝和黑夜，你們可以作白晝和黑夜，你們可以作

14、證，還有所有的時刻，證，還有所有的時刻，你們腳上長了羽毛，悄悄你們腳上長了羽毛，悄悄地逝去，你們也是證人，地逝去，你們也是證人，因為你們的一切職責(zé)就在因為你們的一切職責(zé)就在于計量我的愛情。于計量我的愛情。一天過去了，它看到的只一天過去了，它看到的只有愛情；有愛情；第二天來了，它看到的仍第二天來了，它看到的仍舊是愛情：舊是愛情：The suns were wearied out with looking on,And I untired with loving.I saw you every day, and all the day;And every day was still but as

15、the first,So eager was I still to see you more.While within your arm I lay,The world fell mouldering from my hands each hour一天一天的太陽看夠了愛一天一天的太陽看夠了愛情，看得疲憊不堪，情，看得疲憊不堪，而我求愛永不疲倦。而我求愛永不疲倦。我每天看著你，整日看著我每天看著你，整日看著你；你；每一天永遠(yuǎn)好像只是頭一每一天永遠(yuǎn)好像只是頭一天：天：我永遠(yuǎn)是這樣迫切著能夠我永遠(yuǎn)是這樣迫切著能夠更多地看到你更多地看到你當(dāng)我睡在你的懷抱里，當(dāng)我睡在你的懷抱里，全世界每時每刻就在我手全

16、世界每時每刻就在我手中崩潰。中崩潰。Alexanders FeastT was at the royal feast, for Persia won By Philips warlike son;Aloft in awful stateThe Godlike hero sateOn his imperial throne;His valiant peers were placed around;Their brows with roses and with myrtles bound;(So should desert in arms be crowned).腓力的兒子英武善戰(zhàn)，腓力的兒子英武

17、善戰(zhàn)，征服了波斯，大開御宴，征服了波斯，大開御宴，這位英雄亞賽天神下凡，這位英雄亞賽天神下凡，高居寶座，高居寶座，尊貴莊嚴(yán)。尊貴莊嚴(yán)。勇敢的臣爵環(huán)繞身旁，勇敢的臣爵環(huán)繞身旁，頭戴衣冠，絢爛芬芳，頭戴衣冠，絢爛芬芳，汗馬功勞應(yīng)得的榮光。汗馬功勞應(yīng)得的榮光。The lovely Thais, by his side,Sate like a blooming Eastern brideIn flower of youth and beautys pride.Happy, happy, happy pair!None but the brave,None but the brave,None but

18、the brave deserves the fair. 可愛的泰綺絲偎坐在可愛的泰綺絲偎坐在身旁，身旁，好象是東方的新娘一好象是東方的新娘一般，般，青春煥發(fā)，嫵媚嬌艷。青春煥發(fā)，嫵媚嬌艷。美滿、美滿、美滿緣，美滿、美滿、美滿緣，只有英雄，只有英雄，只有英雄，只有英雄，只有英雄配紅顏。只有英雄配紅顏。The Augustan Age(1700-1745)The Age of PopeChief Characters of This Age It is the culmination of Neoclassicism. The literature of this period is chief

19、ly a literature of wit, concerned with civilization, with man in his social relationships and consequently it is critical and in some degree moral and satirical. The chief representatives are Pope, Swift, Addison and Steele.Alexander Pope(1688-1744) Heroic couplets: iambic pentameter rhymed in coupl

20、ets Major Works On Criticism On Man The Rape of the LockHeroic Couplet A pair of rhymed iambic pentameter lines. Though this verse form was introduced into English by Chaucer in the fourteenth century, its name derives from its use in seventeenth-century heroic (epic) drama and poetry. e.g. THE RAPE

21、 OF THE LOCK Her lively looks a sprightly mind disclose,Quick as her eyes, and as unfixed as those:Favours to none, to all she smiles extends;Oft she rejects, but never once offends.Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike,And, like the sun, they shine on all alike.Yet graceful ease, and sweetn

22、ess void of pride,Might hide her faults, if belles had faults to hide;If to her share some female errors fall,Look on her face, and youll forget em all.Essay on ManOne TruthAll Nature is but art, unknown to thee;All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;All discord, harmony not understand;All

23、partial evil, universal good:One truth is clear: Whatever Is, is RIGHT. 整個自然都是藝術(shù)，不過你不領(lǐng)悟；一切偶然都是規(guī)定，只是你沒看清；一切不協(xié)，是你不理解的和諧；一切局部的禍，乃是全體的福。凡存在的都合理，乃是清楚的道理。The Neoclassical Decline(1745-1785)The Time of JohnsonChief Characters of This Age This is an age when neoclassicism was coming to a decline and new lit

24、erary themes and forms began to emerge. This is “Age of Prose”.Samuel Johnson He is a poet, essayist, literary critic and a lexicographer Major works Dictionary The Vanity of Human Wishes London The Lives of Great PoetsOther Important Writers James Boswell(1740-1795) Oliver Goldsmith(1728-1774) Rich

25、ard Brinsley Sheridan(1751-1816) Edmund Burke(1729-1797) Edward Gibbon(1737-1794)Oliver Goldsmith(1728-1774) Life Novel: The Vicar of Wakefield Play: She Stoops to Conquer Essay: The Citizen of the World Poetry The Traveller The Deserted Village Richard B. Sheridan(1751-1816) Life Comedy The Rivals

26、The School for Scandal The CriticJames Boswell biographical work : Life of JohnsonFiction What is fiction? More generally, the word“fiction” refers to “anynarrative,in prose or verse,that is wholly or partly theproduction of imagination”.(As such, plays and somenarrative poems can also beclassified

27、as fiction becausethey contain certain fictionalelements.) What is non-fiction? It refers to writing that is about real facts or events rather than imagined things. e.g. scientific writings; historical accounts; news reports; etc. The Elements of Fiction Plot Character Setting Point of view Theme Sy

28、mbol and allegory Style and tonePlot It is a writers artistic arrangement of events. It does not have to follow the chronological order. A plot includes:1. Exposition: passages which give the reader basic information about the story and the characters.2. Conflicts: it rises as the central character

29、encounter more and more obstacles in pursuit of his or her goal.3. Climax: it is a point at which the central character either achieved or failed to achieved the goal.4. Denouement: the ending. Character It refers to the performers of action. They are imaginary people who inhabit a story, although t

30、hey have true-to-life quality. Protagonist: the hero, the central character. Antagonist: a character who block the efforts of the hero to attain his goal.Setting It refers to the place where the story occurs, whether indoors or out, and the atmosphere associated with that place, e.g. the historical

31、period , the social environment, etc.Point of View (Part I) It is the angle from which a story is presented; it refers to the person or narrator through whose eyes we observe the characters and actions of the story, and the position from which the narrator views the action: detached or involved, ins

32、ide or outside or between.Point of View (Part II)The first-person point of view: “I” .The third-person point of view: the story is told by an invisible “voice” which refers directly to the characters by their names or pronouns(he or she).1.Objective: the writer just records down the events, there is

33、 no commentaries. Its up to the reader to interpret or judge what he sees and hears through the writers report.2.Omniscient: the writer knows everything, like a god.3.Limited omniscient: the writer stands behind one of the characters, observes the event through his or her eyes, sometimes enter his o

34、r her mind. What we see is limited to what one character sees. Theme It is the central meaning that is implicit in a story, it is a general statement of the storys controlling idea (an overall conception of a storys general point) as discovered by the reader. So when we read a story, we have an inte

35、rpretation-what do we learn from it, what knowledge have we got. e.g. “The Fox and the Grapes” Symbol and Allegory Symbol: a thing that refers to more than itself. The same object can have different symbolic meanings according to different contexts. e.g. a valley enclosed between mountains Allegory:

36、 the double meaning of the story, including the surface (primary) meaning and the under-the-surface (secondary) meaning, that is, to find the moral, political or religious truth the story illustrates.Style and Tone Style: the manner in which a writer says things, i.e., his choice of words, figures o

37、f speech, the shape of his sentence, indeed, of every aspect of his language and the way in which he uses it. Tone: a writers attitude toward his readers and subject which are conveyed through language, without being presented directly as statements. e.g. sarcastic; melancholy;Classification of Fict

38、ionI. Allegory Fable Fantasy Myth II. novel novelette short story Parable Picaresque Romance SatireThe Rise of Novels & Essays Joseph Addison & Richard Steel Daniel Defoe Jonathan Swift Samuel Richardson Henry Fielding T. G. Smollet Laurence Sterne Gothic novelsJoseph Addison& Richard Steele The flo

39、wering of the Periodical Literature Newspaper The Tatler The Spectator Sir Roger Chief Contribution Their writings shape a code of social morality They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century In their hands, the English essay has completely established itself as a liter

40、ary genreDaniel Defoe (1661-1731) Life Works Robinson Crusoe Captain Singleton Colonel Jack Moll Flanders Jonathan Wild Journal of the Plague YearRobinson CrusoeJohn Swift(1667-1745) Life Works The Battle of the Books The Tale of a Tub Gullivers TravelsGullivers TravelLilliputa&BrobdingnagFlying Isl

41、and & HouyhnhnmsSamuel Richardson(1689-1761) He wrote the first English novel:Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded Other works Clarissa Harlowe He was the discover of the novel of character Pamela or Virtue RewardedHenry Fielding(1707-1745) Life Works Joseph Andrews Jonathan Wild The History of Tom Jones a Fo

42、undling Amelia The Journal of a Voyage to LisbonFielding was born in 1707, at the family estate, Sharpham Park, in Somerset, England. His mother died when he was eleven years old, and, on his fathers remarriage, he was sent to school at Eton. He left Eton at seventeen and then studied for 18 months

43、at the University of Leiden in Holland. When his father stopped his allowance, he was forced to support himself and did so as a playwright in London. He wrote 25 plays before his satire, Historical Register, For the Year 1736, ridiculing Prime Minister Robert Walpole, led to the passage of the Licen

44、sing Act. This act, requiring governmental approval of all new plays, led to the end of his career as a playwright. Fielding sought to support his wife and two children by studying law and became a lawyer in 1740. His practice was only a modest success, and he supplemented his income by writing for

45、journals. Then in 1741 he wrote a scathing satire of Samuel Richardsons popular novel, Pamela; or Virtue Rewarded under the pseudonym of Conny Keyber. Soon after, he began work on Joseph Andrews, and this comic novel. often called the first realistic novel in English literature, was published in 174

46、2. His beloved wife, Charlotte Cradock, who was the model for characters in his other novels, died in 1744. His support of the government during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, gained him the appointment of Justice of the Peace for two sections of central London in 1847. There he gained a reputation

47、 as an honest and fair magistrate. He and his half-brother, John , established the Bow Street Runners, a forerunner of the modern police force, to help curb the rampant crime in 18th century London. In 1749 his second novel, The History of Tom Jones, was published, and, two years later, his last nov

48、el, Amelia, appeared in print. The gout that had left him a virtual cripple led him to seek relief in the warmer climate of Portugal in June,1754. He died there on October 8, 1754. Joseph AndrewsMain Characters Joseph Andrews - a footman in the household of Lady BoobyPamela Andrews - Josephs sister;

49、 wife of Squire Booby; the heroine of Samuel Richardsons novel PamelaParson Adams - the parson of Booby parish who befriends Joseph and accompanies him on his travels.Lady Booby - aunt of Squire BoobyMrs. Slipslop - maid to Lady BoobyFanny - Josephs sweetheartMr. and Mrs. Wilson - a kindly couple wh

50、o offer shelter to Joseph and Parson Adams on their journey.Plot Joseph, the virtuous and true footman, is forced to leave the service of his mistress, Lady Booby, when he is no longer able to ward off her amorous advances. He starts out to reunite with his sweetheart, Fanny. Misfortunes on his jour

51、ney continually waylay him and his kindly traveling companion, Parson Adams. They encounter both kindness and villainy, generosity and selfishness, on their journey. Joseph and the Parson maintain their innocence and culpability throughout their trials and tribulations. All ends well when Fanny and

52、Joseph are reunited and the secrets of their parentage is revealed. Setting and Historical Background The novel takes place in the early eighteenth century. It mirrors the lifestyle, caste system, hypocrisy, and corruption of the times. England was becoming a commercial power and wealth was shifting

53、 from the landowners to the merchants.The defeat of the Jacobites (the Catholics who wished to restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne of England) at Culloden Moor in 1745 brought to a close any serious threat to the Hanoverian line of British royalty. The rural populace was being drawn to the citi

54、es with the lure of higher wages, but the living conditions of the poor were still deplorable. The social caste system was rigid, but beginning to give under the pressure of the new, moneyed middle class hypocrisy satire role of women morality romantic love crime innocence social class ThemesTobias

55、Smollet(1721-1771) He is father of the nautical novel Major works The Adventures of Roderick Random The Adventures of Peregrine PickleGothic NovelsThe Gothic Novel is imaginative and impulsive, dark and tempestous. The settings are usually castles or monasteries with hidden panels, passages and trap

56、 doors. Darkness, manipulation of light, veiled paintings and superstitions make the Gothic novel what it is. An important topos of this genre is the supernatural. The Supernatural is defined as: occurring outside the normal experience, not explainable by the known forces or laws of nature, exceedin

57、g normal bounds. This is a true description of the supernatural occurrences found in many Gothic novels. Many authors use the supernatural to add to their works, or as the central theme itself. Some authors of Gothic novels are Matthew Lewis, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathanial Hawthorne, Bram Stoker and Ann

58、e Rice. These authors found their way into Gettysburg Colleges Gothic Novels class because of their exceptional novels.Major Writers & Works Horace Walpole The Castle of Otranto Ann Radcliff The Mysteries of UdolphoSentimentalism It refers to an emotionally extravagant writing of a kind that became

59、popular in the late 18th century. Partly inspired by the emotional power of Samule Richardsons novel Pamela, the sentimental works exhibit the close connection between virtue and sensibility, in repeatedly tearful scenes; a characters feeling for the beauties of nature and for the griefs of others is taken as a