英美文學(xué)(概括版)

1、自考英美文學(xué)資料英國文學(xué)An introduction to old and medieval English literature: 1. England was conquered by the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Normans. 2. Language & culture influence: The Anglo-Saxons brought to England the Germanic language and culture, while the Normans (most influence) brought a fres

2、h wave of Mediterranean civilization, which include Greek culture, Roman law, and the Christian religion. 3. The period of old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England. 4. The Anglo-Saxons language is the basis of modern English. 5. The old Englis

3、h poetry can be divided into two groups: the religious group (宗教詩) and the secular one (世俗詩). 6. Beowulf（貝奧武甫(八世紀(jì)初的一篇古英語史詩; 該史詩中的主角)）, a typical example of old English poetry, is regarded today as the national epic (民族史詩) of the Anglo-Saxons. Literary position: The poem was originally in an oral for

4、m, it is written down in the 10th century. Thematically the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. 7. The Norman conquest starts the medieval period in English literature, which i

5、s from 1066 up to the mid-14th century. 8. Romance (騎士抒情詩)，a popular literary form in the medieval period) uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds, whose motifs（主題, 主旨） of the quest is for truth, beauty and kindness. 9. Chaucer(喬叟): whose masterpiece is The Ca

6、nterbury Tales坎特伯雷故事集. The famous character of his works is the Wife of Bath. Chaucer employed the heroic coupletverse form (英雄雙韻詩形式) with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature. He is the father of English poetry.英國文學(xué) The Renaissance Period(文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期)1. It refers t

7、o the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. 2. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance: man is the measure of all things. 3. 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

8、development in the direction of perfection, 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 life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjo

9、y the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Ideas: entitled to enjoy freedom, life and happiness; potential to achieve wonders, great things. 4. In the early stage of the Renaissance, poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and t

10、hey were carried on especially by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson. The poetry is mostly written by John Donne, George Herbert. The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance. 5. Francis Bacon(弗朗西斯·培根), the first important English essayist, is the founder of modern science i

11、n England. 6. Edmund Spenser (埃德蒙斯賓塞)6.1 He is the poets poet. He was buried beside his master Chaucer. 6.2 His masterpiece is The Faerie Queene(仙后). Its purpose is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. This poem is written in form of verse and allegory. Its unify

12、ing characters are Arthur, the Redcrosse and Gloriana, the Fairy Queen. The theme is not Arms and the man, but something more romantic - fierce wars and faithful loves. 6.3 The five main qualities of Spensers poetry are: a perfect melody; a rare sense of beauty; a splendid imagination; a lofty moral

13、 purity and seriousness; a dedicated idealism. 6.4 Spenser stanza: a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic(短長格)pentameter(五步格詩), and the last line in iambic hexameter(六步格的詩), rhyming ABABBCBBCC. 7. Christopher Marlowe(克里斯托夫馬洛) 7.1 He is a man of letters, playwright, and dramatis

14、t. He is praised as University Wits. 7.2 His the most important plays are Tamburlaine(帖木耳大帝), Dr. Faustus(浮士德博士的悲劇), and The Jew of Malta(馬耳他的猶太人). The character feature of his works is usually passionate and energetic. Tamburlaine focuses the power. The dominant moral (meaning/message) of Dr. Faust

15、us is human rather than religious. The theme is to celebrate the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness; it also reveals mans frustration in realizing the high aspirations in a hostile moral order. 7.3 His greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse (素體詩：不押韻，iambic, pent

16、ameter). He employed hyperbole (夸張法)as his major figure of speech to achieve the blank verse with mighty lines. His second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama. 7.4 The general characteristics of Marlowes heroes: such a hero is always individualistic(個(gè)人主義的) and full

17、of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowes humanistic ideal of human dignity and capacity. He is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. With the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the

18、 hero interprets the true Renaissance spirit. 8. William Shakespeare(威廉莎士比亞) 8.1 He is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known. He creates 38 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poems. 8.2 The first period of his dramatic career was one of apprenticeship, he wrote five hi

19、story plays: Henry VI, Parts I, II and III,（亨利六世，第一卷，第二卷，第三卷）， Richard III（理查德三世）and Titus Andronicus（泰特斯·安特洛尼克斯）; and four comedies: The Comedy of Errors（錯(cuò)誤的喜?。? The Two Gentlemen of Verona (維洛那二紳士), The Taming of the Shrew（馴悍記）, and Loves Labors Lost（愛的徒勞）. 8.3 In the second period, he wrote

20、five histories: Richard II（理查德二世）, King John（約翰王）, Henry IV, Part I and II（亨利四世第一卷，第二卷） and Henry V（亨利五世）; six comedies: A Midsummer Nights Dream（仲夏夜之夢）, The Merchant of Venice（威尼斯商人）, Much Ado About Nothing,（無事生非） As You Like It（皆大歡喜）, Twelfth Night（第十二夜）, and The Merry Wives of Windsor（溫莎的風(fēng)流娘們）; t

21、wo tragedies: Romeo and Juliet（羅密歐與朱麗葉）and JuliusCaesar（裘力斯凱撒）. 8.4 His third period includes his greatest tragedies: Hamlet（哈姆雷特）, Othello（奧賽羅）, King Lear（李爾王）, Macbeth（麥克白）, Antony and Cleopatra（安東尼與克莉奧佩屈拉）, Troilus and Cressida（特洛埃勒斯與克蕾雪達(dá)）and Coriolanus（考利歐雷諾斯）; and his so-called dark comedies: A

22、lls Well That Ends Well（終成眷屬） and Measure for Measure（一報(bào)還一報(bào)）. 8.5 The last period of his work includes his principal romantic tragicomedies: Pericles（伯利克里）, Cymbeline（辛白林）, The Winters Tale（冬天的故事） and The Tempest（暴風(fēng)雨）; and his two final plays: Henry VIII（亨利八世）and The Two Noble Kinsmen（兩位貴族親戚）. 8.6 S

23、hakespeare writes his sonnets in the popular English form, first fully developed by Surrey, of three quatrains(四行詩) and a couplet(對句). The couplet usually ties the sonnet to one of the general themes of the series, leaving the quatrains free to develop the poetic intensity which makes the separate s

24、onnets memorable. 8.7 Shakespeares greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common: 1). Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the f

25、ate of the whole nation. 2). Each hero has his weakness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othellos inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil forces; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffe

26、r from treachery(背叛) and infidelity(失真); and Macbeths lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant (不斷的)crimes. 8.8 For Hamlet, he is in a mood of world-weariness. He has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revengers because the cast of his mind is so speculative,

27、so questioning, and so contemplative(祈禱的). (soliloquy獨(dú)白, monologues) 8.9 Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality. He has claimed through the mouth of Hamlet that

28、the end (purpose) of dramatic creation is to give faithful reflection of the social realities of the time. He also states that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can reach immortality (the immortality of poetry). 8.10Techniques: soliloquy (Hamlet); psycho-analytical approac

29、h; irony is a good means of dramatic presentation, which makes the characters who are ignorant of the truth do certain ridiculous things; disguise. 9. Francis Bacon（弗蘭西斯培根）9.1 His Essays is the first example of that genre in English literature. Philosophy works: The advancement of Learning(學(xué)術(shù)的進(jìn)展). L

30、iterary works is Essays（論文集）. 9.2 Novum Organum（新工具）is a successful treatise written in Latin on methodology, which is the most impressive display of Bacons intellect. The argument is for the use of inductive method of reasoning in scientific study. In Bacons second book, he suggests the inductive r

31、easoning（歸納推理）, i.e. proceeding from the particular to the general, in place of the Aristotelian method, the deductive reasoning（演繹推理）, i.e. proceeding from the general to the particular. 9.3 Montaigne（蒙泰涅）,the first great modern essayist, is the predecessor of Bacon. 9.4 Bacons essays are famous fo

32、r their brevity（簡潔）, compactness（緊湊） and powerfulness. Yet there is an obvious stylistic change in the Essays. The sentences in the first edition are charged and crowded with symmetries. They are composed in a rather affected way. However, the final edition not only enlarges the range of theme, but

33、also brings forth the looser and more persuasive style. The essays are well-arranged and enriched by Biblical allusions, metaphors and cadence. 10.John Donne（約翰鄧恩） 10.1Metaphysical poetry（玄學(xué)派詩）is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.

34、With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabeth love poetry. 10.2The most striking feature of Donnes poetry is precisely its tang (taste/smell:氣味)reality. 10.3The Songs and Sonnets contains most of his early lyrics. Love is the basi

35、c theme. 10.4In his poetry, Donne frequently applies conceits(幻想,奇想), i.e. extended metaphors involving dramatic contrasts. His conceits may be divided into two kinds: easy ones and difficult ones. 10.5Donnes poetry involves a certain kind of argument, sometimes in rigid syllogistic(演繹的) form. He se

36、ems to be speaking to an imaged hearer, raising the topic and trying to persuade, convince or upbraid (criticize) him with the brief, simple language. 11.John Milton（約翰·彌爾頓） 11.1Lycidas（利西達(dá)斯） is composed for a collection of elegies (mourning: 挽歌). 11.2Areopagitica（論出版自由）is his most memorable pr

37、ose work. 11.3Paradis Lost（失樂園） is the only generally acknowledged epic in English literatre since Beowulf, whose original story is taken from Genesis(創(chuàng)世紀(jì))3: 1-24 of the Bible. To justify the ways of God to men. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Miltons creed(信條).英國文學(xué) The Neoclassical perio

38、d（新古典主義時(shí)期mid-17th century the end of 18th century）1. The neoclassical period is the one in English literature between the return of the Stuarts to the English throne in 1660 and the full assertion of Romanticism which came with the publication of Lyrical Ballads（抒情歌謠集）by Wordsworth（華茲華斯）and Coleridg

39、e（科爾律治） in 1798. 2. The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The purpose of the Enlightenment Movement is to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, e

40、quality and science. The literature is used to entertain and educate. In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. 3. Neoclassical had some fixed laws and rules for almost every genre o

41、f literature. Prose should be precise direct, smooth and flexible. Poetry should be lyrical, epical, didactic (constant didacticism), satiric or dramatic, and each class should be guided by its own principles, drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets (iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines; the

42、 three unities of time, space and action should be strictly observed. 4. John Bunyan（約翰·班揚(yáng)） 4.1 His represented works is The pilgrims Progress (religious allegory)（天路歷程）. 4.2 Bunyan had a deep hatred for the corrupted, hypocritical rich who accumulated their wealth by hook and by crook. As a st

43、out Puritan, he had made a conscientious study of the Bible and firmly believed in salvation through spiritual struggle. 5. Alexander Pope（亞歷山大·蒲伯） 5.1 He developed a style of biting satire. 5.2 As a representative of the Enlightenment, Pope was one of the first to introduce rationalism to Engl

44、and. He assumed the role of champion of traditional civilization: of reason, classical learning, sound art, good taste and public virtue. The supreme value was order. 5.3 Pope made his name as a great poet with the publication of An Essay on Criticism（論批評）. The Rape of the Lock（卷發(fā)遇劫記） is a finest mo

45、ck epic. The Dunciad（愚人志）is his best satiric work. 5.4 Pope was the greatest poet of his time. He strongly advocated neoclassicism, emphasizing that literary works should be judged by classical rules of order, reason, logic, restrained emotion, good taste and decorum. 6. Daniel Defoe（丹尼爾·笛福） De

46、foe was a very good story-teller. He had a gift for organizing minute details in such a vivid way that his stories could be both credible and fascinating. His sentences are sometimes short, crisp and plain, and sometimes long and rambling(散漫的), which leave on the reader an impression of casual narra

47、tion. His language is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular(本國的). There is nothing artificial in his language: it is common English at its best. 7. Jonathan Swift（喬納森·斯威夫特） 7.1 Swift is a master satirist. His A modest Proposal is generally taken as a perfect model. By suggesting that p

48、oor Irish parents sell their one-year-old babies to the rich English lords and ladies as food, Swift is making the most devastating protest against the inhuman exploitation and oppression of the Irish people by the English ruling class. 7.2 He defines a good style as proper words in proper places. 8

49、. Henry Fielding（享利·菲樂?。?.1 His works: The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews（約瑟夫·安德魯）and of his friend Mr. Abraham Adams, which was first intended as a burlesque（滑稽表演） of the dubious morality and false sentimentality of Richardsons Pamela. The History of Jonathan Wild the Great（大

50、偉人江奈生·魏爾德傳）, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,（湯姆·瓊斯） which is a masterpiece on the subject of human nature. 8.2 He firmly believed in the educational function of literature. He shared the contemporary view of the English enlighteners that the purpose of the novel was not just to amus

51、e, but to instruct. 8.3 Fielding has been regarded by some as Father of the English Novel. 1). His contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel comic epic in prose. 2). Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary（書信體的）form (a series of letters), o

52、r the picaresque（傳奇小說）form (adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the principal character. But Fielding adopted the third-person narration, in which the author becomes the all-knowing God. 9. Samuel Johnson（塞繆爾·約翰遜） 9.1 His works: Lives of the Poets（詩人列傳）. 9.2 As a lexicographer, Johnson

53、 distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary by a Englishman A Dictionary of the English Language（英語大詞典）. 10.Richard Brinsley Sheridan（理查德·比·謝立丹） 10.1He is one of the greatest play writers after Shakespeare. 10.2His plays: The Rivals（情敵）, The School for Scandal（造謠學(xué)校

54、）. 10.3His manipulation(處理, 操作) is disguise, mistaken identity(個(gè)性; 特性) and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. 11.Thomas Gray（托馬斯·格雷） He is established his fame as the leader of the sentimental poetry of the day, espe

55、cially the Graveyard School. His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation(悲嘆, 哀悼) or meditation on life, past and present.英國文學(xué) Romantic Period（浪漫主義時(shí)期End of 18th century mid-19th century）1. It began in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth（華滋華斯） and Coleridges（ 柯律維治）Lyrica

56、l Ballads（抒情歌謠集） and ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scotts（沃爾特·司·各特）death and the passage of the first Reform Bill（選舉法修正法案后） in the Parliament（國會(huì)）. It actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit.

57、2. The Romantic Period is an age of poetry. Blake（布萊克）, Wordsworth（華滋華斯）, Coleridge（柯律維治）, Byron（拜倫）, Shelley （雪萊）and Keats（濟(jì)慈） are the major Romantic poets. They start the poetic revolution. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also elevate the concepts of spontaneity and in

58、spiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The Romantic period is also a great age of prose. William Hazlitt（哈滋里特）(Life of Napoleon（拿破侖的生活）); Charles Lamb（查爾斯蘭姆）(Essays of Elia（伊利亞隨筆）). The two major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen（珍奧斯汀）and Walter Scott（華特司各特）.

59、3. The function of poetry: poetry could purify both individual souls and the society. Wordsworth defines the poetry in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion recollected in tranquility. Poetry has been traditionally regarded as an art governed by rules; but to the Ro