英國文學筆記

1、A Brief Outline of British Literature History?Medieval Literature (5 A.D. -1485) ( 中世紀文學 ) Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 1400 )2. The English Renaissance (1500-1625) (文藝復興時期文學)Thomas More（ 1478 1535）Edmund Spenser（1552 1599）Christopher Marlowe （ 1564 1593）Francis Bacon （ 1561 1626）William Shakespeare（ 1564

2、 1616）3. The Seventeenth century (17th century)( 17世紀文學 )John Milton（1608 1674）John Donne （ 1572 1631）John Bunyan （ 1628 1688）4. English Enlightenment and neo-Classicism (17th century -18th century ) (英國啟蒙運動和新古典主義文學 )Alexander Pope （ 1688 1744）Jonathan Swift（ 1667 1745 ）Daniel Defoe（ 1660 1731）Henry

3、 Fielding（ 1707 1754）5. Romanticism in England (1798-1832) ( 浪漫主義時期文學 )Robert Burns（ 1759 1796）William Blake（ 1757 1827）William Wordsworth (1770 1850)Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 1834)George Gordon Byron(1788 1824)Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822)John Keats (1795-1821)6. English Realism (1830s-1918)

4、 ( 現(xiàn)實主義時期文學) /Victorian Age (1832 1901)Robert Browning (1821 1889)Alfred Tennyson ( 1809 1892)Jane Austen (1775 1817)The Bronte SistersCharles Dickens (1812 1870)William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 1863)Thomas Hardy (1840 1928)Joseph Conrad ( 1857 1924)Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)George Bernard Shaw (1856-

5、1950)7. Modernism (1918-1945) ( 現(xiàn)代主義文學)T.S. Eliot (1888 1965)William Butler Yeats (1865 1939)James Joyce (1882 1941)Virginia Woolf (1882 1941)D.H. Lawrence (1885 1930)?1. Medieval Literature (5 A.D. -1485) (中世紀文學 )Beowulf貝奧武夫 : the national epic of the English people.romance (浪漫傳奇 )： the most prevai

6、ling kind of literature in feudal England1Theme: loyalty to king and lordKing Arthur and his knights of the Round Table 亞瑟王和他的圓桌騎士 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 高文爵士和綠衣騎士Geoffrey Chaucer (1340- 1400)Literary Position: The father of English poetryMasterpiece: The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集（Old Englis

7、h ）Literary Achievements: Heroic couplet ( 英雄雙韻體 )2. The English Renaissance (1500-1625)文(藝復興時期文學 )The word Renaissance means（revival復活）. The term originally indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism（蒙昧主義） .Humanism: the essence

8、 of RenaissanceEdmund Spenser (1552- 1599): the poets poetMasterpiece :The Faerie Oueene仙后Thomas More（ 1478-1535）Masterpiece: Utopia （烏托邦）Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593):most gifted of the University Wits（大學才子派）.Masterpiece: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. 浮士德博士的悲劇Francis Bacon (1561-1626 )L

9、iterary Position: the founder of modern science in England; one of the earliest essayist(散文家）in English languageMasterpiece : Essays論說文集Of Studies (論讀書 )William Shakespeare(1564 1616)Literary Position: not of an age, but for all time ,the greatest giant of English language and poetic form,one of the

10、 founders of realism in world literature, one of the greatest writers in the worlds literature.Literary Achievements:38 plays (comedies(喜?。?, histories（歷史劇） , tragedies（悲劇） , tragicomedies/romances（悲喜?。? narrative poemssonnets (Sonnets 1-126 addressed to a young man, Sonnets 127-152 addressed to Dar

11、k Lady , Sonnets 153-154 addressed to Cupid, the God of love in Greekmythology )Plays (4 periods)1. First period (1592-1594): His apprenticeship in plays.Historical plays: King Henry VI亨利六世 , Richard 查理三世Comedies: Love sLabour sLost 愛的徒勞Second period (1595-1600): Mature period, a marked increase in

12、the knowledge of humanism Romeo and Juliet羅密歐與朱麗葉(4 大喜劇 ): A Midsummer Night s Dream仲夏夜之夢The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人2As You Like It皆大歡喜Twelfth Night 第十二夜Third period (1601-1608): Flourishing period, a period of gloomy and depression (4 大悲劇 ): Hamlet 漢姆雷特Othello 奧賽羅King Lear 李爾王Macbeth麥克白Fourth perio

13、d (1608-1612): The period of romantic drama in the form of tragicomedies Reconciliation plays: The Winter s Tale冬天的童話 , The Tempest暴風雨3. The Seventeenth century (17th century)( 17世紀文學 )Historical backgroundThe English revolution （英國革命 ） and the Restoration （王朝復辟） .Causes: the conflict between the mo

14、narch and Parliament; the persecution of the PuritansThe bourgeois Dictatorship and the RestorationGlorious Revolution a bloodless revolutionThe constitutional monarchy.John Milton (1608 1674)Literary PositionA master of the Blank verseThe greatest English revolutionary poet of the 17th centuryOne o

15、f the greatest poets of the English languageLiterary AchievementsPoemsParadise Lost 失樂園(1667): his masterpiece The greatest epic in English literature.Paradise Regained (1671) 復樂園Samson Agonistes (1671) 力士參孫Paradise Lost 失樂園 John MiltonIntroductionLong epic in 12 booksWritten in blank verseBased on

16、Genesis創(chuàng)世紀 in the Old Testament Dramatizes the Biblical account of humanitys banishment.Theme Milton s aimed purpose: justify the ways of God to man （昭示天道對人的公正） Real purpose: Challenge the restored monarchGod tyrannical, represents the kingSatan rebelling against monarchLove between Adam and Eve hum

17、an pursuit for happiness, the spirit of RenaissanceWriting features Milton style: Sonority 洪亮 , Eloquence 雄辯 , Majesty 尊嚴 , Grandeur 壯美The blank verseLong and involved sentencesJohn Donne (1572-1631) Literary Position founder of Metaphysical School（玄學派） the greatest of the metaphysical poets.3Litera

18、ry AchievementsSongs and Sonnets 歌與十四行詩The Flea 跳蚤Holy Sonnets圣十四行詩: Holy Sonnet 10Features of metaphysical poetry: conceits（奇喻） strange paradoxes（悖論） far-fetched （牽強的） imageryJohn Bunyan (1628-1688):Masterpiece: The Pilgrim s Progress天路歷程4. English Enlightenment and neo-Classicism (17th century -18

19、th century )(英國啟蒙運動和新古典主義文學) (1688-1798)Historical BackgroundComparatively peaceful development under the constitutional monarchyA compromise between Tory and WhigThe leading navel power in Europe2. The Industrial Revolution工業(yè)革命Unprecedented technical innovationsRapid growth of industry and commerce

20、The EnlightenmentAn intellectual movement in Europe began in the late 17th and 18th centuries and ended with the French revolution of 178918th century : Age of Reason/ Age of Enlightenment1. Importance a lasting heritage for the 19th and 20th centuryit marked a key stage in the decline of the church

21、 and the growth of modern secularism(世俗主)it served as the model for political and economic liberalism.The development of Poetry : neo-Classicism 新古典主義Characteristic of neo-Classicism1). Emphasizing reason rather than emotion, form rather than content.2). Didactic and satirical3). Heroic Couplet ( 英雄

22、雙韻體 )4). Town poetry writing for the rising bourgeoisieAlexander Pope (1688-1744)Literary Position an outstanding enlightener The greatest and the most important representative of the English classical poetry.The Rise of FictionDaniel DefoeJonathan SwiftHenry FieldingFictionThe mainstream of 18th ce

23、ntury literature, & The rise and growth of realistic novel the most prominent achievement of 18th century English literatureDaniel Defoe (1660-1731)Literary PositionFather of English novel4Literary Achievements: Robinson Crusoe(1719)魯賓遜漂游記Defoes masterpieceThe first English novel in a real senseThe

24、first English realistic novelRobinson CrusoeDaniel DefoeTheme: to sing the praises of human labor to celebrate the strength of human rational will to conquer the natural environment to beautify colonialism & Negro slaveryPlot:run away from home becomesailor a planter in Brazil to an uninhabited isla

25、ndbecause of shipwreck made a living there all by himselfnegro namedsaveFridaywho became his servant back to England visit the remote island again and Friday waskilled3. Robinson Crusoe s characterization:typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical, diligent, a restless curiosity to kno

26、w more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges; shrewd, care about money and good at managing; courageous and intelligent to overcome all kinds of obstaclesJonathan Swift (1667-1745)Literary Positionone of the greatest masters of English Pr

27、osea master satirist（諷刺作家）Style of Swift s prose:simple, clear and vigorous. His famous sayingProper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style”influenced a lot laterwriters.Literary AchievementsBooksThe Battle of Books 書籍之戰(zhàn)A Tale of Tub 一個桶子的故事Guliver s Travels格列佛游記 his masterpiec

28、e: a satire on the whole English society of the 18th century.PamphletsThe Draper s Letters一個布商的書信A Modest Proposal 一個溫和的建議 (A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents)Guliver s Travels格列佛游記 Jonathan SwiftPlot:Part I: A Voyage to Lilli

29、putPart II: A Voyage to BrobdingnagPart III: A V oyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg and JapanPart IV: A V oyage to the Country of the HouyhnhnmsHenry Fielding (1707-1754)Literary AchievementsThe History of Tom Jones, A Founding 棄兒湯姆瓊斯Literary Position5 The founder of English realist

30、ic novel-setting up the theory of realism in literary position.5. Romanticism in England (1798-1832) 浪(漫主義時期文學 )Pre-Romanticism: Latter half of the 18th centuryRobert BurnsWilliam BlakeRomantic revivalA strong protest against the bondage of Classicism (=Formalism)A recognition of the claims of passi

31、on and emotion.RepresentativesRobert Burns (1759-1796) 羅伯特彭斯 William Blake (1757-1827)威廉布萊克Robert Burns (1759-1796)Literary position the national poet of Scotland A poet of the peasants, a poet of the peopleLiterary AchievementsPoems chiefly in the Scottish Dialect 蘇格蘭方言詩集A Red, Red Rose一朵紅紅的玫瑰 ,Aul

32、d Long Syne 昔日時光A Mans A Man for A. That無論何時都要保持尊嚴My Hearts in the Highlands 我的心在高原 .ThemeLove and friendshipThe natural beauty of his native ScotlandThe life and label of the common peopleThe patriotism of his compatriots and their struggle for libertyFeatures of his poetryScottish dialectWilliam B

33、lakeLiterary Position a Pre-Romantic or a forerunner （先驅(qū)）of the Romantic poetry of the 19th centuryLiterary Achievements :Songs of Innocence 天真之歌Songs of Experience經(jīng)驗之歌Songs of Innocence天真之歌 Written for children, express the poets delight in life.a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and inno

34、cent world without evils andsufferingsTo depict the happy condition of a child before it knows anything about the pains of experience.Simple without being na? ve, childlike without being childish, innocent, everything seems to be in harmony.e.g. The Lamb 羔羊Songs of Experience經(jīng)驗之歌Much mature workThe

35、atmosphere is no longer sunny but sad and gloomy.Presenting a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone.6e.g. The Tiger 老虎The Age of Romanticism (1798-1832)Political and social factorsThe American and French revolution: an upsurge of national liberation and democra

36、tic movementsAmerican revolution (1775-1783) The formation of the independent United States.French revolution of 1789 Liberty, equality and fraternity 2. The Industrial RevolutionIntellectual Background -Shift from emphasis on reason to instinct and emotion General characteristic features (style)Sub

37、jectivismSpontaneitySingularitySimplicity: everyday language spoken by the rustic peopleA dominating note of melancholyA freer verse formRomantic PoetryLake poets (湖畔派詩人 ) the passive or escapist romanticists: Wordsworth, Coleridge,Southey detesting the real world, escaping from the reality.Revoluti

38、onary poets( 革命派詩人 ) (Active or radical) romanticists: Byron, Shelley, Keats striving to strengthen man s will to live and raise him up against the darkness in the world.Lake Poets (湖畔派詩人 )William WordsworthSamuel Taylor ColeridgeRobert SoutheyWilliam Wordsworth (1770-1850)Literary Position Poet Lau

39、reate 桂冠詩人 （ 1843） the best and the most famous romantic poet A great poet of natureLiterary AchievementsLyrical Ballads (1798) 抒情歌謠集:The Prelude (1850) 序曲： Wordsworth s autobiographical poem. Major works:I wondered lonely as a cloud 我好似一朵流云獨自漫游Lucy Poems 露西The Solitary Reaper 孤獨的收割女Major concernNat

40、ureThe life of ordinary peoplePoetic features Simplicity and purity of his language.Lyrical Ballads (1798) 抒情歌謠集 William WordsworthWritten by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor ColeridgeMarked the break with the conventional poetic tradition of 18th century classicism, and the beginning of romanticism in

41、English poetryThe preface serves as the manifesto of the English romantic movements in poetry.The principle of poetry: All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling. 7所有好詩都是強烈感情的自然流露. William WordsworthSamuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)Literary positionPoet, critic, and philosophe

42、r of Romanticism.Literary AchievementThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) 古舟子吟Kubla Khan (1816)忽必烈汗Robert Southey (1774-1843)Revolutionary Poets （革命派詩人）George Gordon ByronPercy Bysshe ShelleyJohn KeatsGeorge Gordon Byron (1788 1824)Lifeborn in a noble familyinherited the baronial titlegraduated fr

43、om Cambridge Universityentered House of Lordsstrongly criticized by those conservatives and at last left England stayed in Italy and then Greecedied in Greece at 36Literary Positionone of the most excellent representatives of English Romanticism.His literary career was closely linked with the strugg

44、le and progressive movements of his age.Major WorksChild Harold sPilgrimage 恰爾德哈羅德游記One of his most readable booksDon Juan 唐璜His masterpieceByronic Heroes The men with fiery and unbending will express the poet s own ideal of freedom. The men who rise against tyranny and injusticeDon Juan 唐璜 George G

45、ordon Byron1. Hero of the long poem:Don Juan, a Spanish young man born in a noble family; strange adventures he has experienced (Greece, Turkey, Russia and England);2. A panorama of the whole Europe and a strong satirePercy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822)Literary Position The great poet of revolutionary

46、romanticism in England.The most wonderful lyric poet England has ever producedMajor Works Prometheus Unbound 解放了的普羅米修斯 lyrical drama Ode to the West Wind 西風頌Artistic Features Lyrics intensity8Lyrics on politicsLyrics on natureLyrics on love Revolutionary ardency Optimistic idealism Image （意象） & symb

47、ol （象征）Ode to the West Wind西風頌It made Shelley the greatest English lyrical poet, and is the lyric of lyrics.1. Main ideaThe old world must go, a new word must come with the Spring, laden with fresh sweet promises for suffering humanity.2.1). Stanza West wind isBlowing over the landDriving dead leave

48、s awayCarrying the seeds to wintry bed so that they would grow up next year.Both a destroyer and preserverA destroyer of old, useless, decaying things, such as dead leaves.A preserver of new, life-going things, such as seeds.2). Stanza West wind isSweeping in the skyGathering the loose cloudsPrepari

49、ng a storm with black rain, lightening and hailCalling the dirge of the dying year3). Stanza West wind isMoving across the seaFrom the Mediterranean to the Atlantic OceanBecoming stronger and strongerEven frightening the sea vegetation4). Stanza The poet compares “ I ” to and with the west wind if s

50、Poetic inspirationThe poet s personality5). Stanza The poet s wishesTo share the spirit of the west windTo use his poem to quicken a new birth and awaken the earthThe poet s prophecyIf winter comes, can spring be far behind?West wind: A symbolStrength, powerChange of seasonApproaching revolutionThe

51、poet s personalityThe poetic inspirationA revolutionary spiritThe destroyer of the old worldthe preserver of the new world9Hope for the new lifeJohn Keats (1795 1821)Literary AchievementShort Poems of the numerous short poems by Keats, the most important are his sonnets andodes.Ode on Melancholy 憂郁頌

52、 Ode to Nightingale夜鶯頌 Ode to Autumn秋頌Ode on a Grecian Urn 希臘古甕頌Features1. A clean split with 18th century classicism.Byron& Shelley: attempted to remold the contemporary society with both poetry and political action.Keats: restricted his application of the principle of liberty to the sphere of Art.

53、2. Beauty in truth, truth in beauty.（美即現(xiàn)實，現(xiàn)實即美）Keats found beauty in nature, in literature, esp. poetry, and in human struggle for liberty.English Realism (1830s-1918) (現(xiàn)實主義時期文學 ) /The Victorian Age (1832 1901)Charles DickensWilliam Makepeace ThackerayThe Bront? SistersHistorical backgroundThe Victo

54、rian Age First Period (1832-1848): a time of social unrest The mid-Victorian Period (1848-1870): The heyday of the Victorian Age The last period: (1870-1901): The decay of Victorian valuesThe end of poetry poemThe rise of novels Novel: dominant literary genreCritical RealismAppeared in 19th century

55、and flourished in 1840s and early 50sRepresentativesCharles DickensThackerayThe Bront? Sisters3. Basic characteristicsTo expose and criticize the evil and injustice of capitalist societyTo satirize the ruling classes and show sympathy for the common peopleEssentially democratic and humanistic attitu

56、deAiming at social reform rather than revolution.Charles Dickens (1812 1870)Literary Position The greatest and outstanding representative of English critical realism Literary Achievements: Three periods The 1st period (1836-1841): Na?ve optimism, Virtue will triumph in long run. Sketches By Boz 博茲特寫

57、集 The Pickwick Papers 匹克威克外傳 Oliver Twist 霧都孤兒10Nicholas Nickleby 尼古拉斯尼克爾貝The Old Curiosity Shop 老古玩店The 2nd period (1842-1850): period of excitement and irritation, his na?ve optimism aboutcapitalism was profoundly shaken.American Note 美國札記Martin Chuzzlewit 馬丁 朱述兒維特Dombey and the Son 董貝父子David Copp

58、erfield 大衛(wèi) 科波菲爾The 3rd period (1851-1870): a Period of steadily intensifying pessimism, his loss of hope for English bourgeoisBleak House 荒涼山莊Hard Times 艱難時世 Little Dorrit小杜麗A Tale of Two Cities 雙城記Great Expectation 遠大前程 /孤星血淚Our Mutual Friend 我們共同的朋友Features of Dickenss NovelsCharacter Sketches & E

59、xaggeration( grotesque characters)Broad Humor & Penetrating SatireComplicated & Fascinating PlotThe Power of ExposureWilliam Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)Literary PositionOne of the outstanding representatives of English critical realism.A great satiristLiterary AchievementsVanity Fair 名利場 his mas

60、terpieceThe Bront? SistersCharlotte Bront? Jane Eyre 簡愛Emily Bront? Wuthering Heights 呼嘯山莊 Anne Bront? Agnes Grey 艾格尼斯格雷Themes of Jane EyreThe criticism of the bourgeois system of educationJane Eyre, the heroine of the novel, maintains that women should have equal rights with men.Jane Austen (1775-1