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1、English Literature Introduction :The old and Medieval English literature. *****A. The old English literature 1.The time period :The period of Old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066. 2.The classification of the old English poetry :The old English poetry can be divided in

2、to two groups : the religious group and the secular one . a.)The religious group is mainly on biblical themes. b.)The secular group concludes; The national epic poem , Beowulf ,and lyrical poems of shorter length . 3.The representative of this period : Beowulf . a.)The nature Beow

3、ulf is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. b.)The setting The story took place in Scandinavia. c.)The theme: The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage under a wise heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise a

4、nd mighty leader . d.)The significance : The poem is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends. The battle between Beowulf and the Dragon Symblically represent that phrase of Winter and Summer myth in which the Summer God,here embodied by Beowulf . ******B. The medieval Eng

5、lish literature 1.The time period : From 1066 up to the mid-14th century. 2.The classification of the medieval English Literature: Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects. a.)popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period . b.)Romance which

6、 uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the Medieval period . 3. The representative of this period : Chaucer and the Canterbury tales. a.)The influence of Renaissance : The influence of Renaissance was already felt in the

7、field of English literature when Chaucer was learning from the great Italian writers like Petrarch and Boccaccio. b.)The contributions to English Literature : 1)Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas to replace the old English alliterative verse. 2)In the Romaunt the Rose , he fixst

8、introduced into English the octosyllabic couplet. 3)In The Legend of Good Women , he used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter.And in The Canterbury Tales , Chaucer employed the heroic couplet with true ease. 4)Chaucer also developed the art of literature itself .

9、 In Troilus and Criseyde, he gave the world what is virtually the first modern novel . 5)In The Canterbury Tales , he developed his art of poetry still further towards drama and the art of novel. John Dryden, called Chaucer the father of English peotry . For the Renaissance , he was the English H

10、omer. ====================================================================== Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period (文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期) 本章概述 一. 文藝復(fù)興運(yùn)動(dòng)和人文主義思想產(chǎn)生的歷史, 文化背景; 二. 文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期文學(xué)創(chuàng)作的基本特征和基本主張; 三. 文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的哲學(xué)與文藝?yán)碚搶ν瑫r(shí)代及后世英國文學(xué)與文化的影響. 四. 主要作家與作品. 文學(xué)史分析 ******* A. The time period The Renaissance

11、marks a transition from the medieval to the modern word . It refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries . ****** B. The definition of Renaissance : a. The birthplace : In Italy b. The meaning : The Renaissance means rebirth or revival . c. The nature : The Renaissance ,in

12、 essence , is a historical period. ****** c. The theoretical basis of the Renaissance : 1. The essence of the Renaissance : a.) The source Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance , It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors . b.) The basi

13、s of the Humanism . it was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things . 2.The representative : a. The symbol : Humanism began to take hold in England when the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus came to teach the classical learning b. The major representatives :

14、Thomas More , Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists . ********* D. The cultural Background of the Renaissance : 1. The national feeling : Strong national feeling in the time of the Tudors gave a great incentive to the cultural

15、development in England . English schools and universities were established in place of the old monasteries . 2. The introduction of printing : William Caxton Introduced printing into England . In this lifetime ,Caxton printed about one hundred books in English . 3. The emergence of an ag

16、e of translation With the introduction of printing , an age of thranslation came into being . 4. The significance : The introduction of printing led to a commercial market for literature , making everything ready for the appearance of the great Elizabethan writers. ********* E. Th

17、e literature forms during the Renaissance : 1. The poetry a. The feature : The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation . 1.) petrarch was regarded as the fountain head of literature by the English writers . 2.) Wyatt introduced the petrarchan so

18、nnet into England . 3.) Surrey brought in blank verse. 4.) Sidney followed with the sestina and terza rima 5.) Marlowe gave new vigor to the blank verse with his "mighty lines. " b. The representatives : 1.) Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender showed the pastoral convention . 2.) In " The

19、 Passionate Shepherd to His Love . " Marlowe spoke that it would be very difficult for us to connect it with the voice in his tragedies . 3.) Poetry and Poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and carried on by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson . 2. The drama A.) The feature : The El

20、izabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance . English material was put into the regular form of the Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence . Tragedies were in the style of Seneca . B.) The representative dramatists : The most famous aramatists are christopher Marlowe , Willia

21、m Shakespeare , and Ben Johnson. 3.The essays : A.) The representatives essayist : Francis Bacon , the first important English essayist , is best known for his essays . B.) The influence : Bacon was also the founder of modern science in England , His writings pave the way for the use of sci

22、entific method . 主要作家作品 埃德蒙*斯賓塞 一. The masterpiece : The Faerie Queene . 1. The intention and the structure A.) The intention The principal intention is to present through a "historical poem " the example of perfect gentleman . B) The structure: There are 12 virtues of the p

23、erfect gentleman ,and plans 12 books , each one with a different hero distinguished for one of the private virtues . 2. The unifying element : A.) The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as whole . B.) Another character contributing to the unity of the work

24、 is Gloriana. 3. The allegory : The Redcross knight in Book I stands for st. George , he also represents Holiness. 4. The theme The theme is not "Arms and the man ," but something more romantic ----"Fierce Wares and faithful loves . " 二. The poetic features : 1. The five main qualities

25、: The five main qualities of Spenser's are : 1.) a perfect melody ; 2.) a rare sense of beauty; 3.) a splendid imagination ; 4.) a lofy moral purity and seriousness 5.) a dedicated idealism 2. In addition : Spenser uses strange forms of speech and obsolete words , His exquisite melody tha

26、t make him known as " the poet's poet . " 克里斯托夫*馬洛 一. The works : 1. The play : ( 6 plays ) 2. The non-dramatic poetry. 3. The verse translation . 二. The masterpieces : 1. Tamburlaine : A. The outline : Tamburlaine is a play about an ambitious and pitiless Tartar conqueror in

27、the fourteenth century who roes from a shepherd to an overpowering king . B. The intention : By depicting a great hero with high ambition and sheer brutal force , Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power and authority . 2. Dr. Faustus : A. The out

28、line : Dr. Faustus is a play based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for knowledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil . B. The intention : It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness ; it also reveals man's frustrati

29、on . 三. The artistic achievements 1. The stylistic features : A. Marlowe perfected the blank verse and brought vitality and grandeur into the blank verse with his "Mighty lines . " B. Marlowe employed hyperbole as his major figure of speech . 2. The characters and the humanistic ideal

30、: A. Marlowe ' s second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama . Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition. B. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ideal of human dignity and capacity . with the endless aspiration for power, knowledge , and glory , the

31、hero interprets the true Renaissance Spirit . 威廉*莎士比亞 一. The dramatic career : (4 periods ) 1. Apprenticeship period 2. High individualized period 3. Greatest stragedies and dark comedies period . 4. Romantic tragicomedies period . 二. The themes of Shakespeare's works 1. The histo

32、ry plays : A. The theme Shakespeare's history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity . B. The examples : Henry VI (I,II, III ) are the beginning of Shakespeare's epic treatment of English history . Henry IV (I,II,III)

33、are undoubtedly the most widely read among his history plays . 2. The romantic comedies : A . The theme : On his romantic comedies , Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth , and the romantic elements are brought into full play . The example : The important play amon

34、g the comedies is the Merchant of Venice . a. The traditional theme : The traditional theme of the play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty , wit and loyalty , and to expose the insatiable greed and brutality of the Jew . b

35、. The modern theme : Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christian's hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love , their cunning ways of pursuing worldiness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews . 3. The tragedies : A . The theme : The play , th

36、ough a tragedy , is permeated with opitimistic spirit . B. The example : The successful romantic tragedy is Romeo and Juliet, which eulogizes the faithfulness of love and the spirit of pursuing happiness . 三. The greatest tragedies : 1. The common features : Shakespeare 's greatest tragedi

37、es are : Hamlet , Othello , King Lear , and Macbeth . They have some characteristics in common . Each portrays some noble hero , who faces the injustic of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation . 2. The realistic sp

38、irits Along with the portrayal of the weakness or bias of the hero , we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society , which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense . 3. The analysis A. Hamlet : a. Hamlet , the first of the great tr

39、agedies , is generally regarded as shakespeare's most popular play on the stage . b. Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revengers . It is not because he is incapable of action , but because the cast of his mind is so speculative , so questioning , and so contemplative t

40、hat action . c. His life is one of constant role-playing , examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility . d. By revealing the power-seeking , the jostling for place , shakespeare condemns the hypocrisy and treachery and general corruption at the royal court . B. The Tempest :

41、 a. The Tempest , an elaborate and fantastic story , is known as the best of his final romances . b. The Tempest is a typical example of his Pessimistic view toward human life and society in his late years . 四. The artistic achievements : 1. The characters : A. Shakespeare's major characte

42、rs are neither merely individual ones or type ones . B. By applying a psyche-analytical approach , Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters' inner mind . C. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs . Contrasts are frequently used to bring vividness to his characters . 2. Con

43、struction : A. Shakespeare's plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction . He borrows them from some old plays or storybooks , or from ancient Greek and Roman sources . B. He would shorten the time and intensify the story . There are usually several threads running through the play .

44、 3. Language and style : A. Irony is a good means of dramatic presentation . Disguise is also an important device to create dramatic irony , usually with woman disguised as man . B. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom . His influence on later writers is immeasurable . Almost all E

45、nglish writers after him have been influenced by him either in artistic point of view , in literary form or in language . 弗朗西斯*培根 一. The works His works can be divided into three groups . 1. The philosophic groups . 2. The literary groups . 3. The law groups . 二. The masterpieces :

46、 1. The Advancement of Learning : A. The theme : The Advencement of Learning is a great tract on education . B. The contents : In Book I , Bacon highly praises knowledge . He divided knowledge into two kinds . One is from the Divine Revelation , the other i sfrom the workings of human mind .

47、 The second book is a survey of learning , According to Bacon , man's understanding consists of three parts : history to man's memory , poetry to man's imagination and creation and philosophy to man's reason . 2. Novum Organum : A. The theme : Novum Organum is a successful treatise written in

48、Latin on methodology . B. The contents : is the most impressive display of Bacon 's intellect . The argument is for the use of the inductive method of reasoning in scientific study , In the scond book , Bacon suggest the industive reasoning . 3. Essays : A. The sources : Montaigne is th

49、e predecessor of Bacon . The term "essay "was borrowed from Montaigne's Essais . B. The comparison with Montaigne's : They are totally unlike in temperament . outlook and writing style . Montaigne's essays show a strong personal touch . Bacon , as a practical and prudential man , intends to wri

50、te for the ambitious Elizabethan and Jacobean youth of his class and tell them how to be efficient and make their way in public life . Of the fifty-eight essays in its final edition , more than half are about public life or public duty . C. Bacon's styles : Bacon's essays are famous for their b

51、revity , compactness and powerfulness . The essay are well-arranged and enriched by Biblical allusions , Metaphors and Cadence . 約翰*鄧恩 一. The metaphysical poetry : The tern "Metaphysical peotry " is commonly used to name the work of the 17th -century writers who wrote under the influence of Jo

52、hn Donne . 1. The theme The metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry . 2. The language : The diction is simple , and echoes the words and cadences of common speech . 3. The imagery : It is drawn from the actual life . 4.

53、The form : It is frequently the form of an argument with the poet's beloved , with God , or with himself . 二. The characteristic of Donne's works : 1. The inherently theatrical impression : John Donne is the leading figure of the "metaphysical school . " His poems give a more inherently

54、theatrical impression . 2. The poetic mode : The mode is dynamic rather than static ,with ingenuity of speech , vividness of imagery and vitality of rhythms. 3. The stylistic features : The most striking feature of Donne's poetry is precisely its tang of reality , in the sense that it se

55、ems to reflect life in a real rather than a poetical world . 三. The masterpieces 1. The songs and sonnets : A. The theme The songs and Sonnets , contains most of his early lyrics , Love is the basic theme . B. The understanding of love : Donne holds that the nature of love is th

56、e union of soul and body . This though is quite contrary to the medieval love idea . What is love , idealism and cynicism about love coexist in Donne's love poetry . he sometimes expresses the fufility and instability of love in his poems . C. The stylistic method : When eulogizing a woman ,Don

57、ne tells us very little about her physical beauty . Instead , Donne's interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love . 2. The Holy sonnets : A. The theme: Donne's chief power as a religious poet is shown in the Holy Sonnets . B. Contents : In A Hymn to God the

58、Father do we find a an assured faith .The best of the Holy Sonnets express these strugles with unparalleled force . 四. The Artistic features 1. The conceits : In his poetry , Donne frequently applies conceits , his conceits may be divided into two kinds ; easy ones and difficult ones . By

59、 combining the easy conceits with the difficult ones , Donne achieves surprising good effects in his poetry . 2. the argument : Donne's poetry involves a certain kind of argument , sometimes in rigid syllogistic form . with the brief . Simple Language , the argument is continuous throughout the

60、 poem . 3. The imagination : Donne's great prose works are sermons , which are both rich and imaginative . some of Donne's sermons are carefully contrived with a dramatic . And it is the obsession with death that characterizes Donne's nature religious works . 約翰*彌爾頓 一. Works :

61、 Milton 's literary achievements can be divided into three groups . 1. The early works : Milton appears as the inheritor of all that was best in Elizabethan literature . Lycidas is a typical example . 2. The middle works : His powerful pamphlets written during this period make him the gr

62、eatest prose writer of his age . 3. The last great poems : Milton wrote his three major poetical works : Paradise Lost , Paradise regained and Samson Agonistes . 二. The masterpieces : 1. paradise Lost : A. The theme and structure : Paradise Lost is a long epic divided into 12 books .

63、The theme is the "Fall of Man ". B. The humanistic spirits a. Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism , Milton wrote Paradise Lost intending to expose the way of Satan and to "justify the ways of God to man . " b. At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritu

64、al duty lies Milton's fundamental concern with freedom and choice . c. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton's creed . 2. Paradise Regained : A. The content : Paradise Regained shows how mankind , in the person of Christ , withstands the tempter and is established once mo

65、re in the divine favor . B. Theme : Christ's temptation in the wilderness is the theme . 3. Samson Agonistes : A. The source : In samson Agonistes , Milton again borrows his story from the Bible . But this time he turns to a more vital and personal theme . B. The purpose : The po

66、et's aim was to present on English a pure tragedy , with all the passion and restraint . ========================================================================================== The neoclassical period (新古典主義時(shí)期) 本章概述 一. 啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)與新古典主義文學(xué)流派產(chǎn)生的歷史背景. 二.新古典主義文學(xué)的主要特征與基本主張. 三. 對同時(shí)代與后世英國文學(xué)的影響. 四. 主要作家與作品 The Neoclassical Period 文學(xué)史分析 一. The time period : The neoclassical period is between the re