英国文学简史复习资料

A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
1. the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were three tribes from Northern Europe.
2.English literature began with the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England. It is Beowulf, the national epic of the English people.
3.Features of Beowulf 贝奥武普: the most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration头韵.（definition）In alliterative verse, certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. Other features of Beowulf are the use of metaphors and of understatements.
4. The French-speaking Normans under Duke William came in 1066.(the Norman Conquest)
5. The Romance 罗曼司---the most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England. It was a long composition, sometimes in prose, describing the life and a adventures of a noble hero.
Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table
6. The Class Nature of the Romance
The theme of loyalty to king and lord was repeatedly emphasized in romance , as loyalty was the corner-stone of feudal morality, without which the whole structure of feudalism would collapse.
They were composed for the noble, of the noble, and in most cases by the poets patronized by the noble.
7.the Ballads 民谣The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song; usually in 4-line, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.
8. The Robin Hood Ballad --- the various ballads of Robin Hood are gathered into a collection called The Geste of Robin Hood.绿林好汉罗宾汉的故事
9. The founder of English poetry is Geoffrey Chaucer. 乔叟
The Canterbury Tales ---(1) a collection of 24 stories (2)close links---stories are closely connected to each other (3)stories into groups on different subjects -- story-tellers, from ranks, professions, religions (4)variation in form
三大著名教堂：Westminster Cathedral 西敏寺大教堂Saint Pail’s Cathedral 圣保罗大教堂Canterbury Cathedral 坎特布雷大教堂
10.The Renaissance and Humanism
The rise of the bourgeoisie soon showed its influence in the sphere of cultural life. The result is an intellectual movement known as the Renaissance, or, the rebirth of letters. It spang first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. Two features are striking of this movement. The one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. Old manuscripts were dug out. There arose a current for the study of Greek and Latin authors. While people learned to admire the Greek and Latin works as models of literary form, they caught something in spirit very different from the medieval Catholic dogma. So the love of classics was but an expression of the generation dissatisfaction at the Catholic and feudal ideas.
Another feature of the Renaissance is the keen interest in the activities of humanity. Humanism is the key-note of the Renaissance.Humanism reflected the new outlook of the rising bourgeois class. According to the humanists, both man and world are hindered only
by external checks from infinite improvement. Man could mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of reason.
11.Edmund Spenser 斯宾塞
The poet’s poet of the period was Edmund Spenser.
The Faerie Queene : nationalism, humanism , puritanism
The Faerie Queene (definition)i s written in a special verse form that consists of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by a ninth line of six iambic feet(an alexandrine), with the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc. This form has since been called the Spenserian Stanza.
12.Drama 戏剧: the Miracle Play 奇迹剧, The Morality Play 道德剧, The Interlude 幕间剧, The Classical Drama 古典剧
12.Marlowe（马洛）’s best includes three of his plays, Tamburlaine 帖木耳(1587), The Jes of Malta马耳他的犹太人(1592), and Doctor Faustus浮士德博士(1588).
13.Social significance of Marlowe’s Plays:
These plays show, in various ways, the spirit of the rising bourgeoisie , its eager curiosity for knowledge, its towering pride, its insatiable, appetite for power whether that be won by military might, knowledge, or gold.In Tamburlaine, it is ambition; in Doctor Faustus, desire for knowledge; in The Jew of Malta, greed for wealth. They were typical images of the era of the primitive accumulation of capital.
14.William Shakespeare莎士比亚was born on April 23, 1564, died on April 23, the anniversary of his birth, in 1616.
A Chronological List of Shakespeare’s Plays: 四大悲剧
Hamlet 哈姆雷特,Macbeth麦克白,Othello 奥赛罗,King Lear 李尔王.
The reasons of the Melancholy（忧郁）of Hamlet: (1)he seems to understand that his mere revenge upon his uncle would in no way solve the problems that trouble and upset him.(2)he does not want to include the Britain into the chaos.(3)the crisis of humanism---the root of the murder is the political system.
ton米尔顿--Paradise Lost 失乐园，Samson Agonistes 力士参孙
16.Bunyan 班扬---the Pilgrim’s Progress 天路历程
17.Metaphysical玄学派Poets
The works of the Metaphysical Poets are characterized, generally speaking, by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.John Donne
Another school of poetry prevailing in the period was that of Cavalier Poets.
18.The Enlightenment 启蒙运动in Europe:
The 18th century marked the beginning of an intellectual movement in Europe, known as the Enlightenment, which was, on the whole, an expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place al branches of science at the service of mankind by by connecting them with the actual needs and requirements of people.
Steele and The Tatler闲话者Addison and The Spectator观察家
To sum up Steele’s and Addison’s contribution to the English literature:
1. Their writings afford a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie/
2. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.
3. In the hands of Addison and Steele, the English essay had completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story -telling, they ushered in the dawn of modern English novel.
19.Jonathan Swift 乔纳森斯威夫特---Gulliver’s Travels 格列佛游记
Pamphlets on Ireland 关于爱尔兰问题的小册子--A Modest Proposal 一个温柔的建议
20.Richardson--he was noted as a storyteller, letter writer and moralizer.
Pamela:Pamela was a new thing in three ways,firstly,it discarded the “improbable and marvelous”accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people. Secondly,its intention was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction. Thirdly, it described not only the sayings and doings of the characters but also their secret thoughts and feelings.
22. Fielding 菲尔丁---Joseph Andrews(a parody 戏仿to Pamela)
23.（约翰逊）Johnson’s Dictionary:(1)it marked an epoch in the study of the English language.(2)also marked the end of English writers’reliance on the patronage of noblemen for support.
24.Sentimentalism感伤主义: it came into being as the result of a bitter discontent among the enlightened people with social reality. The representatives of Sentimentalism continued to struggle against feudalism, but they sensed st the same time the contradictions in the process of capitalist development. Dissatisfied with reason, which classicists appealed to, sentimentalists appealed to sentiment, “to the huamn heart.”
25.Blake 布莱克----Songs of Innocence contains poems which were apparently written for children, using a language which even little babies can learn by heart, and in Songs of Experience, a much maturer work,entirely different themes are to be found, for in this collection of poems the poet drew pictures of neediness and distress and showed the sufferings of the miserable.
The contrast between Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience is of great significance. It marks a progress in the poet’s outlook on life.
26.Burns 彭斯peasant poet 农民诗人（前浪漫主义诗人）
27.Romanticism 浪漫主义prevailed in England during the period 1798-1832. Generally speaking, the romanticists expressed the ideology and sentiment of those classes and social strata who were discontent with, and opposed to, the development of capitalism. But owing to difference in social and political attitudes, they split into two schools. Some romantic writers reflected the thinking of classes ruined by the bourgeoisie, and by way of protest against capitalist development turned to the feudal past, i.e. The “”merry Old England,”as their ideal, or “frightened by the coming of industrialism and the nightmare towns of industry, they were turning to nature of protection.”These were the elder generation of romanticists, sometimes called escapist romanticists, including Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey, who have also benne called the Lake Poets because they had lived in the Lake District in the northwest of England and shared a
community of literary and social outlook in their work. Other expressed the aspirations of the classes created by capitalism and held out an ideal, though a vague one, of a future society free from oppression and exploitation. These were the younger generation of romanticists and sometimes called active romanticists represented by Byron, Shelley and Keats.
So the general feature if the works of the romanticists is a dissatisfaction with the bourgeois society, which finds expression in a revolt against or an escape from the prosaic, sordid daily life, the “prison of the actual”under capitalism. Their writings are filled with strong-willed heroes, formidable events, tragic situations, powerful conflicting passions, and exotic pictures. Sometimes they resort to symbolic methods. With the active romanticists, symbolic pictures represent a vague idea of some future society, while with the escapist romanticists, these often take on a mystic color. In contrast to the rationalism of the enlighteners and classicists in the 18th century, the romanticists paid great attention to the spiritual and emotional life of man. Nature, often personified, also plays an important role in their works. The passions of man and the beauties of nature appealed strongly to the imagination of the Romantic writer, and the glory of the lakes and mountains, the little joys or sorrows of children, the weal and woe of ordinary, uncultured peasants, the wonder of the fairy world, and the splendor of the Greek art all because the fountain-heads of the writer’s inspiration. Poetry, of course, is the best medium to express all these sentiments. In fact, all the romanticists mentioned above were poets. The Romantic Period was one of poetical revival.
28.Wordsworth: in 1798 Wordsworth and Coleridge jointly published the Lyrical Ballads. The publication marked the break with the conventional poetical tradition of the 18th century, i.e. With classicism, and the beginning of the Romantic revival in England. “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling.”
His “Lucy” poems are a series of short pathetic lyrics on the theme of harmony between humanity and nature.
29.Shelley 雪莱: Queen Mab 麦布女王The Revolt of Islam 伊斯兰暴动Prometheus Unbound 解放了的普罗米修斯
30.Keats济慈: ode 颂Ode to Autumn, Ode on Melancholy, Ode on a Grecian Urn 古瓮颂, Ode to a Nightingale 夜莺颂
An Analysis of Jane Eyre
The novel is rich in poetry, symbolism and metaphor. It does not fit easily into a definite pattern, being neither a novel of "manners" in the tradition of Austen, or a straightforward Gothic Romance in the style of Mrs Radcliffe. What Charlotte Bronte did was to create a work which cleverly blends elements of the two styles, and which remains uniquely independent of them at the same time, since it addresses issues which were at the time rather controversial.
The novel is written in the first person, and thus magnifies the central character - the reader enters the world of Jane Eyre and is transported through her experiences at first hand. This at once makes the work subjective, especially since we know that Charlottes Brontes own life and experiences were so closely interwoven with the heroine's. As well as this we learn only at the end of the novel that the events are being related to us ten years after the reconciliation with Rochester - thus the narrative is RETROSPECTIVE (looking back). CB is clever in blending the narrative so that at times Jane seems to be speaking as an adult with adult hindsight , while at others she she is "in the middle" of them, as a child or young woman. The indecision which is a central issue in the book, is heightened by this device. We never know, as readers, whether to be entirely trustful of Janes actions and thoughts, because we are never sure wheher she is speaking impulsively or maturely.
This intensifies the readers dilemma as to what is "right" and "wrong" in the dramatic relationships which are part of JE's life. Can we believe what the heroine says, or is she deceiving herself? The novel is primarily a love story and a "romance" where wishes come true but only after trials and suffering. The supernatural has its place, as do dreams, portents and prophesies. The heroine begins poor and lonely and ends up rich and loved; the orphan finds a good family to replace the wicked one; all the basic ingredients of classic romantic fairytale are present.
The romantic element is present in two forms in Jane Eyre; the "family" aspect is dealt with in the Gateshead, Lowood and Moor House episodes, which involve the exchanging of the wicked Reed family for the benevolent Rivers one; and the Love romance is dealt with in the Thornfield and Ferndean episodes. Both aspects are, of course linked and interwoven throughout the novel.
There is also a strong element of realism in the novel, which, married to the romantic aspect, enhances the novel's strength.The sense of place is very strong; we are able to experience both exterior and interior settings with startling clarity throughout the story, in a series of vivid deive passages. The central characters are also realistic and their confrontations and sufferings change them in a believable way.
Even the unlikely is made plausible, with a unique blend of high drama and perceptive low comedy (the attack on Mason, for instance)
The more fantastic romantic aspects; the coincidences; the secrets; the supernatural occurrences, are balanced by the realism, and this is of course a major strength.
The Gothic influence cannot be ignored, although CB has refined the technique considerably from the "authentic" Gothic of the 1790's. In the original genre, the heroine would typically be abducted
and threatened with seduction, or worse!. There would be a lover - a respectable, well-bred young man - who would endeavor to rescue the heroine and would succeed after many trial. the seducer would be a brigand "Know that I adore Corsairs!" and he would lock the girl up in a remote castle.
There was little freedom for middle class women during the period of the Gothic novel, and this was still the case in the time of CB. Marriage especially was often a bargain, whereby fortunes were secured by using the female as a pawn. A woman's value largely depended therefore on her sexual purity and she was guarded and secured as a result. Men, on the contrary, were potent and free; lovers and mistresses were common. Ironically the women who provided their services were social outcasts as a result.
In Jane Eyre we see elements of the Gothic romance, in that Thornfield Hall and Rochester are described very much in the brigand/castle style BUT Jane Eyre is not abducted by R. On the contrary she chooses to go there of her own free will. AND she is clear in her determination to have Rochester as a husband. Neither is there a gentleman rescuer; St John Rivers may look like a Greek God, but he is neither kind nor benevolent; driving Jane back to Ferndean, not rescuing her from it.
The trials which the hero is supposed to undergo in a Gothic romance are in fact undergone by the heroine in Jane Eyre. The bandit Rochester is only skin-deep. Underneath the brooding exterior is a sensitive soul, which a WOMAN frees. In this way we see that CB created rather a daring departure from conventional fiction, although there are still many aspects of the novel which remain true to Victorian convention.!
3. The Joys of Writing (by Winston Churchill)
【导读】温斯顿·丘吉尔(Winston Churchill), 英国首相、保守党领袖。

著有《世界危机》(The World Crisis)、《第二次世界大战回忆录》(The Second War)、《英语民族史》(A History of the English-speaking Peoples) 等。

The fortunate people in the world—the only really fortunate people in the world, in my mind, are those whose work is also their pleasure. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition. They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for; and I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labor is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose—however necessary—is a tiresome interlude. And even a holiday is almost deprivation. Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares about writing at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. To sit at one’s table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen—that is true happiness. The complete absorption of the mind upon an agreeable occupation—what more is there than that to desire? What does it matter what happens outside？The House of Commons may do what it likes, and so may the House of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe. The bottom may be knocked clean out of the American market. Consols may fall and suffragettes may rise. Nevermind, for four hours, at any rate, we will withdraw ourselves from a common, ill-governed, and disorderly world, and with the key of fancy unlock that cupboard where all the good things of the infinite are put away.
【注释】: in the gay effusions of their fancy: 在思如泉涌的想象中
interlude: 插曲deprivation: 剥夺，丧失heathen: 异教徒
consols: （英国政府1751年开始发行的）统一公债（这里指证劵）
【参考译文】在我看来，世上幸运的人—世上唯一真正幸运的人，是那些以工作为乐的人。

这个阶层的人并不多，还没有人们常说的那样多。

也许，作家是其中最重要的组成部分之一。

就幸运而言，他们至少享受着生活中真正的和谐美。

依我看，能使工作成为乐趣，是世人值得为之奋斗的一种崇高的荣誉；而且，我毫不怀疑别人会羡慕这些幸福的人，因为他们在快乐地喷涌的幻想中找到了生计，对他们来说，每劳动一小时，就是享受一小时，而休息——无论多么有必要——是令人讨厌的插曲，甚至度假也几乎成了一种损失。

无论写得好坏，写成多少，只要在意，就可尝到谋章布局的乐趣。

在一个阳光明媚的早晨，临桌而坐，整整四个小时不受打扰，有足够数量的雪白稿纸，还有一支“挤压式”妙笔——那才叫真正的幸福。

全心全意地投入一项令人愉快的职业——此愿足矣！外面发生什么事又有何妨？下院想干什么就干什么吧，上院也可如此。

异教徒可以在全球各地大发作。

美国市场可以彻底崩溃。

证券可以下跌；女权运动可以兴起。

没有关系，不管怎么说，我们有四个小时可以躲开这俗气的、治理不善的、杂乱无章的世界，并且用想象这把钥匙，去开启藏有大千世界一切宝物的小橱。