英国文学选读知识总结

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) 乔叟He was born in 1343 in London.

He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets Corner”.The father of English Poetry and one of the greatest narrative poets of England.“The Canterbury Tales” (1387-1400) It is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature.

Chaucer’s Contribution to English Literature Chaucer is regarded as the founder of English poetry and has been called “the founder of English realism.” He is the firs t great poet who wrote in the English language. He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the “heroic couplet” (英雄双韵体) to English poetry.His masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales” is one of the monumental works in English literature 公爵夫人之书，百鸟议会，声誉之堂，特罗勒思和克里西德

Structure of a poem: A poem can be broken down into three parts:

(1) Stanza (节) : a group of lines set off from the other lines in a poem. It is the poetic equivalent of a paragraph in prose. In traditional poems, the stanza usually contains a unit of thought.(2) The line (行) : a single line of poetry

(3) The foot (音步) : a syllable or a group of 2 or 3 syllables. To scan a line of poetry one counts the number of feet in a line. For a beginner, the easiest thing to do is to count the number of stresses. Typically a foot will contain a stressed and an unstressed syllable. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)playwright, poet, actor.Shakespeare and Aeschylus are the two greatest dramatic geniuses the world has ever known.—Carl Marks.The Great Tragedies: 《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet,1601 ) 《奥赛罗》(Othello, 1604) 《李尔王》(King Lear, 1605) 《麦克白》(Macbeth, 1606) The Great Comedies威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice, 1596) 《仲夏夜之梦》(A Midsummer Night's Dream,1596) 《第十二夜》(Twelfth Night, 1600) 《皆大欢喜》(As You Like It, 1601)

Shakespeare’s car eer as a dramatist may be divided into four major phases.: The First Period(1590-1594)

This period is the period of his apprenticeship in play-writing.

Works: Henry VI The Comedy of Errors《错误的喜剧》/《连环错》Love’s Labor’s Lost 《迷失的爱》/《空爱一场》/《爱的徒劳》Romeo and Juliet, etc.

The Second Period (1595-1600)

This period is his mature period, mainly a period of “great comedies” and mature historical plays. It includes 6 comedies, 5 historical plays and 1 Roman tragedy. His sonnets are also thought to be written in this period.

The Third Period (1601-1607)

The third period of Shakespeare’s dramatic career is mainly the period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies”. It includes 5 tragedies, 3 comedies and 2 Roman tragedies.Major works written in this period:Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra The Fourth Period (1608-1612)

The fourth period of Shakespeare’s work is the period of romantic drama. It includes 4 romances or “reconciliation（和解，复合）plays”.

Shakespeare’s Literary Position:Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of the English Bible are the two greatest treasuries of the English language. Shakespeare has been universally acknowledged to be the summit of the English Renaissance, and one of the greatest writers in world literature.

Hamlet:Hamle t is considered the summit of Shakespeare’s art. It is one of Shakespeare’s canon, and it is universally included in the list of the world’s greatest works.It’s written in the form of blank verse.blank verse : poetry in rhymeless iambic pentameter.（素体诗剧）The story, coming from an old Danish legend, is a tragedy of the “revenge” genre. Shakespeare incorporates into the medieval story other major humanistic themes, including love, justice, good and evil, and most notably, madness, and the spirit of the time Injustice, conspiracy, and betrayal in the society。1. first blow: father’s murder and mother’s re-marriage2.second blow: betrayal of his two former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern3. third blow: betrayal of his girl friend OpheliaThe greatness of the play: in praise of the noble quality of Prince Hamlet as a representative of humanist thinkers and his disillusionment with the corrupt and degenerated society in which he lived.