英美文学选读笔记整理版英国Romantic

Chapter 3 ------------The Romantic Period(英国）Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.Historical background:Rousseau’s ideas provided guiding principles for the French Revolution (1789-1794)The primarily agricultural society had been replaced by a modern industrialized one.Political reforms and mass demonstrations shook the foundation of aristocratic rule in Britain.Cultural background1.Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of thought, French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Rousseau established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit. Goethe and his compatriots extolled the romantic spirit as manifested in German folk songs, Gothic architecture, and the plays of English playwright William Wordsworth.2. The Romantics saw man essentially as an individual in the solitary state and emphasized the special qualities of each individual’s mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit.3. In the works of the sentimental writers, we note a new interest in literatures and legends other than those of Greece and Rome. It was in effect a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason.Features of the romantic literature1.Expressiveness: Instead of regarding poetry as “a mirror to nature”, the romantics hold that the object of the artist should be the expression of the artist’s emotions, impressions, or beliefs2. Imagination: Romantic literature puts great emphasis on the creative function of the imagination, seeing art as a formulation of intuitive, imaginative perceptions that tend to speak a nobler truth than that of fact, logic, or the here and now.3.Singularity: Romantic poets have a strong love for the remote, the unusual, the strange, the supernatural, the mysterious, the splendid, the picturesque, and the illogical.4. Worship of nature: Romantic poets see in nature a revelation of Truth, the “living garment of God”.5.Simplicity: Romantic poets tend to turn to the humble people and the everyday life for subjects, employing the commonplace, the natural and the simple as their materials6.The Romantic period is an age of poetry.The Romantic period is also a great age of prose.The major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen and Walter Scott.Gothic novel was one phase of the Romantic Movement. Its principal elements are violence, horror, and the supernaturalWillam BlakePoints of view:1. Politically Blake was a rebel, mixing a good deal with the radicals like Thomas Paine. He strongly criticized the capitalists’cruel exploitation. He cherished great expectations and enthusiasm for the French Revolution and regarded it as a necessary stage leading to the millennium predicted by the biblical prophets.2. Literarily Blake was the first important Romantic poet, showing a contempt for the rule of reason, opposing the classical tradition of the 18th century, and treasuring the individual’s imagination.His works: Poetical Sketches (1783)Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)Songs of Innocence (1809)Songs of Experience (1794)1. Songs of Innocence (1809)It is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and sufferings. In this volume, Blake, with his eager quest for new poetic forms and techniques, broke with the traditions of the 18th century. He experimented in meter and rhyme and introduced bold metrical innovations which could not be found in the poetry of his contemporaries2. Songs of Experience (1794)This volume of poetry paints a different world, a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone. A number of poems from the Songs of Innocence also find a counterpart in the Songs of Experience. The two books hold the similar subject matter, but the tone, emphasis and conclusion differ.ComparisonThe two “Chimney Sweeper”poems are good examples to reveal the relation between an economic circumstance, i.e. the exploitation of child labor, and an ideological circumstance, i.e. the role played by religion in making people compliant to exploitation. The previous one indicates the conditions which make religion a consolation, a prospect of “illusory happiness”; the poem from the latter reveals the true nature of religion which helps bring misery to the poor children.Special features:Fight for freedom, especially for the inner spiritual freedom of the individual, is a major topic in his poetry.Blake writes his poems in plain, simple and direct language. His poems often carry the lyric beautyHe distrusts the abstractness and tends to embody his views with visual images.Symbolism in wide range is also a distinctive feature of his poetry.The Tiger Give brief answers：In what sense can we say The Tiger is a poem about art/This poem is about the artistic creation. The tiger is a real and natural beast, but the image of the tiger is man made. It is the fruit of an artist s imagination .William Blake1. His workshe is a poet and an engraver. He is the first romantic poet.Childhood is central to his concernA. Songs of innocencea. a happy and innocent world, though not without evils and sufferings.b. visionB. Songs of experiencea. A world of miseryb. the nature of religion2. Distinctive featuresA. Visual imagesB. music beautyC. Symbolism in wide rangeWhat does the word "weep " meanHere weep means sweep, it is the child s lisping attempt at the chimney sweeper s street cry.The Tiger is a poem about art, about the adequacy of words and painting. Though the tiger is a real natural beast, the images and myths with which we surround it are the fruits of imagination.William wordsworth(1770-1850)Literary point of viewHe was strongly against the neoclassical poetry. He thought the source of poetic truth was the direct experience of the senses. Poetry originated from “emotion recollected in tranquility”. The most important contribution he has made is that he has not only started the modern poetry, the poetry of the growing inner self, but also change the course of English poetry by using ordinary speech of the language and by advocating a return to nature.Special features:1. Wordsworth is regarded as a ‘worshipper of nature’. He can penetrate to the heart of things and give the reader the very life of nature.2. Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes.His works:1. Lyrical Ballads 1798This collection of poems is generally regarded as the landmark in English literature, for it started a poetical revolution by using the common, simple and colloquial language in poetry. The poems were written in the spirit and in the pattern of the early story-telling ballads. They are simple tales about simple life told in simple style and simple language to express the simple emotions in simple lyricism.2. The Preface to Lyrical Ballads 1802The Preface deserts its reputation as a manifesto in the theory of poetry. He claimed that the great subjects of poetry were “the essential passions of the heart”and “the great and simple affections”as these qualities interact with “the beautiful and permanent forms of nature”.Interpret the poemNature and man come together explicitly in this stanza when the speaker says that his heart dances with the daffodils.The poem moves from the sadly alienated separation felt by the speaker in the beginning to his joy in recollecting the natural scene. The emptiness of speaker s spirit is transformed into a fullness of feeling as he remembers the daffodils.Questions1. Why is lyrical Ballades is regarded as the landmark in English literature2. What is the significance of William Wordsworth s poetryA. two groups of his worksB. themesa. poems about nature the fusionb. poems about human life Lucy poemsC. featuressimple themes drawn from humble life expressed in the language of ordinary peopleNostalgicSamuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)His points of view:1. Politically he was first an enthusiastic supporter of the French Revolution. In his later period, he was a fiery foe of the rights of man, of Jacobinism. He insisted that a government should be based upon the will of the propertied classes only, and should impose itself upon the rest of the community from above.2. Religiously, he was a pious Christian. He would regard nature, poetry and faith as the source of human restoration.3. Artistically Coleridge thought that art was the medium between man and nature, poetry was the flower of all human knowledge and that the imagination was the means to unite the thoughts and passions. He believed that art was the only permanent revelation of the nature of reality. A poet should realize the vague intimations derived from his unconsciousness without sacrificing the vitality of the inspiration.4. Philosophically and critically, Coleridge opposed the limited and rationalistic trends of 18th-century thought. He courageously stemmed the tide of the of the prevailing doctrines derived from Hume and Hartley, advocating a more spiritual and religious interpretation of life, based on what he had learnt from Kant and Schelling.His literary achievements:His achievement as a poet can be divided into 2 remarkably diverse groups: the demonic and the conversational. Mysticism and demonism with strong imagination are the distinctive features of the demonic group. And the conversational group generally speaksmore directly of an allied theme: the desire to go home, not to the past, but to what Hart Crane beautifully called “an improved infancy”. His poetic themes range from the supernatural to the domesticColeridge is one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language, maintaining that the true end of poetry is to give pleasure “through the medium of beauty”. He sings highly Wordsworth’s “purity of language”, “deep and subtle thoughts”, “perfect truth to nature”and his “imaginative power”.His works:There are as many different interpretations of “Kubla Khan”as there are critics who have written about it. In the criticism of the last 50 years, one may distinguish, broadly, four major approaches to this poem: (i) interpretations of it as a poem about the poetic process; (ii) readings of it as an exemplification of aspects of Colerdgean aesthetic theory; (iii) Freudian analysis; and (iv) Jungian interpretations (Maintaining Jung's psychological theories, especially those that stress the contribution of racial and cultural inheritance to the psychology of an individual.Comment on the whole poem:1. Kubla Khan who ordered a pleasure-dome and elaborate gardens to be constructed in Xanadu, is often viewed as a type of artist. His creation is a precariously balanced reconciliation of the nature and the artificial. The description of Kubla’s palace and gardens illustrates the work of the arranging and ornamenting fancy.2. The poem reveals a dramatic conflict. In the first two stanzas, the poet describes both the marvelous and magnificent palace and supernatural mysteries. The ‘sacred river’that runs through them is the link that connects them. Here, the picturesque landscape is a symbol of life and the dark ‘caverns’are a symbol of death. And the ‘sacred river’runs into infinity of death. In the third stanza, the poet tries to reach a reconciliation of the natural and the artificial by religious spells.3. The spirit of the poem is cool and non-human. One feels no real warmth even in the sunny garden. The poet, who is half-present in the end, is dehumanized behind his mask. In this poem dwells the magic, the “dream”and the air of mysterious meaning. ChristabelPart IIt is the middle of the night by the castle clock, and the owls have awakened the crowing cockTu whit tu whooAnd hark, again the crowing cock,How drowsily it crew.Sir leoline, the Baron rich,Has a toothles mastiff bitchFrom her kennel beneath the rockShe maketh answer to the clockFour for the quarters, and twelve for the hourEver and aye, by shine and shower,Sixteen short howls, not over loudSome say, she sees my lady s shroud.Sir leoline is weak in health,And may not well awakened be,But we will move as if in stealth,And I beseach your courtesyThis night, to share your couch with me.A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I sawit was ……1. What does mount Abora in line five refer to .2. what does this part describeit is a description of one part of the poet s dream in which a young girl is playing a dulcimer and singing. It revels the poet s longingfor a poetic world.3. Questions List his approaches to interpret kubla khanA. The poetic processB. aesthetic theoryC. Freudian analysisD psychological analysisWhat is Coleridge s contribution to English literatureA. assessment a poet , a critic,B. two groups of poemsa. demonic神诋诗------ themes , featuresb. Conversational------ themes , featuresC. writing techniquesa. dreamlike atmosphere, Gothic elements e.g. mysticism, demonismb. compelling conversational powersstructureThe first stanzas are products of pure imagination the pleasuredome of kubla khan is not a useful metaphor for anything in particular, however, it is a fantastically prodigious descriptive act. The poem becomes especially evocative when after the second stanza, the meter suddenly tightens the resulting lines are terse and solid, almost beating out the sound of the war drums. The fourth stanza states the theme of the poem as a whole where the speaker once had a vision of the damsel singing of Mount Abora, and the dangerous power of the vision.George Gordon Byron (1788-1824)Points of view:Politically Byron has a strong passion for liberty and an intense hatred for all tyrants.Artistically, Byron continued in the tradition of classicism that had been advocated by the writers of the Enlightenment in the 18th century.Major worksDon JuanDon Juan is a great comic epic, a poem based on a traditional Spanish legend of a great lover. Byron invests in Juan the moral positives like courage, generosity and frankness, which, according to Byron, are virtues neglected by the modern society.Special features:Byron’s diction, though unequal and frequently faulty, has on the whole a freedom, copiousness and vigor.The glowing imagination of the poet rises and sinks with the tones of his enthusiasm, roughing into argument, or softening into the melody feeling and sentiments.Byron employed the Ottva Rima (Octave Stanza) from Italian mock-heroic poetry.Selected works1. “Song for the Luddites”This is one of the two poems written by Byron to show his consistent support or the Luddites The poet’s great sympathy for the workers in their struggle against the capitalists is clearly shown“The Isles of Greece”(from Don Juan, Canto III)It is among Byron’s most effective poetical utterances on national freedomThis song consists of sixteen six-lined stanzas of iambic tetrameter, with a rhyme scheme of ababcc.1. His works and themesa. Childe Harold s pilgrimage -------a young wanderer questing for freedomb. Don Juan --------a panoramic view of different types of society2. Characterizationthe Byronic hero3. Featuresa. ideas revolt against neoclassical reason, and fight for freedomb. images Byronic heroc. artistic forms comic epicd. innovations ottva rimaA stream sometimes smooth, sometimes rapid and sometimes rushing down in cataractsDon Juan: Dedication1 Bob Southey! You're a poet--Poet-laureate,2 And representative of all the race;3 Although 'tis true that you turn'd out a Tory at4 Last--yours has lately been a common case;5 And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?6 With all the Lakers, in and out of place?7 A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye8 Like "four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye;questions1. What does the tree of Liberty in the poem song for the luddites refer toIt means that the democratic movement of the working people will develop prosperously like a growing tree.2. What is the Byronic heroNarrative poems Political Corruption Religious Hypocrisy Moral degeneracyPercy bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)Major works:Proemtheus Unbound (1819)The play is an exultant work in praise of humankind’s potential, and Shelley himself recognized it as “the most perfect of my products”.The main idea running through this dramatic poem is that of freedom—the freedom of democracy“Ode to the West Wind”(1819)The autumn wind, burying the dead year, preparing for a new spring, becomes an image of Shelley himself, as he would want to be, in its freedom, its destructive-constructive potential, and its universality. The whole poem has a logic of feeling, a not easily analyzable progression that leads to the triumphant, hopeful and convincing conclusion: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”The poem is written in the terza rima form Shelley derived from his reading of Dante.In Defence of Poetry (1822)It is Shelley’s chief work of literary criticism. His emphasis is on the universal and permanent forms, qualities, and values that all great poems, as products of imagination, possess in common.Special featuresHis poetry has a great variety of poetical style. It is sometimes very rich and joyous and full of colors and odors, and sometimes marked by purity and austerity.His poetry is rich in myth, symbols and classical allusions. For him subtleties of diction were the heart and soul of poetry. His verse is particularly rich in terms describing the elements: fire, air, water, wind, and earth.His poetry has a strong dramatic power.His style abounds in personification and metaphor and other figures of speech, which describe vividly what we see and feel, or express what passionately moves us.Selected readings: “Ode to the West Wind”1. The keynote in the poem is Shelley’s ever-present wish for himself and his fellow men to share the freedom of the west wind2. Shelley’s west wind is a symbol of “spirit”, which is a dynamic, universal force that is both destructive and constructive.3. The stanza Shelley invents for this ode is a highly complicated fusion of the sonnet and of terza rima, with a rhythm scheme ofaba bcb cdc ded eeShelley“the heart of all hearts”1. His works and themesa. Men of England ----Against Political oppression and economic exploitationb. Ode to the West Winda. theme Destructive and constructiveb. structure logic,c. form terza rima2. Featuresa. erudite,b. figures of speech e.g. personification, metaphorOde to the west wind by John MansfieldIt’s a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds criesI never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hillAnd April s in the west wind, and daffodils.John Keats (1795-1821)Selected reading: “Ode on a Grecian Urn”:1. Main idea:In this poem Keats shows the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human passion. The poet has absorbed himself into the timeless beautiful scenery on the antique Grecian urn: the lovers, musicians and worshippers carved on the urn exist simultaneously and for ever in their intensity of joy.The poem can be divided into two parts, with the first 4 stanzas as part I, and the last stanza as part II. In the first part, Keats looks at the urn subjectively; in the second part he looks at it objectively. As a result of both ways of observation, he is finally able to see it as “a friend to man, to whom thou say’st / Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”Comprehension:In the 2nd stanza, the word “therefore”in the second line concludes a poetic argument in which silence, having symbolized the timeless and unmoving, is succeeded by music as an expression of activity and passion.In the 3rd stanza, there is a relaxation of tension, a blurring of the fineness and accuracy of the registration, and a certain hectic and feverish quality, panting, and cloyed, burning and parching, return too sharply and too immediately to the poet’s personal life.The 4th stanza blends the natural word in “green alter”with the traditional piety of ordinary people implicit in the little town and the emptied streets.In the 5th stanza, Keats is seeing the urn as a piece of fine art objectivelyAs a beautiful vase, it lures Keats into an impersonal experience of beauty.Comment on the poemThe poem can be divided into two parts, with the first 4 stanzas as part I, and the last stanza as part II. In the first part, Keats looks at the urn subjectively, i.e. that is the beauty created by the art; in the second part he looks at it objectively, i.e. the urn takes the poet back to reality, the human world of agony.The theme of the poem is the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human life.1. His works and themesa. ode to a nightingale contrast between the happy world of natural loveliness and human world of agonyb. ode on a Grecian urn contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human life2. Features: empathicWilliam Blake ---------visual images, symbolism in wide range William Wordsworth --------simplicitySamuel Taylor Coleridge ------------demonism, conversational powersGeorge G. Byron------------- ideas, images, artistic forms, innovationsP. B. Shelley ----------- erudite, figures of speech John Keats --------- empathicJane Austen (1755-1817)Characterization:Major works: Pride and Prejudice (1813)The novel is noted for its vividly depicted characters of almost all kinds of people of the landed gentry class. The characters reveal themselves gradually in their dialogues or conversation; through their letters –as in the case of Collins and Lydia; and in their actions –Lydia’s flirtatious behavior, Miss Bingley’s neglect and hostility to Jane in London. Characters are revealed by comparison and contrast with others.(i) Wickham serves as a contrast to Darcy by appearing to have all the good qualities, while Darcy really has them.(ii) Miss Bingley looks like, and seems to have the manners of, a lady, while Elizabeth often does “unladylike”things.(iii) Mr. Collins’s courtship of Elizabeth, and then Charlotte, adds comedy to the novel.(iv) Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet balance each other in their desire to marry off their daughters and in their respective vulgarities Special features:1. Jane Austen’s main concern is about human beings in their personal relations, human beings with their families and neighbors. She is particularly preoccupied with the relationship between men and women in love.2. She writes within a narrow sphere. The subject matter, the character range, the moral setting, physical setting and social setting, and plots are all restricted to the provincial life of the 19th-century England, all concerning three or four landed gentry families with the trivial incidents of their everyday life.3. Her novels are surprisingly realistic, with keen observation and penetrating analysis. She keeps the balance between fact and form as no other English novelist has ever done.4. Austen uses dialogues to reveal the personalities of her characters. The plots of her novels appear natural and unforced. Her characters are vividly portrayed and everyone comes alive.5. Her language, which is of typical neoclassicism, is simple, easy, naturally lucid and very economical.1. WorksSense and Sensibility Pride and Prejudice2. Story and Themesa. human beings in their personal relationsb. love and marriagec. the provincial life of the late 18th century Englandd. maturity achieved through the loss of illusion3. Features : brought the modern novel to its maturitya. structure deftb. irony sharpc. characterization vividd. style lucidQuestions1. Brief questionMake a comment on pride and prejudicea. storyb. themec. characterizationd. importance2. Topic discussionComment on Jane Austen s literary creation and literary achievementsJane Austen s contribution to English literaturewhy do we say that Jane Austen brought modern novel to its maturity。