自考英美文学选读_第一章_文艺复兴时期(英国)(课文翻译)
自考《英美文学选读》（英）文艺复兴时期（4）
IV. Francis Bacon 1. ⼀般识记Brief Introduction English Renaissance philosopher， essayist， statesman， born in London， England， Jan 22，1561 and died in London， April 9 1626. One of the outstanding figures of the Renaissance， Bacon made important contributions to several fields. His chief interest were science philosophy， but he was also a distinguished man of letters & held several high governmental positions during the reign of king JamesⅠ。
He was one of the earliest & most eloquent spokesmen for experimental science. He lays the foundation for modern science with his insistence on scientific way of thinking & fresh observation rather than authority as a basis for obtaining knowledge. 2. 识记His works As an author， Bacon is most famous for his Essays， which deal with such subjects as honor， friendship， love， & riches. Written in a terse， polished style， with many learned allusions & metaphors， the essays rank with the finest in English literature. Bacon’s other important literary works include The New Atlantis， an account of an ideal society & an imaginary voyage， & The History of the Reign of King Henry Ⅶ， a perceptive psychological study of Henry’s mind & characters. His works can be divided into three groups： First group： The Advancement of Learning （1605） Novum Organum （1620）（Latin version） Second group： Essays Apophthagmes New & Old （1605） The History of the Reign of Henry Ⅶ（1622） The New Atlantis （unfinished） Third group： Maxims of Law The Learned Reading upon the Stature of Uses （1642） 3. 领会 His Major Works Essays The term "essay" was borrowed from Montaigne’s Essais， which appeared from 1580 to 1588. Bacon learned from Montaigne， the first great modern essayist， the economic & flexible way of writing. However， as a practical & prudential man， he intends to write for the ambitious Elizabethan & Jacobean youth of his class & tell them how to be efficient & make their way in public life. Bacon’s essays are famous for their brevity， compactness & powerfulness. The essays are well arranged & enriched by Biblical allusions， Metaphors & cadence. 4. 领会His achievements As a literary man， Bacon is the first English essayist， whose Essays won him a high place in the history of English literature. As a philosopher， he is the founder of English materialistic philosophy. He advocates the inductive method of reasoning. In his famous plea for progress， Bacon demands three things： 1） the free investigation of nature， 2） the discovery of facts instead of the blind belief in theories 3） the verification of results by experiment rather than by argument. In our day， these are the ABC of science， but in Bacon’s time they were revolutionary， Marx called him "the real father of English materialism & experimental science of modern times in general." 5. 应⽤ Of Studies Of Studies is the most popular of Bacon’s 58 essays. It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for， the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies， & how studies exert influence over human character. Forceful & persuasive， compact & precise， Of Studies reveals to us Bacon’s mature attitude towards learning. Bacon’s language isneat， priest， & weighty. It is some what affected， like the water in the reservoir， restricted & confined. V. John Donne 1.⼀般识记 Donne & the Metaphysical Poetry John Donne： English poet & Clergyman， born in London， England， 1572， and died in London， Mar. 31 1631. Donne is the leading figure of the 17th-century "metaphysical school." His poems give a more inherently theatrical impression by exhibiting a seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences & attitudes， & a free range of feelings & attitudes， & a free range of feelings & moods. The mode is dynamic rather than static， with ingenuity of speech，vividness of imagery & vitality of rhythms， which show a notable contrast to the other Elizabethan lyric poems， which are pure， serene， tuneful， & smooth running. The most striking feature of Donne’s poetry is precisely its tang of reality， in the sense that it seems to reflect life in a real rather than a poetical world. "Metaphysical Poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellions spirit， the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan Love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with echoes the words & cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved， with God， or with himself. George Herbert， Andrew Marvell， Richard Crashaw， Henry Vaughan， Abraham Cowley， & Thomas Traherne are also considered to be metaphysical poets. They wrote on a variety of religious & secular themes， & to express their ideas， they used startling， highly imaginative comparisons known as conceits. A conceit is a combination of thoughts or images that are not usually associated with one another. The finest works of the metaphysical poets combine intellectual subtlety with great emotional power. The poems reflect a broad knowledge of science， art， & other branches of learning. At the same time， metaphysical poems express an intense awareness of common human feelings & experiences， such as jealousy， the loss of religious faith， the complexities of love & the fear of death. Although the imagery of metaphysical poetry is frequently strained， the language is often as natural & direct as ordinary speech. 2.识记His major works In his life， Donne wrote a large number of poems & prose works， His poems are especially admired for their unique combination of passionate feeling & intellectual wit. Many of his poems rank with the finest in the English language. Among his most famous works are the poems Death Be Not Proud， "Go & Catch a Falling Star，" The Ecstacy， & A Valediction Forbidding Mourning. Most of The Elegies & Satires & a good many of The Songs & Sonnets were written in the early period. He wrote prose works mainly in the later period. His sermons， which are very famous， reveal his spiritual devotion to God as a passionate preacher. His works are classified as songs & sonnets， epistles， elegies， & satires. When read in chronological order， the poems reveal his development from "Gay Jack Donne，" a reckless & cynical youth， to Dean John Donne， a man devoted to God. Donne’s great prose works are his sermons， which are both rich & imaginative， exhibiting the same kind of physical vigor & scholastic complexity as his poetry. For example， the well-known Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions （1623-1624）。
自考英美文学选读 教材翻译
自考《英美文学选读》教材的中文翻译第一部分：英国文学上古及中世纪英国文学简介自从有人类历史记载以来,英伦三岛遭遇过三次外族入侵。
岛上最早的居民是凯尔特人,此后古罗马人、盎格鲁一萨克森人及法国诺曼底公爵纷至沓来,在英伦三岛各领风骚若干年。
古罗马人的入侵没有在这片土地上留下深远的影响,而后两者则不同了。
盎格鲁一萨克森人将日尔曼族语言及文化根植在岛上,而诺曼底人则带来了地中海文明的清新浪潮,所谓地中海文明包括希腊文化,罗马的法律,以及基督教。
正是这两次外族入侵所附带的文化影响为日后英国文学的兴起与发展提供了富足的源泉。
英国文学史的上古时期起于大约公元450年,止于1066年,即诺曼征服的那一年。
这一时期定盎格鲁一萨克森文明兴盛的时期。
这些日尔曼族部落来自北欧,带来了盎格鲁一萨克森语言,也就是现代英语的原形基础,除此之外,还带来了特别的诗歌传统。
他们的诗歌神韵中集合了粗狂豪勇的气度及悲情哀挽的风格。
总体来讲,流传至今的英国上古诗歌可分为两大类:宗教诗和世俗诗。
宗教诗的主题大多以《圣经》为基础。
比如《创世纪甲本》与《创世纪乙本》以及《出埃及记》都源于《圣经》的《旧约全书》;而《十字架之梦》则以《新约全书》为典故。
在《十字架之梦》这首诗中,耶稣基督被刻画成一位青年战士,勇往直前,拥抱死亡与胜利,而那善良的十字架自身则承受起基督所有的苦难与重负。
除了这些宗教诗歌,上古的英格兰诗人还创作了伟大的民族史诗《贝尔武夫》以及其它众多的短篇抒情诗。
这些世俗诗歌中虽然没有基督教教义,但它们唤起了盎格鲁一萨克森人对环境的严酷及人类命运的不幸的感知。
其中《流浪者,狄奥尔》、《航海者》和《妻子的抱怨》是当时世俗诗中的佼佼者。
诗文中的语气和基调深受北海恶劣气候的影响,生活惨淡无望,诗人的口气中带出大量宿命论的成份,尽管同时也显得勇敢而坚定。
《贝尔武夫》,英国上古诗歌的典型,在今天被誉为盎格鲁一萨克森的民族史诗。
尽管如此,诗中主人公及背景都与英国无关,这首叙事诗讲述的故事发生在北欧斯堪狄那维亚半岛。
自考英美文学选读-(中英文对照)
Part one: English LiteratureChapter1 The Renaissance period（14世纪至十七世纪中叶）文艺复兴1. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。
2. the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以“人”为中心，人是万物之灵。
3. Renaissance humanists found in then classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy.人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到充足的论据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是崇高的生命，人可以不断发展完善自己，而且世界是属于他们的，供他们怀疑，探索以及享受。
4. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.托马斯.摩尔，克利斯朵夫.马洛和威廉.莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
文艺复兴和启蒙运动的中英文介绍
文艺复兴（一）一、概念（Concept）意大利文艺复兴（Italy Renaissance）文艺复兴运动是发生在14—17世纪的欧洲，是正在形成中的资产阶级在复兴希腊罗马古典文化的名义下发起的弘扬资产阶级思想和文化的运动The Renaissance was occurred in 14 - seventeenth Century in Europe, is the emerging bourgeoisie in the revival of Greek classical culture in Rome under the name of initiating promoting bourgeois ideology and cultural movement为什么称这场运动为“文艺复兴”？Why is referring to this movement as " the renaissance "由于新生的资产阶级是借助古代希腊、罗马的文化来反对封建神学的，所以历史上称这场新兴的文化运动为“文艺复兴”。
The new bourgeoisie is have the aid of ancient Greece, the culture of Rome to oppose the feudal theology, so the history that the new cultural movement of the Renaissance " ".二、实质（Solid matter）是一场以古典文化复活为外衣的新文化运动，是当时欧洲社会经济与政治结构变革条件下的产物，是中世纪晚期欧洲世俗文化发展的必然结果，同时，它又反过来进一步加速欧洲社会的进步。
To be a classical culture the resurrection as the coat of the new culture movement, was the European social economy and political structure reform under the conditions of the product, is a late medieval secular European culture and the inevitable result of the development, at the same time, it in turn further acceleration of European society.实质：资产阶级文化的兴起性质：资产阶级性质Properties: bourgeois文艺复兴运动为什么首先开始于意大利？The Renaissance began in Italy why?(1) 资本主义萌芽最早出现在意大利，这是意大利成为文艺复兴发源地的前提条件。
英美文学简明教程上册课文翻译
英美文学简明教程上册课文翻译1. England’s inhabitants are Celts. And it is conquered by Romans(罗马)，Anglo Saxons (盎格鲁撒克逊人)and Normans (日耳曼). The Anglo-Saxons brought the Germanic language and culture to England,while Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization(地中海文明) , including Greek culture(古希腊文化)，Rome law(罗马法律)and the Christian religion(基督教). It is the cultural influence of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.2. The old English literature（古英语文学)extends from about 450 to 1066,the year of the Norman conquest of England.3. The old English poetry(古英语诗) that has survived can be divided into two groups: The religious group and the secular one(宗教类和世俗类).4. Beowulf（贝尔武夫): a typical example of 0ld English poetry is regarded as the national epic(民族史诗) of the Anglo-Saxons. It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.翻译：1.英格兰的居民是凯尔特人。
自学考试英美文学选读要点中英文概要
1234代价,与敌人同归于尽。
51. In his life, Milton shows himself a real revolutionary, a master poet and a great prose writer. 弥尔顿毕生都展现了真正的革命精神和非凡的诗歌才华。
52. Paradise Lost:人类由于理性不强,意志薄弱,经不起考验,暗示英国自产主义革命失败的原因。
Chapter2 The Neoclassical Period(1660-1798新古典主义1. In short, it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values. 总之, 这一时期是矛盾与价值观分歧的时期。
2. The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlighte nment or the Age of Reason. 英国的十八世纪也同时是启蒙主义时代, 或曰理性时代。
3. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. 运动的主旨便是用当代哲学与艺术思想的晨光启迪整个世界。
4. Enlighteners held that rationality or reason should be the only, the fin al cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a referenc e to order, reason and rules. 启蒙者主张理性是任何人思想与行动的唯一缘由。
他们大力提倡秩序,理性及法律。
5. As a matter of fact, literature at the time, heavily didactic and moralizi ng, becamea very popular means of public education. 其实, 当时的文学作品种充满了说教与道德理念,就已经成为大众教育的良好工具。
自考英美文学选读(00604)
应用必背单元Chapter 1 The Ren aissa nee Period (2)Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period (6)Chapter3 The Romantic Period. (9)Chapter 4 The Victorian Period (14)Chapter 5 The Modern Period (18)Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period1. 文艺复兴的主要作家及其作品1) Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene2) Christopher Marlowe: Dr Faustus Tamburlaine3) William Shakespeare: Henry IV; The Merchant of Venice; Hamlet; Othello;King Lear; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet.4) John Donne: The Songs and Sonnets; The Sun Rising; Death, Be Not Proud5) John Milton: Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson Agonisttes2. 文艺复兴The Renaissanceis a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church form the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.3. 人文主义Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissanceon its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.4. 玄学诗The term “metaphysical poetry”is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.5. 莎士比亚的诗歌的主题、意向Shakespeare, as a humanist of the time, is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold andmoney. In his plays, he does not hesitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the civil wars, but he did not go all the way against the feudal rule. Shakespeare is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money.Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality.A. Shakespeare's views on literature:Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality. Shakespearealso states that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can reach immortality.B. The characteristics of Shakespear'se characters:Shakespear'es major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.C. The characteristics of Shakespear'se plot:Shakespear'es plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.D. The characteristics of Shakespear'se language:It is necessary to study the subtlest of his instruments—the language. Shakespearecan write skillfully in different poetic form, like the sonnet, the blank verse, and the rhymed couplet. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. His coinage of new words and distortion of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader.3. 莎士比亚的四大悲剧：Shakespear'es greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole action. Each hero has his weakness of nature. With the concentration on the tragic 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. Hamlet the melancholic scholar; Othello 's inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power; and Macbeth 's lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.4. 邓恩诗歌的主题、意向<The Songs and Sonnets>. Love is the basic theme. Donne holds that thenature of love is the union of soul and body. The perfection of human lovers will not be made with souls alone. This thought is quite contrary to the medieval love idea which merely put stress on spiritual love. Donne's interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love.5. 戏剧《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物的性格分析In his romantic comedies, Shakespearetakes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play. The most important play among the comedies is The Merchant of Venice. The sophistication derives in part from the play between high, outgoing romance and dark forces of negativity and hate. The traditional theme of this 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.Compared with the idealism of other plays, The Merchant of Venice takes a step forward in its realistic presentation of human nature and human conflict. Though there is a ridiculous touch on the part of the characters restrained by their limitations, Shakespeare's youthful Renaissance spirit of jollity can be fully seen in contrast to the medieval emphasis on future life in the next world.6. 哈姆雷特的性格分析Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revenger. It is not because he is incapable of action, but because the cast of his mind is so speculative, so questioning, and so contemplative that action, when it finally comes, seems almost like defeat, diminishing rather than adding to the stature of the here. Trapped in a night mare world of spying, testing and plotting, and apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his father's death, Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world, to live suspendedbetween fact and fiction, language and action. His life is one of constant role-playing, examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger.The hero Hamlet in Shakespeare's play Hamlet is noted for his hesitation to take his revenge, his melancholy nature of action only to deny possibilities to do anything. He came to know that his father was murdered by his uncle who became king. He hated him so deeply that he wanted to kill him. But he loved his widowed mother who later married his uncle, and he was afraid to hurt his mother. And also, when everything was ready for him to kill his uncle, he forgave him for his uncle was praying to God for his crime. Thus he lost the good chance. Hamlet represented humanism of his time.7. 诗歌《失乐园》的结构、人物性格、语言特点的分析Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism, Milton wrote Paradise Lost, intending to expose the ways of Satan and to“justify the ways of God to men.”At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton 's fundamental concern with freedom and choice; the freedom to submit to God's prohibition on eating the apple and the choice of disobedience made for love.Eve, seduced by Satan's rhetoric and her own confused ambition-as well as the mere prompting of hunger- falls into sin through innocent credulity. Adam falls by consciously choosing human love rather than obeying God. In the fall of man Adam discovered his full humanity. But man's fall is the sequel to another and more stupendous tragedy, the fall of the angels.The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton 's creed. His poem attempts to convince us that the unquestionable truth of Biblical revelation means that an all-knowing God was just in allowing Adam and Eve to be tempted and, of their free will, to choose sin and its inevitable punishment. And, thereby, it opens the way for the voluntary sacrifice of Christ which showed the mercy of God in bringing good out of evil.Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period1. 新古典时期的作家及其作品1) John Bunyan ：<The Pilgrim's Progress>2) Alexander Pope：<An Essay on Criticism> <The Dunciad> <The Rape of theLock> <An Essay on Man>3) Daniel Defoe：<Robinson Crusoe>4) Jonathan Swift ：<A Tale of a Tub> <The Battle of the Books> <The Drapier'sLetters> <Gulliver's Travels> <A Modest Proposal>5) Henry Fielding：<The History of Jonathan Wild the Great> <The History ofTom Jones a Foundling> <The History of Amelia>6) Samuel Johnson：<To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chester field>7) Richard Brinsley Sheridan：<The School for Scandal>8) Thomas Gray ：<Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard>2. 启蒙运动The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. They seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings. Thus a polite, elegant, witty, and intellectual art developed.3. 新古典主义In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to neoclassical period, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers(Homer etc) and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.4. 英雄双行诗Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible; Poetry should be lyrical 抒情的)，epical(叙事诗的,英雄的,有重大历史意义的)，didactic, satiric or dramatic, andeach class should be guided by its own principles; Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets(iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); the three unities of time,space and action should be strictly observed; regularity in construction should be adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented.5. 英国现实主义小说The modern English novel, which, contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats, gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people. Thus —the most significant phenomenon in the history of the development of English literature in the eighteenth century —is a natural product of the Industrial Revolution and a symbol of the growing importance and strength of the English middle class.6. 《天国历程》中“名利场”的寓意The Pilgrim's Progress is the most successful religious allegory in the English Ianguage. Its purpose is to urge people to abide（遵守，坚持）by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor（r寓意，隐喻）—life as a journey—is simple and familiar.7. 蒲伯的文学（诗歌）批评观点及其诗歌特色An Essay on Criticism, the poem, as a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism, exert great influence upon Pope's contemporary writers in advocating the classical rules and popularizing the neoclassicist tradition in England. The whole poem is written in a plain style, hardly containing any imagery or eloquence and therefore makes easy reading. Pope satirized all sorts of false learning and pedantry in literature, philosophy, science and other branches of knowledge.8. 鲁滨逊漂流记的特点The all-powerful influence of material circumstances or social environment upon the thoughts and actions of the hero or the heroine is highlighted. The struggle of the poor unfortunate for mere existence, mixed with their desire for great wealth, comes into conflict with the social environment which prevents them from obtaining the goal under normal circumstances and thus forces them into criminal actions or bold adventures.In most of his works, he gave his praise to the hard-working, sturdy middle class and showed his sympathy for the downtrodden, unfortunate poor.Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile naturalenvironment. He is the very prototype（n雏形，范例，原型）of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist. In describing Robinson's life on the island, Defoe glorifies（v 赞美，美化）human labor and the Puritan（W青教徒）fortitude（n 刚/坚毅，不屈不挠）,which save Robinson from despair and are a source of pride and happiness9. 《格列佛游记》的社会讽刺As a whole, the book is one of the most effective and devastating criticisms and satires of all aspects in the then English and European life-socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, scientifically, and morally. Its social significance is great and its exploration into human nature profound.The exaggerated smallness in Part1 works just as effectively as the exaggerated largeness in Part 2. the similarities between human beings and the Lilliputians and the contrast between the Brobdingnagians and human beings both bear reference to the possibilities of human state. Part 3, though seemingly a bit random, furthers the criticism of the western civilization and deals with different malpractices and false illusions about science philosophy, history and even immortality. The last part, where comparison is made through both similarities and differences, leads the reader to fundamental question: What on earth is a human bein、g10. 菲尔丁“散文体史诗Fielding was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose". He adopted" the third—person narration," in which the author becomes the "al—l knowing God." He "thinks the thought " of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviours but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is.11. 格雷诗歌的主题与意象It is more or less或多或少）conn ected with the mela ncholy eve nt of death of Richard West, Gray's intimate friend. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc（n/v 破坏，混舌L ） on them.His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated and allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait （n 特征，特点）of a highly artificial diction and a distorted word order.Chapter3 The Romantic Period1. 浪漫主义时期的作家及其作品1) William Blake: Songs of Experience Songs of Innocence2) Marriage of Heaven and Hell3) William Wordsworth: The Prelude Composed upon Westminster Bridge4) Lyrical Ballads I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud5) The Solitary Reaper6) Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Kubla Khan The Rime of the Ancient Mariner7) George Gordon Byron: Don Juan Childe Harold ' s Pilgrimage8) Song for the Ludites9) Percy Bysshe Shelley: To a Skylark Men of England10) Ode to the West Wind11) John Keats: Ode to a Nightingale Ode on a Grecian Urn12) Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice2. 浪漫主义Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit. In essenceit designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience. It also places the individual at center of art, making literature most valuable as an expression of his or her unique feelings and particular attitudes, and valuing its accuracy in portraying the individual 's experiences.3. 浪漫主义时期文学特点的分析A. In poetry writing, the romanticists employed new theories and innovated newtechniques, for example, the preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads acts as a manifesto for the new school.B. The romanticists not only extol the faculty off imagination, but also elevate theconcepts of spontaneity and inspiration.C. They regarded nature as the major source of poetic imagery and the dominantsubject.D. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic.4. 浪漫主义(所选作品)的主题、意象分析A. To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative and intellectual engagement with the development of embodied human beings in their diverse circumstances. It's nature that gives him“strength and knowledge full of peace.Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor.B. Byron puts into Don Juan his rich knowledge of the world and the wisdom gained from experience. It presents brilliant pictures of life in its various stages of love, joy, suffering, hatred and fear. The unifying principle in Don Juan is the basic ironic theme of appearanceand reality, ie. what things seem to be and what they actually are. Byron's satire on the English society in the later part of the poem can be compared with Pope's; and his satire is much less personal than that of Pope's, for Byron is here attacking not a personal enemy but the whole hypocritical society. And the diverse materials and the clash of emotions gathered in the poem are harmonized by Byron's insight into the difference between life's appearance and its actuality.5. a. The Romantic MovementIt expressed a more or less negative attitude towards the existing social & political conditions that came with industrialization & the growing importance of the bourgeoisie. The Romantics felt that the existing society denied people theiressential human needs, so they demonstrated a strong reaction against thedominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers & philosophers. Where their predecessors saw man as a social animal, the Romantics saw him essentially as an individual in the solitary state & emphasized the special qualities of each individual's mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer.b. The Gothic novelIt is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in the late 18th century & was one phase of the Romantic movement, its principal elements are violence, horror & the supernatural, which strongly appeal to the reader's emotion. With its descriptions of the dark, irrational side of human nature, the Gothic form has exerted a great influence over the writer of the Romantic period. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe & Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley are typical Gothic romance.(2) Characteristics of Romantic literature in English history.The Romantic period is an age of poetry Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley & Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth & Coleridge were the major representativesof this movement. They explored new theories & innovated new techniques in poetry writing. They saw poetry as a healing energy: they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls & the society. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also stress the concept of spontaneity & inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject matter.Wordsworth is the closest to nature.To escape from a world that had became excessively rational, as well as excessively materialistic & ugly, the Romantics would turn to other times & places, where thequalities they valued could be convincingly depicted. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic, defending the great poets & dramatists of their own national heritage against the advocates of classical rules who tended to glorify Rome & rational Italian & French neoclassical art as superior to the native traditions. To the Romantics, poetry should be free from all rules. They would turn to the humble people & their everyday life for subjects, Romantic writers are always seeking for the Absolute, the Ideal through the transcendenceof the actual. They have also made bold experiments in poetic language, versification & design, & constructed a variety of forms on original principles of structure & style.6. 小说《傲慢与偏见》的主题和主要人物的性格分析Austen's main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. Because of this, her novels have a universal significance. She is particularly preoccupied with the relationship between men & women in love. Stories of love & marriage provide the major themes in all her novels.1) Structure, characterization & language styleThe structure of the novel is exquisitely deft, the characterization in the highest degree memorable, while the irony has a radiant shrewdness unmatched elsewhere. At the heart of the novelist's exploration of the marriage, property & intrigue lies the exhilarating suspense of the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet & Darcy, & Jane Austen's delicate probing of the values of the gentry. The moments of high comedy in the novel are always related to deeper issues. Elizabeth's rejection of the odious Mr. Collins suggests her independence & self-esteem, but when Collins is accepted by her friend Charlotte Lucas, we see the reality of marriage as a necessary step if a woman is to a void the wretchedness of aging spinsterhood. Conversely, in the elopement of Lydia & Wickham, we are shown the dangers of feckless relationships unsupported by money. The comic characters in Pride & Prejudice are: Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins & that monstrous snob Lady Catherine de Burgh, who make us laugh even as they parody erroneous views of marriage & class.5. 应用Characteristics of Jane Austen's novels1) Austen's novels describe a narrow range of society & events: a quiet, prosperous, middle class circle in provincial surroundings, which she knew well from her own experience2) Her subject matter is also limited, for most of her novels deal with the subject of getting married, which was in fact the central problem for the young leisure-class lady of that age, who had no other choice in her life but to find a good husband.3) Austen's interest was in human nature; in her depiction of human nature, instead of being fascinated by great waves of elevated emotion, by passion or heroic experience, she focused on the trivial & petty details of everyday living, which became very interesting through her truthful & lively description.4) Austen's novels are brightened by their witty conversation & omnipresent humor. Her language shines with an exquisite touch of lively gracefulness, elegant & refined, but never showy.6. 简奥斯丁对英国文学的伟大贡献：A ．Jane Austen is one of the most important Romantic novelists in Englishliterature. She creates six influential novels.B．Her main literary concern is about human beings in their personalrelationships. She makes trivial daily life as important as the concerns abouthuman belief career and salient social events. This is what makes her important in English literature.C．Jane Austen has brought the English novel, as an art of for, to its maturity becauseof her sensitivity to universal patterns of human behavior and heraccurate portrayal of human individuals.D．She describes the world from a woman's point of view, and depicts a group of authentic and common women.7. Wordsworth 的写作风格1) The Lyrical Ballads differs in marked ways from his early poetry, notablythe uncompromising simplicity of much of the language, the strongsympathy not merely with the poor in general but with particular,dramatized examples of them, and the fusion of natural description withexpressions of inward states of mind.2) According to subjects, Wordsworth's short poems can be classified intotwo groups: poems about nature and poems about human life.3) To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative and intellectualengagement with the development of embodied human beings in theirdiverse circumstances. I'ts nature that gives him“strength and knowledgefull of peace.4) Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest.The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathyalways goes to the suffering poor.5) Wordsworth's deliberate simplicity ad refusal to decorate the truth ofexperience produced a kind of pure and profound poetry which no otherpoet has ever equaled.8. Romantic poets 与Romantic Age 的不同处：The poetic ideals announced by Words worth and Coleridge provided a major inspiration for the brilliant young writers who made p the second generation of English Romantic poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge both became more conservative politically after the democratic idealism. The second generation of Romantic poets are revolutionary in thinking. They set themselves against the bourgeois society and the ruling class.9. Songs of innocence 与Songs of ExperieneeA. Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy andinnocent world, though not without its evils.B. Songs of Experience paints a different world, a world of misery, disease, warand repression with melancholy tone.C. The two books hold the similar subject-matter, but the tone, emphasis andconclusion differ.Chapter 4 The Victorian Period1. 维多利亚时期的主要作家与作品1) Charles Dicke ns: Oliver Twist; The Pickwick Paper; David Copper field.;Dombey and Son; A Tale of Two Cities; Bleak House; Hard Times; GreatExpectation; Our Mutual Friend.2) Emily Bronte: Wutheri ng Heights.Charlotte Bron te: Jane Eyre3) Alfred Tennyson: Ulysses; In Memoriam; Break, Break, Break;Dora; Crossing the Bar; Morte d' Arthur; The Gardener's Daughter; ThePrin cess4) Robert Browning: The Ring and the Book; My Last Duchess5) George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss: Middlemarch: Daniel Deron da; Romola6) Thomas Hardy: Under the Greenwood Tree; Far From the MaddingCrowd: The Return of the Native; The Mayor of Casterbridge: Tess of theD 'Urbervilles1. 宪章运动The worse ning liv ing and work ing con diti ons, the mass un employme nt fin ally gave rise to the Chartist Moveme nt. The En glish workers got themselves orga ni zed in big cities and brought forth the People's charter, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the gover nment, with hun dreds of thousa nds of people's sig natures. The moveme nt swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.2. 功利主义Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happ in ess. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class in dustrialists, whose greed drove them to exploit ing workers to the utmost and brought greater sufferi ng and poverty to the work ing mass.3. 批判现实主义The Victorian Age is an age of realism rather than of romanticism-a realism which strives to tell the whole truth showing moral and physical diseases as they are. To be true to life becomes the first requirement for literary writing. As the mirror of truth, literature has come very close to daily life, reflecting its practical problems and interests and is used as。
英美文学选读要点总结精心整理
英美文学选读要点总结精心整理[英国』Chapter1 The Renaissance period（14世纪至十七世纪中叶）文艺复兴1. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。
2. the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以“人”为中心，人是万物之灵。
3. Renaissance humanists found in then classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy.人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到充足的论据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是崇高的生命，人可以不断发展完善自己，而且世界是属于他们的，供他们怀疑，探索以及享受。
4. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.托马斯.摩尔，克利斯朵夫.马洛和威廉.莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
5. Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England.怀亚特将彼特拉克的十四行诗引进英国。
自考英美文学选读要点总结第一章
Chapter I The Renaissance PeriodDefinitions of the Literary Terms: 文艺复兴时期的界定1. The Renaissance: The Renaissance marks a transition from the medie val to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14 th & 17th centuries. 历史文化背景It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to emb race the rest of Europe. The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" or "reviva l," is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new discoverie s in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expa nsion. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in whic h the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that e xpressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.2. 文艺复兴到英国比较晚的原因The Renaissance was slow in reaching England not only because of England‟s separation from the Continent but also be cause of its domestic unrest. It was not until the reign of Henry VIII that the Renaissance really began to show its effect in England. With Henry VII I‟s encouragement the Oxford reformers, scholars and humanists introduc ed classical literature to England. 15th century, began the English Renaissa nce, which was perhaps England‟s Golden Age, especially in literature.人文主义H umanism: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient author s and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its consci ous, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on s uch a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new l earning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, b ut the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists fou nd in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see th at human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was thei rs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizin g the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the bea uty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wond ers. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the b est representatives of the English humanists.The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimi lation.Petrarch was regarded as the fountainhead of literature by the English writ ers. For it was Petrarch and his successors who established the language o f love and sharply distinguished the love poetry of the Renaissance from it s counterparts in the ancient world . Wyatt and Surrey began engraving th e forms and graces of Italian poetry upon the native stock. While the form er introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England , the latter bought in bla nk verse. And Marlowe gave new vigor to the blank verse with his …mighty lines‟. In the early stage of the Renaissance, poetry and poetic drama we re the most outstanding literary forms and they were carried on especially by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. The Elizabethan drama is the real main stream of the English Renaissance. The most famous dramatists in the Ren aissance England are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben J onson.Please state Shakespeare‟s views on the Renaissance literature. Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance view on literature. He holds th at literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and s hould reflect nature and reality. Based on this consideration, he has claimed trough the mouth of Hamlet that the …end‟of dramatic creation is to give faithful reflection of the social realities of the time. Shakespeare also sta tes that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can re ach immortality. From his sonnets, we can find quite a few examples in w hich Shakespeare sings the immortality of poetry.Ⅲ. William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was the greatest writer of plays who ever lived. His f riend & fellow playwright Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare was "not of a n age but for all time." The 18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson described his work as "the mirror of life." The 19th-century English poet S amuel Taylor Coleridge spoke of "myriad-minded Shakespeare." The 20th-c entury English dramatist George Bernard Shaw stressed his "enormous po wer over language."He has 38 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poems.领会His Influence1) Contributions to languageMany words and commonly used phrases have been added to everyday En glish vocabulary through their appearance in Shakespeare's works.2) Effects on literatureShakespeare's plays & poetry have had a pervasive influence on world liter ature. Most of the great literary figures of the world have been inspired &stimulated by his achievement.On the whole, however, Shakespeare's contribution has been to the langua ge & spirit of later writing rather than to its form. References & parallels t o Shakespeare's phraseology have occurred in literature since the 16th cen tury.Perhaps the greatest inspiration to subsequent authors has been Shakespe are's capacity to depict life in all its complexity & to illuminate man's char acter & destiny.What did Shakespeare criticize in his plays?The conscientious playwright criticized various kinds of human vices and si ns , like greed, betrayal, pride, prejudice and deception, including acts of social inequality, sexual and racial discriminations in plays such as The Mer chant of Venice and The Tempest. In his tragedies, he condemned the hyp ocrisy, treachery and general corruption at the royal court. He does not he sitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the wars , agai nst religious persecution and the corrupting influence of money and gold. In King Lear , he criticized the bourgeois egoism while he feared anarchy, hated rebellion and despised democracy.Why is Hamlet so impressive in Shakespeare‟s Hamlet?The hero Hamlet in Shakespeare‟s plays noted for his hesitation to take hi s revenge, his melancholy nature of action only to deny possibilities to do anything. He came to know that his father was murdered by his uncle wh o became king. He hated his so deeply that he wanted to kill him. But he loved his widowed mother who later married his uncle. This made him de ep in trouble. When he planned to kill his uncle, and he was afraid to hurt his mother. And also, when everything was ready for him to kill his uncle, he forgave him for his uncle was praying to God for his crime. Thus he l ost the good chance. Hamlet represented humanism of his time.What are the main themes of Shakespeare’s plays?参考答案：Shakespeare’s plays are divided into 3 types: comedies, trage dies and historical plays.1) His historical plays are with the theme-----national unity under a might and just sovereign/ruler is necessary.2) In his romantic comedies, he takes an optimistic attitude toward love fr iendship and youth.3) In his tragedies, Shakespeare always portrays some noble heroes, who faces the injustice of life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fa te is closely connected with the fate of his nation. Each hero has his weak ness of nature. We also see the conflict between the individual and the evi l force in the society. And his major characters are always individuals repr esenting certain types.Four periods of his dramatic career:1. The first period was one of apprenticeship. He wrote five history plays: Henry VI, Parts I, II and III, Richard III, and Titus Andronicus泰托斯*安东尼; four comedies: The Comedy of Errors, The Two Gentleman of Verona, 维罗纳二绅士The Taming of the Shrew, and Love‟s Labour‟s Lost.2. In the second period, his style and approach became highly individualiz ed. He made subtle comments on a variety of human foibles. He wrote fiv e histories: Richard II, King John, Henry IV, Part I and II, and Henry V; si x comedies: A Midsummer Night‟s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much A do About Nothing,无事生非As You Like It皆大欢喜, Twelfth Night, and The Merry Wives of Windsor; two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesa r.3. His third period includes his greatest tragedies and his so-called dark c omedies: tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleo patra,安东尼与克里奥佩特拉Troilus and Cressida特洛伊勒斯与克里希达, and Cori olanus科里奥拉那斯. two comedies: All‟s Well That Ends Well终成眷属and M easure for Measure.一报还一报4. The last period includes his principal romantic tragicomedies: Pericles, 伯利克利Cymbeline,辛白林The Winter‟s Tale and The Tempest; and his two final plays: Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen.两位贵族亲戚His authen tic non-dramatic poetry consists of two long narrative poems: Venus and A donis and The Rape of Lucrece, and his sequence of 154 sonnets.Try to analyze the character Hamlet?Hamlet is neither a frail and weak minded youth nor a thoughtsick dreame r. He 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 that action, when i t finally comes, seems almost like defeat. Trapped in a nightmare world of spying, testing and plotting , and apparently bearing the intolerable burde n of the duty to revenge his father‟s death, Hamlet is obliged to inhabit ashadow world ,to live suspended between fact and fiction, language and ac tion. His life is one of constant role playing, examining the nature of actio n only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his n ature to conventional role of a stage revenger. By characterizing Hamlet, S hakespear successfully makes a philosophical exploration of life and death. Hamlet is also a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices a nd superstitions. He has an unbounded love for the world rather than hea ven. He cherishes a profound reverence for man and a firm belief in man‟s power over destiny.Discuss his art of creations.(1)His major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.(2) By applying a psycho-analytical approach, Shakespeare succeeds in ex ploring the character‟s inner mind.(3) Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them f rom some old plays or storybooks.(4) In his writings, disguise is also an important device to create dramatic irony, usually with woman disguised as man.(5) He often wrote skillfully in different poetic forms , like the sonnet, the blank verse, and the rhymed couplet.4. 领会His Major Works1) DramaA. The Merchant of VeniceTheme: to praise the friendship between Antonio & Bassanio, to idealize P ortia as a heroine of great beauty, wit & loyalty, & to expose the insatiabl e greed & brutality of the Jew.Plot: The play has a double plot (P39)B. HamletHamlet is generally regarded as Shakespeare's most popular play on the st age, for it has the qualities of a "blood-and-thunder" thriller & a philosophi cal exploration of life & death. And the timeless appeal of this mighty dra ma lies in its combination of intrigue, emotional conflict & searching philos ophic melancholy.C. The TempestThe Tempest, an elaborate & fantastic story, is known as the best of his fi nal romances. The characters are rather allegorical & the subject full of suggestion. The humanly impossible events can be seen occurring everywher e, in the play. The playwright resorts to the supernatural atmosphere & to the dreams to solve the conflict. To Shakespeare, the whole life is no mo re than a dream. Thus, The Tempest is a typical example of his pessimistic view towards human life & society in his late years.2) PoemsA. SonnetsThe first 126 sonnets are apparently addressed to a handsome young nobleman, presumably the author's patron. The poems express the writer's selfless but not entirely uncritical devotion to the young man.Twenty of the sonnets are about a young woman characterized as a " dark lady," whom the poet distrust but cannot resist. The poems addressed directly to her are perhaps the most remarkable in the sequence because their unsentimental tone is unlike that of traditional love sonnets.A philosophical theme that appears in many of the sonnets is that of ti me as the destroyer of all mortal things. Also expressed in the poems is t he author's disillusionment with the false ness of earthly life.The form of the poems is the English Variation of the traditional Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet, Shakespeare's sonnets have three quatrains, or gr oups of four lines, & a final couplet. Their rhyme scheme is abab, cdcd, ef ef, gg. A theme is developed & elaborated in the quatrains, & a concluding thought is presented in the couplet.7. 应用Selected Readings1) Sonnet 18Theme: a profound meditation on the destructive power of time & the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves.Imagery: a summer's day-youththe eye of heaven-the sun2) The Merchant of VeniceTheme: To praise the friendship between Antonio & Bassanio, to idealiz e Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit & loyalty, & to expose the insati able greed and brutality of the Jew.3) HamletThis is one part of Hamlet's most famous monologue. Hamlet, facing t he dilemma of action & mind, is hesitating whether he should revenge for his father, which may bring him death, or he should suffer & hide his hatr ed for his uncle in his deep heart, which may secure his life.Ⅵ. John MiltonAccording to the setting of the poem Paradise Lost , discuss the theme, th e author‟s intention to create it and the implication that the poem express es.(1)The theme of the poem Paradise Lost is the …Fall of Man‟, i.e. man‟s dis obedience and the loss of Paradise, with its prime cause-----Satan.(2)The author‟s intention to write this poem is to expose the ways of Sata n and to …justify th ways of God to men‟.(3)In this poem, the author implicitly expresses his fundamental concern w ith freedom and choice and his belief that the unquestionable truth of Bibli cal revelation means that an all knowing God was just in allowing Adam a nd Eve to be tempted and of their free will choose sin and its inevitable p unishment.1.一般识记Brief IntroductionJohn Milton, English poet & prose writer, born in London, England, Dec. 9, 1608, and died in London, Nov 8, 1674.Milton was one of the greatest poets in the English language & one of the towering figures in all literature. His masterpiece, Paradise Lost, is con sidered the unsurpassed English epic poem. It is a powerfully imaginative & dramatic work, based in part on the Biblical story of the temptation & fa ll of Adam & Eve in the Garden of Eden. Milton, a deeply religious man, w rote the epic " to justify the ways of God to men." He is also famous for his graceful lyric poems, such as Lycidas, L'Allegro, & for his intensely mo ving sonnets.Milton was a great master of language, & his poetry, both epic & lyric, is admired for its sublime eloquence & rich musical quality.2. 识记His literary achievementsMilton's literary achievements can be divided into three groups: the ea rly poetic works, the middle prose pamphlets & the last great poems.In his early works, Milton appears as the inheritor of all that was best in Elizabethan literature. Lycidas (1637) is a typical example, dedicated to Edward King, a fellow undergradu ate of Milton‟s at Cambridge. The poem moves from a sad apprehension of death, through regret, to passionate qu estioning, rage, sorrow & acceptance. The feelings begin in a low key but move on to the large questions of divine justice & human accountability. T he climax of the poem is the blistering attack on the clergy, i.e. the "Shep herds," who are corrupted by self-interest.All of Milton's early works reflect his interest in Greek & Latin poetry, whi ch greatly influenced his style. His poems contain a wealth of classical refe rences, figures of speech, & other poetic devices, all masterfully blended in to his rich verse.Areopagitica is probably his most memorable prose work. It is a great plea for freedom of the press.After the Restoration in 1660, Milton was imprisoned. His release was brought about mainly through the efforts of his friends, notably the poet Andrew Marwell, After that time he devoted himself to his 3 major poetical works: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), & Samson Agonis tes (1671).(1)Paradise LostIt is the greatest , indeed the only generally acknowledged epic in Eng lish literature since Beowulf, and the last one is the most perfect example of the verse drama after the Greek style in English. It is a lone epic divid ed in 12 books.“man shall find grace.”But he must lay hold of it by an act of free wil l. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton‟s creed.(2)Paradise Regained(3)Samson AgonistesMilton again borrows his story from the Bible. But this time he turns t o a more vital and personal theme.。
英美文学选读英国部分第一章文艺复兴时期
英美文学选读中文翻译及重点习题答案英国文学(AMERICAN LITERATURE)第一章文艺复兴时期(The Renaissance Period)二、背景知识(Background knowledge)1、历史文化背景(Historical and cultural background)(1)文艺复兴是从中世纪向近代过渡时期发生在欧洲许多国家的一场思想文化运动。
它是在一些历史因素的合力作用下而引发的，如对希腊罗马古典文化的重新发现，宗教改革运动，地理和自然科学领域的探索，以及资本主义经济的扩张等。
(2)人文主义是文艺复兴的主要特征。
它颂扬人性，强调以“人”为本，宣传个性解放，反对神秘主义和中古神权，反对野蛮和兽性。
(3)16世纪的宗教改革导致了新教的创立。
英格兰同罗马教皇的决裂最初源于国王亨利八世决定与其第一位妻子离婚但遭到教皇否决。
宗教教义的改革则发生在后来的爱德华六世和女王伊丽莎白一世统治期间。
(4)工商业持续发展，中产阶级逐渐壮大，非神职人员获得受教育的机会，王权巩固，宫廷成为文化生活的中心，以及海外扩张和科学探索日益拓展人们的视野，所有这些都为文学提供了新的推动力和发展方向。
威廉·卡克斯顿首次将印刷术介绍到英国，使那里的出版社迅速增加，随之而来的是印刷书籍的繁荣。
2、英国文艺复兴时期文学的特点(Features of English Renaissance literature)(1) 诗歌(Poetry)开创文艺复兴时期一代新的华丽诗风的两个最重要的人物是菲利普·悉尼爵士和埃德蒙·斯宾塞。
在他们的抒情和叙事作品中，展现出一种词藻华丽、精雕细琢的文风。
到16世纪末，出现了两类新的诗歌风格。
第一类以约翰·邓恩和其他玄学派诗人为代表；第二类风格的典范是本·琼森和他所代表的流派。
英国文艺复兴时期的最后一位大诗人是清教作家约翰·密尔顿，他的诗歌具有惊人的震撼力和优雅的韵致，同时传达出深邃的思想。
自考英美文学选读--英美文学课本中各要点总结
Part one: English Literature Chapter1 The Renaissance period（14世纪至十七世纪中叶）文艺复兴1. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。
2. the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conceptionthat man is the measure of all things.人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以“人”为中心，人是万物之灵。
3. Renaissance humanists found in then classics a justification to exalthuman nature and came to see that human beings were gloriouscreatures capable of individual development in the direction ofperfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despisebut to question, explore, and enjoy.人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到充足的论据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是崇高的生命，人可以不断发展完善自己，而且世界是属于他们的，供他们怀疑，探索以及享受。
4. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare arethe best representatives of the English humanists.托马斯.摩尔，克利斯朵夫.马洛和威廉.莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
自考英语本科英美文学选读英国文艺复兴时期一天全掌握
English LiteratureThe Renaissance Period1. age: 1500-16602. background: stimulated by the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classic; England's Golden Age, especially in literature; the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church3. features:(1)New poetical forms introduced, e.g. blank verse and sonnet;(2) the English drama based itself on the models of Roman and Greek classics and the precedents from Italy and Spain(3)the universal tend of humanism in emphasizing man's dignity and his worldly happinessEdmund Spenser埃德蒙.斯賓賽1. The poet's poet;2. Perfect melody; a rare sense of beauty; a splendid imagination; a lofty moral purity and seriousness; a dedicated idealismThe Faerie Queen仙后(The Shepheades Calender牧人日记;Epithalamion新婚喜歌)An allegory; "a historical poem" to present the example of a perfect gentleman; a hero represent one of the 12 virtues; fierce warres and faithful lovesChristopher Marlowe克里斯扥夫.馬洛（Blank verseUniversity wit）1. perfected blank verse and turned it into the principal medium of English drama2. created a series of images of the Renaissance hero for English dramaDr Fauctus浮士德博士The Passionate Shepherd to His Love多情的牧羊人致情人1. symbolic of a humanist in the Renaissance; 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 DevilWilliam Shakespeare威廉.莎士比亞The greatest playwright and the most popular sonnet writer; a creation of characters; skillful plot construction; irony; a good use of a language; skilled in various poetic forms; of three quatrains and a couplet(三节四行诗加一节偶句); national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity—“The King’s government must be carried on” (在一个强大英明的君主统治下的国家，统一是非常必要的)(Each hero has his weekness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othello’s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; and Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.)literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and realitySonnets十四行詩The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人Hamlet哈姆雷特(Venus and Adonis维纳斯和安东尼斯; The Rape of Lucrece鲁克丽斯受辱记;romantic tragicomedies浪漫悲喜剧;Romeo and Juliet;Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are : Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth1. 154 poems; English form2. 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. Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christians' hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love, their cunning ways of pursuing worldliness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews (Shylock).3. A man of contemplation rather than action; has the qualities of a “blood-and-thunder” thriller and a philosophical exploration of life and deathFrancis Bacon弗蘭西斯.培根a well known philosopher scientist and essayist; lays the foundation of modern science; his "Essays" is an important landmark in the development of English prosebrevity\compactness\powerfulnessOf Studies论学习It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human characterJohn Donne約翰.鄧恩John Milton約翰.彌爾頓the leading figure(代表人物) of the "metaphysical school(玄学派); his poems can be divided into two groups: the secular and the religious; sermons; The songs and Sonnetsa seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences and attitudes and a free range of feelings and moods; dynamic rather than staticA versatile writer; fight for freedom in all aspects as a Christian humanistThe Sun Rising太阳升起Death, Be Not Proud死神，莫骄横（Holy Sonnets）Paradise Lost失樂園1. dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love2. a bold challenge to the proud DeathSatan, after being defeated in his rebel against God, tempts Adam and Eve to eat the apples from the Forbidden Tree, and causes the Fall of Man时间界定English Romanticism is generally said to have begun in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads and to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott's death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament.浪漫主义时期英国“湖畔派”英国文学中最早出现的浪漫主义作家，是华兹华斯（1770－1850）、柯勒律治（1772－1834）和骚塞（1774－1843）。
自考英语本科英美文学选读英国文艺复兴时期一天全掌握
English LiteratureThe Renaissance Period1. age: 1500-16602. background: stimulated by the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classic; England's Golden Age, especially in literature; the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church3. features:(1)New poetical forms introduced, e.g. blank verse and sonnet;(2) the English drama based itself on the models of Roman and Greek classics and the precedents from Italy and Spain(3)the universal tend of humanism in emphasizing man's dignity and his worldly happinessEdmund Spenser埃德蒙.斯賓賽1. The poet's poet;2. Perfect melody; a rare sense of beauty; a splendid imagination; a lofty moral purity and seriousness; a dedicated idealismThe Faerie Queen仙后(The Shepheades Calender牧人日记;Epithalamion新婚喜歌)An allegory; "a historical poem" to present the example of a perfect gentleman; a hero represent one of the 12 virtues; fierce warres and faithful lovesChristopher Marlowe克里斯扥夫.馬洛（Blank verseUniversity wit）1. perfected blank verse and turned it into the principal medium of English drama2. created a series of images of the Renaissance hero for English dramaDr Fauctus浮士德博士The Passionate Shepherd to His Love多情的牧羊人致情人1. symbolic of a humanist in the Renaissance; 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 DevilWilliam Shakespeare威廉.莎士比亞The greatest playwright and the most popular sonnet writer; a creation of characters; skillful plot construction; irony; a good use of a language; skilled in various poetic forms; of three quatrains and a couplet(三节四行诗加一节偶句); national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity—“The King’s government must be carried on” (在一个强大英明的君主统治下的国家，统一是非常必要的)(Each hero has his weekness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othello’s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; and Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.)literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and realitySonnets十四行詩The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人Hamlet哈姆雷特(Venus and Adonis维纳斯和安东尼斯; The Rape of Lucrece鲁克丽斯受辱记;romantic tragicomedies浪漫悲喜剧;Romeo and Juliet;Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are : Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth1. 154 poems; English form2. 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. Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christians' hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love, their cunning ways of pursuing worldliness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews (Shylock).3. A man of contemplation rather than action; has the qualities of a “blood-and-thunder” thriller and a philosophical exploration of life and deathFrancis Bacon弗蘭西斯.培根a well known philosopher scientist and essayist; lays the foundation of modern science; his "Essays" is an important landmark in the development of English prosebrevity\compactness\powerfulnessOf Studies论学习It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human characterJohn Donne約翰.鄧恩John Milton約翰.彌爾頓the leading figure(代表人物) of the "metaphysical school(玄学派); his poems can be divided into two groups: the secular and the religious; sermons; The songs and Sonnetsa seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences and attitudes and a free range of feelings and moods; dynamic rather than staticA versatile writer; fight for freedom in all aspects as a Christian humanistThe Sun Rising太阳升起Death, Be Not Proud死神，莫骄横（Holy Sonnets）Paradise Lost失樂園1. dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love2. a bold challenge to the proud DeathSatan, after being defeated in his rebel against God, tempts Adam and Eve to eat the apples from the Forbidden Tree, and causes the Fall of Man时间界定English Romanticism is generally said to have begun in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads and to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott's death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament.浪漫主义时期英国“湖畔派”英国文学中最早出现的浪漫主义作家，是华兹华斯（1770－1850）、柯勒律治（1772－1834）和骚塞（1774－1843）。
自考 英美文学选读-英国文学部分内容
英国文学一上古及中世纪时期文学1. 上古时期450—1066年诺曼底征服那一年诗歌：分宗教诗和世俗诗，宗教主体大多来源于圣经，伟大的盎格鲁-萨克森民族史诗：Beowulf，是世俗诗中的佼佼者，讲述了斯堪的纳维亚的英雄beowulf战胜巨妖和他复仇心切的妖母和一条喷火龙的故事，展现了一幅原始部落人民在智勇双全的领袖指挥下战天斗地不向艰苦自然环境低头的画卷。
2. 中世纪1066-14C主要有民间通俗文学（准确而生动地展示了当时人们的各种生活）和骑士文学（遭遇巨妖，救出美人）重要作品：Chaucer：The Canterbury Tales: 一幅当时英国社会的现实画卷。
Wife of Bath<巴斯夫人>Gawain 约翰高厄创做了当时最精美的骑士文学《高文爵士和他的绿衣骑士》William Langland：Piers Plowman如果说史诗反映了英雄时代，那么骑士文学反映了骑士时代If the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one.二、The Renaissance Period 文艺复兴时期14C-17C中叶文艺复兴是一个过渡时期，标志着中世纪的结束和现代社会的开始。
文艺复兴从本质02上讲得是人文主义者竭力去除中世纪欧洲封建主义，推行代表新兴城市资产阶级利益的新思想，恢复早期宗教的纯洁性，远离腐败的天主教廷的一场运动。
Wyatt 将意大利皮特拉克的十四行诗引进英国，Surrey引进了无韵体诗同时开创了英国式的十四行诗，后来被莎士比亚广泛使用。
诗歌与诗剧poem and drama(Elizabethan drama) 是文艺复兴时期最杰出的艺术形式。
随着古典文化和意大利人文主义思潮的涌入，英国的文艺复兴进入繁盛期。
文艺复兴时期重要的剧作家：马洛，莎士比亚，本.琼生1.Edmund Spenser: the poets’poet “诗人中的诗人”The Faerie Queene《仙后》英国第一部资产阶级的民族史诗。
自考英语本科《英美文学选读》英国文艺复兴时期一天全掌握
自考英语本科《英美文学选读》英国文艺复兴时期一天全掌握English LiteratureThe Renaissance Period1. age: 1500-16602. background: stimulated by the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classic; England's Golden Age, especially in literature; the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church3. features:(1)New poetical forms introduced, e.g. blank verse and sonnet;(2) the English drama based itself on the models of Roman and Greek classics and the precedents from Italy and Spain(3)the universal tend of humanism in emphasizing man's dignity and his worldly happinessEdmund Spenser埃德蒙.斯賓賽1. The poet's poet;2. Perfect melody; a rare sense of beauty; a splendid imagination; a lofty moral purity and seriousness; a dedicated idealismThe Faerie Queen仙后(The Shepheades Calender牧人日记;Epithalamion新婚喜歌) An allegory; "a historical poem" to present the example of a perfect gentleman; a hero represent one of the 12 virtues; fierce warres and faithful lovesChristopher Marlowe克里斯扥夫.馬洛（Blank verseUniversity wit）1. perfected blank verse and turned it into the principal medium of English drama2. created a series of images of the Renaissance hero for English dramaDr Fauctus浮士德博士The Passionate Shepherd to His Love多情的牧羊人致情人1. symbolic of a humanist in the Renaissance; 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 William Shakespeare威廉.莎士比亞The greatest playwright and the most popular sonnet writer;a creation of characters; skillful plot construction; irony; a good use of a language; skilled in various poetic forms; of three quatrains and a couplet(三节四行诗加一节偶句); national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity—―The King‘s government must be carried on‖ (在一个强大英明的君主统治下的国家，统一是非常必要的)(Each hero has his weekness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othello‘s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; and Macbeth‘s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.)literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality十四行詩The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人Hamlet哈姆雷特(Venus and Adonis维纳斯和安东尼斯; The Rape of Lucrece鲁克丽斯受辱记;romantic tragicomedies浪漫悲喜剧;Romeo and Juliet;Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are : Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth1. 154 poems; English form2. 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. Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christians' hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love, their cunning ways of pursuing worldliness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews (Shylock).3. A man of contemplation rather than action; has th e qualities of a ―blood-and-thunder‖ thriller and a philosophical exploration of life and deathFrancis Bacon弗蘭西斯.培根a well known philosopher scientist and essayist; lays the foundation of modern science; his "Essays" is an important landmark in the development of English prosebrevity\compactness\powerfulnessOf StudiesIt analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human characterJohn Donne約翰.鄧恩John Milton約翰.彌爾頓the leading figure(代表人物) of the "metaphysical school(玄学派); his poems can be divided into two groups: the secular and the religious; sermons; The songs and Sonnetsa seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences and atti tudes and a free range of feelings and moods; dynamic rather than staticA versatile writer; fight for freedom in all aspects as a Christian humanistThe Sun Rising太阳升起Death, Be Not Proud死神，莫骄横（Holy Sonnets）Paradise Lost失樂園1. dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love2. a bold challenge to the proud DeathSatan, after being defeated in his rebel against God, tempts Adam and Eve to eat the apples from the Forbidden Tree, and causes the Fall of Man时间界定English Romanticism is generally said to have begun in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge's LyricalBallads and to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott's death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament.浪漫主义时期英国―湖畔派‖英国文学中最早出现的浪漫主义作家，是华兹华斯（1770－1850）、柯勒律治（1772－1834）和骚塞（1774－1843）。
英美文学选读完美中英对照版
英美文学选读复习要点中英文对照Part one: English Literature Chapter1 The Renaissance period（14世纪至十七世纪中叶）文艺复兴1. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。
2. the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以“人”为中心，人是万物之灵。
3. Renaissance humanists found in then classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy.人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到充足的论据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是崇高的生命，人可以不断发展完善自己，而且世界是属于他们的，供他们怀疑，探索以及享受。
4. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.托马斯.摩尔，克利斯朵夫.马洛和威廉.莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
自考英美文学选读(00604)
应用必背单元Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period (2)Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period (6)Chapter3 The Romantic Period (9)Chapter 4 The Victorian Period (14)Chapter 5 The Modern Period (18)Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period1.文艺复兴的主要作家及其作品1)Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene2)Christopher Marlowe: Dr Faustus Tamburlaine3)William Shakespeare: Henry IV; The Merchant of Venice; Hamlet; Othello;King Lear; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet.4)John Donne: The Songs and Sonnets; The Sun Rising; Death, Be Not Proud5)John Milton: Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson Agonisttes2.文艺复兴The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church form the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.3.人文主义Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.4.玄学诗The term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved, with God, or with himself.5.莎士比亚的诗歌的主题、意向Shakespeare, as a humanist of the time, is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money. In his plays, he does not hesitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the civil wars, but he did not go all the way against the feudal rule. Shakespeare is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money.Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality.A.Shakespeare’s views on literature:Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality. Shakespeare also states that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can reach immortality.B.The characteristics of Shakespeare’s characters:Shakespeare’s major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.C.The characteristics of Shakespeare’s plot:Shakespeare’s plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.D.The characteristics of Shakespeare’s language:It is necessary to study the subtlest of his instruments—the language. Shakespeare can write skillfully in different poetic form, like the sonnet, the blank verse, and the rhymed couplet. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. His coinage of new words and distortion of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader.3. 莎士比亚的四大悲剧：Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole action. Each hero has his weakness of nature. With the concentration on the tragic 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. Hamlet the melancholic scholar; Othello’s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power; and Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.4. 邓恩诗歌的主题、意向<The Songs and Sonnets>. Love is the basic theme. Donne holds that the nature of love is the union of soul and body. The perfection of human lovers will not be made with souls alone. This thought is quite contrary to the medieval love idea which merely put stress on spiritual love. Donne’s interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love.5.戏剧《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物的性格分析In his romantic comedies, Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play. The most important play among the comedies is The Merchant of Venice. The sophistication derives in part from the play between high, outgoing romance and dark forces of negativity and hate. The traditional theme of this 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.Compared with the idealism of other plays, The Merchant of Venice takes a step forward in its realistic presentation of human nature and human conflict. Though there is a ridiculous touch on the part of the characters restrained by their limitations, Shakespeare’s youthful Renaissance spirit of jollity can be fully seen in contrast to the medieval emphasis on future life in the next world.6.哈姆雷特的性格分析Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revenger. It is not because he is incapable of action, but because the cast of his mind is so speculative, so questioning, and so contemplative that action, when it finally comes, seems almost like defeat, diminishing rather than adding to the stature of the here. Trapped in a night mare world of spying, testing and plotting, and apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his father’s death, Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world, to live suspended between fact and fiction, language and action. His life is one of constant role-playing, examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger.The hero Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is noted for his hesitation to take his revenge, his melancholy nature of action only to deny possibilities to do anything. He came to know that his father was murdered by his uncle who became king. He hated him so deeply that he wanted to kill him. But he loved his widowed mother who later married his uncle, and he was afraid to hurt his mother. And also, when everything was ready for him to kill his uncle, he forgave him for his uncle was praying to God for his crime. Thus he lost the good chance. Hamlet represented humanism of his time.7.诗歌《失乐园》的结构、人物性格、语言特点的分析Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism, Milton wrote Paradise Lost, intending to expose the ways of Satan and to “justify the ways of God to men.”At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton’s fundamental concern with freedom and choice; the freedom to submit to God’s prohibition on eating the apple and the choice of disobedience made for love.Eve, seduced by Satan’s rhetoric and her own confused ambition-as well as the mere prompting of hunger- falls into sin through innocent credulity. Adam falls by consciously choosing human love rather than obeying God. In the fall of man Adam discovered his full humanity. But man’s fall is the sequel to another and more stupendous tragedy, the fall of the angels.The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton’s creed. His poem attempts to convince us that the unquestionable truth of Biblical revelation means that an all-knowing God was just in allowing Adam and Eve to be tempted and, of their free will, to choose sin and its inevitable punishment. And, thereby, it opens the way for the voluntary sacrifice of Christ which showed the mercy of God in bringing good out of evil.Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period1.新古典时期的作家及其作品1)John Bunyan ：<The Pilgrim's Progress>2)Alexander Pope：<An Essay on Criticism> <The Dunciad> <TheRape of the Lock> <An Essay on Man>3)Daniel Defoe：<Robinson Crusoe>4)Jonathan Swift：<A Tale of a Tub> <The Battle of the Books> <TheDrapier's Letters> <Gulliver's Travels> <A Modest Proposal>5)Henry Fielding：<The History of Jonathan Wild the Great> <The History ofTom Jones a Foundling> <The History of Amelia>6)Samuel Johnson：<To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chester field>7)Richard Brinsley Sheridan：<The School for Scandal>8)Thomas Gray ：<Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard>2.启蒙运动The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. They seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings. Thus a polite, elegant, witty, and intellectual art developed.3.新古典主义In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to neoclassical period, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers(Homer etc) and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.4.英雄双行诗Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible; Poetry should be lyrical(抒情的), epical（叙事诗的, 英雄的, 有重大历史意义的）,didactic, satiric or dramatic, and each class should be guided by its own principles; Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets(iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); the three unities of time,space and action should be strictly observed; regularity in construction should be adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented.5.英国现实主义小说The modern English novel, which, contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats, gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people. Thus —the most significant phenomenon in the history of the development of English literature in the eighteenth century —is a natural product of the Industrial Revolution and a symbol of the growing importance and strength of the English middle class.6.《天国历程》中“名利场”的寓意The Pilgrim's Progress is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. Its purpose is to urge people to abide(v.遵守，坚持) by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor(n寓意，隐喻)—life as a journey—is simple and familiar.7.蒲伯的文学(诗歌)批评观点及其诗歌特色An Essay on Criticism, the poem, as a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism, exert great influence upon Pope's contemporary writers in advocating the classical rules and popularizing the neoclassicist tradition in England. The whole poem is written in a plain style, hardly containing any imagery or eloquence and therefore makes easy reading. Pope satirized all sorts of false learning and pedantry in literature, philosophy, science and other branches of knowledge.8.鲁滨逊漂流记的特点The all-powerful influence of material circumstances or social environment upon the thoughts and actions of the hero or the heroine is highlighted. The struggle of the poor unfortunate for mere existence, mixed with their desire for great wealth, comes into conflict with the social environment which prevents them from obtaining the goal under normal circumstances and thus forces them into criminal actions or bold adventures.In most of his works, he gave his praise to the hard-working, sturdy middle class and showed his sympathy for the downtrodden, unfortunate poor.Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile natural environment. He is the very prototype(n雏形，范例，原型)of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist. In describing Robinson's life on the island, Defoe glorifies(v赞美，美化) human labor and the Puritan(n清教徒) fortitude(n刚/坚毅，不屈不挠), which save Robinson from despair and are a source of pride and happiness9.《格列佛游记》的社会讽刺As a whole, the book is one of the most effective and devastating criticisms and satires of all aspects in the then English and European life-socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, scientifically, and morally. Its social significance is great and its exploration into human nature profound.The exaggerated smallness in Part1 works just as effectively as the exaggerated largeness in Part 2. the similarities between human beings and the Lilliputians and the contrast between the Brobdingnagians and human beings both bear reference to the possibilities of human state. Part 3, though seemingly a bit random, furthers the criticism of the western civilization and deals with different malpractices and false illusions about science philosophy, history and even immortality. The last part, where comparison is made through both similarities and differences, leads the reader to fundamental question: What on earth is a human being、10.菲尔丁“散文体史诗Fielding was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose". He adopted" the third—person narration," in which the author becomes the "all—knowing God." He "thinks the thought " of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviours but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is.11.格雷诗歌的主题与意象It is more or less(或多或少) connected with the melancholy event of death of Richard West, Gray's intimate friend. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc(n/v破坏，混乱) on them.His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated and allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait (n特征，特点)of a highly artificial diction and a distorted word order.Chapter3 The Romantic Period1.浪漫主义时期的作家及其作品1)William Blake: Songs of Experience Songs of Innocence2)Marriage of Heaven and Hell3)William Wordsworth: The Prelude Composed upon Westminster Bridge4)Lyrical Ballads I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud5)The Solitary Reaper6)Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Kubla Khan The Rime of the Ancient Mariner7)George Gordon Byron: Don Juan Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage8)Song for the Ludites9)Percy Bysshe Shelley: To a Skylark Men of England10)Ode to the West Wind11)John Keats: Ode to a Nightingale Ode on a Grecian Urn12)Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice2.浪漫主义Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit. In essence it designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience. It also places the individual at center of art, making literature most valuable as an expression of his or her unique feelings and particular attitudes, and valuing its accuracy in portraying the individual’s experiences.3.浪漫主义时期文学特点的分析A.In poetry writing, the romanticists employed new theories and innovated newtechniques, for example, the preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads acts as a manifesto for the new school.B.The romanticists not only extol the faculty off imagination, but also elevate theconcepts of spontaneity and inspiration.C.They regarded nature as the major source of poetic imagery and the dominantsubject.D.Romantics also tend to be nationalistic.4.浪漫主义（所选作品）的主题、意象分析A. To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative and intellectual engagement with the development of embodied human beings in their diverse circumstances. It’s nature that gives him “strength and knowledge full of peace.Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor.B. Byron puts into Don Juan his rich knowledge of the world and the wisdom gained from experience. It presents brilliant pictures of life in its various stages of love, joy, suffering, hatred and fear. The unifying principle in Don Juan is the basic ironic theme of appearance and reality, ie. what things seem to be and what they actually are. Byron’s satire on the English society in the later part of the poem can be compared with Pope’s; and his satire is much less personal than that of Pope’s, for Byron is here attacking not a personal enemy but the whole hypocritical society. And the diverse materials and the clash of emotions gathered in the poem are harmonized by Byron’s insight into the difference between life’s appearance and its actuality.5. a. The Romantic MovementIt expressed a more or less negative attitude towards the existing social & political conditions that came with industrialization & the growing importance of the bourgeoisie. The Romantics felt that the existing society denied people their essential human needs, so they demonstrated a strong reaction against the dominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers & philosophers. Where their predecessors saw man as a social animal, the Romantics saw him essentially as an individual in the solitary state & emphasized the special qualities of each individual's mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer.b. The Gothic novelIt is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in the late 18th century & was one phase of the Romantic movement, its principal elements are violence, horror & the supernatural, which strongly appeal to the reader's emotion. With its descriptions of the dark, irrational side of human nature, the Gothic form has exerted a great influence over the writer of the Romantic period. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe & Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley are typical Gothic romance.(2) Characteristics of Romantic literature in English history.The Romantic period is an age of poetry Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley & Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth & Coleridge were the major representatives of this movement. They explored new theories & innovated new techniques in poetry writing. They saw poetry as a healing energy: they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls & the society. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also stress the concept of spontaneity & inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject matter.Wordsworth is the closest to nature.To escape from a world that had became excessively rational, as well as excessively materialistic & ugly, the Romantics would turn to other times & places, where the qualities they valued could be convincingly depicted. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic, defending the great poets & dramatists of their own national heritage against the advocates of classical rules who tended to glorify Rome & rational Italian & French neoclassical art as superior to the native traditions. To the Romantics, poetry should be free from all rules. They would turn to the humble people & their everyday life for subjects, Romantic writers are always seeking for the Absolute, the Ideal through the transcendence of the actual. They have also made bold experiments in poetic language, versification & design, & constructed a variety of forms on original principles of structure & style.6.小说《傲慢与偏见》的主题和主要人物的性格分析Austen's main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. Because of this, her novels have a universal significance. She is particularly preoccupied with the relationship between men & women in love. Stories of love & marriage provide the major themes in all her novels.1) Structure, characterization & language styleThe structure of the novel is exquisitely deft, the characterization in the highest degree memorable, while the irony has a radiant shrewdness unmatched elsewhere. At the heart of the novelist's exploration of the marriage, property & intrigue lies the exhilarating suspense of the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet & Darcy, & Jane Austen's delicate probing of the values of the gentry. The moments of high comedy in the novel are always related to deeper issues. Elizabeth's rejection of the odious Mr. Collins suggests her independence & self-esteem, but when Collins is accepted by her friend Charlotte Lucas, we see the reality of marriage as a necessary step if a woman is to a void the wretchedness of aging spinsterhood. Conversely, in the elopement of Lydia & Wickham, we are shown the dangers of feckless relationships unsupported by money. The comic characters in Pride & Prejudice are: Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins & that monstrous snob Lady Catherine de Burgh, who make us laugh even as they parody erroneous views of marriage & class.5. 应用Characteristics of Jane Austen's novels1) Austen's novels describe a narrow range of society & events: a quiet, prosperous, middle class circle in provincial surroundings, which she knew well from her own experience2) Her subject matter is also limited, for most of her novels deal with the subject of getting married, which was in fact the central problem for the young leisure-class lady of that age, who had no other choice in her life but to find a good husband.3) Austen's interest was in human nature; in her depiction of human nature, instead of being fascinated by great waves of elevated emotion, by passion or heroic experience, she focused on the trivial & petty details of everyday living, which became very interesting through her truthful & lively description.4) Austen's novels are brightened by their witty conversation & omnipresent humor. Her language shines with an exquisite touch of lively gracefulness, elegant & refined, but never showy.6. 简奥斯丁对英国文学的伟大贡献：A．J ane Austen is one of the most important Romantic novelists in English literature. She creates six influential novels.B．H er main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. She makes trivial daily life as important as the concerns abouthuman belief career and salient social events. This is what makes herimportant in English literature.C．J ane Austen has brought the English novel, as an art of for, to its maturity because of her sensitivity to universal patterns of human behavior and heraccurate portrayal of human individuals.D．S he describes the world from a woman’s point of view, and depicts a group of authentic and common women.7.Wordsworth的写作风格1)The Lyrical Ballads differs in marked ways from his early poetry,notably the uncompromising simplicity of much of the language, thestrong sympathy not merely with the poor in general but with particular,dramatized examples of them, and the fusion of natural description withexpressions of inward states of mind.2)According to subjects, Wordsworth’s short poems can be classified intotwo groups: poems about nature and poems about human life.3)To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative andintellectual engagement with the development of embodied humanbeings in their diverse circumstances. It’s nature that gives him “strengthand knowledge full of peace.4)Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literaryinterest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. Hissympathy always goes to the suffering poor.5)Wordsworth’s deliberate simplicity ad refusal to decorate the truth ofexperience produced a kind of pure and profound poetry which no otherpoet has ever equaled.8.Romantic poets 与Romantic Age 的不同处：The poetic ideals announced by Words worth and Coleridge provided a major inspiration for the brilliant young writers who made p the second generation of English Romantic poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge both became more conservative politically after the democratic idealism. The second generation of Romantic poets are revolutionary in thinking. They set themselves against the bourgeois society and the ruling class.9.Songs of innocence 与Songs of ExperienceA.Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy andinnocent world, though not without its evils.B.Songs of Experience paints a different world, a world of misery, disease, warand repression with melancholy tone.C.The two books hold the similar subject-matter, but the tone, emphasis andconclusion differ.Chapter 4 The Victorian Period1．维多利亚时期的主要作家与作品1）Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist; The Pickwick Paper; David Copper field.;Dombey and Son; A Tale of Two Cities; Bleak House; Hard Times;Great Expectation; Our Mutual Friend.2）Emily Bronte: Wuthering Heights.Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre3）Alfred Tennyson: Ulysses; In Memoriam; Break, Break, Break;Dora; Crossing the Bar; Morte d’Arthur; The Gardener’s Daughter; The Princess4）Robert Browning: The Ring and the Book; My Last Duchess5）George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss: Middlemarch: Daniel Deronda;Romola6）Thomas Hardy: Under the Greenwood Tree; Far From the Madding Crowd: The Return of the Native; The Mayor of Casterbridge: Tess of the D’Urbervilles1.宪章运动The worsening living and working conditions, the mass unemployment finally gave rise to the Chartist Movement. The English workers got themselves organized in big cities and brought forth the People's charter, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of people's signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.2.功利主义Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost and brought greater suffering and poverty to the working mass.。
英美文学选读Chapter1(1)
3. The major contributions ①38 plays (historical plays, tragedies and
②The second stage, his style became highly individualized,
Five historical: Richard II, King John, Henry IV, part I, II, Henry V
Six comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing(无事生非)
comedies) ②2 narrative poems: Venus, The Rape of
Lucrece ③154 sonnets
4. four stages for his play-creation ①The first stage: his dramatic career is one of the
assimilation
Poetry: Wyatt & Surrey
The former introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England, while the latter brought in blank verse.
②The second -- (the peak) the Elizabeth Age (1558-1603) --The Elizabethan drama
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英美文学选读翻译（英语专业自考）
第一部分：英国文学
第一章文艺复兴时期
文艺复兴标志着一个过渡时期,即中世纪的结束和现代社会的开始。
一般来说,文艺复兴时期是从十四世纪到十七世纪中叶。
它从意大利兴起,伴随着绘画、雕塑和文学领域的百花齐放,而后文艺复兴浪潮席卷了整个欧洲。
文艺复兴,顾名思义即重生、复苏,是由一系列历史事件激发推动的,其中包括对古希腊罗马文化的重新发现。
地理天文领域的新发现,宗教改革及经济发展。
因此,文艺复兴从本质上是欧洲人文主义者竭力摒弃中世纪欧洲的封建主义,推行代表新兴城市资产阶级利益的新思想,并恢复早期宗教的纯洁性,远离腐败的罗马天主教廷的一场运动。
文艺复兴浪潮影响到英国的速度比较慢,不仅因为英国远离欧洲大陆,而且还因为其国内的动荡不安。
乔叟去世后的一个半世纪是英国历史上最动荡不安的时期。
好战的贵族篡取了王位,使英国走上自我毁灭之路。
著名的玫瑰之战就是极好的例子。
后来理查三世的恐怖统治标志着内战的结束,在都铎王朝的统治下英国的民族情感又成长起来。
然而直到亨利八世统治期间(1509-1547),文艺复兴的春风才吹入英国。
在亨利八世的鼓励下,牛津的改革派学者和人文主义者们将古典文学引入英国。
基于古典文学作品及《圣经》的教育重获生机,而十五世纪就被广泛传阅的文学作品则更加流行了。
自此,英国的文艺复兴开始了。
英国,尤其是英国文学进入了黄金时代。
这个时期涌现出莎士比亚、斯宾塞、约翰逊、锡德尼、马洛、培根及邓恩等一大批文学巨匠。
但英国的文艺复兴并未使新文学与旧时代彻底决裂,带有十四、十五世纪特点的创作态度与情感依然贯穿在人文主义与改革时代。
人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。
它源于努力恢复中世纪产生的对古希腊罗马文化的尊崇。
人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以"人"为中心,人是万物之灵。
通过这些对古代文化崭新的研究,人文主义者不仅看到了光彩夺目的艺术启明星,还在那古典作品中寻求到了人的价值。
在中世纪的社会中,个人完全隶属于封建统治,没有独立和自由可言;在中世纪的神学理论中,人与周围世界的关系仅仅是人消极适应或消极遁世,不允许追求快乐,以备死后灵魂得以超脱。
然而人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到了充足的论据,来赞美人性,并开始注意到人类是光荣的生命,人自己可以不断发展,至善至美,而且人们生存的世界是属于他们的,供他们怀疑、探索以及享受。
由此,人文主义者通过强调人类的尊严、强调今生今世的重要性,喊出了他们的信仰,即人类不仅有权利在今生今世美好生活,而且还有能力完善自我,创造奇迹。
人文主义遍布英国思想领域的。
标志是荷兰学者伊拉斯谟先后到牛津大学与剑桥大学讲授古典文化研究。
托马斯·漠尔、克利斯朵夫·马洛和威廉·莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
在亨利八世长达四十年的统治期间,英国对内、对外的国力都大大增强,并且欧洲大陆的宗教改革之风也踏上英国领土。
宗教改革是由德国新教徒马丁·路德(1483-1546)发起的。
路德认为每个真正的基督徒都是他自己的牧师,都有权力为自己诠释《圣经》。
在路德教义的鼓舞下,北欧的改革派使新教运动进一步兴盛,并以此次运动作为脱离中世纪的腐败与迷信,恢复早期教会的纯洁性的工具。
繁冗造作的天主教的各种仪式都被简化了,免罪、朝圣及其它许多活动都被废止。
欧洲宗教改革早期,亨利八世被誉为罗马教廷忠实的儿子,并获得教皇授与的"忠诚卫士"称号。
仅仅因为他想有一个合法男性继承人,也就是说想要另娶后妃,触犯了教规,导致了他与罗马教廷反目成仇。
与此同时,英国人民早已不满教会的腐败,并受到欧洲大陆改革思潮的鼓舞。
他们欢迎并支持亨利国王与罗马教廷决裂。
1534年,亨利八世通过议会技票宣布自己成为英国教会的最高头领。
至此,英国宗教改革轰轰烈烈地进入了全盛期。
改革的一个主要成果便是每个教堂都配备了英语的《圣经》,所有的礼仪都用英语而不是拉丁语举行,这样更多的人都能听懂。
在亨利八世之子爱德华六世短暂的统治期间,教义与传教的改革开始实行。
而到了玛丽王后执政时,又出现了大幅度退回天主旧教的思潮。
后来在伊丽沙白女王一世统治中期,新教终于被稳固地确立了,但其中包含了天主教与新教一定程度的折衷。
这场宗教改革其实是新兴资产阶级与封建统治阶级及其思想体系斗争的写照。
都铎王朝时期培养的英国民族情感激励了文化的发展。
新的学校与大学就在原先的寺院上修建起来。
随着古代文化与意大利人文主义的涌入,英国的文艺复兴开始进入繁盛期。
在所有对文艺复兴有所贡献的人物中,我们不能不提到威廉·卡克斯顿,因为他是第一个将印刷术引进英国的人。
卡克斯顿一生中用英语出版印刷了一百多部书籍,其中有乔曼的《坎特伯雷故事集》〈1483年)与《马洛利的默特·达瑟》(1485)。
从此,英国实现了将一本新书或一个新点迅速流传到全国各地的梦想。
在印刷术引进后,接踵而来的是翻译时代。
大批欧洲大陆上的文学作品,不论是古代的还是当代的,都被译成英语,而后出版。
比如,古希腊传记家普鲁塔克的《希腊罗马名人比较列传》被托马斯·诺思爵士译成英文,戈尔丁翻译了古罗马诗人奥维德的《变形记》,查普曼翻译了荷马史诗《伊利亚特》与《奥德赛》,弗洛里奥翻译了法国思想家蒙田的《随笔集》,等等。
这样一来,印刷术的引人激活了文学作品的市场,为英国人民提供了无数的书籍读物,从而也就为伊丽莎白时代的伟大作家的出现作好了准备。
英国文艺复兴初期只是一个学习模仿与同化的阶段。
意大利式样的各种学院纷纷建立起来。
英国作家都尊意大利的彼特拉克为文学的源泉。
因为正是彼特拉克与他的后继者们确立了描述爱情的语言,并将文艺复兴时期的爱情诗与先前的爱情诗严格区别开来。
托马斯·怀亚特与萨里伯爵将意大利诗歌中的韵味与形式,即彼特拉克式的爱情基调,烙印在自己的创作中,并影响了当时其它许多诗人。
怀亚特将彼特拉克的十四行诗引进英国(十四行诗分三个诗节,每行都是抑扬格五音步,韵式为abba,abba,cdeede.),而萨里则引进了无韵体诗,也就是不押韵的五音步抑扬格诗行,同时开创了英国式的十四行诗,后来被莎士比亚广泛
使用,其韵式为abab,cdcd,efef,gg。
此后锡德尼又带来了六节诗(一种由六节六行诗以及结尾的一节三行诗构成的诗体)与三行诗节隔句押韵法(三行一节的诗体,韵式为
aba,bcb,cdc，gg以及各种古典式格律。
马洛将无韵体诗运用到他那气吞山河的雄伟诗句中,使无韵体诗成为英语诗剧中的最高诗体。
从怀亚特与萨里开始往后,人文主义诗歌的主要目标与特点是对传统习俗的熟练运用,语言的力度与气概,而最重要的是发展了修辞模式,即将格律、韵脚(式)、组织结构、意象(比喻、描述)与议论都结合起来构划出情感主题,并将其极为解明生动地表现出来。
诗歌是集思想、技艺与学识为一体的综合艺术。
斯宾塞的田园浪漫诗作《牧人日记》中就展示了如何将牧人的习俗运用到各种主题中,不论道义上的还是英雄主义的,还展示了如何通过措辞与格律的变化运用正规的条则及依照主题选择合适的风格。
在诗歌《激情的牧人致心爱的姑娘》中,马洛运用了一种十分天真的语气,以至于我们很难将这种语气同他创作悲剧时的语气联系起来。
在文艺复兴时期,诗歌与诗剧是最杰出的艺术形式,尤其是莎士比亚与本·约翰逊继承了这种形式。
但是约翰·邓恩、乔治·赫伯特及其他类似于他们的文学家(后来德莱顿和约翰逊称他们为玄学派诗人)的作品则标志着他们与其前辈及同时代作家的艺术风格上的决裂,也就是说他们没有继承上述的艺术传统。
总体上讲,伊丽莎白时期的戏剧是英国文艺复兴的文学主流。
英国戏剧的渊源还要追溯到中世纪。
幕间短剧与道德剧在中世纪兴盛起来,此后一直流传到莎士比亚时代。
而戏剧发展成一种精美复杂的艺术形式还离不开希腊罗马古典戏剧的营养,生动活泼的英国本土的故事题材穿上了古罗马喜剧家普劳图斯与泰伦斯的拉丁语喜剧形式的外衣,而悲剧则追随古罗马悲剧大师塞内加的艺术形式。
古典艺术形式与英国的故事内容的融汇结合为戏剧艺术走向精美、成熟铺垫了道路。
文艺复兴时期英国最著名的戏剧家有克里斯朵夫·马洛、威廉·莎士比亚与本·约翰逊。
他们的作品为全人类颂扬至今。
他们效仿意大利和西班牙的骑士抒情诗,吸收了德国骑士传奇的神秘色彩,并且将诗歌联想中的虚构成份与生活中的真实事件结合起来,从而创作出许许多多反映过渡时期封建主义与新兴资产阶级尖锐冲突的伟大作品。
与此同时,以莎士比亚为代表的戏剧又融入了幽默、哲学理论精华及生机勃勃的活力,成为文艺复兴的纪念碑,单就创作力而言,当时就没有其它任何一种艺术形式能够匹敌。
除了诗歌、戏剧艺术之外,散文也得以发展。
弗兰西斯·培根是英国历史上最重要的散文家。
是他将散文艺术发展到一个新高度。
培根还是英国现代科学的奠基人,他的作品为科学技术的广泛应用铺设了道路。
因此,他也是英国文艺复兴时期当之无愧的代表人物。