英国文学简史知识点摘要

First Part: Terms

1.Romance:The most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England was the

romance. It was a long compasition, sometimes in verses, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventure of a noble hero. The central character of romances was the knights, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He was devoted to the church and the king. The code of manners and morals of a knight is known as chivalry. The most popular romance is about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.(P8)

2.Ballad: The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A

ballad is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed. Of paramount importance are the ballads of Robin Hood.(P17)

3.Utopia:Utopia is More’s masterpiece, written in the form of a conversaion. It is

devided into two books. The first book contains a long discussion on the social conditions of England. The second book describes an ideal communist society, Utopia, in detail. The name “Utopia” comes from two Greek words meaning “no place”.(P33)

4.University Wits: There was a group of so-called “university wits”(Lyly, Peele,

Marlowe, Greene, Lodge and Nash) who wrote for the stage of the time. They were all of humble birth and struggled for a livelihood through writing. They entered the dramatic circle between the years 1587 nd 1593.(P49)

5.Metaphysical: About the beginning of the 17th centuary appeared a school of

poets called “Metaphysicals”by Samuel Johnson, the 18th centuary writter.(P116)

Second Part: Poets, Arthors, Playwrites and Works

1.Beowulf: one long poem over 3,000 lines. It is the national epic of the English

people.(P3)

Features of Boewulf: the use of alliteration,the use of metaphors and of understatements, the tinge of ironical humour.(P5)

2.Piers the Plowman and Its Author: a long poem over7,000 lines, written by

William Langland.(P11)

Artistic Features: dream vision, allegory uses symbolism, realistic picture of medieval England(P15)

3.Chaucer:Geoffrey Chaucer, the founder of English poetry (father of English

Italian(Troilus and Criseyde) third period purely English(The Canterbury Tales)

The Canterbury Tales: is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental

works in English literature. Story starts from Tabard Inn to Canterbury. 31 people are involved. It should be an immense work of 124 stories, but only 24were written.

The prologue: provides a framework for the tales.

Chaucer’s Language: now called Middle English, is vivid and exact.