英国文学史及选读复习资料整理

Old English Period

— Anglo-Saxon Period

(450-1066)

1.The History

•From 55 BC to 410 AD, the Romans conquered the land and transplanted its civilization.

2.The Literature

Two divisions:

Pagan & Christian

Pagan

The Seafarer水手; The Fight at Finnisburg芬尼斯郡之战; The Wanderer流浪者; Waldhere瓦登希尔;The Battle of Maldom马尔登战役

Widsith(威德西斯); The complaint of Deor迪奥的抱怨

•The wife’s Lament妻子的哀歌; Ruin毁灭are good examples.

Beowulf, England’s national epic.

Writing features

not a Christian but a pagan poem of all advanced pagan civilization,

The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable in this poem. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half has two heavy stresses

The use of alliteration is another notable feature and makes the stresses more emphatic. There are a lot of metaphors and understatements in this poem

Anglo-Norman Period

(1066-1350)

The literature

•The Growth of the Arthurian Legends

•The legends of King Arthur and his knights had existed as an oral tradition since the time of the Celts.

The 17th Century

A Brief Introduction of the 17th century

⏹The contradictions between the feudal system and bourgeoisie

⏹James I：1603-1625 political and religious tyranny

⏹Charles I: 1625-1649

⏹Oliver Cromwell : commonwealth protector: 1653-1658

⏹Charles II: 1660-1688 the Restoration

⏹James II：1685-1688

⏹William of Oranges: 1688-1702 “Glorious Revolution”

⏹The Bill of Rights 权利法案：1689

John Donne

代表作：The Flea

Metaphysical Poetry

Holy Sonnet 10

Song

A Valediction:

Forbidding Mourning 别离辞：节哀

John Milton

⏹the early phase of reading and lyric writing

⏹the middle phase of service in the Puritan Revolution and the pamphleteering for it

⏹the last --- the greatest --- phase of epic writing

Paradise Lost

--- the great epic

Paradise Regained；Samson Agonistes

John Bunyan

The Pilgrim’s Progress（essay）

The 18th-century Literature

The Rise of English Novels

The historical background

Comparing with the 17th century, the 18th century is a period for peaceful development.

The constitutional monarchy has been set up by parliament in 1688.

England grew from a second rate country to a powerful naval country in this century.

With the ascent of the bourgeoisie cultural life had undergone remarkable changes.

The rise of the English novel.

代表作：

Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe

Jonathan Swift

The Battle of the Books; 《书籍之战》

The Tale of a Tub; 《一只桶的故事》

The Drapier’s Letter; 《布商来信》

A Modest Proposal; 《一个温和的建议》

Journal to Stella; 《给斯黛拉的日记》

Gulliver’s Travel. 《格列夫游记》

Satirical features

⏹Swift offered an opportunity of self-scrutiny.（自我审视）

⏹The Lilliputians （小人国居民）and their institutions were all about people and their

institutions of England.

⏹The Brobdingnagians were incredible Utopians.

⏹The scientists and philosophers represented the extremes of futile theorizing and

speculations in all areas of activity such as science, politics, and economics with their instinct-killing tendencies.

⏹The picture of the Yahoos made a clear statement about man and his nature.

Henry Fielding

Tom Johnson

Social significance

The writer shows his strong hatred for all the hypocrisy and treachery in the society of his age and his sympathy for the courageous young rebels in their righteous struggle

The 18th-century Literature (II)

The Age of Enlightenment in England

The rapid development of social life

•On the economic scene, the country became increasingly affluent.

•On the political scene, a fragile of balance between the monarch and the middle class existed.

•On the religious scene, deism came into existence

代表

Thomas Gray

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

● a masterpiece of lyric

●Theme: a sentimental meditation upon life and death, esp. of the common rural people,