海院英美文学期末考试题

Comments on famous writers

W. Shakespeare (1564-1616)

literary position

The greatest of all English authors, belongs to those rare geniuses of mankind who have become landmarks in the history of world culture. The works of Shakespeare are great landmarks in the history of world culture for he is one of the founders of realism, a master hand at realistic portrayal of human characters and relations.

Life experience

1.Born in 1564 in Straford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.

2.At the age of 7, believed to attend a local grammar school and study there six years.

3.Worked as a school teacher in the countryside and later helped his father do some business.

4.He gradually became acquainted with theatrical performance. 渐渐熟悉戏剧表演。

5.In the year 1586 or 1587, Shakespeare moved to London and worked in theaters. It was in these theaters that he devoted himself to writing plays and poems. He was also a good actor.

6.In 1612, Shakespeare retired from the stage and returned to Straford-on-Avon.

7.Died in 1616

Major Works

During the 22 years of his literary career, he produced 37 plays, two long narrative poems and 154 sonnets.

He is especially famous for his 4 greatest tragedies: Hamlet1601, Othello1604, Macbeth1605 &King Lear1608.

His literary work may be divided into 3 major periods, 1590-1600, 1601-1608, 1609-1612.

Thomas Hardy(1840-1928)

literary position

The last and one of the greatest Victorian novelists.

Life experience

1.Born on June 2nd,1840 in Higher Bockhampton in Dorset. His father Thomas

(d.1892) worked as a stonemason and local builder. His mother Jemima (d.1904) was well-read.

2.His mother educated Thomas until he went to his first school at Bockhampton at age eight. One year later he transferred to a new school in the county town of Dorchester.

3.At the age of 16 Hardy helped his father with the architectural drawings for a restoration of Woodsford Castle. Hardy trained as an architect in Dorchester before moving to London in 1862;

In 1870, Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Lavinia Gifford, whom he married in 1874. Emma dead in 1912. Hardy married his secretary Florence Emily Dugdale in 1914, who was 39 years his junior. Hardy became ill with pleurisy in December 1927 and died on November 27th, 1912.

4.Desperate Remedies is published in 1871

Hardy’s first vo lume of poems, Wessex poems, is published in 1898

Hardy is presented with the order of Merit in 1910

Major Works

Under the Greenwood Tree, 1872《绿林荫下》

A Pair of Blue Eyes, 1873《一双湛蓝的眼睛》

Far from the Madding Crowd, 1874《远离尘嚣》(3部早期作品: 描写英国农村的恬静景象和明朗的田园生活。)