刘炳善英国文学简史复习提纲
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记免费)
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI. Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. Poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures. II. Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII. The Old English Prose1. What is prose?2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval AgesI.Introduction1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliffe.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancaster and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. A general introduction.2. The plot.III. William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV. Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI. Thomas Malory and English ProseVII. The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action.Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II. English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building?of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning?of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queen:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.L Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III. English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handlingscientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. （2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people: servants? and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental.（3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV. English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama. （2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor; （6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamlet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3） Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality. （7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2） Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a ladyin dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI. Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literaryking” （Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of “humor”.（2） an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humor—“humor”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3）Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2. The restoration period.（1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2）The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662） were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III. John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to beseen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King. （2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism. （2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.IV.John Bunyan1. Life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and calledthemselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's. VI. John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th CenturyI. Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favor.（3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII. Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a. Catholic family;b. ill health;c. taught himself by reading and translating;d. friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e. An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g. Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h. the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i. satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1）Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” providea new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18thcentury.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor. （1）Life:a. studies at Oxford;b. made a living by writing and translating;c. the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III. Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.1. Life:（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV. English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry –romances –fabliaux –novella - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela. picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b. Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a. business career;b. writing career;c. interested in politics.（2） Robinson Crusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a. unsuccessful dramatic career;b. legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a. the plot;b. characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c. significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concernedwith the morals of others.）（1）Life:a. printer book seller;b. letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a. the storyb. the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a. born in Ireland;b. a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c. bookseller;d. the Literary Club;e. a miserable life;f.?the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a. story;b. the signicance.VI. English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor,are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic AgeI. Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4） Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace （5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models （7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII. Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottishdialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humor, pathos, the response to nature –all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III. Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a. love nature;b. Cambridge;c. tour to France;d. French revolution;e. Dorathy;f.?The Lake District;g. friend of Coleridge;h. conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a. ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b. characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a. Cambridge;b. friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c. taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, butit is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV. Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a. Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b. a tour of Europe and the East;c. left England;d. friend with Shelley;e. worked in Greece: national hero;f.?radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers. （4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1） Life:a. aristocratic family;b. rebellious heart;c. Oxford;d. Irish national liberation Movement;e. disciple of William Godwin;f.?marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g. left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h. radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i.?Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3） Characteristics of poems.a. pursuit of a better society;b. radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a. from a poor family;b. Cockney School;c. friend with Byron and Shelley;。
英国文学史及选读复习提纲
英语专业《英国文学》复习要点教材名称：英国文学史主编：刘炳善出版社：上海外语教育出版社第一章古英语和中古英语时期1、古英语时期是指英国国家和英语语言的形成时期。
最早的文学形式是诗歌，以口头形式流传，主要的诗人是吟游诗人scop。
到基督教传入英国之后，一些诗歌才被记录下来。
这一时期最重要的文学作品是英国的民族史诗《贝奥武夫》，用头韵体写成。
2、古英语时期（1066—1500）从1066年诺曼人征服英国，到1500年前后伦敦方言发展成为公认的现代英语。
文学作品主要的形式有骑士传奇，民谣和诗歌。
在几组骑士传奇中，有关英国题材的是亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士的冒险故事，其中《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》代表了骑士传奇的最高成就。
中世纪文学中涌现了大量的优秀民谣，最具代表性的是收录在一起的唱咏绿林英雄罗宾汉的民谣。
3、最重要的诗人是被称为“英国诗歌之父”的乔叟，代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》，取得了很高的艺术成就。
他首创了诗歌的双韵体----每两行压韵的五步抑扬格，后被许多英国诗人采用。
乔叟用伦敦方言写作，奠定了用英语语言进行文学创作的基础，促进了英语语言文学的发展。
第二章文艺复兴时期1. 文艺复兴运动源于14世纪的意大利，后遍及欧洲各国，在英国兴起较晚。
“文艺复兴”一词原意是指古希腊，罗马文学艺术的复苏，但事实上决不是简单的对古希腊罗马文学艺术的学习模仿。
文艺复兴运动的核心思想是人文主义思想，表现为尊重人的尊严和力量，关注现世生活，鼓励人们对幸福生活的追求。
代表的是新兴资产阶级反封建，反教会的思想和要求。
文艺复兴运动的思想家，人文主义者是托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More），他的作品《乌托邦》描绘了一个理想的未来社会，他因此被认为是空想社会主义的先驱。
2. 文艺复兴时期的英国文学得到了空前的发展，在诗歌，散文和戏剧方面尤其兴盛。
诗歌方面，新的诗体形式如十四行诗，无韵体诗被介绍到英国。
莎士比亚除了戏剧创作之外也是一位伟大诗人，著有两部叙事诗，两部长诗和154首十四行诗。
英国文学简史期末考试复习要点-刘炳善版
英国文学史资料British Writers and WorksI。
Old English Literature & The Late Medieval Ages<Beowulf>贝奥武夫：the national epic of the Anglo—SaxonsEpic： long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero enacted in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated。
e。
g。
Homer's Iliad and OdysseyArtistic features：ing alliterationDefinition of alliteration： a rhetorical device， meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant sound（头韵）Some examples on P5ing metaphor and understatementDefinition of understatement： expressing something in a controlled way Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideasGeoffery Chaucer 杰弗里•乔叟1340（?)~1400（首创“双韵体"，英国文学史上首先用伦敦方言写作。
约翰·德莱顿（John Dryden)称其为“英国诗歌之父"。
代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》.)The father of English poetry。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI. Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. Poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures. II. Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII. The Old English Prose1. What is prose?（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliffe.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancaster and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. A general introduction.2. The plot.III. William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV. Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI. Thomas Malory and English ProseVII. The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and themarketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity andreformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II. English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building?of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning?of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queen:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.L Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III. English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. （2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people: servants? and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental.（3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV. English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama. （2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor; （6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamlet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3） Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality. （7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2） Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a ladyin dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI. Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literaryking” （Sons of Ben）:（1）the idea of “humor”.（2） an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humor—“humor”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3）Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2. The restoration period.（1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2）The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662） were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III. John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although hisPuritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King. （2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism. （2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.Bunyan1. Life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote lightpoetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's. VI. John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th CenturyI. Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favor.（3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII. Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a. Catholic family;b. ill health;c. taught himself by reading and translating;d. friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e. An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g. Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h. the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i. satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1）Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” providea new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor. （1）Life:a. studies at Oxford;b. made a living by writing and translating;c. the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III. Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.1. Life:（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and CatholicChurch.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV. English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry –romances –fabliaux –novella - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela. picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b. Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a. business career;b. writing career;c. interested in politics.（2） Robinson Crusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a. unsuccessful dramatic career;b. legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a. the plot;b. characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c. significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a. printer book seller;b. letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a. the storyb. the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a. born in Ireland;b. a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c. bookseller;d. the Literary Club;e. a miserable life;f.?the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a. story;b. the signicance.VI. English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise,mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic AgeI. Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4） Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace （5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models （7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII. Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humor, pathos, the response to nature –all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III. Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a. love nature;b. Cambridge;c. tour to France;d. French revolution;e. Dorathy;f.?The Lake District;g. friend of Coleridge;h. conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a. ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b. characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a. Cambridge;b. friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c. taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered anddisorganized.IV. Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a. Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b. a tour of Europe and the East;c. left England;d. friend with Shelley;e. worked in Greece: national hero;f.?radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers. （4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critica. aristocratic family;b. rebellious heart;c. Oxford;d. Irish national liberation Movement;e. disciple of William Godwin;f.?marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g. left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h. radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i.?Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3） Characteristics of poems.a. pursuit of a better society;b. radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a. from a poor family;b. Cockney School;c. friend with Byron and Shelley;d. attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy.。
《英国文学简史》考研刘炳善版考研复习笔记和考研真题
《英国文学简史》考研刘炳善版考研复习笔记和考研真题第1章早期和中世纪的英国文学1.1 复习笔记早期英国文学Early English LiteratureⅠ.Background Knowledge—The Making of England（背景知识——英国的形成）1．The Roman Conquest (55B.C.-410A.D.) 罗马征服（公元前55年—公元410年）A. Brief Introduction（简介）Before the Roman Conquest, the early inhabitants in the island we call England were Britons, a tribe of Celts.In 55 B.C., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar, the Roman conqueror. Britain was not completely subjugated to the Roman Empire until 78 A.D. But at the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman Empire was in the process of declining. In 410 A.D., all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never returned.罗马征服之前，在英格兰岛上居住的早期居民被称为不列颠人（Britons），不列颠人是凯尔特（Celt）部落的一支。
公元前55年，该岛被罗马的朱利尤斯·凯撒（Julius Caesar）侵略。
直到公元78年，不列颠才完全臣服于罗马帝国，但是在5世纪初，罗马帝国开始没落。
公元410年，所有的罗马军队撤离该岛。
B. Influence（影响）①The Roman mode of life was brought into Britain while the native Britons were treated as slaves.②The Romans brought Christianity to the island and this religion was spread widely. (This is a profound religious effect up to today).③Roman road was built for military purposes.④Along the Roman roads, many towns grew up, London was one of them, and it became an important trading center.①罗马人的生活方式被带到了英国，而当地的不列颠人却沦为奴隶。
刘炳善英国文学简史复习提纲
刘炳善英国文学简史复习提纲刘炳善的《英国文学简史》是一本介绍英国文学发展历程的经典教材，概述了英国文学的重要人物、作品和流派。
以下是一个复习提纲，旨在帮助你回顾和理解这本书的内容。
一、古英国文学时期（公元前7世纪-公元1066年）1.早期史诗作品：《贝奥武夫》、《克赖斯人的诗歌》等。
2.宗教文学：《贝德的致辞》、《入埋土地的经文》等。
3.亚瑟王传说：《亚瑟王之死》、《卢梭勒》等。
二、中英文学时期（1066年-1485年）1.诺曼底征服后的影响：法语文学的传入。
2.米德尔英语文学：《切阿通匹恩的罗曼斯》等。
3.文人和教士的作品：《福尔莫尔的诗集》、《金马伦的伊莎贝拉》等。
三、文艺复兴时期（1485年-1603年）1.文艺复兴思潮的传入。
2.威廉·莎士比亚及其作品：《哈姆雷特》、《罗密欧与朱丽叶》等。
3.其他重要诗人和作品：约翰·米尔顿的《失乐园》、培根的《新科学》等。
四、十七世纪文学（1603年-1660年）1.皇家主义文学：本·琼森的《包涵的破碎》等。
2.牧歌诗和骑士诗：约翰·唐纳的《简·卡特琳之歌》等。
3.讽刺文学：约纳森·斯威夫特的《格列佛游记》等。
五、启蒙运动时期（1660年-1798年）1.小说的发展：丹尼尔·笛福的《鲁滨逊漂流记》、萨缪尔·理查森的《帕梅拉》等。
2.詹姆斯·汤姆逊和约翰·洛克的作品。
3.威廉·布莱克和威廉·华兹华斯的浪漫主义作品。
六、浪漫主义时期（1798年-1832年）1.华兹华斯、柯勒律治和拜伦的作品。
2.珀西·比希·雪莱、约翰·济慈和简·奥斯丁的作品。
3.疲软派和托马斯·哈代的作品。
七、维多利亚时期（1832年-1901年）1.查尔斯·狄更斯和查尔斯·达尔文的作品。
2.奥斯卡·王尔德和罗伯特·路易斯·史蒂文森的作品。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记(免费)
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI. Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. Poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.II. Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII. The Old English Prose1. What is prose（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages 1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliffe.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancaster and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. A general introduction.2. The plot.III. William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV. Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types.（2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI. Thomas Malory and English ProseVII. The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents.1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser: ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II. English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry inRenaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queen:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues: Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.L Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III. English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: hecomposed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature.（2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people: servants and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental.（3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV. English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare andmost gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama.（2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor;（6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamlet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality.（7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI. Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literary king” （Sons of Ben）:（1）the idea of “humor”.（2）an advocate of classical drama and a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humor—“humor”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3） Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction2. The restoration period.（1） The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2） The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662）were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III. John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he isto be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King.（2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.（2）Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.Bunyan1. Life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument. 2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's.VI. John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essaysand in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th CenturyI. Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favor.（3）Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII. Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a. Catholic family;b. ill health;c. taught himself by reading and translating;d. friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e. An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g. Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h. the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i. satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele,（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor.（1）Life:a. studies at Oxford;b. made a living by writing and translating;c. the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III. Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV. English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale –fables –myths –epic –poetry –romances –fabliaux –novella - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela. picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spainand depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b. Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a. business career;b. writing career;c. interested in politics.（2） Robinson Crusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a. unsuccessful dramatic career;b. legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a. the plot;b. characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c. significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a. printer book seller;b. letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a. the storyb. the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a. born in Ireland;b. a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c. bookseller;d. the Literary Club;e. a miserable life;f. the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a. story;b. the signicance.VI. English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare andthose of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic AgeI. Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4）Sympathy with the humble and glorification of thecommonplace（5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius （6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models（7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances （8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII. Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature.They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humor, pathos, the response to nature – all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III. Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a. love nature;b. Cambridge;c. tour to France;d. French revolution;e. Dorathy;f. The Lake District;g. friend of Coleridge;h. conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a. ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b. characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a. Cambridge;b. friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c. taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV. Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a. Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b. a tour of Europe and the East;c. left England;d. friend with Shelley;e. worked in Greece: national hero;f. radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers.（4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1） Life:a. aristocratic family;b. rebellious heart;c. Oxford;d. Irish national liberation Movement;e. disciple of William Godwin;f. marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g. left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h. radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i. Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3） Characteristics of poems.a. pursuit of a better society;b. radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a. from a poor family;b. Cockney School;c. friend with Byron and Shelley;d. attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy.（2） works.（3） Characteristics of poemsa. loved beauty;b. seeking refuge in an idealistic world of illusions and。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记(免费)
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI.Introduction1. The historical background（1）Before the Germanic invasion（2）During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）– thane - middle class （freemen）- lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1）The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2）Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.II.Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1）the use of alliteration（2）the use of metaphors and understatements（3）the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII.The Old English Prose1.What is prose2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages I.Introduction 1. The Historical Background.（1）The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2）The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3）The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4）The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5）The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6）The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliff.（7）The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1）the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur. （3）Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4）The romance.（5）the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer. II.Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. a general introduction.2. the plot.III.William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV.Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1）French period（2）Italian period（3）master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1）He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2）He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language. （3）The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI.Thomas Malory and English ProseVII.The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions – figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.。
考研英国文学复习要点(参照教材刘炳善《英国文学简史》)
Part One: Early and Medieval English Literature1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements （此处可能会有填空，选择等小题）2. Romance （名词解释）3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’s story4. Ballad（名词解释）5. Character of Robin Hood6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written in Middle English; significance; form: heroic couplet)7. Heroic couplet (名词解释)Part Two: The English Renaissance8. The Authorized Version of English Bible and its significance（填空选择）9. Renaissance（名词解释）10.Thomas More——Utopia11. Sonnet（名词解释）12. Blank verse（名词解释）13. Edmund Spenser“The Faerie Queene”; Amoretti (collec tion of his sonnets)Spenserian Stanza（名词解释）14. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读）15. Christopher Marlowe (“Doctor Faustus” and his achievements)16. William Shakespeare可以说是英国文学史中最重要的作家，一定要看熟了。
(完整版)英国文学简史期末测验考试复习要点刘炳善版(英语专业大必备)
英国文学史资料British Writers and Works一、中世纪文学（约5世纪—1485）•《贝奥武甫》（Beowulf）•《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight )杰弗利·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer)“英国诗歌之父”。
（Father of English Poetry）《坎特伯雷故事》（The Canterbury Tales）二、文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期—17世纪初）•托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More ）《乌托邦》（Utopia）•埃德蒙·斯宾塞（Edmund Spenser）《仙后》（The Faerie Queene)•弗兰西斯·培根（Francis Bacon）《论说文集》（Essays)克里斯托弗·马洛Christopher Marlowe•《帖木儿大帝》（Tamburlaine）•《浮士德博士的悲剧》（The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr. Faustus）•《马耳他岛的犹太人》（The Jew of Malta）威廉·莎士比亚William Shakespeare喜剧《仲夏夜之梦》（A Midsummer Night’s Dream）、《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant of Venice）悲剧《罗密欧与朱丽叶》（Romeo and Juliet）、《哈姆莱特》（Hamlet）、《奥赛罗》（Othello）、《李尔王》（King Lear）、《麦克白》（Macbeth）历史剧《亨利四世》（Henry IV）传奇剧《暴风雨》（The Tempest）本·琼生Ben Johnson•《人人高兴》（Every Man in His Humor）•《狐狸》（V olpone）•《练金术士》（The Alchemist）三、17世纪文学约翰·弥尔顿John Milton《失乐园》（Paradise Lost）《复乐园》（Paradise Regained）诗剧《力士参孙》（Samson Agonistes）•约翰·班扬（John Bunyan）《天路历程》（The Pilgrim’s Progress）•威廉·康格里夫（William Congreve）《以爱还爱》（Love for Love）《如此世道》（The Way of the World）四、启蒙时期文学（17世纪后期—18世纪中期）18世纪初，新古典主义成为时尚。
英国文学简史期末考试复习要点_刘炳善版(海师)
一、中世纪文学（约5世纪—1485)•《贝奥武甫》(Beowulf)•《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight )杰弗利·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer)“英国诗歌之父”。
（Father of English Poetry）《坎特伯雷故事》（The Canterbury Tales )二、文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期—17世纪初）•托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More ）《乌托邦》(Utopia）•埃德蒙·斯宾塞（Edmund Spenser）《仙后》(The Faerie Queene）•弗兰西斯·培根（Francis Bacon）《论说文集》(Essays）克里斯托弗·马洛Christopher Marlowe•《帖木儿大帝》（Tamburlaine)•《浮士德博士的悲剧》（The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Dr。
Faustus）•《马耳他岛的犹太人》（The Jew of Malta )威廉·莎士比亚William Shakespeare喜剧《仲夏夜之梦》（A Midsummer Night's Dream）、《威尼斯商人》（The Merchant of Venice）悲剧《罗密欧与朱丽叶》（Romeo and Juliet）、《哈姆莱特》（Hamlet）、《奥赛罗》（Othello）、《李尔王》（King Lear）、《麦克白》（Macbeth）历史剧《亨利四世》(Henry IV）传奇剧《暴风雨》（The Tempest）本·琼生Ben Johnson•《人人高兴》(Every Man in His Humor）•《狐狸》(V olpone）•《练金术士》（The Alchemist）三、17世纪文学约翰·弥尔顿John Milton《失乐园》（Paradise Lost)《复乐园》（Paradise Regained）诗剧《力士参孙》（Samson Agonistes）•约翰·班扬（John Bunyan）《天路历程》(The Pilgrim’s Progress)•威廉·康格里夫(William Congreve）《以爱还爱》(Love for Love）《如此世道》（The Way of the World）四、启蒙时期文学（17世纪后期-18世纪中期）18世纪初,新古典主义成为时尚。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI.Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures. II.Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII.The Old English Prose1.What is prose?2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval AgesI.Introduction1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliff.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2） Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II.Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. a general introduction.2. the plot.III.William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV.Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI.Thomas Malory and English ProseVII.The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action.Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middleclass—trade-education for laypeople-centralization ofpower-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II.English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building? of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning? of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queene:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.l Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III.English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handlingscientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. （2） philosophical ideas: advancement ofscience—people:servants? and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental. （3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV.English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama. （2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor; （6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamnet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3） Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality. （7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2） Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a ladyin dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI.Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literaryking” （Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of “humour”.（2） an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humour—“humour”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical BackgroundII.The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3） Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2. The restoration period.（1） The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2） The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662） were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III.John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are hisearly masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King.（2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism. （2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.IV.John Bunyan1. life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's.VI.John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century I.Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of ourday is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favour.（3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII.Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a.Catholic family;b.ill health;c.taught himself by reading and translating;d.friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e.An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g.Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h.the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i.satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor. （1）Life:a.studies at Oxford;b.made a living by writing and translating;c.the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III.Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.1.Life:（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV.English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry –romances –fabliaux –novelle - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela.picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b.Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a.business career;b.writing career;c.interested in politics.（2） Robinson Cusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a.unsuccessful dramatic career;b.legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a.the plot;b.characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c.significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a.printer book seller;b.letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a.the storyb.the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a.born in Ireland;b.a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c.bookseller;d.the Literary Club;e.a miserable life;f.? the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a.story;b.the signicance.VI.English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic Age I.Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4） Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace （5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models （7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII.Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humour, pathos, the response to nature –all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III.Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a.love nature;b.Cambridge;c.tour to France;d.French revolution;e.Dorathy;f.? The Lake District;g.friend of Coleridge;h.conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a.ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b.characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a.Cambridge;b.friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c.taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV.Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a.Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b.a tour of Europe and the East;c.left England;d.friend with Shelley;e.worked in Greece: national hero;f.? radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers. （4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1） Life:a.aristocratic family;b.rebellious heart;c.Oxford;d.Irish national liberation Movement;e.disciple of William Godwin;f.? marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g.left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h.radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i.? Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer（3） Characteristics of poems.a.pursuit of a better society;b.radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a.from a poor family;b.Cockney School;c.friend with Byron and Shelley;d.attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy.（2） works.（3） Characteristics of poemsa.loved beauty;b.seeking refuge in an idealistic world of illusions and dreams. V. Novelists of the Romantic Age.1. Water Scott. Novelist and poet（1） Life:a.Scotland;b.university of Edindurgh;c.poem to novel;d.unsuccessful publishing firm;e.great contribution: historical novel.（2） three groups of novels（3） Features of his novels.（4） his influence.2. Jane Austen（1） Life:a.country clergyman;。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记(免费)
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI.Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.II.Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII.The Old English Prose1.What is prose?2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval AgesI.Introduction1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliff.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II.Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. a general introduction.2. the plot.III.William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV.Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI.Thomas Malory and English ProseVII.The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and themarketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity andreformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II.English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building? of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning? of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queene:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.l Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III.English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. （2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people:servants? and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental. （3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV.English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama. （2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor; （6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamnet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3） Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality. （7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2） Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI.Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literary king” （Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of “humour”.（2） an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humour—“humour”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical BackgroundII.The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3） Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction2. The restoration period.（1） The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2） The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662）were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III.John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King.（2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we findhumanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.（2）Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works. （3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.IV.John Bunyan1. life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's.VI.John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration. （2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist. （3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century I.Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favour.（3）Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII.Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a.Catholic family;b.ill health;c.taught himself by reading and translating;d.friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e.An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g.Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h.the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i.satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele,（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor.（1）Life:a.studies at Oxford;b.made a living by writing and translating;c.the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III.Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV.English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale –fables –myths –epic –poetry –romances –fabliaux –novelle - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela.picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spainand depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b.Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a.business career;b.writing career;c.interested in politics.（2） Robinson Cusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a.unsuccessful dramatic career;b.legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a.the plot;b.characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c.significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a.printer book seller;b.letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a.the storyb.the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a.born in Ireland;b.a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c.bookseller;d.the Literary Club;e.a miserable life;f.? the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a.story;b.the signicance.VI.English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare andthose of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic Age I.Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4）Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace（5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius （6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models（7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances （8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII.Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival wasembodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humour, pathos, the response to nature – all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III.Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a.love nature;b.Cambridge;c.tour to France;d.French revolution;e.Dorathy;f.? The Lake District;g.friend of Coleridge;h.conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a.ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b.characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simplepeasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a.Cambridge;b.friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c.taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV.Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a.Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b.a tour of Europe and the East;c.left England;d.friend with Shelley;e.worked in Greece: national hero;f.? radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers.（4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1） Life:a.aristocratic family;b.rebellious heart;c.Oxford;d.Irish national liberation Movement;e.disciple of William Godwin;f.? marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g.left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h.radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i.? Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3） Characteristics of poems.a.pursuit of a better society;b.radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a.from a poor family;b.Cockney School;c.friend with Byron and Shelley;d.attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy.（2） works.（3） Characteristics of poemsa.loved beauty;b.seeking refuge in an idealistic world of illusions and dreams.。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记(免费)
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI.Introduction1. The historical background（1）Before the Germanic invasion（2）During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）– thane - middle class （freemen）- lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1）The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2）Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.II.Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1）the use of alliteration（2）the use of metaphors and understatements（3）the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII.The Old English Prose1.What is prose2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages I.Introduction 1. The Historical Background.（1）The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2）The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3）The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4）The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5）The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6）The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliff.（7）The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1）the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur. （3）Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4）The romance.（5）the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer. II.Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. a general introduction.2. the plot.III.William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV.Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1）French period（2）Italian period（3）master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1）He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types.（2）He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language. （3）The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI.Thomas Malory and English ProseVII.The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions – figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical Background II. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents.1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:? ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe – Shakespeare –Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II.English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1）Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2）Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1）Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2）worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building? of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning? of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1）life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2）worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queene:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:? Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.l Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3）Spenserian Stanza.III.English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2）Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday）tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3）the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1）life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor –bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature.（2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people:servants? and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental.（3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader? to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV.English Drama1. A general survey.（1）Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2）two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3）the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1）Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama.（2）Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3）The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1）1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2）Grammar School;（3）Queen visit to Castle;（4）marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5）London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor;（6）the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7）Retired, son—Hamnet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1）Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate （2）The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3）Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4）Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5）HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6）OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality.（7）King LearFilial ingratitude（8）MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9）Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10）The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1）Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2）Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI.Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literary king” （Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of “humour”.（2）an advocate of classical drama and? a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1）Everyone in His Humour—“humour”; three unities.（2）V olpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A HistoricalBackgroundII.The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1）The metaphysical poets;（2）The Cavalier poets.（3）Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction2. The restoration period.（1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2）The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662）were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3）The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4）The restoration drama.（5）The Age of Dryden.III.John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1）The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632）are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King.（2）The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3）The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1）Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2）Paradise Regained.（3）Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1）Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.（2）Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3）Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4）Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.IV.John Bunyan1. life:（1）puritan age;（2）poor family;（3）parliamentary army;（4）Baptist society, preacher;（5）prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1）The allegory in dream form.（2）the plot.（3）the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry,polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's.VI.John Dryden.1. Life:（1）the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2）poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3）changeable in attitude.（4）Literary career—four decades.（5）Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1）He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2）He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3）He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century I.Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1）The Enlightenment.（2）The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favour.（3）Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4）Satiric literature.（5）SentimentalismII.Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a.Catholic family;b.ill health;c.taught himself by reading and translating;d.friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e.An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g.Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h.the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i.satire.（4）weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1）Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper. （2）Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）（3）Spectator Club.（4）The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling,they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor.（1）Life:a.studies at Oxford;b.made a living by writing and translating;c.the great cham of literature.（2）works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3）The champion of neoclassical ideas.III.Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.1.Life:（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV.English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry – romances –fabliaux – novelle - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela.picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b.Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3）novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a.business career;b.writing career;c.interested in politics.（2）Robinson Cusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a.unsuccessful dramatic career;b.legal career; writing career.（2）works.（3）Tom Jones.a.the plot;b.characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c.significance.（4）the theory of realism.（5）the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a.printer book seller;b.letter writer.（2）Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a.the storyb.the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people. b）Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c）It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a.born in Ireland;b.a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c.bookseller;d.the Literary Club;e.a miserable life;f.? the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a.story;b.the signicance.VI.English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic Age I.Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1）The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2）The creation of a world of imagination（3）The return to nature for material（4）Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace （5）Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6）The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models （7）The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8）A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9）The rebellious spiritII.Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1）Life: French Revolution（2）Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny.（3）Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humour, pathos, the response to nature –all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day – the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1）life: French Revolution（2）works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3）featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4）his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiarities of thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III.Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1）Life:a.love nature;b.Cambridge;c.tour to France;d.French revolution;e.Dorathy;f.? The Lake District;g.friend of Coleridge;h.conservative after revolution.（2）works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3）Features of his poems.a.ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spirit through the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b.characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simplepeasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1）Life:a.Cambridge;b.friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c.taking opium.（2）works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3）Biographia Literaria.（4）His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV.Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1）Life:a.Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b.a tour of Europe and the East;c.left England;d.friend with Shelley;e.worked in Greece: national hero;f.? radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2）Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3）Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers.（4）Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1）Life:a.aristocratic family;b.rebellious heart;c.Oxford;d.Irish national liberation Movement;e.disciple of William Godwin;f.? marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g.left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h.radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i.? Friend with Byron（2）works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3）Characteristics of poems.a.pursuit of a better society;b.radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4）Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1）Life:a.from a poor family;b.Cockney School;c.friend with Byron and Shelley;d.attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy.（2）works.（3）Characteristics of poemsa.loved beauty;b.seeking refuge in an idealistic world of illusions and dreams. V. Novelists of the Romantic Age.1. Water Scott. Novelist and poet（1）Life:。
刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整版笔记
英国文学简史完全版A Concise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon PeriodI. Introduction1. The historical background（1） Before the Germanic invasion（2） During the Germanic invasiona. immigration;b. Christianity;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hundred; eoldermen （lord）–thane - middle class （freemen） - lower class （slave or bondmen: theow）;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Organization;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system.2. The Overview of the culture（1） The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2） Literature: a. Poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures. II. Beowulf.1. A general introduction.2. The content.3. The literary features.（1） the use of alliteration（2） the use of metaphors and understatements（3） the mixture of pagan and Christian elementsIII. The Old English Prose1. What is prose?2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the GreatChapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval AgesI.Introduction1. The Historical Background.（1） The year 1066: Norman Conquest.（2） The social situations soon after the conquest.A. Norman nobles and serfs;B. restoration of the church.（3） The 11th century.A. the crusade and knights.B. dominance of French and Latin;（4） The 12th century.A. the centralized government;B. kings and the church （Henry II and Thomas）;（5） The 13th century.A. The legend of Robin Hood;B. Magna Carta （1215）;C. the beginning of the ParliamentD. English and Latin: official languages （the end）（6） The 14th century.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commons—conflict between the Parliament and Kings;b. the rise of towns.c. the change of Church.d. the role of women.e. the Hundred Years' War—starting.f. the development of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants' Revolt—1381.i. The translation of Bible by Wycliffe.（7） The 15th century.a. The Peasants Revolt （1453）b. The War of Roses between Lancaster and Yorks.c. the printing-press—William Caxton.d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2. The Overview of Literature.（1） the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany—great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of Monmouth—Historia Regum Britanniae—King Authur.（3） Wace—Le Roman de Brut.（4） The romance.（5） the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer.II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. A general introduction.2. The plot.III. William Langland.1. Life2. Piers the PlowmanIV. Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods（1） French period（2） Italian period（3） master period3. The Canterbury TalesA. The Framework;B. The General Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Contribution.（1） He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. （2） He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language.（3） The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V. Popular Ballads.VI. Thomas Malory and English ProseVII. The beginning of English Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2. Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions –figures representing vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general.3. Interlude.The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A HistoricalBackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1485-1660）Printing press—readership—growth of middle class—trade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser: ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical style—complexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnson: reaction——Classically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition.2. Dramaa. the native tradition and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe –Shakespeare – Jonson.3. Prosea. translation of Bible;b. More;c. Bacon.II. English poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard （courtly makers）（1） Wyatt: introducing sonnets.（2） Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidney—poet, critic, prose writer（1） Life:a. English gentleman;b. brilliant and fascinating personality;c. courtier.（2） worksa. Arcadia: pastoral romance;b. Astrophel and Stella （108）: sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereux—platonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativeness—building of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature—beginning of literary criticism.3. Edmund Spenser（1） life: Cambridge - Sidney's friend - “Areopagus” –Ireland - Westminster Abbey.（2） worksa. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequencec. Faerie Queen:l The general end——A romantic and allegorical epic—steps to virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues: Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy.l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory （symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.L Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and RenaissanceNeoclassicism—a Christian humanist.（3） Spenserian Stanza.III. English Prose1. Thomas More（1）Life: “Renaissance man”, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of artsa. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chancellor;d. beheaded.（2） Utopia: the first English science fiction.Written in Latin, two parts, the second—place of nowhere.A philosophical mariner （Raphael Hythloday） tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything.c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f. the Utopia（3） the significance.a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material.b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III.2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher and statesman（1） life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris – knighted - Lord Chancellor – bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. （2）philosophical ideas: advancement of science—people: servants and interpreters of nature—method: a child before nature—facts and observations: experimental.（3）“Essays”: 57.a. he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader to make the final decisions. （arguments）IV. English Drama1. A general survey.（1） Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2） two influences.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. native or popular drama.（3） the University Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1） Life: first interested in classical poetry—then in drama. （2） Major worksa. Tamburlaine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.（3） The significance of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life（1） 1564, Stratford-on-Avon;（2） Grammar School;（3） Queen visit to Castle;（4） marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5） London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor; （6） the 1st Folio, Quarto;（7） Retired, son—Hamlet; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-men-centered.（1） Romeo and Juliet——tragic love and fate（2） The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3） Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4） Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.（5） HamletRevengeGood/evil.（6） OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap between appearance and reality.（7） King LearFilial ingratitude（8） MacbethAmbition vs. fate.（9） Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs. reason（10） The TempestReconciliation; reality and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry（1） Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.（2） Sonnets:a. theme: fair, true, kind.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI. Ben Jonson1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the “literary king” （Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of “humor”.（2）an advocate of classical drama and a forerunner of classicism in English literature.3. Major plays（1） Everyone in His Humor—“humor”; three unities.（2） Volpone the FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（1） The metaphysical poets;（2） The Cavalier poets.（3）Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2. The restoration period.（1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicity. （school of Ben Jonson）（2）The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge （1662） were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4） The restoration drama.（5） The Age of Dryden.III. John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge—visiting the continent—involved into the revolution—persecuted—writing epics.2. Literary career.（1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. L'Allegre and IL Pens eroso （1632）are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King.（2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan wasin such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3） The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3. Major Works（1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（2） Paradise Regained.（3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Milton's works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism. （2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression.IV.John Bunyan1. Life:（1） puritan age;（2） poor family;（3） parliamentary army;（4） Baptist society, preacher;（5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（1） The allegory in dream form.（2） the plot.（3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethan's.VI. John Dryden.1. Life:（1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（3） changeable in attitude.（4） Literary career—four decades.（5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1） He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, and descriptive poetry.（2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and in the numerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th CenturyI. Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.（1） The Enlightenment.（2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form of literature, he finds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the Middle Ages delighted in long romantic narrative poems,the Elizabethans in drama, the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic and satirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost all types of literary production continue to appear, but whether we judge from the lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation, we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderance of this kind of literary entertainment in popular favor.（3） Neo-classicism: a revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. John Dryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classical school.（4） Satiric literature.（5） SentimentalismII. Neo-classicism. （a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a. Catholic family;b. ill health;c. taught himself by reading and translating;d. friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e. An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g. Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h. the heroic couplet—finish, elegance, wit, pointedness;i. satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literary periodical “Spectator” （with Steele, 1711）（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance of their essays.a. Their writings in “The Tatler”, and “The Spectator” providea new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnson—poet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor.（1）Life:a. studies at Oxford;b. made a living by writing and translating;c. the great cham of literature.（2） works: poem （The Vanity of Human Wishes, London）; criticism （The Lives of great Poets）; preface.（3） The champion of neoclassical ideas.III. Literature of Satire: Jonathan Swift.1. Life:（1）born in Ireland;（2）studies at Trinity College;（3）worked as a secretary;（4）the chief editor of The Examiner;（5）the Dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin.2. Works: The Battle of Books, A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, Gulliver's Travels.3. Gulliver's Travels.Part I. Satire—the Whig and the Tories, Anglican Church and Catholic Church.Part II. Satire—the legal system; condemnation of war.Part III. Satire—ridiculous scientific experiment.Part IV. Satire—mankind.IV. English Novels of Realistic tradition.1. The Rise of novels.（1）Early forms: folk tale – fables – myths – epic – poetry – romances – fabliaux – novella - imaginative nature of their material. （imaginative narrative）（2）The rise of the novela. picaresque novel in Spain and England （16th century）: Of or relating to a genre of prose fiction that originated in Spain and depicts in realistic detail the adventures of a roguish hero, often with satiric or humorous effects.b. Sidney: Arcadia.c. Addison and Steele: The Spectator.（plot and characterization and realism）（3） novel and drama （17the century）2. Daniel Defoe—novelist, poet, pamphleteer, publisher, merchant, journalist.）（1）Life:a. business career;b. writing career;c. interested in politics.（2） Robinson Crusoe.a. the story.b. the significance of the character.c. the features of his novels.d. the style of language.3. Henry Fielding—novelist.（1）Life:a. unsuccessful dramatic career;b. legal career; writing career.（2） works.（3） Tom Jones.a. the plot;b. characters: Tom, Blifil, Sophia;c. significance.（4） the theory of realism.（5） the style of language.V. Writers of Sentimentalism.1. Introduction2. Samuel Richardson—novelist, moralist （One who is unduly concerned with the morals of others.）（1）Life:a. printer book seller;b. letter writer.（2） Pamela, Virtue Rewarded.a. the storyb. the significancePamela was a new thing in these ways:a）It discarded the “improbable and marvelous” accomplishments of the former heroic romances, and pictured the life and love of ordinary people.b） Its intension was to afford not merely entertainment but also moral instruction.c） It described not only the sayings and doings of characters but their also their secret thoughts and feelings. It was, in fact, the first English psycho-analytical novel.3. Oliver Goldsmith—poet and novelist.A. Life:a. born in Ireland;b. a singer and tale-teller, a life of vagabondage;c. bookseller;d. the Literary Club;e. a miserable life;f. the most lovable character in English literature.B. The Vicar of Wakefield.a. story;b. the signicance.VI. English Drama of the 18th century1. The decline of the drama2. Richard Brinsley SheridenA. life.B. works: Rivals, The School for Scandals.C. significance of his plays.a. The Rivals and The School for Scandal are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy.b. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.c. Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man.d. His plots are well-organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.Chapter 6 English Literature of the Romantic AgeI. Introduction1. Historical Background2. Literary Overview: RomanticismCharacteristics of Romanticism:（1） The spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings（2） The creation of a world of imagination（3） The return to nature for material（4） Sympathy with the humble and glorification of the commonplace （5） Emphasis upon the expression of individual genius（6） The return to Milton and the Elizabethans for literary models （7） The interest in old stories and medieval romances（8） A sense of melancholy and loneliness（9） The rebellious spiritII. Pre-Romantics1. Robert Burns（1） Life: French Revolution（2） Features of poetrya. Burns is chiefly remembered for his songs written in the Scottish dialect.b. His poems are usually devoid of artificial ornament and have a great charm of simplicity.c. His poems are especially appreciated for their musical effect.d. His political and satirical poems are noted for his passionate love for freedom and fiery sentiments of hatred against tyranny. （3） Significance of his poetryHis poetry marks an epoch in the history of English literature. They suggested that the spirit of the Romantic revival was embodied in this obscure ploughman. Love, humor, pathos, the response to nature – all the poetic qualities that touch the human heart are in his poems, which marked the sunrise of another day –the day of Romanticism.2. William Blake（1） life: French Revolution（2） works.l Songs of Innocencel Songs of Experience（3） featuresa. sympathy with the French Revolutionb. hatred for 18th century conformity and social institutionc. attitude of revolt against authorityd. strong protest against restrictive codes（4） his influenceBlake is often regarded as a symbolist and mystic, and he has exerted a great influence on twentieth century writers. His peculiaritiesof thought and imaginative vision have in many ways proved far more congenial to the 20th century than they were to the 19th.III. Romantic Poets of the first generation1. Introduction2. William Wordsworth: representative poet, chief spokesman of Romantic poetry（1） Life:a. love nature;b. Cambridge;c. tour to France;d. French revolution;e. Dorathy;f. The Lake District;g. friend of Coleridge;h. conservative after revolution.（2） works:a. the Lyrical Ballads （preface）: significanceb. The Prelude: a biographical poem.c. the other poems（3） Features of his poems.a. ThemeA constant theme of his poetry was the growth of the human spiritthrough the natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.b. characteristics of style.His poems are characterized by a sympathy with the poor, simple peasants, and a passionate love of nature.3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge: poet and critic（1） Life:a. Cambridge;b. friend with Southey and Wordsworth;c. taking opium.（2） works.l The fall of Robespierrel The Rime of the Ancient Marinerl Kubla Khanl Biographia Literaria（3） Biographia Literaria.（4） His criticismHe was one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language. In both poetry and criticism, his work is outstanding, but it is typical of him that his critical work is very scattered and disorganized.IV. Romantic Poets of the Second Generation.1. Introduction2. George Gordon Byron（1） Life:a. Cambridge, published poems and reviews;b. a tour of Europe and the East;c. left England;d. friend with Shelley;e. worked in Greece: national hero;f. radical and sympathetic with French Revolution.（2） Works.l Don Juanl When We Two Partedl She Walks in Beauty（3） Byronic Hero.Byron introduced into English poetry a new style of character, which as often been referred to as “Byronic Hero” of “satanic spirit”. People imagined that they saw something of Byron himself in these strange figures of rebels, pirates, and desperate adventurers. （4） Poetic style: loose, fluent and vivid3. Percy Bysshe Shelley: poet and critic（1） Life:a. aristocratic family;b. rebellious heart;c. Oxford;d. Irish national liberation Movement;e. disciple of William Godwin;f. marriage with Harriet, and Marry;g. left England and wandered in EUrope, died in Italy;h. radical and sympathetic with the French revolution;i. Friend with Byron（2） works: two types – violent reformer and wanderer （3） Characteristics of poems.a. pursuit of a better society;b. radian beauty;c. superb artistry: imagination.（4） Defense of Poetry.4. John Keats.（1） Life:a. from a poor family;b. Cockney School;c. friend with Byron and Shelley;d. attacked by the conservatives and died in Italy. （2） works.（3） Characteristics of poems。
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本文供考研英国文学复习第二遍和第三遍的时候使用，第一遍要把教材细读一遍。
很多人觉的文学学的乱七八糟，主要是因为脑子里没有一个清晰的纲领，在临考前脑子里要对文学有很清晰的纲领，这样就算复习的差不多了。
有人又问？什么是纲领？比如说英国文学吧，你要知道英国文学大致分为多少个时期，每一个时期有什么总体特点，有什么总体的literary trend，然后这个时期有那些重要的作家，每一个重要的作家都写过什么重要的作品，这些重要的作品大致内容是什么，有什么意义，有什么写作特色，除了这些之外，再对基本的文学术语有所了解就差不多了。
当然如果要求选读的，选读作品得另看。
Part One: Early and Medieval English Literature1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements（此处可能会有填空，选择等小题）2. Romance（名词解释）3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’s story4. Ballad（名词解释）5. Character of Robin Hood6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written inMiddle English; significance; form: heroic couplet)7. Heroic couplet (名词解释)Part Two: The English Renaissance8. The Authorized Version of English Bible and its significance（填空选择）9. Renaissance（名词解释）10.Thomas More——Utopia11. Sonnet（名词解释）12. Blank verse（名词解释）13. Edmund Spenser“The Faerie Queene”; Amoretti (collection of his sonnets)Spenserian Stanza（名词解释）14. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读）15. Christopher Marlowe (“Doctor Faustus” and his achievements)16. William Shakespeare可以说是英国文学史中最重要的作家，一定要看熟了。
四大喜剧，四大悲剧比较重要，此外就是罗密欧与朱立叶了，这些剧的主题，背景，情节，人物形象都要熟悉，当然他最重要的悲剧作品是Hamlet这是肯定的。
他的sonnet也很重要，最重要属sonnet18。
（其戏剧中著名对白和几首有名的十四行诗可能会出选读）17. Ben Jonson个别戏剧的名字要能和人对上号，如Every Man in His Humor,二外好像在这里出过一道匹配题，但是不用看太具体。
Part Three: The Period of the English Bourgeois Revolution18. John Milton三大史诗非常重要，特别是Paradise Lost和Samson Agonistes。
对于Paradise Lost需要知道它是blank verse写成的，故事情节来自Old Testament，具体情节在课本124页，另外要知道此书theme和Satan的形象。
对于Samson Agonistes要知道它是poetical drama，知道故事大概情节及其来源。
另外129页到130页brief summary 中5条要看。
19. John Bunyan——The Pilgrim’s Progress20. Founder of the Metaphysical school——John Donne; features of the school: philosophical poems, complex rhythms and strange images21. Andrew Marvell此人不重要，但他有一首名诗To His Coy Mistress22. John Dryden——“All for Love”(a tragedy); “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy”(Literary criticism); forerunner of the Classicism in BritainPart Four: The Eighteen Century23. Enlightenment（名词解释）24. Classicism（名词解释）25. Richard Steele——“The Tatler”26. Joseph Addison——“The Spectator”这个比上面那个要重要，注意这个报纸和我们今天的报纸不一样，它虚构了一系列的人物，以这些人物的口气来写报纸上刊登的散文，这一部分要仔细读。
27. Steel’s and Addison’s styles and their contributions28. Alexander Pope: “Essay on Criticism”, “Essay on Man”, “The Rape of Lock”, “The Dunciad”; his workmanship (features) and limitations 29. Jonathan Swift: “Gulliver’s Travels”此书非常重要，要知道具体内容，就是Gulliver游历过的四个地方的英文名称，和每个部分具体的讽刺对象; “The Drapier’s Letters” and “A Modest Proposal”,后一篇比较重要，要注意后一篇作者用的irony也就是反讽手法。
30. The rise and growth of the realistic novel is the most prominent achievement of 18th century English literature.31. Daniel Defoe: “Robinson Crusoe”, “Moll Flanders”,当然是Robinson Crusoe比较重要，剧情要清楚，179页这一节最后一段，有Robinson Crusoe的形象和故事中蕴涵的早期黑奴的原形，以及殖民主义的萌芽。
另外注意Defoe的style和feature，另外Defoe是forerunner of English realistic novel。
32. Samuel Richardson——“Pamela” (first epistolary novel), “Clarissa Harlowe”, “Sir Charles Grandison”33. Henry Fielding: “Joseph Andrews”, “Jonathan Wild”, “Tom Jones”第一个和第三个比较重要，需要仔细看。
他是一个比较重要的作家，200页founder of the English Realistic novel部分要看，201页第3点features 也要看，另外Fielding也被称为father of the English novel.34. Laurence Sterne——“Tristram Shandy”35. Richard Sheridan——“The School for Scandal”36. Samuel Johnson——“Dictionary”, “Letter to Lord Chesterfield”(the writers’ declaration of independence)37. Oliver Goldsmith——“The Traveller”(poem), “The Deserted Village”(poem) (both two poems were written by heroic couplet), “The Vicar of Wakefield” (novel), “The Good-Natured Man” (comedy), “She stoops to Conquer”(comedy), “The Citizen of the World”(collection of essays)38. Edward Gibbon——“The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”40. Sentimentalism（名词解释）41. Thomas Gray——“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”（英国诗歌里非常著名的一首，曾经被誉为“有史以来英国诗歌里最好的一首”）(a representative of sentimentalism and graveyard school of poets墓园派诗人)*GraveyardSchool / Poets”: A term applied to eighteenth-century poets who wrote meditative poems, usually set in a graveyard, on the theme of human mortality, in moods which range from elegiac pensiveness to profound gloom. The vogue resulted in one of the most widely known English poems, Thomas Gray’s “Elegy written in a country churchyard”. The writing of graveyard poems spread from England to Continental literature in the second part of the century and also influenced some American poets.42. In the latter half of the 18th century, Pre-Romanticism; representative: William Blake and Robert Burns.43. Thomas Percy——“Reliques of Ancient English poetry”许多中古的民谣都是在这个时期重新收集和整理起来的，这个集子是那个时代比较有名的一个民谣集。