英国文学史pdf总结 刘炳善

English Literature History

Old and Medieval English Literature

Old English Literature (mid-4th C-mid 11th C)

Language: Anglo-Saxon (old English)

Society: tribal society~feudalism

Belief: Christianity (7th C)

Literature: poetry

Romance 冒险故事，传奇: knight

famous three:

King Arthur

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Beowulf

the earliest literature

the national epic (叙事史诗) of the English people (Anglo-

Saxons)

Denmark story

alliteration, metaphors, understatements 保守的说法Medieval English Literature (1066-the end of 14th C)

Norman conquest-Feudalism

styles:

romance

legend

story

poems

Messenger of humannism;

Founder of English realism;

Father of English poetry;

Master of Modern English languages;

Pioneer of English Renaissance.

representative writers

William Langland

Piers the Plowman 耕者皮尔斯

a picture of feudal English (over 7000 lines)

in the form of a dream vision

using symbolism (to relate truth)

Geoffery Chaucer

Introduction

In English literature history, London dialect was first used to

write.

Achievements :

Founder of English Realism

The Father of English Poetry

Messenger of humanism

Founder & Master of modern English language

Pioneer of the English Renaissance

The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集

the 1st time to use "heroic couplet (英雄双韵体)" by middle

English

124 stories panned but 24 finished and 2 unfinished

The English Renaissance

Renaissance: 14th C-17th C, English Renaissance: 15th C-17th C.

Literary Features:

translation works (French/Italian/Lation/Greek)

poetry

adventurous stories

drama

prose writing

Characteristics:

Keen interests and curiosity for classics

Aspiration for humanity, humanism is the key note of Renaissance.

Utopia: an ideal communist society

Sir Philip Sidney: a poet and critic poetry

Astrophel and Stella, Apology for poetry

Walter Raleigh

Discovery of Guiana

Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

The Faerie Queen 仙后 (written for Queen Elizabeth)

The Shepherd Calendar (modern English)

Francis Bacon

The founder of English materialist/modern science in English.

The first essayist

Of Studies

The wording of this essay is elegant with parallel

structures and long sentences. It shows Bacon's great

talent in language and offers many proverbs.

New Instrument

He even invented the fridge.

Advance of Learning

William Shakespeare

Main Features:

realistic writing

imitation and adaptation

deversifies writing skills and methods: song, sonnet, couplet

and blank verse

Four Great Comedies

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Merchant of Venice

As You Like It

Twelfth Night

Four Great Tragedies

Macbeth

King Lear

Hamlet

Othello

The English Bourgeois Revolution (Transitional Period)

John Milton

三大史诗 epics

Paradise Lost (1667): blank verse. Plots originated from Old Testament

旧约

Theme: a revolt against God's authority