英美文学读书笔记
英美文学名著读后感
英美文学名著读后感英美文学名著读后感（通用22篇）在学习、工作或生活中，大家都接触过美文吧？网络文化是一种开放、自由的文化，给美文的概念也赋予了更多的开放自由的元素，用通俗的讲法，写的好的文章，就是美文。
那么，你知道一篇好的美文要怎么写吗？下面是小编为大家收集的英美文学名著读后感，欢迎大家借鉴与参考，希望对大家有所帮助。
英美文学名著读后感篇1《简爱》是一部英国文学史上的经典之作。
它的伟大在于成功地塑造了一位坚持维护独立人格，最求个性自由，主张人生平等，不向命运屈服的坚强女性形象。
小说的主人公简爱从小父母双亡，过着寄人篱下的生活。
小小年纪就承受着与同龄人不一样的待遇：姨妈的嫌弃，表姐的蔑视，表哥的侮辱和毒打……以至被抛弃送进环境恶劣的劳渥德学校。
读到这里，我既为简爱的不幸遭遇感到难过，又为这些人的冷酷无情而感到气愤。
道貌岸然的布洛克尔赫斯特先生不但当着全体师生的面诋毁她，还让她在众人面前示众。
可以说简爱的童年是不幸的。
然而，在这些不幸和苦难面前，她并没有退缩，而是勇敢顽强地面对，把它化为战胜不幸和苦难的动力。
不但在学习上飞速进步，同时也取得了全校师生的理解。
同样，在那些贵族小姐和绅士面前，她也始终保持着高贵的尊严。
面对嘲笑与挖苦，她从不因为自己是一个地位低贱的家庭教师而感到自卑。
她认为他们是平等的，一样受到别人的尊重。
“难道就因为我一贫如洗，默默无闻，长相平庸，个子矮小，就没有灵魂，没有心肠了——你错了，我的心灵跟你一样丰富，我的心胸跟你一样充实！”也正是因为她的正直、高尚和纯洁，深深打动了罗切斯特先生，使他感到自惭形秽，对简爱肃然起敬。
最后，简爱终于找到属于自己的幸福。
正是这种敢于向恶俗实力反抗、追求平等的精神，让夏洛蒂笔下的简爱形象获得了永生。
通过这篇小说，我们不难发现，在主人公简爱的身上有着作者自身的影子。
夏洛蒂勃朗特出生于一个生活贫寒的牧师家庭，幼年失去母亲，受学识渊博的父亲影响，从小便对文学产生了浓厚的兴趣。
英美文学选读 笔记
英美文学选读笔记+考题Lecture 1 William Shakespeare1. Introduction of the course(1) This course is called Selected Readings in English and American Literature, a compulsory course for you. It will be finished in 12 weeks. And in each week we'll meet each other two times.(2) In this course, you will have to read some original works taken from English and American classics. It may be a little bit difficult for you. However, it's also a chance for you to know some great treasury in world literature and I'll help you understand them.(3)Comparing with the literary history courses, this course mainly focuses on original productions. The course book is a nice one with classical works and detailed notes.(4) For the final test, 10% will be decided by your attendance, 20% by your homework and 70% by the test paper. About the homework, after we finish each writer, I'll give you a name list of recommended works written by the writer. In the whole semester, you should choose at least one piece of English writer's works and one piece of American writer's works recommended by me. And then you should write a small paper on the piece of works you chose. That means you should turn in two papers in the whole semester.(5) A very important suggestion: preview the productions before the class; otherwise it'll be very difficult for you to catch me in the class.2. William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)(1) Historical BackgroundA. Queen Elizabeth I: a powerful England with the fast development of capitalismB. Renaissance: an intellectual movement sprung first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. Two features are striking of this movement. The one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. Another is the humanism, which means the new feeling of admiration for human beauty and human achievement.C. Shakespeare lived in such a period and also such a period made him the most famous and most important English writer.(2) Life(Read paragraph 1 and 2 on page 1 after class. These two paragraphs are the introduction of the great writer's life.)A. His complete works include 37 plays, 2 narrative poems and 154 sonnets.B. He is mainly famous for his great plays, especially the outstanding "Four Great Tragedies". ("Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and "Macbeth") He is also the author of some other famous plays, such as "Romeo and Juliet", but today we'll learn the excerpt from one of his great comedies - "The Merchant of Venice", which we'll talk about a little bit later.C. Shakespeare's sonnets are also very good. We'll first introduce Sonnet 18, the most famous sonnet written by Shakespeare.(3) Sonnet 18A. A sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. It was introduced to England from Italy by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. (It is a very popular poem form and used widely in English literature. In the Elizabeth era, Edmund Spenser was also famous for his sonnets. And later, John Milton, Byron and Keats all contributed excellent sonnets.)B. Though the sonnet is a fixed form, but the rhyme scheme of the sonnet is not fixed. (few minutes for students to find out this poem's rhyme scheme.)Answer: abab cdcd efef gg. This is a typical rhyme scheme used by Shakespeare in all his sonnets.C. Explain the poem sentence by sentence.temperate: moderate or mild; rough winds: strong winds; darling: lovely; lease: 租约;complexion: appearance; dim: darken with cloud; brag: boast;D.(discuss) Theme: expressing the deep love to his friend(4) The Merchant of VeniceA. Famous comedy written by Shakespeare in his youthB. Setting: Venice, the Middle AgeC. Characters: Bassanio, Antonio, Shylock, Portia (let students discuss the characters)Portia: Shakespeare's ideal woman, beautiful, intelligent, cultured, gracious, independent, a daughter of RenaissanceShylock: most successful character, a Jew, a greedy and merciless usurer and also a victim of racial discrimination and religious persecution (sympathy)D. Plot: Read the introduction from P3 to P4.E. (Discuss)Theme: Mercy wins over malice.F. The selection is the most famous scene of the whole play and also the climax of the play. (Ask students to read it thoroughly after the class.) In the class, we'll learn a short part taken from the scene. (P10 to P11, the famous statement about mercy made by Portia)G. (the last but not least) form of the play: verse drama written in blank verse mostlyblank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. Soon after blank verse was introduced by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey in his translation of Virgil's works, it became the standard meter for Elizabethan and later poetic dramas and some poets, such as John Milton, also employed this form to write their long poems.(5) Recommended ReadingSonnet 29; Sonnet 73; Sonnet 116; Four great tragedies; Romeo and Juliet; A Midsummer Night's Dream3. Homework1. Preview the next chapter about John Milton.2. Find out the form and rhyme scheme of the poem "To Cyriack Skinner" on P23.Lecture 2 John Milton (1608 0 1674)(Comparing with William Shakespeare, few people read his great productions today. However, he is also a classical writer in English Literature.)1. Historical Background(Discussion: Any important event happened during Milton's life time in Britain )English Bourgeois RevolutionThe conflicts between King (James I and then Charles I) and the ParliamentProfound conflicts: the Old Feudalism and New CapitalismIn religion: The Anglican Church and the PuritanThe consequence of those contradictions: the Civil War (1642 - 1649)The King was executed in 1649 and monarchy was abolished.Oliver Cromwell's dictatorship (1649 - 1660)The Restoration: Charles II and then James IIGlorious Revolution (1688)2. Lifeborn in a rich and cultured family - handsome and hardworking - graduated from Cambridge University and got master degree - six years' private study and the most knowledgeable poet in Britain - writing pamphlets for the Commonwealth - blind in 1652 - arrested and fined after restoration - produced three great poems in plain lifeMost important works - three great poems: Paradise Lost (1667); Paradise Regained (1671); Samson Agonistes (1671) (poetic drama)Besides three great poems in his late years, he also wrote some excellent sonnets including the one we'll learn today.3. To Cyriack Skinner(Ask the questions of homework) (Answer: Sonnet; abba abba cdcdcd)(1) Form: Sonnet(2) Rhyme scheme: abba abba cdcdcd (different with William Shakespeare's sonnets)(3) Explain the poem sentence by sentence(4) (Discussion) Theme: the author's positive attitude towards his blindness (another sonnet on blindness seems more discouraged.)4. Paradise Lost (《失乐园》)(1) Milton's masterpiece; greatest epic written in the English language*epic(史诗): it is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human race. Notice the differences between traditional epics and literary epics. Paradise Lost is a literary epic.(2) It's a long epic including 12 books. The plot is taken from the Old Testament of Holy Bible.*Holy Bible对于理解西方文化最重要的经典,分为《旧约》(The Old Testament)和《新约》(The New Testament)两部分,这两部分写于不同的时期,而且使用的文字不同,《旧约》主要用希伯莱语写成,《新约》则用希腊文写成.圣经最早曾被翻译成希腊文,然后是拉丁文,在欧洲各国通行.《圣经》英译始自8世纪,但各种版本都不算通行,直到Martin Luther宗教改革之后,1611年出现的Authorized Version至今通行,对英国的语言和文学影响极大.推荐阅读英文版《圣经》节选或房龙《圣经的故事》中文版.Plot: (paragraph two on P24) revolt of Satan and some other angels 0 their defeat and throwing into the Hell 0 temptation of Adam and Eve 0 expulsion of Adam and Eve(3) Theme: "to justify the ways of God to man" (submission to the Almighty) (Discussion: Is this the real theme of the poem )Real theme: praising the rebellious spirits against the despot(4) CharacterizationGod: the despot, selfish, cruel and unjust (King of Britain)Satan: real hero, dare to revolt against the despot, persevering but not discouraged after the failure (Republicans including Milton)(Milton is a pious Christian. This epic is the production of the conflicts between his religious belief and political belief. )(5) (P26 Learn a short excerpt from Paradise Lost) Form: blank verse(6) Explain the excerpt sentence by sentence.(7) (Do you think John Milton's works difficult ) Miltonic style: to express the sublimity of thought, sonority, eloquence, majesty and grandeur style(Latin words and Latin sentence structure, inversion, archaism, long sentence and mostly formal words, thus the style formed and his English rather difficult)5. Recommended ReadingJohn Milton's two sonnets: On his blindness; On his deceased wife6. HomeworkPreview the next chapter including the life of Daniel Defoe, the introduction of Robinson Crusoe and the excerpt Chapter VIII from P33 to P37.Lecture 3 Daniel Defoe (1660 0 1731)(He is a very famous novelist around the world because of his popular novel Robinson Crusoe.) 1. Historical Background(1) Comparing with the 17th century, the 18th century is a period for peaceful development.(2) The constitutional monarchy has been set up by parliament in 1688. After the Glorious Revolution, the monarch was deprived of ruling power and in his place Parliament became the actual leader of the country. The Tory and the Whig, as two major parties in England, competed with each other in politics. (Discussion: What do you know about the Whig and the Tory )* 辉格党(Whig)和托利党(Tory)是17世纪末在英国出现的两个正在形成中的政党.1679年,当议会讨论詹姆士公爵(即后来的詹姆士二世)是否有权继承英国王位时,议员们展开了激烈争论.赞成的人被对方称为"托利",反对的人则被对方称为"辉格".渐渐地,双方各自都以此自称.后来,双方的观点都发生了变化,辉格党对君主不再持完全的否定态度,因为"光荣革命"后英国君主的权力已经受到种种限制;托利党也逐渐改变了坚决拥护专制君主制的立场,因为他们几次恢复旧王朝的企图都因遭到了大多数人的反对而失败.久而久之,国王发现,无论是辉格党还是托利党,当其中一个在议会中占多数时,就最好任命这个党的成员为内阁大臣,内阁就不会同议会闹矛盾.18世纪上半期,辉格党在政治上占优势,是议会多数党,故此,辉格党执政近半个世纪.18世纪后半期,托利党才得以执政.工业革命以后,两党的主张发生一些变化.大约在19世纪30年代,托利党改称保守党(Conservative),辉格党改称自由党(Liberal).不过在现在的英国自由党的势力已经衰落了,现在英国的两个主要党派是保守党和工党,英国现任首相布莱尔即是来自工党(Labor Party)的.(3) England grew from a second rate country to a powerful naval country in this century. In a series of wars, England proved her power of naval force.(4) (Discussion)With the ascent of the bourgeoisie cultural life had undergone remarkable changes:A. Political writing: depending on patrons to working for either party in order to help them win more votes;B. Newspapers and journals: for parties and also for the rising middle classC. Due to the development of science and philosophy, (Issac Newton) reason rather than emotion played a more important role in the age. Thus the age was called the Age of Reason. Church's influence was greatly weakened.(5) The rise of the English novel①The modern European novel began after the Renaissance, with Cervantes' "Don Quixote". (西班牙,塞万提斯,《唐吉诃德》)②The rise and growth of the realistic(现实主义作家,以描写现实生活为主要目的) novel is the most prominent achievement of the 18th century English literature. And from Defoe, the pioneer novelist in English literary history, we will meet several great novelists in the following chapters. (Forerunner of English realistic novels)2. Life (P29 Paragraph 1 and 2)(1) born in a butcher's family; father was a dissenter(2) graduated from a dissenting academy but did not want to be a clergyman(3) once a prosperous merchant; bankrupt and got into a heavy debt(4) writing all kinds of books including political pamphlets and trade books for a living(5) questionable political character because served both parties(6) versatile person contributing a lot to journalism ("The Review"; father of modern journalism) and trade(7) When he was 60 years old, he published Robinson Crusoe and then a series of novels which made him a major novelist in English literary history.3. Major works: Robinson Crusoe; Captain Singleton; Moll Flanders etc. (P30)most important: Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders (1722)Moll Flanders: Defoe introduces, for the first time, a lowly woman as the subject of literature. And it anticipates many later novels that take women as the center of attention in order to expose how the social system victimized them. The heroine is a woman living by stealing and cheating. It is also a tradition in English novel but the author's purpose is not showing her tricks. His purpose is satirizing the social system.4. Robinson Crusoe《鲁滨逊漂流记》(1) Background: a real incident; 1704, Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was thrown onto a desolate island by the mutinous crew of his ship. He lived there alone for 5 years. Defoe read about his adventures in a newspaper and went to interview him to get first-hand information.The first translation wad done by Lin Shu in 1905 and became quite popular in China.(2) Plot: run away from home →become a sailor →a planter in Brazil →to an uninhabited island because of shipwreck →made a living there all by himself →save a negro named Friday who became his servant →back to England →visit the remote island again and Friday was killedOriginal name of the novel: The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoea picaresque novel with a little change (main character is different)(3) (Discussion) Robinson Crusoe's characterization: typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical, diligent, a restless curiosity to know more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges; shrewd, care about money and good at managing; courageous and intelligent to overcome all kinds of obstacles(4) (Discussion) Theme: praising labor and man's courage and effort to conquer nature, but at the same time he beautifies colonialism and slavery (Friday)(5) (Ask some questions about the excerpt)What is the first thing mentioned in the excerpt done by Robinson (The first paragraph) (keeping his calendar)How Robinson made a home for himself step by step on the remote island(Finding some useful thing from the wrecked ship - making a little pale around his tent - making a hut with the roof - enlarging his cave and making it like a storehouse - making a chair and a table - making large shelves - keep everything in order(6) (Discussion) Style: journalistic truth with many vivid details, simple and plain sentence structure and language, first person point of view, natural order in narration, making the story intimate to the readers and become popular among lower classes5. Recommended Reading: Robinson Crusoe (the complete novel)6. HomeworkPreview the next chapter, especially the Chapter VIII from P50 to P56. Try to answer question 4 and 5 on P59 after your preview.Lecture 4 Jonathan Swift (1667 0 1745)(He is a master satirist famous for his Gulliver's Travels.)1. Life(He lived in the same age with Daniel Defoe, so we needn't introduce the historical background again.)①He was born in a poor family in Dublin, Ireland. His father died before his birth.②He graduated from Trinity College in Dublin but he was a rebellious student there. He didn't want to join the church.③He worked in a nobleman's house (Sir Temple, his distant relative) and it was a bitter experience for him because he was treated as a servant.④He first supported Whig and then Tory and then left the political circle. He was good at political writing and once a very popular character. (Review the introduction of Whig and Tory.)⑤After he left political circle he returned to Ireland and became a dean. He wrote a lot of pamphlets to protest the unjust policies of English government to Ireland.⑥Because of a brain disease, Swift became insane and died miserably.2. Works(Read the first paragraph on P43)①"A Modest Proposal"?Climax of his pamphlets on Ireland?It was a bitter satire and in this small book Swift suggested the poverty of the Irish people should be relieved by the sale of their children as food for the rich. (Irony)?这本小册子除了是对英国政府对爱尔兰的剥削政策的讽刺之外,也是对一些projectors的讽刺,Swift在写这本小册子时就以一个projector(献策者)自居.本文流传很广,是Swift最有名的政论文章,也是历来英国散文选必选之文章.(《英国文学名篇选注》)*Irony(反讽):This term derives from a character in a Greek comedy. In most of the modern critical uses of the term "irony", there remains the root sense of dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve rhetorical or artistic effects. ②"Gulliver's Travels"(《格列佛游记》)?Background: famous as a book for children but actually an important satirical book; took the form of a travel book because this form was popular at that time?Central character: Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon on a merchant ship?Four voyages: Lilliput to Brobdingnag to Laputa to the country of Houyhnms (Read the introduction on P43)?(Discussion) Do you think Swift designed these strange stories only for fun(Answer: no, the purpose is making a bitter satire on English politics and other vices in the society at that time.)?(Turn to P50 and see the excerpt) This is a chapter taken from the last part of the book. It is mainly about the country of Houyhnms. In Gulliver's Travels, before each chapter begins, you can find several sentences telling you the main ideas of the chapter.(Answer the question 4 and 5 on P59.)(Discussion) What are the implied ideas the author tried to convey by this chapter(The author believed Reason was very important for human being. If human's desires aren'tcontrolled by reason, human will become disgusting like yahoos one day in the future. Notice the special historical background of the book - Age of Reason.)?(Discussion) Style of Swift's prose: His prose style is simple, clear and vigorous. His famous saying "Proper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style" influenced a lot later writers.3. Recommended ReadingGulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal4. HomeworkPreview chapter 6 (P70 A Red, Red Rose) and chapter 7 (P75 London).Lecture 5 Robert Burns and William Blake(Today we will meet two interesting poets. They lived in the later part of the 18th century and each has some special characteristics which make them have a peculiar position in the English literary history.)1. Robert Burns (1759 0 1796) (罗伯特彭斯) (He was called the national poet of Scotland. But he mainly lived a hard life and died when he was only 37 years old.)(*Scotland: 1707 为英格兰吞并,1745发生过大规模反英起义,曾经是一个独立的国家,有自己独特的民族传统,著名电影Brave Heart)(1) Life (Paragraph 1 on P69)A. He was born in a poor peasant family and only received two and a half years of regular schooling.B. He has been a poor peasant for nearly half of his life.C. He had an intimate knowledge of Scottish folk songs and ballads.D. He decided to go to Jamaica to make a living. He published his poem collection for passage money. The collection called Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect became popular soon so Burns cancelled his plan.E. He has been a lower rank official in the rest of his life. And he collected and published lots of Scottish folk songs and ballads but refused any payment.F. He died when he was 37. All his life he lived in poverty and illness.(2) Poems(His poems can be divided into several groups according to their themes.)A. On love and friendship"A Red, Red Rose", "Auld Lang Syne"(友谊地久天长)etc.B. On patriotism"Scots Wha Hae" etc.(3) Sample: "A Red, Red Rose"A. Background: wrote in 1794 and published in 1796, based on a Scottish folk song, a famous English love poemB. (Discussion) Q1: Rhyme scheme of the poemQ2: Who is speaking in the poemQ3: To whom is the poem addressedQ4: What is the theme of the poemC. (Answers) Q1: "ballad meter": in each stanza the odd-numbered lines are iambic tetrameters while the even-numbered lines are iambic trimesters and the rhyme scheme is abcbQ2: first-person "I", a person in love with a girlQ3: the lover, girlfriend of the poetQ4: showing the deep love to the loverD. Explain several difficult points of the poemA Red Red RoseO, my luve is like a red, red rose, (luve即标准英文中的love,这里是苏格兰方言)That's newly sprung in June,(sprung是spring的过去式,发芽的意思)O, my luve is like the melodie,(melodie: sweet music)That's sweetly play'd in tune.(in tune: harmoniously)As fair art thou, my bonie lass,(fair美丽;art thou: are you;bonie lass: pretty girl)So deep in luve am I,And I will luve thee still, my dear,(still: always, forever)Till a'the seas gang dry. (until all seas become dry; a': all; gang: go)Till a'the seas gang dry, my dear,And the rocks melt wi' the sun!And I will luve thee still, my dear,While the sands o'life shall run. (as long as I live; sand指古代计算时间用的沙漏)And fare thee weel, my only luve, (fare you weel也就是farewell or good-bye to you)And fare thee weel, a while!And I will come again, my luve,Tho' it were ten thousand mile! (tho': though)一朵红红的玫瑰(王佐良译)啊!我的爱人像朵红红的玫瑰,六月里迎风初开;啊!我的爱人像支甜甜的曲子,奏的合拍又和谐.我的好姑娘,多么美丽的人儿!请看我,多么深挚的爱情!亲爱的,我永远爱你,纵使大海干涸水流尽.纵使大海干涸水流尽,太阳将岩石烧作灰尘,亲爱的,我永远爱你,只要我一息犹存.珍重吧,我惟一的爱人,珍重吧,让我们暂时离别,但我定要回来!哪怕千里万里!E. (Discussion) Features: using of Scottish dialect; form of folk song and ballad (rhyme scheme and repetition); musical quality; plain but passionate language(4) Recommended Reading"Auld Lang Syne"; "John Anderson, my jo" or some other poems written by Burns2. William Blake (1757 - 1827)(1) Life (Paragraph 1 and 2 on P73)A. born in a poor family in London; received a little formal education on drawingB. first an apprentice of an engraver and later an engraver himself nearly all his lifeC. a pious Christian and died in obscurity and poverty(2) WorksA. Songs of Innocence (1789): pictures of merry nature and innocent children; everything in harmony; only some minor vicesB. Songs of Experience (1794): contrast; pictures of neediness and distress and showed the sufferings of the poor; showing the change of the author's world view and also showing the change of the social background(3) Sample: London (P75)A. (Discussion) Q1: Do you think this poem is taken from Song of Innocence or Song of ExperienceQ2: Did the author love the London described in the poemQ3: What is the rhyme scheme of the poemQ4: What is the theme of the poemB. (Answer) Q1: Song of ExperienceQ2: No. (He once loved London very much and wrote such lines "golden London and her silver Thames" but London gradually degenerated in the poet's heart)Q3: abab; iambic tetrameterQ4: criticizing the dark sides of English society and showing the sufferings of common people (The poem has been called "mightiest brief poem" because it employs only several images to describe some deep-rooted social vices vividly.)C. Explain the poem sentence by sentence.* Chinese version伦敦(王佐良译)我走过每条独占的街道,徘徊在独占的泰晤士河边,我看见每个过往的行人有一张衰弱,痛苦的脸每个人的每声呼喊每个婴孩害怕的号叫每句话,每条禁令都响着心灵铸成的镣铐多少扫烟囱孩子的喊叫震惊了每座熏黑的教堂不幸士兵的长叹像鲜血留下了宫墙最怕是深夜的街头又听年轻妓女的诅咒它骇住了初生儿的眼泪又带来瘟疫,使婚车变成灵柩D. Features: vivid images to make the poem picturesque; short, clear and concise; simple and fresh words; mysterious atmosphere and difficult symbolism in some poemsE. Conclusion: a precursor of Romanticism (pay more attention on inspiration and emotion rather than reason and neat form of the poem)(4) Recommended ReadingThe Chimney Sweeper; The Tyger; Holy Thursday etc.3. HomeworkPreview Chapter 8 (Composed upon Westminster Bridge) and Chapter 12 (On the Grasshopper and Cricket).Lecture 6 William Wordsworth and John Keats1. Age of Romanticism(1) Time: 1798 (publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge) to 1832 (death of Sir Walter Scott)(2) Essence: shift from reason to emotion(3) Historical BackgroundFrench Revolution (1789 Bastille) and American Independence War (1776 win): revolution enthusiasm swept nearly all European countries.Industrial Revolution (end of the 18th century)": great wealth to the rich and worsen the working and living condition of the poor(4) FeaturesA. Subjectivism ("Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"): poetry expresses poets' minds.B. Spontaneity: opposing rules and regulations, free choice of formC. Enlarging the subject matter: countryside life; supernatural; natural beauty etc.D. Simplicity of languageE. For English literature, it was an Age of Poetry. (lots of famous poets)2. William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)(1) Life (P79 Paragraph 1 - 4)A. born in a lawyer's family but lost both of his parents when he was youngB. was educated in a school in the beautiful lake district thus developed an interest in natureC. graduated from Cambridge and a supporter of French RevolutionD. gradually grew conservative and became Poet Laureate*lake poets: three poets including William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Robert Southey; they lived in the Lake District in the northwestern part of England. They were friends and traversed the same path in politics and in poetry.(2) PoemsA. Collection: Lyrical Ballads (1798) (cooperated with Coleridge) (in the Preface proposed some different views on poetry) (mark the beginning of romanticism)B. Two categories according to themeHe is mainly famous for his poems on nature, such as "I wandered lonely as a cloud".He also wrote lots of poems on common people's life, such as "The solitary reaper", "She dwelt among the untrodden way", "We are seven" etc.(3) Sample: Composed upon Westminster Bridge (P82)A. (Discussion) Q1: form and rhyme scheme of the poemQ2: Tell the name of the city and the river described in the poemQ3: What is the theme of the poemQ4: Did the beautiful scenery of the city influence the authorB. (Answer) Q1: sonnet; abba abba cdcdcd (note 1 on P83)Q2: London; ThamesQ3: praising the beauty of the scenery of London in morningQ4: It made the author felt a deep calm. (This can be found from the poem)C. Explain the poem sentence by sentence.*西敏寺桥上人间没有比这更美好的景象,它是那样庄严,又那样辉煌谁能经过它身边而无动于衷这城市此刻批着美丽的晨光像穿着睡衣;坦露而又安详,那些船舶,楼阁,剧院,教堂,直伸向田野,又深入高空一切在明朗的空中熠熠闪光璀璨的朝阳从未这样美丽地照耀过大地上的峡谷和山冈我从未看到或感到这般沉静河水正在欢快的自由流淌亲爱的主啊!万物似在安睡那伟大的心灵也停止了跳荡D. (Discussion) Question 2 on P83(Answer) different social position of the poet; different aspect to observe London(4) Recommended Reading"I wandered lonely as a cloud", "The solitary reaper" or other poems written by Wordsworth.3. John Keats (1795 - 1821)(He was a genius in poem creation but lived a short and tragic life.)(1) LifeA. He was born in a poor family. And when he was very young, both his parents died.B. He had been an apprentice to a surgeon and then assistant in hospital.C. He loved to read poems. After two collections of poems' publication, Keats gave up his career in hospital.D. Because of Keats' friendship with those radical writers such as Hazlitt, Hunt and Shelley, his works were severely attacked by conservative critics.E. All his life time, Keats lived in poverty. And because he took care of his brother who got consumption, he himself was stricken by same kind of disease, which cannot be cured at that time. And because of the disease, Keats cannot marry the girl he loved deeply. All the misery made a shadow in Keats' poetry.F. In 1821, when Keats died in Rome because of consumption, he was only 26 years old.(2) Poems(Keats wrote some nice long poems, but he was mainly famous for his short poems.)①SonnetsKeats' famous sonnets include "When I have fear", "Bright Star", "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and "On the Grasshopper and Cricket" and so on.②Odes* Odes: A lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanza structure. 颂诗His famous odes include "Ode to Autumn", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and so on.。
英美文学选读笔记整理版英国Romantic
Chapter 3 ------------The Romantic Period(英国）Romanticism refers to an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on the individual's expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.Historical background:Rousseau’s ideas provided guiding principles for the French Revolution (1789-1794)The primarily agricultural society had been replaced by a modern industrialized one.Political reforms and mass demonstrations shook the foundation of aristocratic rule in Britain.Cultural background1.Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of thought, French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Rousseau established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit. Goethe and his compatriots extolled the romantic spirit as manifested in German folk songs, Gothic architecture, and the plays of English playwright William Wordsworth.2. The Romantics saw man essentially as an individual in the solitary state and emphasized the special qualities of each individual’s mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit.3. In the works of the sentimental writers, we note a new interest in literatures and legends other than those of Greece and Rome. It was in effect a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason.Features of the romantic literature1.Expressiveness: Instead of regarding poetry as “a mirror to nature”, the romantics hold that the object of the artist should be the expression of the artist’s emotions, impressions, or beliefs2. Imagination: Romantic literature puts great emphasis on the creative function of the imagination, seeing art as a formulation of intuitive, imaginative perceptions that tend to speak a nobler truth than that of fact, logic, or the here and now.3.Singularity: Romantic poets have a strong love for the remote, the unusual, the strange, the supernatural, the mysterious, the splendid, the picturesque, and the illogical.4. Worship of nature: Romantic poets see in nature a revelation of Truth, the “living garment of God”.5.Simplicity: Romantic poets tend to turn to the humble people and the everyday life for subjects, employing the commonplace, the natural and the simple as their materials6.The Romantic period is an age of poetry.The Romantic period is also a great age of prose.The major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen and Walter Scott.Gothic novel was one phase of the Romantic Movement. Its principal elements are violence, horror, and the supernaturalWillam BlakePoints of view:1. Politically Blake was a rebel, mixing a good deal with the radicals like Thomas Paine. He strongly criticized the capitalists’cruel exploitation. He cherished great expectations and enthusiasm for the French Revolution and regarded it as a necessary stage leading to the millennium predicted by the biblical prophets.2. Literarily Blake was the first important Romantic poet, showing a contempt for the rule of reason, opposing the classical tradition of the 18th century, and treasuring the individual’s imagination.His works: Poetical Sketches (1783)Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790)Songs of Innocence (1809)Songs of Experience (1794)1. Songs of Innocence (1809)It is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and sufferings. In this volume, Blake, with his eager quest for new poetic forms and techniques, broke with the traditions of the 18th century. He experimented in meter and rhyme and introduced bold metrical innovations which could not be found in the poetry of his contemporaries2. Songs of Experience (1794)This volume of poetry paints a different world, a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone. A number of poems from the Songs of Innocence also find a counterpart in the Songs of Experience. The two books hold the similar subject matter, but the tone, emphasis and conclusion differ.ComparisonThe two “Chimney Sweeper”poems are good examples to reveal the relation between an economic circumstance, i.e. the exploitation of child labor, and an ideological circumstance, i.e. the role played by religion in making people compliant to exploitation. The previous one indicates the conditions which make religion a consolation, a prospect of “illusory happiness”; the poem from the latter reveals the true nature of religion which helps bring misery to the poor children.Special features:Fight for freedom, especially for the inner spiritual freedom of the individual, is a major topic in his poetry.Blake writes his poems in plain, simple and direct language. His poems often carry the lyric beautyHe distrusts the abstractness and tends to embody his views with visual images.Symbolism in wide range is also a distinctive feature of his poetry.The Tiger Give brief answers：In what sense can we say The Tiger is a poem about art/This poem is about the artistic creation. The tiger is a real and natural beast, but the image of the tiger is man made. It is the fruit of an artist s imagination .William Blake1. His workshe is a poet and an engraver. He is the first romantic poet.Childhood is central to his concernA. Songs of innocencea. a happy and innocent world, though not without evils and sufferings.b. visionB. Songs of experiencea. A world of miseryb. the nature of religion2. Distinctive featuresA. Visual imagesB. music beautyC. Symbolism in wide rangeWhat does the word "weep " meanHere weep means sweep, it is the child s lisping attempt at the chimney sweeper s street cry.The Tiger is a poem about art, about the adequacy of words and painting. Though the tiger is a real natural beast, the images and myths with which we surround it are the fruits of imagination.William wordsworth(1770-1850)Literary point of viewHe was strongly against the neoclassical poetry. He thought the source of poetic truth was the direct experience of the senses. Poetry originated from “emotion recollected in tranquility”. The most important contribution he has made is that he has not only started the modern poetry, the poetry of the growing inner self, but also change the course of English poetry by using ordinary speech of the language and by advocating a return to nature.Special features:1. Wordsworth is regarded as a ‘worshipper of nature’. He can penetrate to the heart of things and give the reader the very life of nature.2. Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes.His works:1. Lyrical Ballads 1798This collection of poems is generally regarded as the landmark in English literature, for it started a poetical revolution by using the common, simple and colloquial language in poetry. The poems were written in the spirit and in the pattern of the early story-telling ballads. They are simple tales about simple life told in simple style and simple language to express the simple emotions in simple lyricism.2. The Preface to Lyrical Ballads 1802The Preface deserts its reputation as a manifesto in the theory of poetry. He claimed that the great subjects of poetry were “the essential passions of the heart”and “the great and simple affections”as these qualities interact with “the beautiful and permanent forms of nature”.Interpret the poemNature and man come together explicitly in this stanza when the speaker says that his heart dances with the daffodils.The poem moves from the sadly alienated separation felt by the speaker in the beginning to his joy in recollecting the natural scene. The emptiness of speaker s spirit is transformed into a fullness of feeling as he remembers the daffodils.Questions1. Why is lyrical Ballades is regarded as the landmark in English literature2. What is the significance of William Wordsworth s poetryA. two groups of his worksB. themesa. poems about nature the fusionb. poems about human life Lucy poemsC. featuressimple themes drawn from humble life expressed in the language of ordinary peopleNostalgicSamuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)His points of view:1. Politically he was first an enthusiastic supporter of the French Revolution. In his later period, he was a fiery foe of the rights of man, of Jacobinism. He insisted that a government should be based upon the will of the propertied classes only, and should impose itself upon the rest of the community from above.2. Religiously, he was a pious Christian. He would regard nature, poetry and faith as the source of human restoration.3. Artistically Coleridge thought that art was the medium between man and nature, poetry was the flower of all human knowledge and that the imagination was the means to unite the thoughts and passions. He believed that art was the only permanent revelation of the nature of reality. A poet should realize the vague intimations derived from his unconsciousness without sacrificing the vitality of the inspiration.4. Philosophically and critically, Coleridge opposed the limited and rationalistic trends of 18th-century thought. He courageously stemmed the tide of the of the prevailing doctrines derived from Hume and Hartley, advocating a more spiritual and religious interpretation of life, based on what he had learnt from Kant and Schelling.His literary achievements:His achievement as a poet can be divided into 2 remarkably diverse groups: the demonic and the conversational. Mysticism and demonism with strong imagination are the distinctive features of the demonic group. And the conversational group generally speaksmore directly of an allied theme: the desire to go home, not to the past, but to what Hart Crane beautifully called “an improved infancy”. His poetic themes range from the supernatural to the domesticColeridge is one of the first critics to give close critical attention to language, maintaining that the true end of poetry is to give pleasure “through the medium of beauty”. He sings highly Wordsworth’s “purity of language”, “deep and subtle thoughts”, “perfect truth to nature”and his “imaginative power”.His works:There are as many different interpretations of “Kubla Khan”as there are critics who have written about it. In the criticism of the last 50 years, one may distinguish, broadly, four major approaches to this poem: (i) interpretations of it as a poem about the poetic process; (ii) readings of it as an exemplification of aspects of Colerdgean aesthetic theory; (iii) Freudian analysis; and (iv) Jungian interpretations (Maintaining Jung's psychological theories, especially those that stress the contribution of racial and cultural inheritance to the psychology of an individual.Comment on the whole poem:1. Kubla Khan who ordered a pleasure-dome and elaborate gardens to be constructed in Xanadu, is often viewed as a type of artist. His creation is a precariously balanced reconciliation of the nature and the artificial. The description of Kubla’s palace and gardens illustrates the work of the arranging and ornamenting fancy.2. The poem reveals a dramatic conflict. In the first two stanzas, the poet describes both the marvelous and magnificent palace and supernatural mysteries. The ‘sacred river’that runs through them is the link that connects them. Here, the picturesque landscape is a symbol of life and the dark ‘caverns’are a symbol of death. And the ‘sacred river’runs into infinity of death. In the third stanza, the poet tries to reach a reconciliation of the natural and the artificial by religious spells.3. The spirit of the poem is cool and non-human. One feels no real warmth even in the sunny garden. The poet, who is half-present in the end, is dehumanized behind his mask. In this poem dwells the magic, the “dream”and the air of mysterious meaning. ChristabelPart IIt is the middle of the night by the castle clock, and the owls have awakened the crowing cockTu whit tu whooAnd hark, again the crowing cock,How drowsily it crew.Sir leoline, the Baron rich,Has a toothles mastiff bitchFrom her kennel beneath the rockShe maketh answer to the clockFour for the quarters, and twelve for the hourEver and aye, by shine and shower,Sixteen short howls, not over loudSome say, she sees my lady s shroud.Sir leoline is weak in health,And may not well awakened be,But we will move as if in stealth,And I beseach your courtesyThis night, to share your couch with me.A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I sawit was ……1. What does mount Abora in line five refer to .2. what does this part describeit is a description of one part of the poet s dream in which a young girl is playing a dulcimer and singing. It revels the poet s longingfor a poetic world.3. Questions List his approaches to interpret kubla khanA. The poetic processB. aesthetic theoryC. Freudian analysisD psychological analysisWhat is Coleridge s contribution to English literatureA. assessment a poet , a critic,B. two groups of poemsa. demonic神诋诗------ themes , featuresb. Conversational------ themes , featuresC. writing techniquesa. dreamlike atmosphere, Gothic elements e.g. mysticism, demonismb. compelling conversational powersstructureThe first stanzas are products of pure imagination the pleasuredome of kubla khan is not a useful metaphor for anything in particular, however, it is a fantastically prodigious descriptive act. The poem becomes especially evocative when after the second stanza, the meter suddenly tightens the resulting lines are terse and solid, almost beating out the sound of the war drums. The fourth stanza states the theme of the poem as a whole where the speaker once had a vision of the damsel singing of Mount Abora, and the dangerous power of the vision.George Gordon Byron (1788-1824)Points of view:Politically Byron has a strong passion for liberty and an intense hatred for all tyrants.Artistically, Byron continued in the tradition of classicism that had been advocated by the writers of the Enlightenment in the 18th century.Major worksDon JuanDon Juan is a great comic epic, a poem based on a traditional Spanish legend of a great lover. Byron invests in Juan the moral positives like courage, generosity and frankness, which, according to Byron, are virtues neglected by the modern society.Special features:Byron’s diction, though unequal and frequently faulty, has on the whole a freedom, copiousness and vigor.The glowing imagination of the poet rises and sinks with the tones of his enthusiasm, roughing into argument, or softening into the melody feeling and sentiments.Byron employed the Ottva Rima (Octave Stanza) from Italian mock-heroic poetry.Selected works1. “Song for the Luddites”This is one of the two poems written by Byron to show his consistent support or the Luddites The poet’s great sympathy for the workers in their struggle against the capitalists is clearly shown“The Isles of Greece”(from Don Juan, Canto III)It is among Byron’s most effective poetical utterances on national freedomThis song consists of sixteen six-lined stanzas of iambic tetrameter, with a rhyme scheme of ababcc.1. His works and themesa. Childe Harold s pilgrimage -------a young wanderer questing for freedomb. Don Juan --------a panoramic view of different types of society2. Characterizationthe Byronic hero3. Featuresa. ideas revolt against neoclassical reason, and fight for freedomb. images Byronic heroc. artistic forms comic epicd. innovations ottva rimaA stream sometimes smooth, sometimes rapid and sometimes rushing down in cataractsDon Juan: Dedication1 Bob Southey! You're a poet--Poet-laureate,2 And representative of all the race;3 Although 'tis true that you turn'd out a Tory at4 Last--yours has lately been a common case;5 And now, my Epic Renegade! what are ye at?6 With all the Lakers, in and out of place?7 A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye8 Like "four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye;questions1. What does the tree of Liberty in the poem song for the luddites refer toIt means that the democratic movement of the working people will develop prosperously like a growing tree.2. What is the Byronic heroNarrative poems Political Corruption Religious Hypocrisy Moral degeneracyPercy bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)Major works:Proemtheus Unbound (1819)The play is an exultant work in praise of humankind’s potential, and Shelley himself recognized it as “the most perfect of my products”.The main idea running through this dramatic poem is that of freedom—the freedom of democracy“Ode to the West Wind”(1819)The autumn wind, burying the dead year, preparing for a new spring, becomes an image of Shelley himself, as he would want to be, in its freedom, its destructive-constructive potential, and its universality. The whole poem has a logic of feeling, a not easily analyzable progression that leads to the triumphant, hopeful and convincing conclusion: “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”The poem is written in the terza rima form Shelley derived from his reading of Dante.In Defence of Poetry (1822)It is Shelley’s chief work of literary criticism. His emphasis is on the universal and permanent forms, qualities, and values that all great poems, as products of imagination, possess in common.Special featuresHis poetry has a great variety of poetical style. It is sometimes very rich and joyous and full of colors and odors, and sometimes marked by purity and austerity.His poetry is rich in myth, symbols and classical allusions. For him subtleties of diction were the heart and soul of poetry. His verse is particularly rich in terms describing the elements: fire, air, water, wind, and earth.His poetry has a strong dramatic power.His style abounds in personification and metaphor and other figures of speech, which describe vividly what we see and feel, or express what passionately moves us.Selected readings: “Ode to the West Wind”1. The keynote in the poem is Shelley’s ever-present wish for himself and his fellow men to share the freedom of the west wind2. Shelley’s west wind is a symbol of “spirit”, which is a dynamic, universal force that is both destructive and constructive.3. The stanza Shelley invents for this ode is a highly complicated fusion of the sonnet and of terza rima, with a rhythm scheme ofaba bcb cdc ded eeShelley“the heart of all hearts”1. His works and themesa. Men of England ----Against Political oppression and economic exploitationb. Ode to the West Winda. theme Destructive and constructiveb. structure logic,c. form terza rima2. Featuresa. erudite,b. figures of speech e.g. personification, metaphorOde to the west wind by John MansfieldIt’s a warm wind, the west wind, full of birds criesI never hear the west wind but tears are in my eyes.For it comes from the west lands, the old brown hillAnd April s in the west wind, and daffodils.John Keats (1795-1821)Selected reading: “Ode on a Grecian Urn”:1. Main idea:In this poem Keats shows the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human passion. The poet has absorbed himself into the timeless beautiful scenery on the antique Grecian urn: the lovers, musicians and worshippers carved on the urn exist simultaneously and for ever in their intensity of joy.The poem can be divided into two parts, with the first 4 stanzas as part I, and the last stanza as part II. In the first part, Keats looks at the urn subjectively; in the second part he looks at it objectively. As a result of both ways of observation, he is finally able to see it as “a friend to man, to whom thou say’st / Beauty is truth, truth beauty.”Comprehension:In the 2nd stanza, the word “therefore”in the second line concludes a poetic argument in which silence, having symbolized the timeless and unmoving, is succeeded by music as an expression of activity and passion.In the 3rd stanza, there is a relaxation of tension, a blurring of the fineness and accuracy of the registration, and a certain hectic and feverish quality, panting, and cloyed, burning and parching, return too sharply and too immediately to the poet’s personal life.The 4th stanza blends the natural word in “green alter”with the traditional piety of ordinary people implicit in the little town and the emptied streets.In the 5th stanza, Keats is seeing the urn as a piece of fine art objectivelyAs a beautiful vase, it lures Keats into an impersonal experience of beauty.Comment on the poemThe poem can be divided into two parts, with the first 4 stanzas as part I, and the last stanza as part II. In the first part, Keats looks at the urn subjectively, i.e. that is the beauty created by the art; in the second part he looks at it objectively, i.e. the urn takes the poet back to reality, the human world of agony.The theme of the poem is the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human life.1. His works and themesa. ode to a nightingale contrast between the happy world of natural loveliness and human world of agonyb. ode on a Grecian urn contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human life2. Features: empathicWilliam Blake ---------visual images, symbolism in wide range William Wordsworth --------simplicitySamuel Taylor Coleridge ------------demonism, conversational powersGeorge G. Byron------------- ideas, images, artistic forms, innovationsP. B. Shelley ----------- erudite, figures of speech John Keats --------- empathicJane Austen (1755-1817)Characterization:Major works: Pride and Prejudice (1813)The novel is noted for its vividly depicted characters of almost all kinds of people of the landed gentry class. The characters reveal themselves gradually in their dialogues or conversation; through their letters –as in the case of Collins and Lydia; and in their actions –Lydia’s flirtatious behavior, Miss Bingley’s neglect and hostility to Jane in London. Characters are revealed by comparison and contrast with others.(i) Wickham serves as a contrast to Darcy by appearing to have all the good qualities, while Darcy really has them.(ii) Miss Bingley looks like, and seems to have the manners of, a lady, while Elizabeth often does “unladylike”things.(iii) Mr. Collins’s courtship of Elizabeth, and then Charlotte, adds comedy to the novel.(iv) Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet balance each other in their desire to marry off their daughters and in their respective vulgarities Special features:1. Jane Austen’s main concern is about human beings in their personal relations, human beings with their families and neighbors. She is particularly preoccupied with the relationship between men and women in love.2. She writes within a narrow sphere. The subject matter, the character range, the moral setting, physical setting and social setting, and plots are all restricted to the provincial life of the 19th-century England, all concerning three or four landed gentry families with the trivial incidents of their everyday life.3. Her novels are surprisingly realistic, with keen observation and penetrating analysis. She keeps the balance between fact and form as no other English novelist has ever done.4. Austen uses dialogues to reveal the personalities of her characters. The plots of her novels appear natural and unforced. Her characters are vividly portrayed and everyone comes alive.5. Her language, which is of typical neoclassicism, is simple, easy, naturally lucid and very economical.1. WorksSense and Sensibility Pride and Prejudice2. Story and Themesa. human beings in their personal relationsb. love and marriagec. the provincial life of the late 18th century Englandd. maturity achieved through the loss of illusion3. Features : brought the modern novel to its maturitya. structure deftb. irony sharpc. characterization vividd. style lucidQuestions1. Brief questionMake a comment on pride and prejudicea. storyb. themec. characterizationd. importance2. Topic discussionComment on Jane Austen s literary creation and literary achievementsJane Austen s contribution to English literaturewhy do we say that Jane Austen brought modern novel to its maturity。
英美文学选读（英国）浪漫主义时期笔记
Chapter 3 The Romantic Period1. The Romantic Period: The Romantic period is the period generally said to have begun in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads and to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott’s death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament. It is emphasized the special qualities of each individual’s mind.2.Social background:a. during this period, England itself had experienced profound economic and social changes. The primarily agricultural society had been replaced by a modern industrialized one.b. With the British Industrial Revolution coming into its full swing, the capitalist class came to dominate not only the means of production, but also trade and world market.3.The Romantic Movement:it expressed a more or less negative attitude toward the existing social and political conditions that came with industrialization and the growing importance of the bourgeoise. The romantics demontrated a a strong reaction against the dominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers and philosophers. They saw man as an individual in the solitary state. Thus, the Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit.The Romantic period is an age of poetry. Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth and Coleridge were the major representatives of this movement. Wordsworth defines the poet as a “man speaking to men”, and poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Imagination, defined by Coleridge, is the vital faculty that creates new wholes out of disparate elements. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imamgination, but also elevate the concepts of spontaneity and inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of the poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject mattre. It is in solitude, in communion with the natural universe, that man can exercise this most valuable of faculties.Romantics also tend to be nationalistic, defending the great poets and dramatists of their own national heritage against the advocates of classical rules.Poetry: to the Romantics, poetry should be free from all rules.they would turn to the humble people and the common everyday life for subjects.Prose: It’s also a great age of prose. With education greatly developed for the middle-class people, there was a rapid growth in the reading public and an increasing demand for reading materials.Romantics made literary comments on the writers with high standards, which paved the way for the development of a new and valuable type of critical writings. Colerige, Hazlitt, Lamb, and De Quincey were the leading figures in this new development.Novel: the 2 major novelists of the period are Jane Austen and Walter Scott.Gothic novel: a tyoe of romantic fiction that predominated in the late 18th century, was one of the Romantic movement. Its principal elements are violence, horror, and the supernatural, which strongly appeal to the reader’s emotion. With is description of the dark, irritional side of human nature, the Gothic form exerted a great influence over the writers of the Romantic period.3. Ballads: the most important form of popular literature; flourished during the 15th century; Most written down in 18th century; mostly written in quatrains; Most important is the Robin Hood ballads.4. Romanticism: it is romanticism is a literary trend. It prevailed in England during the period of 1798-1832. Romanticists were discontent with and opposed to the development of capitalism. They split into two groups.Some Romantic writers reflected the thinking of those classes which had been ruined by the bourgeoisie called Passive Romantic poets represented by Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey.Others expressed the aspiration of the labouring classes called Active or Revolutionary Romantic poets represented by Byron and Shelley and Keats.5. Lake Poets:Wordsworth, Coleridge and Robert Southey have often been mentioned as the “Lake Poets” because they lived in the Lake District in the northwestern part of England6. Byronic Hero a proud, mysterious rebelling figure of noble origin rights all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and is against any kind of tyrannical rules; It appeared first in Childe H arold’s Pilgrimage and then further developed in later works as the Oriental Tales, Manfred and Don Juan; the figure is somewhat modeled on the life and personality of Byron himself, and makes Byron famous both at home and abroad.7. Main Writers:A. William Blake(1757-1827):1. Literarily, Blake was the first important Romantic poet, showing a comtempt for the rule of reason, opposing the calssical tradition of the 18th century,and treasuring the individual’s imagination.2. His first printed work, Poetic Skelches, is a collection of youthful verse. Joy, laughter, love and harmony are the prevailing notes.3. The Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and sufferings. The wretched child described in “The Chimney Sweeper,”orphaned, exploited, yet touched by visionary rapture, evokes unbearable poignancy when he finally puts his trust in the order of the universe as he knows it. Blake experimented in meter and rhyme and introduced bold metrical innovations which could not be found in the poetry of his contemporaries.4. The Songs of Experience paints a different world, a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a malancholy tone. The little chinmney sweeper sings “notes of woe”while his parents go to the church and praise “God & his Priest & King”—the very intrument of their repression. A number of poems in the Songs of Experience also find a counterpart in the Songs of Experience. The 2 books hold the similar subject-matter, but the tone, emphasis and conclusion differ.5. Childhood is central to Blake’s concern in the Songs of Innocence and the Songs of Experience, and this concern gives the 2 books a strong social and historical reference. The two “Chimney Sweeper”poems are good examples to reveal the relation between an economic ciecumstance, i.e. the exploitation of child labor, and an ideological circumstance, i.e. the role played by religion in making people compliant to exploitation. The poem from the Songs of Innocence indicates the conditions which make religion a consolation, a prospect “illusionary happiness;”the poem from the Songs of Experience reveals the nature of religion which helps bring misery to the poor children.6. Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell marks his entry into maturity. The poem plays the double role both as a satire and a revolutionary prophecy. Blake explores the relationship of the contrries. Attraction and repulsion, reason and energy, love and hate, are necessary to human existence. The “Marriage”means the reconciliation of the contraries, not the subordination of the one to the other.Main works: Poetical SketchesSongs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poemsHoly Thursday reminds us terribly of a world of loss and institutional cruelty.Songs of Experience paints a different world, a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone.Marriage of Heaven and HellThe book of UrizenThe Book of LosThe Four ZoasMilton7. Language Character: he writes his poems in plain and direct language. His poems often carry the lyric beauty with immense compression of meaning. He distrusts the abstractness and tends to embody his views with visual images. Symbolism in wide range is also a distinctive feature of his poetry.B. William Wordsworth(1770-1850) In 1842 he received a government pension, and in the following year he succeeded Southey as Poet Laureate.Lyrical Ballads:But the Lyrical Ballads differs in marked ways from his early poetry, notably the uncompromising simplicity of much of the language, the strong sympathy not merely with the poor in general but with particular, dramatized examples of them, and the fusion of natural description with expressions of inward states of mind.Short poems:According to the subjects, Wordsworth’s short poems can be calssified into two groups: poems about nature and poems about human life.Wordsworth is regarde as a “worshipper of nature.”He can penetrate to the heart of things and give the reader the very life of nature. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”is perhaps the most anthologized poem in english literature, and one that takes us to the core of Wordsworth’s poetic beliefs. It’s nature that gives him “strength and knowledge full of peace.”Wordswoth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. “The Solitary Reaper” and “To a Highland Girl” use rural figures to suggest the timeless mystery of sorrowful humanity and its radiant beauty. In its daring use of subject matter and sense of the authenticity of the experience of the poorest, “Resolution and Independence ”is the triumphant conclusion of ideas first developed in the Lyrical Ballads.Wordsworth is a poet in memory of the past. To him, life is a cyclical journey. Its beginning finally turns out to be its end. His philosophy of life is presented in his masterpiece The Prelude.Wordsworth deliberate simplicity and refusal to decorate the truth of experience produced a kind of pure and profoud poetry which no othr poet has ever equaled. He maintained that the scenes and events of everyday life and the speech of ordinary people were the raw material of which poetry could and should be made.Main Works:Descriptive Sketches, and Evening WalkLyrical Ballads.The PreludePoems in Two VolumesOde: Intimations of ImmortalityResolution and Independence.The ExcursionPoets: The Sparrow’s Nest, To a Skylark, To the Cuckoo, To a Butterfly, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud( is perhaps the most anthologized poem in English literature.), An Evening Walk, My Heart Leaps up, Tintern AbbeyThe ThornThe sailor’s motherMichael,The Affliction of MargaretThe Old Cumberland BeggarLucy PoemsThe Idiot BoyMan, the heart of man, and human life.The Solitary ReaperTo a Highland GirlThe Ruined CottageThe PreludeLanguage character: he can penetrate to the heart of things and give the reader the very life of nature. And he thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor.He is the leading figure of the English romantic poetry, the focal poetic voice of the period. His is a voice of searchingly comprehensive humanity and one that inspires his audience to see the world freshly, sympathetically and naturally. The most important contribution he has made is that he has not only started the modern poetry, the poetry of the growing inner self, but also changed the course of English poetry by using ordinary speech of the language and by advocating a return to natureC. Percy Bysshe Shelley(1792-1822)he grew up with violent revolutionary ideas, so he held a lifelong aversion to crulty, injusticce, authority, institutional religion and the formal shams of respectable society, condemming war, tyranny and exploitation. He realized that the evil was also in man’s mind. Even after a revolution, that is after the restoration of human morality and creativity, the evil deep in man’s heart might again be loosed. So he predicated that only through gradual and suitable reforms of the existing institutions couls benevolence be universally established and none of the evils would survive in this “genuin society,”where people could live together happily, freely and peacefully.Shelley expressed his love of freedom and his hatredtoward tyranny in several of his lyrics. One of the greatest political lyrics is “Men of England.” It is not only a war cry calling upon all working people to risse up against their political oppressors, but an address to them pointing out the intolerable injustice of economic exploitation. The poem was later to become a rallying song of the British Comuunist Party.Best of all the well-known lyric pieces is Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind”here Shelley’s rhapsodic and declamatory tendencies find a subject perfectly suited to them. The autumn wind, burying the dead year, preparing for a new spring, becoms an image of Shelley himself, as he would want to be, in its freedom, its destructive-constructive potential, its universality. The whole poem had a logic of feeling,a not easily analyzable progression that leads to the triumphant, hopeful and convincing conclusion: if winter comes, can spring be far behind?Shelley’s greatest achievement is his four-act poetic drama, Prometheus Unbound. The play is an exultant work in praise of humankind’s potential, and Shelley himself recognized it as “the most perfect of my products.”Main works:The Necessity of Atheism, Queen Mab: a Philosophical Poem, Alastor, or The Spirit of SolitudePoem: Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, Mont BlancJulian and Maddalo, The Revolt of Islam, the Cenci, Prometheus Unbound, Adonais, Hellas,Prose: Defence of PoetryLyrics:genuine society,“Ode to Liberty”,“Old to Naples”“Sonnet: England in 1819”, The Cloud, To a Shylark, Ode to the West WindPolitical lyrics: Men of EnglandElegy: Adonais is a elegy for John Keats’s early deathTerza rimaPersonal Characters: he grew up with violent revolutionary ideas under the influence of the free thinkers like Hume and Godwin, so he held a life long aversion to cruelty, injustice, authority, institutional religion andthe formal shams of respectable society, condemning war, tyranny and exploitation. He expressed his lo ve for freedom and his hatred toward tyranny in several of his lyrics such as “Ode to Liberty”,“Old to Naples”“Sonnet: England in 1819”Shelley is one of the leading Romantic poets, and intense and original lyrical poet in the English language. Like Blake, he has a reputation as a difficult poet: erudite, imagistically complex, full of classical and mythological allusions. His style abounds in personification and metaphor and other figures of speech which describe vividly what we see and feel. Or express what passionately moves us.D: Jane Austen(1755-1817): born in a country clergyman’s family:Main Works:Novel: Sense and SensibilityPride and Prejudice(the most popular)Northanger AbbeyMansfield ParkEmmaPersuasionThe WatsonsFragment of a NovelPlan of a NovelPersonal Characters: she holds the ideals of the landlord class in politics, religion and moral principles; and her works show clearly her firm belief in the predominance of reason over passion, the sense of responsibility, good manners and clear—sighted judgment over the Romantic tendencies of emotion and individuality.Her Works’ Characters: his works’s concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. Because of this, her novels have a universal significance. It is her c onviction that a man’s relationship to his wife and children is at least as important a part of his life as his concerns about his belief and career. Her thought is that if one wants to know about a man’s talents, one should see him at work, but if one wan ts to know about his nature and temper, one should see him at home. Austen shows a human being not at moments of crisis, but in the most trivial incidents of everyday life. She write within a very narrow sphere. The subject matter, the character range, the social setting, and plots are all restricted to the provincial life of the late 18th century England. Concerning three or four landed gentry families with their daily routine life.Her novels’ structure is exquisitely deft, the characterization in the hig hest degree memorable, while the irony has a radiant shrewdness unmatched elsewhere. Her works’ at one delightful and profound, are among the supreme achievements of English literature. With trenchant observation and in meticulous details, she presents the quiet, day-to-day country life of the upper-middle-class English.G: Questions and answers:1. what are the characteristics of the Romantic literature? Please discuss the above question in relation to one or two examples.a. in poetry writing, the romanticists employed new theories and innovated new techniques, for example, the preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads acts as a manifesto for the new school.b. the romanticists not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also elevate the concepts of spontaneity and inspiration.c. they regarded nature as the major source of poetic imagery and the dominant subject.d. romantics also tend to be nationalistic.2.Make a contrast between the two generations of Romantic poets during the Romantic AgeThe poetic ideals announced by Wordsworth and Coleridge provided a major inspiration for the brilliant young writers who made up the second generation of English Romantic poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge both became more conservative politically after the democratic idealism. The second generation of Romantic poets are revolutionary in thinking. They set themselves against the bourgeois society and the ruling class.3.what are Austen’s writing features?Jane Austen is one of the realistic novelists. Aust en’s work has a very narrow literary field. Her novels showa wealth of humor, wit and delicate satire.4. what is the historical and cultural background of English Romanticism?a. Historically, it was provoked by the French Revolution and the English Industrial Revolution.b. Culturally, the publication of French philosopher Rousseau’s two books provided necessary guiding principles for the French Revolution which aroused great sympathy and enthusiasm in England;c. England experienced profound economic and social changes: the enclosure movement and the agricultural mechanization; the capitalist class grasped the political power and came to dominate the English society.H. topic discussion:1. Discuss the artistic features of Shelley’s poems.A. Percy Bysshe Shelly is an intense and original lyrical poet in the English language.B. His poems are full of classical and mythological allusions.C. His style abounds in personification and metaphor and other figures of speechD. He describes vividly what we see and feel, or expresses what passionately moves us.2. What does Wordsworth mean when he said “All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility”?This sentence is considered as the principle of Wordsworth’s poetry c reation which was set forth in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth appealed directly on individual sensations, as the foundation in the creation and appreciation of poetry.3. How do you describe the writing style of Jane Austen? What is the significance of her works?Jane Austen is a writer of the 18th century through she lived mainly in the 19th century. She holds the ideals of the landlord class in politics, religion, and moral principles. Austen’s main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. Austen defined her stories within a very narrow sphere.。
英美文学史复习笔记5篇
英美文学史复习笔记5篇第一篇：英美文学史复习笔记英美文学复习时期划分——Early & Medieval literature 包括The Anglo-Saxon Period 和The Anglo-Norman Period ——Renaissance 文艺复兴——Revolution & Restoration 资产阶级革命与王权复辟——Enlightenment 启蒙运动——Romantic Period 浪漫主义时期——Critical Realism 批判现实主义——20th Modernism 现代主义传统诗歌主题：nature, life, death, belief, time, youth, beauty, love, feelings of different kinds, reason(wisdom), moral lesson, morality.修辞名称：meter格律, rhyme韵, sound assonance谐音, consonance和音, alliteration头韵, form of poetry诗歌形式, allusion典故, foot音步, iamb抑扬格, trochee扬抑格, anapest抑抑扬格, dactyl扬抑抑格, pentameter五音步文学体裁：诗歌poem,小说novel,戏剧novel起源：Christianity 基督教Bible圣经myth神话The Romance of king Arthur and his knights亚瑟王和他的骑士（笔记）一、1、The Anglo-Saxon period(496-1066)这个时期的文学作品分类：（pagan异教徒）（Christian基督徒）2、代表作：The song of Beowulf《贝奥武甫》(national epic)（民族史诗）采用了隐喻手法3、Alliteration押头韵（写作手法）例子：of man was the mildest and most beloved.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise.二、The Anglo-Norman period(1066-1350)Canto 诗章受到法国影响English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon elements.1、romance传奇文学 Arthurian romances亚瑟王传奇2、代表作：Sir Gawain and the Green Knight(高文爵士和绿衣骑士)是一首押头韵的长诗 knighthood 骑士精神三、Geoffrey Chaucer(1340-1400)杰弗里。
英美文学名篇读后感
英美文学名篇读后感篇一英美文学名篇读后感嘿，朋友们！说起英美文学名篇，那可真是让我又爱又恨呐！就拿《简·爱》来说吧，我一开始读的时候，心里直犯嘀咕：这都啥年代的故事啦，能跟咱现在有啥关系？可当我慢慢读进去，哎呀妈呀，我被简·爱的那种坚韧和自尊给深深震撼了！也许在那个时代，女人没啥地位，可简·爱偏不，她就敢对着不公说“不”！这让我不禁想到，咱们现在有时候遇到点困难，就想打退堂鼓，跟简·爱比起来，咱是不是太怂啦？还有那《了不起的盖茨比》，我觉得吧，盖茨比这人可真傻！为了个女人，把自己折腾得死去活来的。
但是，反过来想想，可能这就是爱情的魔力？也许那种不顾一切去追求的劲儿，正是我们现在所缺少的？我就问你，要是你为了一个梦想或者一个人，能做到像盖茨比那样吗？反正我觉得我可能做不到，我可没那么大的勇气。
读这些名篇的时候，我有时候会想，这些作者咋就这么厉害，能写出这么让人又哭又笑的故事呢？他们是不是也经历过那些乱七八糟的事儿，所以才能写得这么深刻？不过话说回来，咱读这些书，到底是为了啥呢？是为了装装文化人，还是真能从中学到点啥？我觉得吧，可能两者都有那么一点儿。
总之，读英美文学名篇，就像坐过山车一样，一会儿让我兴奋，一会儿又让我沉思。
这感觉，你懂吗？篇二英美文学名篇读后感哇塞，英美文学名篇，这可真是个让人又爱又头疼的话题！先说说《傲慢与偏见》吧，一开始我还觉得伊丽莎白太矫情，达西太傲慢，这俩人凑一块能有啥好结果？可读到后面，我发现我错得离谱！他们的爱情故事，就像是一场精彩的辩论赛，你来我往，互不相让。
也许爱情就是这样，在争吵中才能更加了解彼此，不是吗？再看《老人与海》，那个老渔夫桑提亚哥，真的让我佩服得五体投地！他在大海上与鲨鱼搏斗的场景，简直让我热血沸腾。
我就在想，要是我处在他那个境地，我可能早就放弃了。
但是他没有，他一直坚持着，这难道不是一种超级英雄的精神吗？不过呢，读这些名篇的时候，我也会有疑惑。
[文学]张伯香英美文学选读笔记完整笔记_全面归纳
![[文学]张伯香英美文学选读笔记完整笔记_全面归纳](https://img.taocdn.com/s3/m/5cd8815d71fe910ef02df895.png)
Chapter I The Renaissance Period一、学习目的和要求通过本章学习，了解文艺复兴运动和人文主义思潮产生的历史，文化背景，认识该时期文学创作的基本特征和基本主张，及其对同时代及后世英国文学乃至文化的影响；了解该时期重要作家的文学生涯，创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物刻画，语言风格，思想意义等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品，了解其思想内容和写作特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。
二、考核要求(一) 文艺复兴时期概述1. 识记：（1）文艺复兴时期的界定（2）历史文化背景2. 领会: （1）文艺复兴运动的意义与影响（2）文艺复兴时期的文学特点（3）人文主义的主张及对文学的影响3. 应用：文艺复兴，人文主义及玄学诗等名词的解释Brief Introduction to the Renaissance PeriodI. 应用Definitions of the Literary Terms:1. The Renaissance: The Renaissance marks a transition from the medie val to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14 th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" or "revival," is actuall y a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the re-d iscovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new discoveries in geograp hy & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The R enaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in which the Europe an humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feu dalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early ch urch from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.2. Humanism: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang fr om the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscio us, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on su ch a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new le arning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, bu t the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists foun d in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was their s not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beau ty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonder s. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the be st representatives of the English humanists.3. Spenserian stanza:Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iam bic hexameter, rhyming ababbcbcc.4. Metaphysical poetry: The term "metaphysical poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influ ence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried t o break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neo classic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. Th e imagery in drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.5. The Renaissance her A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Chr istopher Marlowe in his drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and fu ll of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He e mbodies Marlowe's humanistic ides of human dignity and capacity. Differen t from the tragic hero in medieval plays, who seeks the way to heaven thr ough salvation and god's will, he is against conventional morality and cont rives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. With the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the hero interprets the true Re naissance spirit. Both Tamburlaine and Faustus are typical in possessing su ch a spirit.（二）该时期的重要作家1.一般识记：重要作家的文学生涯2.识记：重要作品及主要内容3.领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物塑造，语言风格，艺术手法，社会意义等。
《英美文学选读》笔记
P3Middle English literature strongly reflects the principles (原则) of the medieval Christina doctrine (中世纪基督教学说) , which were primarily (主要) concerned with the issue of personal salvation (拯救)P4Geoffrey Chaucer is the greatest writer of this period.Chaucer characteristically( 表示特性地) regard life in term of aristocratic ideals (贵族理想) ,but he never lost the ability of regarding life as a purely(纯粹地) practical matter , the art of being at once involved in and detached from a given situation is peculiarly (特有地) Chaucer’sChaucer bore （带有）marks of humanism and anticipated ( 预期的)a new era (时代) to comeIn short, Chaucer develops his characterization (描述) to a higher artistic (艺术的,有美感的) level by presenting characters (引出人物) with both typical and individual dispositions (部署)Chaucer’s reputation (名誉) has been securely established as one of the best English poets for his wisdom, humor and humanityChapter 1Renaissances: The Renaissances which means rebirth or revival, is actually a movement stimulated ( 刺激) by a series of historical events, In essence( 本质上) , is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers (人道主义思想家) and scholars (学者) made attempt( 努力/尝试) to get rid of ( 摆脱) those old feudalist ideas ( 封建主义) in medieval Europe , to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie (新兴的资产阶级) and to recover the purity (纯度) of the earlychurch from the corruption( 腐败,堕落) of the Roman Catholic Church/P7 P8Humanism is the essence ( 本质) of the RenaissanceThomas More , Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare and the best representatives of the English humanistWhen Henry VIII declared himself through the approval of the Parliament( 国会) as the supreme (极大的,最高的) Head of the Church of England in 1534 , the Reformation in England was in its full swing ( 高潮)P10The religious reformation was actually as reflection of the class strugglewaged ( 工资 )by the new rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology ( 意识形态)The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation andassimilation ( 模仿与同化)In the early stage of the Renaissance, poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and they were carried on especially by Shakespeare and Ben JonsonThe Elizabethan drama , in its totally, is the real mainstream( 主流) of the English RenaissanceThe most famous dramatists in the Renaissance England are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Ben JonsonP12Edmund Spenserhe was born in London and received good education & left Cambridge in 1576.in 1580, he was made secretary of Lord Grey of wilton. Spenser’s masterpiece(代表作)is the “ Faerie Queene ” is great poem of its age。
(完整word版)新大纲自考《英美文学选读》笔记总结背完必过
《英美文学选读》笔记背完必过Part One: English LiteratureAn Introduction to Old and Medieval English LiteratureI Understanding and application: (理解应用)1. England’s inhabitants are Celts. And it is conquered by Romans, Anglo Saxons and Normans. The Anglo-Saxons brought the Germanic language and culture to England, while Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization, including Greek culture, Rome law and the Christian religion. It is the cultural influence of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.2. The old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England.3. The old English poetry that has survived can be divided into two groups: The religious group and the secular one4. Beowulf: a typical example of Old English poetry is regarded as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.5. After the Norman’s conquest, three languages co-existed in England. French is the official language that is used by king and the Norman lords. Latin is the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities. Old English was spoken only by the common English people.6. In the second half of 14th century, English literature started to flourish with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others II Recite: (识记再现)1. Romance:①It uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period.②It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved.③The hero is usually the knight, who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions. There are often mysteries and fantasies in romance.④Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance.Characterization is standardized, While the structure is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward.⑤The importance of the romance itself can be seen as a means of showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of the world.2. Heroic couplet:Heroic couplet is a rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter. It is Chaucer who used it for the first time in English in his work The Legend of Good Woman.3. The theme of Beowulf:The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of the nature myths and heroic legends.4. The Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales:The Wife of Bath is depicted as the new bourgeois wife asserting her independence. Chaucer develops his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.5. Chaucer’s achievement:①He presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his age and created a whole gallery of vivid characters in his works, especially in The Canterbury Tales.②He anticipated a new ear, the Renaissance, to come under the influence of the Italian writers.③He developed his characterization to a higher level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.④He greatly contributed to the maturing of English poetry. Today, Chaucer’s reputation has been securely established as one of the best English poets for his wisdom, humor and humanity.6. “The F ather of English poetry”:Originally, Old English poems are mainly alliterative verses with few variations.①Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace it.②In The Romaunt of the Rose (玫瑰传奇), he first introduced to the English the octosyllabic couplet (八音节对偶句).③In The Legend of Good Women, he used for the first time in English heroic couplet.④And in his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, he employed heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature.⑤His art made him one of the greatest poets in English; John Dryden called him “the father of English poetry”.【例题】The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created awhole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely ______________.(0704)A. William Langland’s Piers PlowmanB. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury TalesC. John Gower’s Confession AmantisD. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight【答案】B【解析】(P4.para.2)本题考查的是中世纪时期几位诗人作品的创作主题和创作范围。
《英美文学选读》笔记,全面归纳
《英美文学选读》笔记,全面归纳9年elf担任造反发言人。
主要的有:《儒林外史》(1794)、《洛书》(1795)。
四祖(1796-1807)无论他想象什么，他也看到了。
作为一个富有想象力的诗人，他用视觉形象而不是抽象的术语来表达自己的观点。
布雷克在平原上写他的诗《怀伊河谷》本身，用一个细节描述了归来的流浪者思想的宁静中心，传达了一种自然秩序的感觉，立刻生动地表现了船停下来的情景；炎热的热带阳光照耀了一整天。
其他水手一个接一个地渴死了，只有水手还活着，一直被口渴折磨着(1595)，这首诗表达了诗人第二次婚姻所引起的深刻的个人感情；阿莫里蒂(1595)，一系列十四行诗。
理解他的影响spesser诗歌的主要品质(完美的旋律②罕见的美感③精彩的想象力④崇高的道德纯洁它也揭示了人类在敌对的道德秩序中实现崇高愿望的挫折。
最后一个场景，浮士德面临他的厄运，出色地呈现了一些移民到殖民地的恐惧；有些人堕落到农场工人的水平，他是一个无辜的叛逆者，时间的三个统一，建筑的空间规律应该坚持时间的三个统一，建筑的空间规律应该坚持，这本书很快变成了一个开放的道路的伟大小说，一个\史诗般的散文\其主题是\真正荒谬的\人性，暴露在各种各样的约瑟夫悲剧:艾琳(1749)；几百篇论文出现在他编辑的两个期刊——《漫步者》，他必须取悦，但他也必须指导；他不能冒犯宗教或宣扬不道德；杜纳(1775)，喜剧歌剧；《批评家》(1779)，一部滑稽剧《水手的灵魂》中每一个相应的变化都被记录下来。
整个经历是一场极度疲劳的考验。
(2)\可汗\是柯勒律治吸食鸦片后在梦中创作的。
诗人在阅读忽必烈汗的作品时睡着了。
河流、宏伟宫殿的形象\人类想象力的产物是调和对立的装置(诗歌)；第12行到第30行是抑扬格五音步，其多样性是多节奏的；第31行到第34行是抑扬顿挫的四步抑扬顿挫，第35行是抑扬顿挫的五步抑扬顿挫。
他悲叹堕落的希腊，表达了他热切的希望被压迫的希腊人民应该赢得他们的自由；他赞美法国大革命，而在大陆上，他被誉为自由的捍卫者，人民的诗人。
自考英美文学读书笔记
⾃考英美⽂学读书笔记Reading Comprehesion (British and American Literature)Edit By CKMid of 2009Catalog第⼀章英国⽂学 (4)1.1上古世纪及中世纪英国⽂学简介 (4)1.2T HE R ENAISSANCE P ERIOD(⽂艺复兴时期) (5)1.2.1Edmund['edm?nd] Spenser(埃德蒙.斯宾赛) (6)1.2.2Christopher Marlowe(克⾥斯托夫.马洛) (8)1.2.3William Shakespeare(威廉.莎⼠⽐亚) (9)1.2.4Francis Bacon(弗兰西斯.培根) (10)1.2.5John Donne(约翰.邓恩) (12)1.2.6John Milton(约翰.弥尔顿) (13)1.3T HE N EOCLASSICAL P ERIOD(新古典主义时期) (13) 1.3.1John Bunyan(约翰.班扬) (14)1.3.2Alexander[??liɡ'zɑ:nd?] Pope(亚历⼭⼤.蒲柏) (15)1.3.3Daniel['d?nj?l] Defoe[di'f?u] (丹尼尔.笛福) (16)1.3.4Jonathan['d??n?θ?n] Swift(乔纳森.斯威夫特) (17)1.3.5 Henry Fielding(亨利.费尔丁) (17)1.3.6 Samuel['s?mju?l] Johnson(塞缪尔.约翰逊) (18)1.3.7Richard Brinsley Sheridan(理查.⽐.谢⽴丹) (18)1.3.8 Thomas Gray(托马斯.格雷) (19)1.4T HE R OMANTIC P ERIOD(浪漫主义时期) (20)1.4.1William Blake (威兼.布莱克) (20)1.4.2 William Wordsworth(威廉.华兹华斯) (21)1.4.3 Samuel Taylor Coleridge(塞.泰.科勒律治) (22)1.4.4 George Gordon Byron(乔治.⼽登.拜伦) (23)1.4.5Percy Bysshe Shelley (波.⽐.雪莱) (24)1.4.6 John Keats(约翰.济慈) (24)1.4.7 Jane Austen['?:stin] (简.奥斯汀) (25)1.5T HE V ICTORIAN[VIK'T?:RI?N]P ERIOD维多利亚时期 (26) 1.5.1 Charles Dickens(查尔斯.狄更斯) (27)1.5.2 The Bronte Sisters(布朗蒂姐妹) (27)1.5.3 Alfred Tennyson['?lfrid] ['tenisn] (阿尔弗雷德.丁尼⽣) (28)1.5.4 Robert Browning（罗伯特.布朗宁） (29)1.5.5 George Eliot['elj?t] (乔治.艾略特) (29)1.5.6 Thomas Hardy(托马斯.哈代) (30)1.6T HE M ODERN P ERIOD(现代主义) (31)1.6.1 George Bernard Shaw(乔治.萧伯纳) (33)1.6.2 John Galsworthy['ɡ?:lzw?:ei] (约翰.⾼尔斯华绥) (34)1.6.3 William Butler Yeats[jeits]（威廉.巴特勒.叶芝） (34)1.6.4 T.S. Eliot['elj?t]（T.S.埃略特） (35)1.6.5 D.H. Lawrence['l?r?ns] (戴维.伯特.劳伦斯) (36)1.6.6 James Joyce[d?eimz] [d??is]（詹姆斯.乔伊斯） (37)第⼆章美国⽂学 (40)2.1T HE R OMANTIC P ERIOD(浪漫主义时期) (40)2.1.1Washington Irving['?:vi?](华盛顿.欧⽂) (40)2.1.2Ralph Waldo Emerson[r?lf] ['w?:ld?u]['em?sn] (拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默⽣) (41) 2.1.3Nathaniel Hawthorne[n?'θ?nj?l] (纳撒尼尔.霍桑) (42)2.1.4 Walt Whitman[w?:lt] ['witm?n](华尔特.惠特曼) (43)2.1.5 Herman Melville(赫尔曼.麦尔维尔) (44)2.2T HE R EALISTIC P ERIOD(现实主义时期) (45)2.2.1 Mark Twain(马克.吐温) (46)2.2.2 Henry James(亨利.詹姆斯) (47)2.2.3 Emily Dickinson(艾⽶莉.狄⾦森) (48)2.2.4 Theodore Dreiser(西奥多.德莱塞) (49)2.3T HE M ODERN P ERIOD(现代时期) (50)2.3.1 Ezra Pound(埃兹拉.庞德) (50)2.3.2 Robert Lee Frost(罗伯特.弗洛斯特) (51)2.3.3 Eugene O’Neill(尤⾦.奥尼尔) (52)2.3.4 F.Scott Fitzgerald(司各特.菲兹杰拉德) (52)2.3.5 Ernest Hemingway(欧内斯特.海明威) (53)2.3.6 William Faulkner(威廉.福克纳) (54)第⼀章英国⽂学1.1上古世纪及中世纪英国⽂学简介古英⽂学范围：450-1066，罗马征服英国古英诗分为两类：宗教类和世俗类Beowul(贝奥武夫)，古英国民族史诗例⼦赞扬骑⼠或其它英雄的浪漫史：中世纪乔叟的坎特伯雷集：第⼀次描写中世纪英国社会现实乔叟介绍来⾃法国的押韵诗节，来代替英国的头韵诗节乔叟：英国诗歌之⽗乔叟把⾓⾊提到⼀个⽴体的⾼度，有个⼈独特的⽓质中世纪的英国⽂学是⼀个空洞的(barren)时期1、The period of old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the yearof the Norman Conquest of England.2、Generally speaking, the Old English poetry that has survived can be dividedinto two groups: the religious group and the secular['sekjul?]世俗的 one. 3、Beowulf[?bew?lf] 贝奥武夫（⼀个英雄名）, a typical example of Old English poetry, is regarded today as the national epic史诗 of the Anglo-saxons.['??ɡl?u's?ks?n][pl. ]盎格鲁撒克逊族(古英国⼈的⼀个种族)盎格鲁撒克逊语(⼜名古代英语Old English)4、Romance浪漫史 which uses narrative['n?r?tiv]叙述的 verse诗句 or prose散⽂to sing knightly骑⼠的 adventures or other heroic[hi'r?uik]deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval[?medi'i:v?l] period.5、The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, acomprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and createda whole gallery⾛廊 of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likelyGeoffery Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.['d?efr?] 乔叟的坎特伯雷故事集6、C haucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas [raim]押韵诗节 of varioustypes to English poetry to replace the old English alliterative verse ?`l?t?r?t?v]adj.头韵的, 头韵体的7、C haucer was called the father of English poetry.7501.2The Renaissance Period(⽂艺复兴时期)⽂艺复兴时期：中世纪⾃现代的中间转折期（14世纪到17世纪中叶）⽂艺复兴时期，古罗马和希腊⽂学的重新发现⽂艺复兴时期的本质：⼈道主义⽂艺复兴的重⼤改⾰：圣经的传播⽂艺复兴的宗教改⾰：阶段⽃争英国⽂学家认为Petrarch彼德拉克是⽂学的根源⽂艺复兴早期，诗歌和戏剧是最突出的形式，代表⼈物Ben Johnson, William Shakespeare.伊丽莎⽩戏剧是⽂艺复兴的主流⽂艺复兴影响英国⽐较慢，不仅因为英国远离欧洲⼤陆，还因为英国的内乱⽂艺复兴的本质是⼈⽂主义者摒弃封建主义，推动新思想的⼀场运动⽂艺复兴是英国的⽂学黄⾦时期1、The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to modern world.Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries.2、The Renaissance, which means rebirth or revial, is actually a movementstimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astrology占星术, the religious reformation and the economic expansion.3、Humanism is the essence['esns]本质 of Renaissance.⼈道主义是⽂艺复兴时期的本质4、One of the major results of Reformation was the fact that the Bible in Englishwas placed in every church and services were held in English so that people could understand.5、T he religious reformation was actually a reflection of the class strugglewaged by the new rising bourgeoisie[?bu??wɑ:'zi:]资产阶级 against the feudal 封建的 class and its ideology[?aidi'?l?d?i]观念学6、Petrarch['petr:k] was regarded as the fountainhead根源 of literature byEnglish writers.英国作家认为彼特拉克是⽂学的根源7、In early stage of the Renaissance, poetry and poetic[p?u'etik]drama were themost outstanding literary forms and they were carried on especially by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.本-琼森13008、Eliabethan[i?liz?'bi:θ?n] drama is the mainstream of the English Renaissance.伊丽莎⽩时代的戏剧是英国⽂艺复兴的主流。
英美文学精华笔记
标题：英美文学精华笔记（第一章）一．文艺复兴时期：The Renaissance: marks a translation from t he medieval, means rebirth or revival ,is a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient of Roman and Greek culture .本质上：in essence, is a historical period in whicha. the Europe thinker and scholars try to get rid of the old feud alist[封建主张] in medieval Europeb. to empress the interest of the bourgeoisiec. and to recover purity of the early church1．意大利兴起(14th----mid-17th)2.人文主义humanism:a. The essence of the Renaissanceb. From: It started with the effort of restoring a medieval revere nce for the antique authorc. T Frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissanced. The reason: Greek and Roman people believe that man is the measure of all thingse. Conception: emphasizing[强调] the dignity[高贵] of the huma n beings and importance of the present lifef. Beliefs: man didn’t have right to the beauty of this life but c ould perfect himself and perform wonders3.文艺复兴文学渊源4。
英美文学选读完整版笔记
Chapter I The Renaissance Period文艺复兴时期Definitions（定义）1.The Renaissance： The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally， it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy，with the flowering of painting，sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance， which means "rebirth" or "revival，" is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events，such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture，the new discoveries in geography & astrology， the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance， therefore， in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe， to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie， & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.2. Humanism：人文主义Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious， intellectual side， for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning， humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment， but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections， and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question， explore， and enjoy. Thus， by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life， they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life， but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Thomas More， Christo- pher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.3. Spenserian stanza：斯宾塞诗节Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines， with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iambic hexameter， rhyming ababbcbcc.4. Metaphysical poetry：玄学诗The term "metaphysical poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit，the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods， and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery in drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved， with God， or with himself.5. The Renaissance hero：A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition，facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ides of human dignity and capacity. Different from the tragic hero in medieval plays， who seeks the way to heaven through salvation and god's will，he is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. With the endless aspiration for power，knowledge，and glory，the hero interprets the true Renaissance spirit. Both Tamburlaine and Faustus are typical in possessing such a sprit（二）该时期的重要作家Edmund Spenser--English poet，born in London， England，（ 1552-- Jan 13，1599）斯宾塞代表作 The Faerie Queene.A.创作意图: The principal intention is to present through a "historical poem" the example of a perfect gentlemanB.整体线索:The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as a whole.C.寓意:The Redcrosse Knight in Book I stands for St. George, he also represents Holiness.D.主题:The theme is not "Arms and the man,"but something more romantic-" Fierce wares and faithfull loves."E.作者文学地位:His exquisite melodythat make him known as "the poets' poet."His Major Works Spenser's mostimportant work & masterpiece is TheFaerie Queene， a great poem of its age.A complex moral， religious， & politicalallegory， it is also an epic that exaltsQueen Elizabeth Ⅰ& the English nation.According to Spenser's own explanation，his principal intention is to presentthrough a "historical poem" the exampleof a perfect gentleman： "to fashion agentleman or noble person in virtuous &gentle discipline." Its principal herois the Arthur of medieval legend. The sixbooks of the poem illustrate the natureof particular virtues，such as，temperance & justice. Other major worksof Spenser are The Shepheardes Calender（1579）， a poem consisting of 12eclogues-corresponding to the 12 monthsof the year； Epithalamion （1595）， apoem expressing the deep personalfeelings occasioned by the poets secondmarriage； Amoretti （1595）， a seriesof sonnets.3. 领会His Influence1）Main qualities of Spenser'spoetry①a perfect melody②a rare sense of beauty③a splendid imagination④a lofty moral purity & seriousness⑤a dedicated idealism2） In his writing， Spenser drew onthe conventions & thought of Classical，medieval，& Renaissance literature.However， he added to his fusion of thesediverse elements much that was original，& his works inspired many later Englishpoets. He created a new stanza， calledthe Spenserian stanza， which is wellsuited to narrative verse. His skills inwriting melodious English verse & hiscombination of emotion， erudition， &spiritual vision have won him theadmiration of generations of Englishpoets. It is his idealism， his love ofbeauty， &his exquisite melody that makehim known as "the poets' poet."4. 应用The Faerie Queene：1） It is a long， allegorical poem.In the poem，Spenser dramatizedpolitical， religious， & moral themesby personifying them， or making themcharacters.2）Plot： The story， which is setagainst a background of Arthur &medieval legend，deals with theadventures of six knights of the courtof the fairy queen named Gloriana， whorepresents Queen Elizabeth ⅠofEnglish. The faerie Queen was leftunfinished at Spenser's death. It wasoriginally planned as a 12-book poem.But only 6 books were completed. The poemis particularly admired for the melodicbeauty of its language & for its richcontent of philosophical & mythologicalmaterial presented in the form of vividnarratives.II. Christopher Marlowe1. 一般识记Brief IntroductionEnglish dramatist & poet，born inCanterbury， England， Feb， 6，1567，died in Deptford， England， May 30， 1593.Marlowe was the first great EnglishDramatist. He brought to the Englishstage a new concept of tragedy， one inwhich the drama centers around thestruggles of a man overwhelmed by hispassions & ambitions.2. 识记His Major WorksHis most famous tragedies are DoctorFaustus， The Jew of Malta， Tamburlaine& Edward Ⅱ。
最新英美文学史随笔及作品赏析
英美文学史随笔及作品赏析英美文学史随笔及作品赏析（一）――简爱《简爱》的作者夏洛蒂勃朗特温柔，清纯，喜欢追求一些美好的东西，尽管她家境贫穷，从小失去了母爱，再加上她身材矮小，容貌不出众，但也许就是这样一种灵魂深处的自卑，反映在她的性格上就是一种非常敏感的自尊。
她描写的简爱也是一个不美的，矮小的女人，但是她有着极其强烈的自尊心。
简爱生存在一个寄人篱下的环境，从小就承受着与同龄人不一样的待遇，姨妈的嫌弃，表姐的蔑视，表哥的侮辱和毒打......也许正是因为这一切，换回了简爱无限的信心和坚强不屈的性格，一种可战胜的内在人格力量.她坚定不移地去追求一种光明的，圣洁的，美好的生活。
在罗切斯特的面前，她从不因为自己是一个地位低贱的家庭教师而感到自卑，反而认为他们是平等的。
也正因为她的正直，高尚，纯洁，心灵没有受到世俗社会的污染，使得罗切斯特为之震撼，并把她看作了一个可以和自己在精神上平等交谈的人，并且深深爱上了她。
而当他们结婚的那一天，简爱知道了罗切斯特已有妻子时，她觉得自己必须要离开，她虽然讲，“我要遵从上帝颁发世人认可的法律，我要坚守住我在清醒时而不是像现在这样疯狂时所接受的原则”。
但是从内心讲，更深一层的是简爱意识到自己受到了欺骗，她的自尊心受到了戏弄，因为她深爱着罗切斯特。
但简爱做出了一个非常理性的决定。
在这样一种爱情力量包围之下，在富裕的生活诱惑之下，她依然要坚持自己作为个人的尊严，这是简爱最具有精神魅力的地方。
小说设计了一个很光明的结尾，虽然罗切斯特的庄园毁了，他自己也成了一个残废，但正是这样一个条件，使简爱不再在尊严与爱之间矛盾，而同时获得自己的尊严和真爱。
在当今社会，人们都疯狂地为了金钱和地位而淹没爱情。
在穷与富之间选择富，而在爱与不爱之间选择不爱。
很少有人会像简爱这样为爱情为人格抛弃所有，而且义无反顾。
《简爱》所展现给我们的正是一种返朴归真，是一种追求全心付出的爱情，还有作为一个人应有的尊严。
英美文学选读_详细笔记
1 Part 1: English Literature An Introduction to Old and Medieval English Literature 1、the early inhabitants：Celts. 2、三次外族的入侵及其影响：①the Romans 对英国没什么影响。
——远古时期②Anglo-Saxsons brought the Germanic language（现代英语的基础）and culture （特别的诗歌传统）。
——上古时期③The Normans brought the fresh wave of Mediterranean civilization （希腊文化、罗马法律和基督教）。
——中古时期Ⅰ. Old English Literature（Anglo Saxson 文明时期奴隶社会）1、英国文学史上的上古时期始于公元450 年，止于1066 年，即诺曼底征服英国的那一年。
2、这一时期是Anglo-Saxson 文明兴盛的时期。
3、The poetic tradition was both bold and strong（粗犷豪勇）, mournful and elegiac(悲情哀婉) in spirit. 有两大类：①The religious group：mainly on biblical(圣经的) themes.如：a)《创世纪甲本》（Genesis A）、《创世纪乙本》、《出埃及记》(Exodus)来自the Old Testament。
b) the Dream of the Rood （十字架）来自the New Testment。
②The secular（世俗的）group：Beowulf 和众多短篇抒情诗。
lyrical poems 唤起了撒克逊人对环境的严酷及人类的不幸命运的感知。
语气和基调深受北海恶劣气候的影响，生活惨淡无望，带有大量宿命论的成分，尽管同时显得勇敢而坚定。
英美文学笔记美国部分
American LiteratureChapter one : The romantic periodII. Hawthorne’s Puritanism and his black vision of man:1. Puritanism—it is the religious belief of the Puristans, who had intended to purify and simplify the religious ritual of the church of England.2.his black vision of man—by the Calvinistic concept of original sin, he believed that human being are evil natured and sinful, and this sin is ever present in human heart and will pass one generation to another.3. Young Goodman Brown—it shows that everyone has some evil secrets. The innocent and naïve Brown is confronted with the vision of human evil in one terrible night, and then he becomes distrustful and doubtful. Brown stands for everyone ,who is born pure and has no contact with the real world ,and the prominent people of the village and church. They cover their secrets during daily lives, and under some circumstances such as the witch’s Sabbath, they become what they are. Even his closed wife, Faith, is no exception. So Brown is aged in that night.III. The symbolism of Melville’s Mobby-Dick1.The voyage to catch the white whale is the one of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of universe.2. To Ahab, the whale is an evil creature or the agent of an evil force that control the universe. As to readers, the whale is a symbol of physical limits, or a symbol of nature. It also can stand for the ultimate mystery of the universe and the wall behind which unknown malicious things are hiding.IV. Whitman and his Leaves of Grass :1. Theme: sing of the “en-mass”and the self / pursuit of love, happiness, and sexual love / sometimes about politics (Drum taps)2. Whitman’s originality first in his use of the poetic form free verse (i.e. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme),by means of which he becomes conversational and casual.3.He uses the first person pronoun “I” to stress individualism, and oral language to acquire sympathy from the common reader.Chapter two : The realistic periodI. The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn in Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainHuck is a typical American boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience”. He appears to be vulgar in language and in manner, but he is honest and decent in essence. His remarkable raft’s journey down on the Mississippi river can be regarded as his process of education and his way to grow up. At first, he stands by slavery, for he clings to the idea that if he lets go the slave, he will be damned to go to hell. And when the “King” sells Jim for money, Huck decides to inform Jim’s master. After he thinks of the past good time when Jim and he are on the raft where Jim shows great care and deep affection for him, he decide to rescue Jim. And Huck still thinks he is wrong while he is doing the right thing.Huck is the son of nature and a symbol for freedom and earthly pragmatism. Through the eye of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil War American society fully exposed. Twain contrasts the life on the river and the life on the banks, the innocence and the experience, the nature and the culture, the wilderness and the civilization.II. Daisy Miller by Henry James1. Theme: The novel is a story about American innocence defeated by the stiff, traditional values of Europe. James condemns the American failure to adopt expressive manners intelligently and point out the false believing that a good heart is readily visible to all. The death of Daisy results from the misunderstanding between people with different cultural backgrounds.2. The character analysis of Daisy: She represents typical American girl, who is uninformed and without the mature guidance. Ignorance and parental indulgence combine to foster he assertive self-confidence and fierce willfulness. She behaves in the same daring naive way in Europe as she does at home. When someone is against her, she becomes more contrary. She knows that she means no harm and is amazed that anyone should think she does. She does not compromise to the European manners.3. The character analysis of Winterbourne: He is a Europeanized American, who has live too long in foreign parts. He is very experience and has a problem understanding Daisy. He endeavors to put her in sort of formula, i.e. to classify her.III. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser:1. Theme: The author invented the success of Carrie and the downfall of Hurstwood out of an inevitable and natural judgment, because the fittest can survive in a competitive, amoral society according to the social Darwinism.2. The character analysis of Carrie: She follows the right direction to a pursuit of the American dream, and the circumstances and her desire for a better life direct to the successful goal. But she is not contented, because with wealth and fame, she still finds herself lonely. She is a product of the society, a realization of the theory of the survival of the fittest.3. The character analysis of Hurstwood: He is a negative evidence of the theory of the survival of the fittest. Because he is still conventional and can not throw away the social morals, he is not fitted to live in New York.Chapter three : The Modern PeriodII. Frost and his poetry on nature:Frost is deeply interested in nature and in men’s relationship to nature. Nature appears as an explicator and a mediator for man and serve as the center of reference of his behavior. Peace and order can be found in Frost’s poetical natural world. With surface simplicity of his poems, the thematic concerns are always presented in rich symbols. Therefore his work resists easy interpretation.III. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his The Great Gatsby1. Theme: Gatsby is American Everyman. His extraordinary energy and wealth make him pursue the dream. His death in the end points at the truth about the withering of the American Dream. The spiritual and moral sterility that has resulted from the withered American Dream is fully revealed in the article. However, although he is defeated, the dream has gave Gatsby a dignity and a set of qualities. His hope and belief in the promise of future makes him the embodiment of thevalues of the incorruptible American Dream .2. The character analysis of Gatsby: Gatsby is great, because he is dignified and ennobled by his dream and his mythic vision of life. He has the desire to repeat the past, the desire for money, and the desire for incarnation of unutterable vision on this material earth. For Gatsby, Daisy is the soul of his dreams. He believe he can regain Daisy and romantically rebels of time. Although he has the wealth that can match with the leisured class, he does not have their manners. His tragedy lies in his possession of a naive sense and chivalry.IV. Ernest Hemingway’s artistic features:1. The Hemingway code heroes and grace under pressure:They have seen the cold world ,and for one cause, they boldly and courageously face the reality. They has an indestructible spirit for his optimistic view of life. Whatever is the result is, the are ready to live with grace under pressure. No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. Finally, they will be prevail because of their indestructible spirit and courage.2.The iceberg technique:Hemingway believe that a good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. The one-eighth the is presented will suggest all other meaningful dimensions of the story. Thus, Hemingway’s language is symbolic and suggestive.V. The character analysis of Emily in A Rose for Emily:Emily is a symbol of old values, standing for tradition, duty and past glory. But she is also a victim to all those she cares and embrace. The source of Emily’s strangeness is from her born pride and self-esteem, the domineering behavior of her father and the betrayal of her lover. Barricaded in her house, she has frozen the past to protect her dreams. Her life is tragic because the defiance of the community, her refusal to accept the change and her extreme pride have pushed her to abnormality and insanity.。
英文读书笔记范文10篇
英文读书笔记范文10篇1. 《To Kill a Mockingbird》读书笔记这本小说以其深刻的社会洞察力和人性的复杂性而著称。
它探讨了种族不平等、道德观念和成长的主题。
通过主人公斯库特的眼睛，读者得以一窥1930年代美国南部的社会风貌。
书中的角色如阿提克斯·芬奇律师，他的正直和勇气成为道德行为的典范。
这本书不仅是一部文学经典，也是对人性深刻思考的体现。
2. 《1984》读书笔记乔治·奥威尔的这部反乌托邦小说描绘了一个极权主义社会，其中的“老大哥”监控着每一个人的思想。
通过主人公温斯顿·史密斯的视角，读者感受到了极权主义对个人自由和思想的压迫。
书中的双思想、新语等概念揭示了权力如何通过语言操控和控制人民。
这本书对现代社会的权力结构和个人自由问题提出了深刻的警示。
3. 《Pride and Prejudice》读书笔记简·奥斯汀的这部经典小说通过伊丽莎白·班纳特和达西先生之间的爱情故事，探讨了阶级、婚姻和社会地位的主题。
书中的幽默和机智对话让读者忍俊不禁，同时也揭示了当时社会的虚伪和势利。
伊丽莎白的独立和智慧使她成为女性角色的典范，这本书对现代社会的婚姻观念和女性地位问题提出了深刻的思考。
4. 《The Great Gats》读书笔记弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德的这部小说以其对爵士时代美国社会的描绘而著称。
通过主人公盖茨比的视角，读者得以一窥那个时代的奢华和空虚。
书中的象征主义和深刻的社会批评使它成为一部文学经典。
这本书对现代社会的消费主义和追求梦想的主题提出了深刻的思考。
5. 《Animal Farm》读书笔记乔治·奥威尔的这部寓言小说通过动物起义和建立自己的共和国的故事，探讨了权力、革命和背叛的主题。
书中的动物角色如拿破仑和雪球代表了不同的政治力量，揭示了权力斗争的残酷性。
这本书对现代社会的政治腐败和权力滥用问题提出了深刻的警示。
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竭诚为您提供优质文档/双击可除英美文学读书笔记篇一：英国文学史笔记学习资料英国文学史简介英国文学史简介楼主一、中世纪文学（约5世纪-1485）英国最初的文学同其他国家最初的文学一样，不是书面的，而是口头的。
故事与传说口头流传，并在讲述中不断得到加工、扩展，最后才有写本。
公元5世纪中叶，盎格鲁、撒克逊、朱特三个日耳曼部落开始从丹麦以及现在的荷兰一带地区迁入不列颠。
盎格鲁-撒克逊时代给我们留下的古英语文学作品中，最重要的一部是《贝奥武甫》（beowulf），它被认为是英国的民族史诗。
《贝奥武甫》讲述主人公贝尔武甫斩妖除魔、与火龙搏斗的故事，具有神话传奇色彩。
这部作品取材于日耳曼民间传说，随盎格鲁-撒克逊人入侵传入今天的英国，现在我们所看到的诗是8世纪初由英格兰诗人写定的，当时，不列颠正处于从中世纪异教社会向以基督教文化为主导的新型社会过渡的时期。
因此，《贝奥武甫》也反映了7、8世纪不列颠的生活风貌，呈现出新旧生活方式的混合，兼有氏族时期的英雄主义和封建时期的理想，体现了非基督教日耳曼文化和基督教文化两种不同的传统。
二、文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期-17世纪初）相对于欧洲其他国家来说，英国的文艺复兴起始较晚，通常认为是在15世纪末。
文艺复兴时期形成的思想体系被称为人文主义，它主张以人为本，反对中世纪以神为中心的世界观，提倡积极进取、享受现世欢乐的生活理想。
托马斯·莫尔（Thomasmore，1478-1535）是英国最主要的早期人文主义者，他的《乌托邦》（utopia）批评了当时的英国和欧洲社会，设计了一个社会平等、财产公有、人们和谐相处的理想国。
utopia现已成为空想主义的代名词，但乌托邦是作者对当时社会状况进行严肃思考的结果。
《乌托邦》开创了英国哲理幻想小说传统的先河，这一传统从培根的《新大西岛》（thenewAtlantis）、斯威夫特的《格列佛游记》（gulliverstravels）、勃特勒的《埃瑞璜》（erewhon）一直延续到20世纪的科幻小说。
文艺复兴时期诗歌创作繁荣，埃德蒙·斯宾塞（edmundspenser，1552-1599）的长诗《仙后》（thefaeriequeene）歌颂女王，宣扬人文主义思想。
他创造的"斯宾塞诗体"每节诗有九行，韵律复杂，具有柔和动听、萦绕耳际的音乐性。
弗兰西斯·培根（Francisbacon，1561-1626）是这一时期最重要的散文家，他对文学的主要贡献是《论说文集》（essays），共58篇。
这些文章题材广泛，内容涉及哲学、宗教、政治制度以及婚姻、爱情、友谊、园艺、读书等，文笔典雅，略带古风而又明白畅达。
英国戏剧起源于中世纪教堂的宗教仪式，取材于圣经故事的神秘剧和奇迹剧在14、15世纪英国舞台上占有主导地位，随后出现了以抽象概念作为剧中人物的道德剧。
到了16世纪末，戏剧进入全盛时期。
克里斯托弗·马洛（christophermarlowe，1564-1593）冲破旧的戏剧形式的束缚，创作了一种新戏剧。
《帖木儿大帝》（tamburlaine）、《浮士德博士的悲剧》（thetragicalhistoryofthelifeanddeathofdr.faustus）、《马耳他岛的犹太人》（thejewofmalta）等剧作反映了文艺复兴时期那种永无止境的探索精神和极端的个人主义精神。
英国文艺复兴时期最杰出的作家是威廉·莎士比亚（williamshakespeare，1564-1616），他的全部作品包括两首长诗，154首十四行诗和38部（一说39部）戏剧。
莎士比亚的主要剧作有喜剧《仲夏夜之梦》（amidsummernightsdream）、《威尼斯商人》（themerchantofvenice），悲剧《罗密欧与朱丽叶》（romeoandjuliet）、《哈姆莱特》（hamlet）、《奥赛罗》（othello）、《李尔王》（kinglear）、《麦克白》（macbeth），历史剧《亨利四世》（heyiv），传奇剧《暴风雨》（thetempest）等。
三、17世纪文学约翰·弥尔顿（johnmilton，1608-1674）的长诗《失乐园》（paradiselost）和《复乐园》（paradiseregained）、诗剧《力士参孙》（samsonagonistes）。
这些作品反映了王政复辟后弥尔顿内心的痛苦以及对资产阶级革命始终不渝的态度，文体雄伟庄严。
17世纪英国诗歌另外的一支是玄学派诗歌，代表诗人有约翰·邓恩（johndonne，1572-1631）和安德鲁·马韦尔（andrewmarvell，1621-1678）。
王政复辟时期最受人欢迎的作家是约翰·班扬（johnbunyan，1628-1688），他的《天路历程》（thepilgrimsprogress）采用梦幻的形式讲述宗教寓言，但揭开梦幻的面纱，展现在读者面前的是17世纪英国社会的一幅现实主义图景。
查理二世复辟后，被清教徒关闭的剧院重新开放，英国戏剧获得新生。
这一时期出现的风俗喜剧是当时戏剧的最高成就，威廉·康格里夫（williamcongreve，1670-1729）的《以爱还爱》（loveforlove）、《如此世道》（thewayoftheworld）等剧作是风俗喜剧的代表作品。
17世纪下半叶，约翰·德莱顿（johndryden，1631-1700）驰骋文坛，集桂冠诗人、散文家、剧作家于一身。
四、启蒙时期文学（17世纪后期-18世纪中期）亚历山大·蒲柏（alexanderpope，1688-1744）是新古典主义诗歌的代表，他模仿罗马诗人，诗风精巧隽俏，内容以说教与讽刺为主，形式多用英雄双韵体，但缺乏深厚感情。
18世纪英国散文出现繁荣，散文风格基本建立在新古典主义美学原则之上。
理查德·斯梯尔（richardsteele，1672-1729）与约瑟夫·艾迪生（josephaddison，1672-1719）创办《闲谈者》（tatler）与《观察者》（spectator）刊物，发表了许多以当时社会风俗、日常生活、文学趣味等为题材的文章，他们清新秀雅、轻捷流畅的文体成为后人模仿的典范。
乔纳森·斯威夫特（jonathanswift，1667-1745）是英国文学史上最伟大的讽刺散文作家，他的文风纯朴平易而有力。
斯威夫特的杰作《格列佛游记》（gulliverstravels）是一部极具魅力的儿童故事，同时包含着深刻的思想内容。
塞缪尔·约翰逊（samuel johnson，1709-1784）是18世纪英国人文主义文学批评的巨擘，《莎士比亚戏剧集序言》（theprefacetoshakespeare）和《诗人传》（livesofthepoets）是他对文学批评作出的突出贡献。
约翰逊青史留名，也得益于詹姆斯·鲍斯韦尔（jamesboswell，1740-1795）为他写的传记《约翰逊传》（thelifeofsamueljohson），该书逼真地再现了约翰逊的神态容貌及人格力量，标志着现代传记的开端。
18世纪被称为"散文世纪"的另一个原因是小说的兴起。
丹尼尔·笛福（danieldefoe，1660-1731）的《鲁滨逊漂流记》（robinsoncrusoe）采用写实的手法，描写主人公在孤岛上的生活，塑造了一个资产阶级开拓者和殖民主义者形象，具有时代精神。
笛福的另一部长篇小说《摩尔·弗兰德斯》（mollflanders）叙述女主人公摩尔在英国因生活所迫沦为娼妓和小偷的经历。
现实主义小说在亨利·菲尔丁（heyfielding，1707-1754）的笔下得到进一步发展。
他的《汤姆·琼斯》（tomjones）故事在乡村、路途及伦敦三个不同背景下展开，向读者展现了当时英国社会风貌的全景图。
与菲尔丁同时代的塞缪尔·理查逊（samuelrichardson，1689-1761）采用书信体创作了《帕米拉》（pamela）、《克拉丽莎》（clarissaharlowe）。
托比亚斯·斯摩莱特（tobiassmollett，1721-1771）是18世纪中叶颇具特色的小说家。
他的《蓝登传》（theadventuresofroderickrandom）继承欧洲流浪汉小说传统，布局松散，是一连串发展迅速、好恶交替、变化急剧的冒险经历的组合。
劳伦斯·斯特恩（lawrencesterne，1713-1768）的《项狄传》（thelifeandopinionsoftristramshandy）打破传统小说叙述模式，写法奇特。
18世纪中叶，奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯（olivergoldsmith，1730-1774）的长诗《荒村》（thedesertedvillage）是感伤主义诗歌的杰作。
他的《世界公民》（thecitizenoftheworld）原名为《中国人信札》（chineseletters），虚构了一个在伦敦游历的中国河南人李安济（lienchialtangi），把他在伦敦的所见所闻写成书信寄回北京礼部官员，以中国人的眼光对英国的政治、司法、宗教、道德、社会风尚进行批评。
詹姆斯·汤姆逊（jamesthomson，1700-1748）的《四季歌》（theseasons）、威廉·柯林斯（williamcollins，1721-1759）的《黄昏颂》（odetoevening）、托马斯·格雷（thomasgray，1716-1771）的《墓园哀歌》（elegywritteninacountrychurchyard）表达诗人对时代纷乱状态的厌恶和对"自然简朴安排"的向往，吐露了他们的内心感受。
英国诗篇二：自考《唐诗研究》读书笔记一、唐诗的演进阶段唐诗繁荣的原因：（1）以诗赋取士的科举制度一般说，唐代以诗赋取士的制度始于唐玄宗时代（2）相对清明的政治环境（3）较为开放的思想体系（4）中外文化的广泛交流音乐、绘画与诗歌的关系（1）“声诗”，就是配合音乐的诗歌，而名目繁多的外来乐曲传入后需要配上歌词才能演唱于朝会庙堂或阁楼酒肆，这自然会刺激是人创作的积极性，并使他们在创作过程中自觉注意诗歌的音律节奏，以使用入乐演唱的需要（2）还出现了许多直接以音乐为描摹对象的诗篇（3）绘画艺术的发展，则有助于创造深化诗的意境(中国绘画自唐代发生了一个重大变化，即由描摹人物转为描摹山水，重写意不重写真，重神似而不重形似)（4）绘画艺术的发达，还带来了题画诗的兴盛。