英国文学 笔记整理

【Chapter 1】The Anglo-Saxon Period (450 - 1066)1.Norman Conquest ，10662.Beowulf has 3183 lines, 两个国家：the Danes, the Geats形式：alliterative verse / head rhyme 头韵【Chapter 3】The Age of Chaucer (1350-1400)1.Historical backgroundChaucer and William Langland and the writer of Sir Gawain were contemporaries.But he deserves a period of his own.Two historical events which their influence can be detected in the writings of Chaucer andLangland: The Hundred Years’ War from the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) to the reign of Henry VI (1421-1471), or from 1337-1453; the peasant uprising of 1381, the reign of King Richard II.The French language was gradually replaced by the native tongue.William Langland and another writer John Wycliff expressed people’s hatred for the church and the government.2.John Wycliff 约翰·威克里夫One of the first figures who demanded to reform the church.Translated the Bible into standard English. Fixed a national standard for English prose to replace various dialects. Father of English prose.3.William Langland威廉·兰格伦作品：Piers Plowman《农夫皮尔斯》, or The Vision of Piers Plowman, another alliterative poem besides Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Giving a realistic picture of the 14th century England.The form of allegory, a story or description in which the characters and events symbolize some deeper underlying meaning, and serve to spread moral teaching. An allegory has a double meaning. A primary or surface meaning, and a secondary meaning, or underlying meaning. In an allegory, abstract qualities or ideas, such as patience, purity or truth, are personified as characters in the story.4.Geoffrey Chaucer 乔叟Died on Oct 25, 1400, buried in the Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey.Works divided into 3 periods, corresponding to the 3 periods of his life.(1) 1360-1372, wrote under the influence of the French literature, even translated French poems himself. Poem The Book of the Duchess, much of conventional romance elements in it.(2) 1372-1386, under the influence of the Italian literature. Troilus and Cryseyde, adapted from a long poem by Boccaccio（薄伽丘）, the writer of The Decameron《十日谈》. The Parliament of Fowls and The House of Fame.(3) the last 15 years of his life. The Canterbury Tales between 1387 and 1400. A general prologue and 24 tales that are connected by “links”.（本该有120个故事，只完成了24个）The Canterbury Tales is written in London dialectThere are 31 people in total （算上乔叟和店主）The prologue and most of the tales are written in heroic couplet（英雄双韵体）, i.e. ,a pair of rhyming iambic pentameter（五音步抑扬格）lines.The significance of The Canterbury Tales:(1)A comprehensive picture of Chaucer’s time. They represent the whole range of 14th century society except the very top and the very bottom. All persons connected with the church are drown with touches of gentle irony and mild satire, with the exception of the poor parson. It should be noted that each character is not only a typical representative of the class to which he or she belongs, but also has an individual character of his or her own.(2)The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics. This kind of a collection of tales put together was not rare in history. For example, Boccacio’s The Decameron. But in The Decameron stories are loosely connected and there is no relation between the story and the story teller. In The Canterbury Tales, stories are cleverly woven together by links between the stories. Most of the stories are related to the personalities of the tellers.(3)Chaucer’s humour: Humour is a characteristic feature of the English literature. Although he was associated with proud and important personages at court he must always have been conscious of the fact that he did not belong to that society. This explains his gentle satire and mild irony. But his satire can be the bitterest in the portrayal of the pardoner and the summoner.(4)Chaucer’s contribution to the English language: Ever since the Norman conquest, the French language was the language of the court and the upper classes, and Latin was the language of the learned and the church. Chaucer wrote in the London dialect of his day, which he handled dexterously. He proved that the English language is a beautiful language and can be easily handled to express different moods. In so doing, Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of the English language.【Chapter 4】The Fifteenth Century (1400-1550)Historical events:1.The Hundred Year’s War2.The War of the Roses (1455-1485)The War of the Roses, or the Thirty Years’ War, was a series of civil wars fought between the two great families, both of which claimed the right to the English throne.The House of Lancaster →red rose The House of York →white rose3.The discovery of America and the new sea routes4.Reformation of the ChurchPopular BalladsIn the field of literature, folk literature, especially ballads, became an important feature in the 15th century. A ballad is a narration poem that tells a story.★Basic characteristics:1.The beginning is often abrupt.2.There are strong dramatic elements.3.The story is often told through dialogue and action.4.The theme is often tragic, though there are a number of comic ballads.5.※It contains four-line stanzas. The odd numbered lines have four feet each and the even numbered lines have three feet each. Rhymes fall on the even numbered lines. And there is often a refrain at the end of each stanza.Of special significance are the Robin Hood Ballads.Sir Thomas MalorySir Thomas Malory, the author of The Death of Arthur（亚瑟王之死），was important in the fact that it was he who finally compiled together the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table which were scattered in a number of French romances and made great contribution to the development of English prose.It is interesting to note that Robin Hood and King Arthur were both revived at a time when the medieval spirit of chivalry was dying fast and the feudal order was rapidly becoming a thing of the past.Early English PlaysIn ancient Greece and Rome, drama was one of the most popular forms of entertainment. But the Roman Catholic Church prohibited dramatic performances. It was not until the 9th and the 10th centuries that the Catholic Church allowed some of dramatic performance to be used as part of religious services. For example, on Christmas the clergymen would put on a liturgy（礼拜仪式）of the birth of Christ. By the 14th century, the liturgy had developed into mystery plays and miracle plays.mystery plays →based on stories from the Biblemiracle plays →based on the lives of Christian saints【Chapter 5】The English Renaissance (1550-1642)HumanismRenaissance began in the 14th century in Italy and later spread to France, Spain, the Netherlands, and England. It’s ideal was humanism. Renaissance is a French word which means “rebirth” in English.★★★1.With the spreading of the Greek and Roman culture, there appeared a number of humanist scholars who took great interest in the welfare of human beings.2.According to them, it was against human nature to sacrifice the happiness of his life for an after life.3.They argued that man should be given full freedom to enrich their intellectual and emotional life.4.In religion, they demanded the reformation of the church.5.In art and literature, instead of singing praise to God, they sang in praise of man and of the pursuit of happiness in this life.6.Humanism shattered the shackles of spiritual bondage of man’s mind by the Roman Catholic Church and opened his eyes to “a brave new world” in front of him.Edmund SpenserSpenser’s first important work is The Shephearde’s Calender（牧羊人日记）, a pastoral poem in 12 parts, one foreach month of the year.His major achievement, The Faerie Queen, is an unfinished allegorical romance. According to Spenser’s original plan there should be 12 books, each telling the adventures of one of the 12 knights despatched by the Faerie Queen, Gloria, who represents Glory and Queen Elizabeth in particular. However, Spenser only completed 6 of the books, in which the six virtues of Truth, Temperance, Friendship, Justice, Chastity, and Coutesy are presented.Spenserian stanza:九行一节，前八行均为五音步抑扬格，第九行为六个音节The seven deadly sins: Pride（傲慢）,Wrath（暴怒）,Sloth（懒惰）,Greed（贪婪）,Envy（嫉妒）,Gluttony（暴食）, Lust（淫欲）Christopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was the most prominent of the University Wits.His first play Tamburlaine the Great (1587)（帖木儿大帝）is about the story of Timur the Tartar(1336-1405). The central figure Tamburlaine represents the Renaissance desire for infinite power and authority. He is not only ruthlessly cruel and brutal in punishing his enemies, but also violently passionate in love.The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus (1592)（浮士德博士的悲剧）,adapted from a popular old German legend, is sort of companion to Tamburlaine in reflecting the Renaissance desire for infinite knowledge. Tired with the scholastic study of the four subjects of Medieval knowledge, that is , Theology, Philosophy, Medicine, and Law, Dr.Faustus turns to magic book and signs a contract with the devil Mephistopheles. He sells his soul to the devil on the condition that the latter will satisfy every demand of his for a period of 24 years.As a dramatist, Marlowe has limitations. His plot construction is loose and his characters are merely embodiments （具体化）of ideas. But Marlowe is the only dramatist of the time who is ever compared with Shakespeare.Ben Jonson coined the phrase “Marlowe’s magic lines”. The blank verse（无韵诗）, i.e. , unrhymed iambic pentameter, used in his dramas, was the chief verse form used by Shakespeare.William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in all during his life.Shakespeare’s writing career may be roughly divided into four stages.1.The early years were years of his apprenticeship, dating from 1592 to 1594.2.The second period is a period of rapid growth and development, dating from 1595 to 1600.3.The third period is a period of gloom and depression, dating from 1601 to 1608.4.The fourth period is a period of restored serenity, from 1608 to 1612.★★★Shakespeare’s achievements:1.Shakespeare represented the trend of history in giving voice to the desires and aspirations of the people.2.Shakespeare’s humanism: More important than his historical sense of his time, Shakespeare in his plays reflects the spirit of his age.3.Shakespeare’s characterization: Shakespeare was most successful in his characterization. In his plays, he described a great number of characters, ranging from kings to crowns, rascals, and grave-diggers; from lunatics to ghosts; from lovers to man-haters.4.Shakespeare’s originality: Shakespeare drew most of his materials from sources that were known to his audience. But his plays are original because he instilled into the old materials a new spirit that gives new life to his plays.5.Shakespeare as a great poet: Shakespeare was not only a great dramatist, but also a great poet. Apart from his sonnets and long poems, his dramas are poetry.6.Shakespeare as a master of the English language: It is estimated that he had a command of about 15,000 words. He was especially successful in handling the different meanings of the same word, or words having the same sound but different meanings.A sonnet （十四行诗）is a poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with various rhyming schemes. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets altogether in number. The 154 sonnets fall into two groups, divided at sonnet 126. The first group was addressed to a Mr. W. H.. The second group was addressed to a dark lady.The metrical form（韵律形式）of Shakespeare’s sonnets is different from that of Petrarach’s（彼特拉克）. Italian Sonnet British SonnetOctave前八行abba abba （提出问题） 3 quatrains（四行诗）abab cdcd efefSestet 后六行cde cde （作出回答） a couplet（双行诗）gg【Chapter 6】The Seventeenth Century (1603-1688)Francis BaconThough Bacon was Shakespeare’s contemporary, he is generally regarded as the chief figure in English prose in the first half of the 17th century and his essays began the long tradition of the English essay in the history of English literature.As a philosopher, Bacon is praised by Marx as “the progenitor of English materialism”（英国唯物主义的始祖）. because he stressed the importance of experience, or experiment, which is in direct opposition to the superstitution and scholasticism of the Middle Ages.Bacon’s 58 essays were publisher in 1625. They are the author’s reflections an comments, mostly on rather abstract subjects, such as “Of Truth”, “Of Friendship”, and “Of Riches”. They are known for their conciseness, brevity, simplicity, and forcefulness.Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier PoetsDuring the reign of Charles I, there were two schools of poets, metaphysical poets（玄学派诗人）and cavalier poets （骑士派诗人）.The main themes of the metaphysical poets are love, death, and religion. The chief representative of this school was John Donne.The cavaliers were royalists, whose poetry was marked by courtliness, urbanity, and polish. The chief representative of the cavaliers was Ben Jonson, who besides being a poet, was also a playwright.John Donne作品：Songs and Sonnets, a collection of his 55 love lyrics, was published after his death in 1633.Donne’s love lyrics may be classified into two groups. The poems of one group takes a negative attitude towards love, and those of the other group take a positive attitude towards love.John MiltonThe revolutionary enthusiasm of the bourgeois revolution（资产阶级革命）and the bitter hatred for the despotic ruler is best known in the works of John Milton.In 1665, after seven years’arduous labour in darkness, he finished Paradise Lost, which gave vent to his indignation against Charles II. The story of the epic is based on Genesis. The central theme of the poem deals with the Christian story of “ the fall of man ”. Evidently, the poet intended to write it as a epic and imitated the style of Homer’s epic.Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost, as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man.”There can hardly be any doubt that Milton’s own sentiments in the days of the Restoration are expressed in the powerful first speech made by Satan excerpted here. But it should be made clear that Milton as a Puritan did not have the least intention of making God a real tyrant to be hated and revenged upon. The rebellions speech by Satan was an outpouring of the poet’s personal hatred for the restored monarch at the time. On the whole, the characters o Satan and his followers are condemned in the epic.In the love between Adam and Eve, Milton voices his enthusiasm for humanistic elements.Characteristics of Milton’s style:1.The blank verse, i.e. , the unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter, is used throughout the epic and is characterized by its employment of long and involved sentences, which run on many lines with a variety of pauses, and achieving sometimes an oratorical and sometimes an elaborately logical effect. This richness of poetical style has frequently been called “Miltonic Style”.ton’s style is also commonly said to be Latinate. Milton uses more elaborate patterns drawn from Latin. He is very fond of using inversion.3.Another characteristic of his style is the use of allusions to other works, especially the classic works.John BunyanAs Milton was the chief Puritan poet, so Bunyan was the chief puritan writer of prose.The Pilgrim’s Progress is written in the old fashioned medieval form of allegory and drama. The book opens with the author’s dream in which he sees a man “ with a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back”. The man is Christian the Pilgrim, the book is the Bible, and the burden on his back is the weight of worldly cares and concerns. It tells how Christian starts his pilgrimage from his home to the Kingdom of Heaven, and of his experiences and adventures on his journey.The book’s most significant aspect is its satire, which without doubt is directed at the ruling classes. Especially well known is the description of the Vanity Fair. The punishment of Christian and Faithful for disdaining things in the Vanity Fair may have its significance in alluding to Bunyan’s repeated arrests and imprisonment for preaching. After all, like Milton, Bunyan in his book is preaching his religious views. He satirizes his society which is full of vices that violate the teaching of the Christian religion. However, his Puritanism weakens the effect of his social satire by exhorting his readers to endure poverty with patience in order to seek the “ Celestial City ”. Besides, the use of allegory in most of his works makes his satirical pictures less direct and more difficult to see. His books are more often read as religions books than as piercing exposures of social evils.Bunyan is known for his simple and lively prose style. Everyday idiomatic expressions and biblical language enables him to narrate his story and reveal his ideas directly and in a straightforward way.【Chapter 7】The Eighteenth Century (1688-1798)Neo-classicism★★★The characteristics of neo-classicism:1.People emphasized reason rather than emotion, form rather than content.2.As reason was stressed, most of the writings of the age were didactic and satirical.3.As elegance, correctness, appropriateness and restraint were preferred, the poet found closed couplet the only possible verse form for serious work.4.It is almost exclusively a “ town ” poetry, catering to the interests of the “ society ” in great cities.5.It is entirely wanting in all those elements that are related with the “ romantic ”.Daniel DefoeDaniel Defoe is known as a pioneer novelist of England, and also a prolific writer of books and pamphlets on a great variety of subjects.He never stopped his creative activities until at the age of 60, with the publication of Robinson Crusoe, a long imaginative literary masterpiece, he was finally recognized as a major English novelist. Robinson Crusoe is based on a real accident.In Moll Flanders, Defoe introduces, for the first time, a lowly woman as the subject of literature.Jonathan SwiftThe Battle of Books is a satire on the controversy among literary people concerning the values of the ancients and moderns.A Tale of the Tab is a satire on the various churches of his time.A Modest Proposal is a more bitter satire on the policy of the English government towards the Irish people.Swift’s masterpiece is Gulliver’s Travels. The book contains four parts that deal with the four voyages of its hero to strange places. The form of travel literature was popular in his time as there were many books of voyage and travel. Among them were Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.Alexander Pope。