英国文学复习材料

English Literature
• 1. 中世纪文学/mediaeval literature（约5世纪—1485）
• 2. 文艺复兴时期文学/Renaissance literature（15世纪后期—17世纪初）
• 3. 17世纪文学/17th Century Literature
• 4. 启蒙时期文学/Literature Enlightenment period（17世纪后期—18世纪中期）
• 5. 浪漫主义时期文学/Romantic literature period（1798-1832）
• 6. 现实主义时期文学/Realism period（19世纪30年代-1918）
•7. 现代主义文学时期/Modern Literature period （1918-1945）
•8. 当代文学/Contemporary Literature（1945—今）
1. 中世纪文学/mediaeval literature（约5世纪—1485）
Note:“Medieval period” is a quite special period in English history. In Chinese “Medieval” or “The Middle Age”. Overview:
•Many books on English literature begin with Chaucer, who serves as a convenient starting point since he is undoubtedly the first important writer in English history. Such a convenient choice, however, will leave out Beowulf, the most impressive long poem in Old English.
•From the history ,the land was occupied by the Celts 凯尔特人before the Romans invaded it.
Part I: Anglo-Saxon Period (449—1066)
1. Historical background
2. literature
3. Old English Poetry: Beowulf
The Anglo-Saxon period (449-1066)
•English literature began with the Anglo-Saxon settlement
• 1. historical background
•Three conquests: Roman conquest in 43 AD; Anglo-Saxon conquest in 449; Norman conquest in 1066 •43 AD, Roman conquered Britain ,making the latter a province of Roman Empire; the withdrawal of Roman troops ,the Teutonic tribes日耳曼人的,条顿人的.
•esp., the Anglos conquered the island and called it Angle-land, then England, their language is Anglo-Saxon old English.
New words:
•pagan [‘peiɡən]:异教徒, 非基督教徒
•Saga ['sɑ:ɡə]:中世纪北欧传说; 英雄传奇(saga novel)(多卷本)家世小说
•ecclesiastic [i͵kli:zi'æstik] ：(基督教的)牧师, 教士
2. Literature:
•the old English poetry can be divided into two groups: the secular and the religious.
•The secular group: Beowulf, The Wife’s Complaints
•The religious group: Genesis A and B are two poems based on the Old Testament.
Sum up: 2. literature
•1): pagan: oral sagas--the Song of Beowulf
•2): Christian: copied by the monk.
•The influence of the Christianity upon language and culture.
•Two ecclesiastic poets: Caedmon and Cynewulf
•Caedmon--[‘kædmən]凯德蒙(公元7世纪盎格鲁-撒克逊基督教诗人)
•Cynewulf--[‘kinəwulf] 基涅武甫(盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人,生活在公元9 世纪诺森伯里亚或麦西亚,其古英语诗稿于10世纪被发现,有《埃琳娜》、《使徒们的命运》、《基督升天》和《朱莉安娜》等) Epic:史诗
•Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language and in a grand style, like Homer’s
Iliad[‘iliəd] and Odyssey[’ɔdisi] . It usually celebrates the feats and achievements of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The action is simple but full of magnificence. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down.
•The epics are the earliest pieces of literature surviving from the Old English period and indeed a tribute to the vitality of the ancient paganism. This tradition is the composing in verse of tribal or national legends about a great hero, always a fighting warrior.
•This is to be found in the Heroic Age of the Anglo-Saxons, while they were still on the Continent. In any case, the personality and the deeds of a hero were a source of inspiration to members of the tribe. To celebrate the deeds of the hero, and thereby to perpetuate his name and his glory unto succeeding generations, was the business of the bard, or minstrel, whom the Anglo-Saxons called the scop古代盎格鲁撒克逊的(吟游)诗人or gleeman吟游诗人.
•How many of these epics were composed during the Heroic Age of the Anglo-Saxon can not be told;
none of them were written down for centuries; instead they were passed by word of mouth from scop to scop; and the stories grew in the passing.
•the Song of Beowulf [‘beɪə、wʊlf]
----England’s national epic
Old English Poetry: The Story of Beowulf
•Beowulf -- written in 10th century, probably composed some time during the first half of the 8th century, after the Christianization of the whole nation. The historical event described in the poem belongs to the early 6th century.
•Beowulf is the national epic of the Anglo-Saxon and English people. It consists of 3182 lines and is to be divided into two parts.
–Though it is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons, th e hero and the setting of Beowulf have nothing to do with England, for the story took place in Scandinavia .
•Scandinavia --[skændɪ’neɪvɪə]:the countries of N Europe, esp. considered as a cultural unit and including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and often Finland, Iceland, and the Faeroes斯堪的纳维亚(半岛)(欧洲)
Beowulf
•Beowulf is folk legend brought to England by the Anglo-Saxons from their continental homes. Beowulf is
a grand hero. He is so, simply by his deeds. He is faithful to his people. He goes alone, in a strange land,
to venture himself for the deliverance of his people. He forgets himself in face of death. Though the poem was written in the 10th century, its hero was no doubt mainly the product of a primitive, tribal society on the continent.
2). the Song of Beowulf- plot and theme:
I. a. fight with Grendel II. a. fight with fire dragon
b. fight with Grendel’s mother b. death and funeral
plot
•Part I: It opens in Denmark, where King Hrothgar's splendid mead hall, Heorot, has been ravaged for 12 years by nightly visits from an evil monster, Grendel, who carries off Hrothgar's warriors and devours them. Unexpectedly, young Beowulf, a prince of the Geats of southern Sweden, arrives with a small band of retainers and offers to cleanse Heorot of its monster. The King is astonished at the little-known hero's daring but welcomes him, and after an evening of feasting, much courtesy, and some discourtesy, the King retires, leaving Beowulf in charge. During the night Grendel comes from the moors, tears open the heavy doors, and devours one of the sleeping Geats. He then grapples with Beowulf, whose powerful grip he cannot escape. He wrenches himself free, tearing off his arm, and leaves, mortally wounded.
•The next day is one of rejoicing in Heorot. But at night as the warriors sleep, Grendel's mother comes to
avenge her son, killing one of Hrothgar's men. In the morning Beowulf seeks her out in her cave at the bottom of a mere and kills her. He cuts the head from Grendel's corpse and returns to Heorot. The Danes rejoice once more. Hrothgar makes a farewell speech about the character of the true hero, as Beowulf, enriched with honors and princely gifts, returns home to King Hygelac of the Geats.
•The second part passes rapidly over King Hygelac's subsequent death in a battle (of historical record), the death of his son, and Beowulf's succession to the kingship and his peaceful rule of 50 years. But now a fire-breathing dragon ravages his land and the doughty but aging Beowulf engages it. The fight is long and terrible and a painful contrast to the battles of his youth. Painful, too, is the desertion of his retainers except for his young kinsman Wiglaf. Beowulf kills the dragon but is mortally wounded. The poem ends with his funeral rites and a lament.
基本情节可分为两部分：
•第一部分（诗行1—1904）：丹麦国王赫罗斯加兴建了一座宏伟的宴乐厅，遭到魔怪格兰道尔的袭击。

那魔怪为所欲为，连续为害达十二年之久。

消息传到高特人（在今天的瑞典南部。

）耳里。

高特武士贝奥武甫率十四勇士前往救援。

经过激烈的搏斗，力大无穷的贝奥武甫扯断了魔怪的一只胳膊。

垂死的魔怪逃回自己的洞穴。

第二天晚上又有一个魔怪前来骚扰宴乐厅，此魔乃格兰道尔之母，是为他的儿子报仇来的。

贝奥武甫与她在水潭下的洞穴中展开殊死搏斗，最后用魔剑将她杀死。

•第二部分（1905—3182）：贝奥武甫凯旋回国。

不久，国王海格拉克父子先后死于非命，贝奥武甫继承王位。

他成功地统治高特国达五十年之久。

就在壮士暮年，国内出了一条毒龙。

该毒龙因自己守护的财宝被盗，开始向高特人进行报复。

它口吐烈焰，毁灭一切。

为了拯救自己的国家和人民，贝奥武甫毅然进入龙窟。

在一位名叫威格拉夫的年轻武士的援助下，毒龙被除，但老英雄也因受伤过重而献出了生命。

3). Characteristics of “Beowulf”
• a. the mixture of pagan elements with Christian coloring.
•The most outstanding example is the frequent reference in the epic to “Wyrd” (fate) as the decisive factor in human affaires, while on other occasions “God” or “Lord” is also mentioned as the omniscient [ɔm'nɪs ɪənt]无所不知的；and omnipotent [ɔm'nipətənt]全能的being that rules over the whole universe.
• b. the frequent use of metaphors and understatements. Such as :
•Metaphors: E.g:
•“Ring giver” is used for king.
•“Swan road”, “whale-path” or “seal bath” for the sea.
•“wave-traveler” or “sea-wood” for ship, “shield-bearer”, “battle-hero” or “spear-fighter” for soldier.
•Understatements:
• E.g: "not troublesome" for welcome.
• c. The most striking feature of the poem is the use of alliteration头韵.
•In alliterative [ə’litərətiv] verse, certain accented words in a line began with the same consonant sound.
There are generally four accents in a line, three of which show alliteration.
• e.g.
•Of men he was the mildest and most beloved,
•To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise.
•Beowulf towers above all other Anglo-Saxon literature, not only because it is a powerful poem about people’s hero written in true epic style, but also because it tells in artistic form the tale in a leisurely way, full of elaborations in legendary details, and the verse rises at places to heights of poetic grandeur.
The significance of Beowulf
• a. This glorious epic presents us a vivid picture of the life of Anglo-Saxon people and highly praises the brave and courageous spirit of the fighting against the elemental forces.
• b. The epic reflects the situations the epoch of pagan tribalism and of the era of the Christianized feudal society.
• c. The epic gives the vivid portrayal of a great national hero, strong and courageous people and his kinfolk.
True or false
The epic poem Beowulf describes the most heroic man of the Anglo-Saxon times. It is a Denmark story which used alliteration, metaphors and understatements. （T）
Part II The Anglo-Norman Period(1066—1485)
•The Norman: Feudalism, landlord & peasant began with the Norman, language greatly changed and enriched.
the Anglo-Norman period (1066—1485)
1. historical background
•Norman Conquest of Anglo-Saxon England, under William, Duke of Normandy after the battle of Hastings [‘heistiŋz] in 1066, accelerated the development of feudalism in England.
•Note: battle of Hastings: the decisive battle in which William the Conqueror (duke of Normandy) defeated the Saxons under Harold II (1066) and thus left England open for the Norman Conquest黑斯廷斯战役，1066年10月14日，哈罗德国王(Harold II)的盎格鲁—撒克逊军队和诺曼底公爵威廉一世(William of Normandy [,nɔ:mən’di] )的军队在黑斯廷斯(英国东萨塞克斯郡濒临加来海峡的城市)地域进行的一场交战。

.
•French 文化和语言
•The middle ages: the dark age (449-16th century)
The three chief effects of the conquest were:
1). three chief effects of the Conquest.
• a. the bringing of Roman civilization to England;
• b. the growth of nationality;
• c. the new language and literature, which were proclaimed
in Chaucer.
2). Four kinds.
• a. Geoffrey’s history: a source book of literature
• b. the work of the French Writers: Arthurian legends
• c. Riming/rhythmic chronicles: history in doggerel [’dɔ:gərəl]
verse 打油诗
• d. metrical韵律的romances, or tales in verse.
2 Development of Literature
Genre of Literature/Romance
•The literature which Normans brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure, in marked contrast with the strength and somberness of Anglo-Saxon poetry.
•If the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one. [ʃivəlrik]骑士的
•Definitions: Medieval Romance
•Romance: derived from the Medieval Latin word romanice, “in the Roman language”. The word roman in Old French was applied to the popular courtly stories in verse which dealt with three traditional subjects: the legends about Arthur, Charlemagne and his knight, and stories of classic heroes esp. Alexander.
English correspondents, almost always translations, are found from the 13th c. Onwards.
•From The Oxford Companion to E. Literature,p.842.
•Romance which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a
popular literary form in the medieval period. It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved. The hero is usu. the knight, who set out a journey to accomplish some missions—to protect the church, to attack infidelity [ɪnfɪ’delɪti:] (夫妻间的)不忠实, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge, or obey a knightly command. There is an often a liberal use of the improbable, sometimes even supernatural, things in romance such as mysteries and fantasies. Romance love / courtly love is an important part of the plot in romance.
Three major themes/ Medieval romances or tales in verse, can be divided into three classes:• a. the matter of France: about Charlemagne [‘tʃɑ:lə,mein] and his peers/knights 注：查理曼大帝(742-814,世称Charles the Great或Charles I, 768-814为法兰克王,800-814为西罗马帝国皇帝) • b. the matter of Greece and Rome: about Alexander the great and the Trojan [‘trəudʒən] War and the fall of Troy [trɔi]
• c. the matter of Britain: king Arthur and his Round Table knight --Adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table《亞瑟王和他的圓桌武士》
•Discussion: characteristics of medieval romance.
Three major poets in 14th-century England
⏹Geoffrey Chaucer
⏹William Langland
⏹The Gawain -poet
Geoffrey Chaucer“Father” of English Poetry
Geoffrey Chaucer is the founder of English poetry, writer, also the outstanding English poet before William Shakespeare. Chaucer made a crucial contribution to English literature in writing in English at a time when much court poetry宫廷诗was still composed in Anglo-Norman or Latin. Although he spent one of two brief periods of disfavor, Chaucer lived the whole of his life close the centers of English power.
1.his life
•born in a wine merchant family,page to Elizabeth.
•he had broad and intimate acquaintance with persons high and low in all walks of life and knew well the whole social life of his time.
He contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century to the management of public affairs as courtier侍臣, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted and aided by three successive kings—Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV. But it is his avocation业余爱好—the writing of poetry—for which he is remembered.
Chaucer’s positions in public service.
He was influenced by French, Italian, literature.
His literary career
• a. French period(1360-1372) in French
“ Romance of the rose”
---French courtly love poetry
• b. Italian period(1372-1385) in Latin
“the legend of Good Women”
• c. English period(1386-1400) in English
“ The Canterbury Tales”
---his masterpiece which marks his ultimate achievement.
Other works
•《公爵夫人之书》（The Book of the Duchess）
•《声誉之堂》（The House of Fame）
•《百鸟议会》（The Parliament of Fowls）
•《特罗勒斯与克丽西德》（Troilus and Criseyde）
-------Chaucer’s great achievement. [krɪ’seɪdə]
Some previous literary sources
•¤Boccaccio [bəu’kɑ:tʃiəu]薄伽丘(Giovanni, 1313-1375, 文艺复兴时期意大利作家, Decameron [di’kæmərən ]《十日谈》的作者)
•Dante 但丁(意大利诗人,1265-1321) The Divine Comedy
•Ovid: Roman poet known for his explorations of love,
•especially the Art of Love(c. 1 b.c. ) and Metamorphoses [metə’mɔ:fəʊz] (c. a.d. 8). 奥维德：公元前43年- 公元17年罗马诗人，以其对爱的研究，尤其是《爱的艺术》（公元前1年)和《变形记》（公元8年）而闻名。

《坎特伯雷故事集》提要
•《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部诗体短篇小说集，叙说朝圣者一行30人(包括叙述者实际上是31人)会聚在泰巴旅店，准备前往坎特伯雷。

店主爱热闹，自告奋勇为他们担任向导，并提议在往返圣地的途中每人来回各讲两个故事，以解旅途中的寂寥，并由店主作裁判，选出故事讲得最好的人，回到店后大家合起来请他吃饭。

这些朝圣者有骑士、僧尼、商人、匠人、医生、学者、农夫、家庭主妇等当时英国社会各个阶层的人士。

总引部分交代了事情的由来，并逐一刻画了每一位朝圣者，其后便是各人讲的故事，故事内容有爱情和骑士探险传奇、宗教和道德训诫故事、诙谐滑稽故事、动物寓言等几类，汇集了欧洲中世纪文学中的各种主要体裁。

根据总引中的计划，全书应该有120个故事，但乔叟在去世前只完成了22个完整的故事，另有2个故事的残篇，其中以骑士、女尼、巴斯妇人等讲的故事最为有名。

The Canterbury Tales《坎特伯雷故事集》
•It is one of the most famous works in all literature. It begins with a general prologue that explains the occasion for the narration of the tales and gives a description of the pilgrims who narrate the tales, and then follow the twenty-four tales that make up the bulk of the book, plus the separate pro logues and the “links that accompany some of” the tales.
•30 pilgrims, would be 120 stories. But Chaucer had actually completed only 22 stories, with two more existing in fragments.
The General Prologue---in middle English
•Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
•The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
•And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
•Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
5 Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
10 That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
--In Modern English
•When in April the sweet showers fall
•That pierce March's drought to the root and all
•And bathed every vein in liquor that has power
•To generate therein and sire the flower;
5When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath,
Filled again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun
His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run,
And many little birds make melody
10 That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)
Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in distant lands.
Features:
（1）heroic couplet：is an iambic pentameter heaving the lines rhyming in pairs./Heroic Couplet is two lines of rhyming iambic pentameters.(两行相互押韵、每行分五音节的)英雄偶句诗/是一种英国古典诗体，由乔叟首创。

由十音节双韵诗体演化而来，每行五个音步,每个音步有两个音节,第一个是轻音,第二个是重音.句式均衡、整齐、准确、简洁、考究。

（2）iambic pentameter抑扬格五音步（就是十个音节按照先轻后重依次排列的，一轻一重组成一个音步，名为抑扬格（iambus），五个音步构成了英语诗歌最常见的格律诗行之一。

）
The Canterbury Tales is one of the landmarks of English literature, perhaps the greatest work produced in Middle English and certainly among the most ambitious. It is one of the few works of the English Middle Ages that has had a continuous history of publication. It was the last of Geoffrey Chaucer‘s works, written after Troilus and Creseyde during the final years of Chaucer’s life. However, Chaucer only completed twenty-two tales, not even completing one tale for each pilgrim.
Chaucer’s contributions to English Literature and Language
a. a master of realism
b.founder of English literary language
cChaucer’s English: London dialect
d.Father of English poetry : heroic
e. the first occupant [‘ɔkjəpənt]占有人of the Poets’ Corner (Westminster Abbey)
Qs for you:
•Brief Comment on Chaucer’s historical position in Br. Literature and The General Prologue .
•Analyze metrical form in The Canterbury’s Tales.
• 1. The Canterbury Tales was written in ________.
A. Old English
B. Middle English
C. Modern English
D. Current Modern English
2. Pilgrims travel to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury in ________.
A. March
B. April
C. May
D. June
3. ________ pilgrims plus Chaucer are assembled at the Tabard Inn in the southern part of London.
A. 25
B. 27
C. 29
D. 31
4. Chaucer was a master of the heroic couplet which consists of two rhyming lines in iambic
pentameter. Iambic pentameter means
A. the line has 6 feet, and an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.
B. the line has 6 feet, and a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable.
C. the line has 5 feet, and an unstressed syllable is followed by a stressed syllable.
D. the line has 5 feet, and a stressed syllable is followed by an unstressed syllable.
William Langland (1332 - 1400) 威廉.朗格兰
•is the author of the 14th-century English dream-vision Piers Plowman.
•与乔叟同时代，著有诗歌《农夫皮尔士》（Piers Plowman），第一部分有2567行，第二部分作为第一部分的回顾和扩展，也是最好的一部分，有7277行，第三部分与第二部分长度大概一致。

•全诗描写了一系列的梦境和间断的梦醒，在梦里诗人首先见到了“真理”（Truth）居住的“塔”
（Tower）,即“天堂”（Heaven），又见到深深的“地牢”（Dungeon），即“地狱”（Hell），在这二者之间有“充满了平民的场所”（field full of folk），即“人间”（the human world）。

通过“圣殿神女”（Lady Holy Church）对基督教义的解释和“赏赞神女”（Lady Meed）对虚伪的展示，我们就会看到“理智”
（Reason）传道至“人间”。

“救世主”（Christ）最终通过“做好”（Do Welll），“做得更好”（Do Bet），“做得最好”（Do Best）来到“人间”。

Read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and answer the following questions:
What is really being tested? How does Sir Gawain do? What are we supposed to think of the Green Knight? Sir Gawain himself?
Sir Gawain and the Green Knigh《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》
Gawain: [‘ɡɑ:wein]高文
a. the plot
•1). Feast in the palace 2) journey f or the green chapel [‘tʃæpəl]小教堂3) test in the castle
4). blow in the chape l
plot
•Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a late 14th-century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table.
•In the tale, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his clothes and hair to his beard and skin. The "Green Knight" offers to allow anyone to strike him with his axe if the challenger will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts, and beheads him in one blow, only to have the Green Knight stand up, pick up his head, and remind Gawain to meet him at the appointed time. The story of Gawain's struggle to meet the appointment and his adventures along the way demonstrate the spirit of chivalry and loyalty.
•The poem by the unknown author, are written in a North West Midland dialect of Middle English, borrowing from earlier "beheading game" stories and highlighting the importance of honour and chivalry in the face of danger.
Gawain represented the perfect knight, as a fighter, a lover, and a religious devotee. [,devə’ti:]热爱者•Knights of Gawain‘s time were tested in their ability to balance the male-oriented chivalric code[‘ʃivəlrik] 骑士风度的with the female-oriented rules of courtly love.
• b. characteristics and theme
•the bravest of knights
• a test of his virtue and truth
•(one of the best told stories in all the medieval literature of Europe)
•Motif: 1.the tests of faith, courage and purity----
•nobility of hero
• 2. the human weakness for self-preservation--
•--- humanness
theme
（1）Temptation and testing （2）Hunting and seduction （3）Nature and chivalry （4）Games
（5）Times and seasons
Sum up:
•If the epic reflects a heroic age, the romance reflects a chivalric one.
•Romance: the heroic adventure for adventures’ sake
•Epic (Beowulf): t o help the hero’s kinsfolk out of the distress or to protect them from disaster
Popular Ballads民谣
1. Definition: anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission.
2. Classification of Popular Ballads
• a. the reflection of the historical events
• b. the reflection of myths and legends
• c. the adaptation of some literary works.
Another classification:
• a.border ballads: age-long struggle between Scots and English
• b. the ballads of Robin Hood
• c. the humorous ballads
4.Varieties of themes
• a. matters of class struggle
• b.the border wars between England and Scotland
• c.conflict between love and wealth
• d.the cruel effect of jealousy and treachery
• e.the struggle of young lovers against their feudal families
• f.of humors
•g.some about supernatural ghost and spirits
The characteristic features of the popular ballads
• a. the extensive use of dialogue
• b.the refrain(诗歌的)叠句, 副歌
• c.the ballad meter
• d.the repetition of words or phrase
features
• 1. its simple language. In the verse form and the colloquial expressions.
• 2. Either in couplets or in quatrains, which are known as the ballad stanza, rhyming abcb, with the first and third lines carrying 4 accented syllables and the second and fourth carrying 3.
Examples:
• 1. Robin Hood and the Bishop (shows how Robin Hood and his faithful follower Little John succeed in routing their enemy, the Bishop)
• 2. Sir Patrick Spens (the setting is in Scotland and the theme is that of treachery among the courtiers that leads eventually to the tragic death of the titular hero)
• 3. Get Up and Bar the Door (a good example of the humorous ballad. It is a light tale humorously told, showing the simple life and innocent fun of the common people
the characteristics of Robin Hood
• a. his hatred for the cruel oppressors and his love for the poor and down-trodden
• b.strong, brave and clever
• c.tender-hearted and affectionate for the poor and down-trodden
• d.his pure love for Marian
• e.his simple loyalty to the monarchy [‘mɔnəki]君主制度
• 4.Varieties of themes:
• a. matters of class struggle
• b.the border wars between England and Scotland
• c.conflict between love and wealth
• d.the cruel effect of jealousy and treachery
• e.the struggle of young lovers against their feudal families
• f.of humors
•g.some about supernatural ghost and spirits
Renaissance English Literature (15C-----17C)
Part IV. The Renaissance
This is a greatest and most advanced revolution in the human history. This is the age the giants are needed and produced.
------F. Engles
在欧洲历史和哲学史中，人文主义主要被用来描述14到16世纪间较中世纪比较先进的思想。

一般来说今天历史学家将这段时间里文化和社会上的变化称为文艺复兴，而将教育上的变化运动称为人文主义。

欧洲文艺复兴时期新兴资产阶级反封建的社会思潮。

资产阶级人道主义的最初形式。

它肯定人性和人的价值，要求享受人世的欢乐，要求人的个性解放和自由平等，推崇人的感性经验和理性思维。

1.the renaissance in the world(1)
•It originated in Italy in the 14-th century when the art, literature and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome were discovered and widely studied and came to a flowery in the 15-th century and later spread to France, Germany, Spain, Holland and Belgium and England in the 16-th century.
•The Renaissance period is markedly by the rediscovery and study of the classics of ancient Greece and Rome, by challenge feudal obscurantism [ɔbskjuə’ræntiz(ə)m]蒙昧主义and religious dogmas [‘dɔ:gmə]教义,教条, by opposing the tyranny of feudal rules.
1.the renaissance in the world(2)
•It is characterized with the growth of a more scientific outlook, major development in art and literature, new invention and overseas discoveries and a general assertion of human value and emancipation of the human intellect and power.
•Humanism was the keynote of the renaissance, reflecting the new outlook of the rising bourgeois [‘buəʒwɑ:]资产阶级class. The humanists advocated the emancipation of man, and they tried to have the new evaluation of man and his powers and fought for equality and justice, opposed feudal tyranny and obscurantism and religious obstinacy [‘ɔbstənəsi:] 顽固.
人文主义思想（Humanism）的核心就是强调以“人”为本，宣传个性解放、现世幸福，并积极推进学术，传播科学知识和国家统一等新思想，对封建制度、宗教禁欲主义和上层僧侣的腐败虚伪则进行了无情的嘲讽与抨击。

在欧洲历史和哲学史中，人文主义主要被用来描述14到16世纪间较中世纪比较先进的思想。

一般来说今天历史学家将这段时间里文化和社会上的变化称为文艺复兴，而将教育上的变化运动称为人文主义。

欧洲文艺复兴时期新兴资产阶级反封建的社会思潮。

资产阶级人道主义的最初形式。

它肯定人性和人的价值，要求享受人世的欢乐，要求人的个性解放和自由平等，推崇人的感性经验和理性思维。

The Art of Renaissance
无与伦比的三巨匠
(1)Last supper《最后的晚餐》（意大利）达·芬奇（Leonard Da Vinci）画
1495 - 1497年米兰圣玛利亚·格拉契修道院藏
（2）拉斐尔(Rapheal):(1483-1520)意大利文艺复兴时期最伟大的画家之一，代表了文艺复兴时期艺术家从事理想美的事业所能达到的最高峰。

《雅典学院》《西斯廷圣母》
（3）米开朗基罗·博那罗蒂(Michelangelo Bounarroti)(1475-1564)是一位多才多艺的博学的艺术大师。

他集雕刻家、画家、建筑家、诗人于一身《大卫》《最后的审判》
2. The renaissance in England
1). Some major historic events:
• a.The War of Roses (1455-1488) and the establishment of the
dynasties of Henry VII and VIII—the centralized monarchy.
• b. The Enclosure movement “ sheep devoured Men”
• c.The religious reformation, establishment of the Anglican
Church
• d. Flourishing in the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)
• e.defeating the Spanish Invincible fleet” Armada” in 1588 and
the establishment of the hegemony on the seas.
• f. The geographical exploration and trade expansion brought
about the growth of the cities and the development of the
capitalist textile industry.
2). The division of the English renaissance
• a. Beginning: the last years of the 15-th century---first half of the 16-th century
b. Flourishing: the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)
c.Declining: the period of James I (1603-1625) early 17-th century
文艺复兴时期文学代表人物
Thomas More (1478-1535)
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
William Shakespeare（1564-1616）
Ben Johnson (1572-1637
Thomas More(1478-1535)
also known as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, scholar, author, and statesman.
He was born in a middle-class family. his father was a prominent lawyer, and later a judge. A scholar by nature ,he became a lawyer. Quite early he was elected to Parliament and he acted as the spokesman of London merchants who were one of the principal stays of the Tudor monarchy.
•During his life he gained a reputation as a leading Renaissance humanist, a violent opponent of the Reformation of Martin Luther, and a government official. For three years toward the end of his life he was Lord Cha ncellor [‘tʃɑ:nsələ]大臣, 司法官.
Thomas More's Utopia is one of the most influential books in the Western philosophical and literary tradition and one of the supreme achievements of Renaissance humanism.
More coined the word ‘utopia’ (from the Greek: ‘no place’), and his complexly ironic account of an ideal, imaginary island nation (communist society) not only has given rise to the genre of utopian fiction but has been an inspiration to generations of political reformers.
Edmund Spenser (1552--1599
▪English poet whose long allegorical [æli’ɔrikəl] poem The Faerie Queene is one of the greatest in the English language. It was written in what came to be called the Spenserian stanza. [spen’siəriən]
▪The poet’s poet
▪English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic romance The Faerie Queene(1590-1596). His other works include the pastoral田园诗Sheperdes Calendar(1579) and the lyrical marriage poem Epithalamion(1595).[epiθə‘leimiən]
▪斯宾塞，埃德蒙：(1552?-1599) 英国诗人，主要以其寓言性浪漫史诗《仙后》（1590-1596年）。