英国文学史笔记总结部分

English Literature 英国文学史笔记

The Development of English Literature

From the academic angle, English literature can be divided into seven periods:

1. Early and Medieval English literature;

2. The English Renaissance;

3. The 17th C. -The Period of Revolution and Restoration;

4. The 18th Century -The Age of Enlightenment

5. Romanticism in England in the 1st half of the 19th century;

6. The Victorian Age;

7. The 20th Century Literature -Modernism and Post-Modernism

Chapter1 Literature of Old and Medieval Period(449—1485)

1) Anglo-Saxon Period /Old English Period (449-1066)

The main literary contribution of this period is the Epic, and its masterpiece is the national epic The Song of Beowul,f which is a long poem of 3182 lines about the deeds of the Teutonic 条顿)hero Beowulf in the 6th century. It is the oldest poem in the English language and the oldest surviving epic in Anglo-Saxon literature.

2) The Anglo-Norman Period /Middle English Period (1066-1485)

The literature of this period is greatly influenced by the Norman Conquest (1066). After the conquest, the customs and ideals known as chivalry was introduced by the Normans into England and can be reflected in literature, such as the knightly code, the romantic interest in women , tenderness and reverence paid to Virgin Mary etc.. The prevailing form of literature in the Feudal England was Romance 传( 奇，骑士文学).

The most famous Romance wasSir Gawain and the Green Knigh. t

㈠ Definitions of Literary Terms

1. Couplet对句):a couplet is two consecutive lines of poetry that rhyme.

2. Iambic pentameter: each line has five feet of iambs; in each foot, there is an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.

3. Heroic Couplet(英雄偶句/双韵体):two consecutive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter. (an iambic pentameter couplet). The form was introduced into English by Geoffrey Chaucer and was widely used subsequently, reaching a height of popularity in the works of Alexander Pope.

4. Blank Verse无韵体，素体诗):unrhymed iambic pentameter.

5. Epic(史诗):A long narrative poem on the adventures and great deeds of heroes.

6. Frame story: a narrative that provides the framework within which a number of different stories, which may or may not be connected, can be told. (The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories in a frame story)

7. Romance: A tale in verse, embodying the life and adventures of knightsT.he content of Romance was usually about love, chivalry and religion.

㈡Geoffrey Chaucer (about1340—1400)杰弗里？乔叟The Founder (Father) of English

poetry”

A Londoner of bourgeois origin, the most important and influential poet in medieval England, established English as a courtly language. Geoffreys' Chaucer's works are often categorized in three chronological periods (the French period, the Italian period and the English period).

I .Chaucer's Contributions

①. He introduced from French the “heroic couplet ” to English poetry.

②. He is the first important poet to write in the current English language.

③. Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English language.

n .Geoffrey Chaucers famous work :The Canterbury Tales (1387—1400)《坎特伯雷集》an unfinished series of stories told by a group of pilgrims(about 29), who came from all layers of society(a knight, a prioress, a plowman, a merchant, a clerk, the wife from Bath, etc.), journeying from London to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. “ The General Prologue ” told us Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. But Chaucer had actually completed only 23 stories. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales, anTdhe Canterbury Taleshas been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

川.Other works:

1) The French period (to 1372): Book of Duchess (1369)《公爵夫人之书》

2) The Italian period (1372—1385): House of Fame (1379—1384) 《声誉之宫》The Parliament

of Fowls (1377—1382) 《百鸟会议》The Legend of Good Women 《贤妇传说》Troilus and Criseyde (1382—1385) 《特洛伊罗斯与克丽西达》

3) The English period (1387—1400): The Canterbury Tales (1387—1400) Chapter 2 Literature of English Renaissanc(e 1485—1616)

The Renaissance as a cultural movement embraced all Western Europe roughly th th

from the 14th century to the 17th century. It first sprang in Florence of Italy and then spread to the rest of Europe (to Germany and Spain and England).

“Renaissanc”e,French for “rebirth”, refers to the revival of interest in ancient Roman and Greek culture.

During this period, the classicalarts and learning were discovered again and widely studied , so the term Renaissance originally indicated a revival of classical (Roman and Greek) arts and learning after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism , it also marked the beginning of bourgeois revolution .

In the Renaissance period, scholars and educatorscalled themselves humanists and began to emphasize the capacities of the human mind and the achievements of human culture, in contrast to the medieval emphasis on God and contempt for the things of this world. So humanism became the keynote of the English Renaissance. And the greatest humanist is Thomas More, the author ofUtopia. The representatives in literature are Shakespeare and Bacon. The former has the greatest contribution in drama and sonnets while the latter

'essays are condensed and witty.