《英国文学简史》重点笔记(完整版)15029.pdf

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1、 英国文学简史完全版 A Concise History of British Literature Chapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon Period I.Introduction 1.The historical background（1）Before the Germanic invasion（2）During the Germanic invasion a.immigration;b.Christianity;c.heptarchy.d.social classes structure:hide-hundred;eoldermen（lo

2、rd）thane-middle class（freemen）-lower class（slave or bondmen:theow）;e.social organization:clan or tribes.f.military Organization;g.Church function:spirit,civil service,education;h.economy:coins,trade,slavery;i.feasts and festival:Halloween,Easter;j.legal system.2.The Overview of the culture（1）The mix

3、ture of pagan and Christian spirit.（2）Literature:a.poetry:two types;b.prose:two figures.II.Beowulf.1.A general introduction.2.The content.3.The literary features.（1）the use of alliteration（2）the use of metaphors and understatements（3）the mixture of pagan and Christian elements III.The Old English Pr

4、ose 1.What is prose?2.figures（1）The Venerable Bede（2）Alfred the Great Chapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages I.Introduction 1.The Historical Background.（1）The year 1066:Norman Conquest.（2）The social situations soon after the conquest.A.Norman nobles and serfs;B.restoration of the chu

5、rch.（3）The 11th century.A.the crusade and knights.B.dominance of French and Latin;（4）The 12th century.A.the centralized government;B.kings and the church（Henry II and Thomas）;（5）The 13th century.A.The legend of Robin Hood;B.Magna Carta（1215）;C.the beginning of the Parliament D.English and Latin:offi

6、cial languages（the end）（6）The 14th century.a.the House of Lords and the House of Commonsconflict between the Parliament and Kings;b.the rise of towns.c.the change of Church.d.the role of women.e.the Hundred Years Warstarting.f.the development of the trade:London.g.the Black Death.h.the Peasants Revo

7、lt1381.i.The translation of Bible by Wycliff.（7）The 15th century.a.The Peasants Revolt（1453）b.The War of Roses between Lancasters and Yorks.c.the printing-pressWilliam Caxton.d.the starting of Tudor Monarchy（1485）2.The Overview of Literature.（1）the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittany

8、great myths of the Middle Ages.（2）Geoffrye of MonmouthHistoria Regum BritanniaeKing Authur.（3）WaceLe Roman de Brut.（4）The romance.（5）the second half of the 14th century:Langland,Gawin poet,Chaucer.II.Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1.a general introduction.2.the plot.III.William Langland.1.Life 2.Piers t

9、he Plowman IV.Chaucer 1.Life 2.Literary Career:three periods（1）French period（2）Italian period（3）master period 3.The Canterbury Tales A.The Framework;B.The General Prologue;C.The Tale Proper.4.His Contribution.（1）He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types.（2）He is the first great po

10、et who wrote in the current English language.（3）The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects,and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.V.Popular Ballads.VI.Thomas Malory and English Prose VII.The beginning of English Drama.1.Mirac

11、le Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church.It developed from the 10th to the 16th century,reaching its height in the 15th century.The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlarged by the addition

12、 of dialogue and dramatic action.Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace.2.Morality Plays.A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions figures representing vices and v

13、irtues,qualities of the human mind,or abstract conceptions in general.3.Interlude.The interlude,which grew out of the morality,was intended,as its name implies,to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment.As its best it was short,witty,simple in plot,suited for the diversion

14、 of guests at a banquet,or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play.It was essentially an indoors performance,and generally of an aristocratic nature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical Background II.The Overview of the Literature（1485-166

15、0）Printing pressreadershipgrowth of middle classtrade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect

16、 of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated,clear,and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents.1.poetry The first tendency by Sidney and Spenser:ornate,florid,highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne:metaphysical stylecomplexity and ingenuity.The third tendency by Johnso

17、n:reactionClassically pure and restrained style.The fourth tendency by Milton:central Christian and Biblical tradition.2.Drama a.the native tradition and classical examples.b.the drama stands highest in popular estimation:Marlowe Shakespeare Jonson.3.Prose a.translation of Bible;b.More;c.Bacon.II.En

18、glish poetry.1.Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard（courtly makers）（1）Wyatt:introducing sonnets.（2）Howard:introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2.Sir Philip Sidneypoet,critic,prose writer（1）Life:a.English gentleman;b.brilliant and fascinating personality;c.courtier.（2）works a.Arcadia:pa

19、storal romance;b.Astrophel and Stella（108）:sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereuxplatonic devotion.Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativenessbuilding of a narrative story;theme-love originality-act of writing.c.Defense of Poesy:an apology for imaginative literaturebeginning of lit

20、erary criticism.3.Edmund Spenser（1）life:Cambridge-Sidneys friend-“Areopagus”Ireland-Westminster Abbey.（2）works a.The Shepherds Calendar:the budding of English poetry in Renaissance.b.Amoretti and Epithalamion:sonnet sequence c.Faerie Queene:l The general endA romantic and allegorical epicsteps to vi

21、rtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues:Holiness,temperance,justice and courtesy.l Two-level function:part of the story and part of allegory（symbolic meaning）l Many allusions to classical writers.l Themes:puritanism,nationalism,humanism and Renaissance Neoclassicisma Christian humanist.（3）Spenserian Stanza.I

22、II.English Prose 1.Thomas More（1）Life:“Renaissance man”,scholar,statesman,theorist,prose writer,diplomat,patron of arts a.learned Greek at Canterbury College,Oxford;b.studies law at Lincoln Inn;c.Lord Chancellor;d.beheaded.（2）Utopia:the first English science fiction.Written in Latin,two parts,the se

23、condplace of nowhere.A philosophical mariner（Raphael Hythloday）tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia.a.The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b.The part two is a description of the island kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal,religiou

24、s freedom is total and no one owns anything.c.the nature of the book:attacking the chief political and social evils of his time.d.the book and the Republic:an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way,but it possesses an modern character and the resemblance is in externals.e.it played a key role

25、 in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism.f.the Utopia（3）the significance.a.it was the first champion of national ideas and national languages;it created a national prose,equally adapted to handling scientific an

26、d artistic material.b.a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose:he composed works in English,translated from Latin into English biography,wrote History of Richard III.2.Francis Bacon:writer,philosopher and statesman（1）life:Cambridge-humanism in Paris knighted-Lord Chancellor bribery-fo

27、cusing on philosophy and literature.（2）philosophical ideas:advancement of sciencepeople:servants and interpreters of naturemethod:a child before naturefacts and observations:experimental.（3）“Essays”:57.a.he was a master of numerous and varied styles.b.his method is to weigh and balance maters,indica

28、ting the ideal course of action and the practical one,pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each,but leaving the reader to make the final decisions.（arguments）IV.English Drama 1.A general survey.（1）Everyman marks the beginning of modern drama.（2）two influences.a.the classics:classical in

29、form and English in content;b.native or popular drama.（3）the University Wits.2.Christopher Marlowe:greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits.（1）Life:first interested in classical poetrythen in drama.（2）Major works a.Tamburlaine;b.The Jew of Malta;c.The Tragical History of Do

30、ctor Faustus.（3）The significance of his plays.V.William Shakespeare 1.Life（1）1564,Stratford-on-Avon;（2）Grammar School;（3）Queen visit to Castle;（4）marriage to Anne Hathaway;（5）London,the Globe Theatre:small part and proprietor;（6）the 1st Folio,Quarto;（7）Retired,sonHamnet;H.1616.2.Dramatic career 3.Ma

31、jor plays-men-centered.（1）Romeo and Juliettragic love and fate（2）The Merchant of Venice.Good over evil.Anti-Semitism.（3）Henry IV.National unity.Falstaff.（4）Julius Caesar Republicanism vs.dictatorship.（5）Hamlet Revenge Good/evil.（6）Othello Diabolic character jealousy gap between appearance and realit

32、y.（7）King Lear Filial ingratitude（8）Macbeth Ambition vs.fate.（9）Antony and Cleopatra.Passion vs.reason（10）The Tempest Reconciliation;reality and illusion.3.Non-dramatic poetry（1）Venus and Adonis;The Rape of Lucrece.（2）Sonnets:a.theme:fair,true,kind.b.two major parts:a handsome young man of noble bir

33、th;a lady in dark complexion.c.the form:three quatrains and a couplet.d.the rhyme scheme:abab,cdcd,efef,gg.VI.Ben Jonson 1.life:poet,dramatist,a Latin and Greek scholar,the“literary king”（Sons of Ben）2.contribution:（1）the idea of“humour”.（2）an advocate of classical drama and a forerunner of classici

34、sm in English literature.3.Major plays（1）Everyone in His Humour“humour”;three unities.（2）Volpone the Fox Chapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical Background II.The Overview of the Literature（1640-1688）1.The revolution period（1）The metaphysical poets;（2）The Cavalier poets.（3）Mi

35、lton:the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2.The restoration period.（1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason,moderation,good taste,deft management,and simplicity.（school of Ben Jonson）（

36、2）The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge（1662）were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（3）The great philosophical and po

37、litical treatises of the time emphasize rationalism.（4）The restoration drama.（5）The Age of Dryden.III.John Milton 1.Life:educated at Cambridgevisiting the continentinvolved into the revolutionpersecutedwriting epics.2.Literary career.（1）The 1st period was up to 1641,during which time he is to be see

38、n chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans,although his Puritanism is not absent.LAllegre and IL Pens eroso（1632）are his early masterpieces,in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance,a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture.Next came Comus,a masque.The greatest of ear

39、ly creations was Lycidas,a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate,Edward King.（2）The second period is from 1641 to 1654,when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry.In 1641,he began a long period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause.For some 15 years,the

40、Puritan in him alone ruled his writing.He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（3）The third period is from 1655 to 1671,when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity.This period is the greatest in his literary life,epics and so

41、me famous sonnets.The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith.They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare.In Milton alone,it would seem,Puritanism could not extinguish the lover of beauty.In the

42、se works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence.3.Major Works（1）Paradise Lost a.the plot.b.characters.c.theme:justify the ways of God to man.（2）Paradise Regained.（3）Samson Agonistes.4.Features of Miltons works.（1）Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also a

43、 prominent figure in politics,and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer.The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism.（2）Milton wrote many different types of poetry.He is especially a great master of blank verse.He learned much fro

44、m Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works.（3）Milton is a great stylist.He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish,which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study.（4）Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty o

45、f expression.IV.John Bunyan 1.life:（1）puritan age;（2）poor family;（3）parliamentary army;（4）Baptist society,preacher;（5）prison,writing the book.2.The Pilgrim Progress（1）The allegory in dream form.（2）the plot.（3）the theme.V.Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1.Metaphysical Poets The term“metaphysica

46、l poetry”is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.Pressured by the harsh,uncomfortable and curious age,the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies,new sciences,new words and new poetry.Th

47、ey tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry,and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone,a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument.2.Cavalier Poets The other group prevailing in this period was that of Cav

48、alier poets.They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king,and called themselves“sons”of Ben Jonson.The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry,polished and elegant,amorous and gay,but often superficial.Most of their verses were short songs,pretty madrigals,love fancies characterized by light

49、ness of heart and of morals.Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its imaginative flights.They are lighter and neater but less fresh than the Elizabethans.VI.John Dryden.1.Life:（1）the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（2）poet,dramatist,critic,prose writer,s

50、atirist.（3）changeable in attitude.（4）Literary careerfour decades.（5）Poet Laureate 2.His influences.（1）He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric,didactic,and descriptive poetry.（2）He developed a direct and concise prose style.（3）He developed the art of literary criticism in his ess