qite英国文学 笔记整理

2021年1月20日发(作者：单词翻译)
【
Chapter 1
】

The Anglo-Saxon Period (450 - 1066)

Conquest
，
1066
2.
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)
ical background
Chaucer 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 and
Langland:
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.

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.

m 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.

ey 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
1 20
个故事，只完成了
24
个）


The Canterbury Tales
is written in London dialect
There 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:

Hundred Year
’
s War
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 rose
discovery of America and the new sea routes
ation of the Church


Popular Ballads

In 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 Malory

Sir 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 Plays

In 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
Bible
miracle plays
→

based on the lives of Christian saints

【
Chapter 5
】

The English Renaissance (1550-1642)

Humanism

Renaissance 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.

★★★


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.
ing to them, it was against human nature to sacrifice the happiness of his life for an after life.
argued that man should be given full freedom to enrich their intellectual and emotional life.
religion, they demanded the reformation of the church.
art and literature, instead of singing praise to God, they sang in praise of man and of the pursuit of happiness in
this life.
sm 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 Spenser

Spenser
’
s first important work is
The Shephearde
’
s Calender
（牧羊人日记）
, a pastoral poem in 12 parts, one for
each 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）
,E nvy
（嫉妒）
,Gluttony
（暴
食）
, Lust
（淫欲）



Christopher Marlowe

Christopher 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,
s 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 Shakespeare

William Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in all during his life.

Shakespeare
’
s writing career may be roughly divided into four stages.
early years were years of his apprenticeship, dating from 1592 to 1594.
second period is a period of rapid growth and development, dating from 1595 to 1600.
third period is a period of gloom and depression, dating from 1601 to 1608.
fourth period is a period of restored serenity, from 1608 to 1612.

★★★

Shakespeare
’
s achievements:
peare represented the trend of history in giving voice to the desires and aspirations of the people.
peare
’
s humanism: More important than his historical sense of his time, Shakespeare in his plays reflects
the spirit of his age.