2021年1月23日发(作者：六折)
Chapter 4 The 18th Century (1688-1798)
The Age of














; The Age of














Ⅰ
. H
istorical Background
1. Political stability: The Glorious Revolution of 1688; constitutional monarchy
2. The Industrial Revolution: The Enclosure Movement; overseas expansion
II. Cultural Background

Enlightenment Movement
- A progressive
























throughout Western Europe in the 18th century

- An expression of struggle of the bourgeoisie against feudalism
- The enlighteners celebrated













or rationality, equality and science.

- They advocated




















, the chief means for bettering the society.

- The representative enlighteners in English literature were Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, the essayists,
and Alexander Pope, the poet.
III. The 18th- century Literature:
Neoclassicism
- The Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works.

- Addison, Steele,
Pope
, Samuel Johnson


- They tried to make English literature conform to rules and principles established by the great Roman and
Greek classical writers. Page 128

The realistic novel

- The























achievement in the 18
th
-century English literature.

- It reflects























and praises the bourgeois ideas, values and their heroic deeds.
- Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding



The pre-romantic poetry

- William Blake; Robert Burns

Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
His life:
His major works:

1.
Essay on Criticism
: a











poem written in heroic couplets dealing with the theories of literature in
general and poetry in particular


Many lines from this poem have become proverbial maxims:


















“
For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
”



















“
To err is human, to forgive, divine.
”



















“
A little learning is a dangerous thing.
”

2.
Essay on Man
: a














poem in heroic couplets, consisting of four letters
“One truth is clear, whatever is, is right.”

3.
The Dunciad
: a satirical poem in 4 books,
Pope
’
s
















4.
The Rape of Lock
: a satirical poem satirizing the foolish, meaningless life of the high society.

Comments on Pope:
1. the most important representative of the English



















2. became so perfect in
















that no one has been able to approach him

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Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

His life:
His major works:

–

Robinson Crusoe

–

Moll Flanders
:
Page 149

Robinson Crusoe
Genre:
a novel


Setting:
an uninhabited island on the Atlantic
Characters:


Crusoe:
a sailor, a merchant, a plantation owner and a slave trader
Friday:
a
“savage” whom Crusoe rescues

Plot:
Page 151
On the voyage to Africa to buy slaves he met with shipwreck. Then he found himself cast by the sea waves
upon the shore of an uninhabited island. He decided to stay there and managed the life for himself. First of all,
he got back to the ship and took some food and clothes and a few guns. In order to protect himself he built a
shelter.
Then
he
grew
crops,
domesticated
goats
and
fought
against
savages
coming
from
the
neighboring
islands. Later he rescued one savage from death and named him Friday, who became his faithful servant. In the
hope
of
returning
to
Europe,
he
built
a
boat.
Finally
an
English
ship
came
and
took
him
to
Europe.
Thus
Robinson Crusoe ended his twenty-eight-year life on the island.
Themes:

–
man’s struggle against natu
re
–
glorifies human labor
The character of Robinson:


–
a typical 18
th
-century English middle class hero
–
the very prototype of the




















Special Features
–
anti-feudal realistic writer
–
His
stories
are
all
real
concerns
of
his
time:
people
in
their
struggle
to
overcome
the
natural
or
social

environment.

–
adopted the autobiographical form and made full use of his long trained journalistic skill by describing things
in great detail and by using specific time and space

–
a plain, smooth, easy, direct, and almost colloquial language

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
His life:
His major works:

A Modest Proposal

–
A satire on the terrible oppression and exploitation of the English ruling class towards the Irish people
–
suggested to the Irish people that the best way to end their misery was to produce children and sell them at
one year old at market as delicious food for the English nobles.

Gulliver's Travels


Importance:
Swift
’
s masterpiece
Genre:
his greatest satiric prose in four parts

Part I. Travels in Lilliput


















Part II. Travels in Brobdingnag

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