修理英文-llg
英美文学作品选读
Selected
Readings of British Literature
This
subject is about the historical development of
British literature, it describes the lives and
careers
of the great and major writers,
especially their representative works.
英国
1.
中古英国文学（
8
世纪
-14
世纪）
2.
文艺复
兴时期（
14
世纪
-17
世纪中）
3.
新古典主
义时期（
17
世纪中
-18
世纪）
4.
浪漫主义
时期（
18
世纪中
-19
世纪中）
5.
维多利亚时期（
1836-
1901
）
6.
< br>现代主义时期（
19
世纪末
-2
0
世纪）
Mediaeval times (the
8
th
~
14
th
century)
1)
The Anglo-
saxon period
:
About Teutons: before the invasion of
Britain, the Teutons inhabited the central part of
Europe as far as
the Rhine, a tract
which in a large measured coincides with the
modern Germany. The Jutes, Angles and
Saxons
were
different
tribes
of
Teutons.
These
ancestors
of
the
English
dwelt
in
Danmark
and
in
the
lands extending
southward along the North Sea.
The literature form of this period
falls into two divisions
–
pagan
and
Christian
. The former
represents
the
poetry
which
the
Anglo-
Saxons
probably
brought
with
them
in
the
form
of
oral
saga.
The
latter
represents the
writings developed under the teaching of the
monks. Two important poets in this period are
Caedmon
and
Cynewulf
.
The
Song of Beowulf:
the poem can be justly
termed England
’
s national
epic, its hero Beowulf is one of
the
national
heroes of the English
people.
Thematically, the
poem
presents
a
vivid picture of how the
primitive
people wage heroic struggles again
the
hostile forces of the natural
world
under a wise and
mighty leader.
2)
The Anglo-Norman period:
the
literature of this period is remarkable for its
bright, romantic tales of
love and
adventure, in contrast with the
strength and somberness of Anglo-Saxon
poetry.
Sir Gawain
and the
Green Knight
is the representative. Its
theme is a series of the tests on faith, courage,
purity and
human weakness for self-
preservation. The story presents a profoundly
Christian view of man
’
s
character
and his destiny. By placing
self-protection before honour, and deceit before
his trust in the love of God,
Gawain
has
sinned
and
fallen
and
become
an
image
of
Adam.
Sir
Gawain
and
the
Green
Knight
is
undoubtedly a romance told with the
purpose of portraying ideal character in action.
3)
Geoffrey
Chaucer,
the
‘
father
of
English
poetry
”
and
one
of
the
greatest
narrative
poets
of
England.
Chaucer
greatly
contributed
to
the
founding
of
the
English
literary
language,
the
basis
of
which
was
formed
by the London dialect, so profusely used by the
poet. Chaucer
’
s masterpiece
is the
Canterbury
Tales
,
one
of
the
most
famous
works
in
all
literature,
which
has
given
us
a
picture
of
contemporary
English life, its work and play, its
deeds and dreams, its fun and sympathy and hearty
joy of living such
as
no
other
single
work
of
literature
has
ever
equaled.
These
people
include
young
squire,
yeoman,
forester, Prioress, miller, ploughman,
etc.
文艺复兴时期文学
The Renaissance
the
16
th
century
in
England
was
a
period
of
breaking
up
of
feudal
relations
and
the
establishing
of
the
foundations
of
capitalism.
New
social
and
economic
conditions
brought
about
great
changes
in
the
development
of
science
and
art,
this
period
is
marked
by
a
flourishing
of
national
culture
known
as
the
Renaissance, which originally indicated
a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and
sciences after the
dark ages of
medieval obscurantism (vagueness).
In Elizabethan period, English
literature developed with a great speed. The most
distinctive achievement of
Elizabethan
literature is drama. Next to drama is the lyrical
poetry, remarkable for its variety and freshness
and romantic feeling. In the
renaissance period, scholars began to emphasize
the capacities of human mind
and the
achievement of human culture. So humanism became
the keynote of English renaissance.
1.
William Shakespeare
is one
of the most remarkable playwrights and poets in
the world. He has also been
given the
highest praises by various scholars and critics
the world over. His greatest tragedies are:
Hamlet
,
Othello,
King
Lear
and
Macbeth
.
His
greatest
comedies
are:
A
Midsummer
Night’s
Dream,
the
Merchant of Venice,
as you
like it and Twelfth Night. In them, he portrayed
young people just freed from
feudal
fetters. He sang of their youth, love and ideal of
happiness. They trust in themselves and their
efforts
are crowned with success. The
general spirit is optimism.
The
Merchant of Venice:
A moneyless young
man Bassanio loves a rich beauty Portia. He wants
to marry
to her, so he appeals to his
friend Antonio for help. To aid Bassanio in his
courtship, he borrows money from
Shylock the Jewish usurer. Shylock
agrees to lend the money on the condition that if
the loan is not paid in
three
months, he may cut a pound of flesh
from Antonia’s body. Unfortunately, Antonio can’t
pay the money
because his ship doesn’t
return on time. Shylock demands his pound of flesh
and Antonio is in danger now.
At the
critical moment, a young doctor of law comes to
help him. He asks Shylock to take no more or no
less
than one pound of flesh and
spilling no drop of blood. Shylock can’t do this,
so Antonia is saved. The man
who saves
the life of Antonio is no other than Portia in
disguise! Portia: she is one of
S
hakespeare’s ideal
women---
beautiful, cultured,
courteous
（谦恭）
and
capable of rising to an emergency. Shylock: he is
an
avaricious money-lender and a Jew of
pride and deep religious instincts. He has
suffered much in the hands
of the
Christians. His revolting bond is counterbalanced
by Antonio’s arrogant treatmen
t of him.
We can see
his loud protest against
racial discrimination.
Hamlet
is
considered the summit of Shakespeare’s art. The
whole story shows how hamlet, who represents
good and justice, fights against his
uncle in whom all the evil things can be seen. The
famous line in the play
“to be or not
to be” by hamlet is often quoted by people. He is
a hero of the renaissance. He loves good and
hates evil. He is a scholar, soldier
and statesman. His learning, wisdom, noble nature,
limitation and tragedy
are all
representative of the humanists at the turn of the
16th and the 17th century.
Othello is a splendid Moorish general
in Venice. He marries to a beautiful girl and they
live happily together.
Iago is a very
bad man and he envies his happiness. He tells
Othello that his wife betrayed him. He believes
him and kills his
wife. But
at
last he knows the truth
and regrets
very
much, so he killed himself.
It
is
a
tragedy of humanism and a tragedy of
the colored people in a society of racial
prejudice. Othello is a great
warrior
and too noble-minded to suspect those whom he
loves. Though his kin is dark, he has great moral
beauty. He loves Desdemona dearly
because he finds her to be the embodiment of
integrity, sincerity and
loftiness of
mind. Their tragedy shows that noble-minded people
maybe led astray by evil forces in an evil
society and commit mistakes if they can
not distinguish falsehood from truth, and evil
from good.
King Lear: Lear
is the king of Britain and he is a self-wild old
man, intends to divide his realm among his
three
daughters
by
asking
them
how
much
they
love
him.
The
two
elder
daughters
win
his
trust
by
fine
words. But his little daughter Cordelia
says she loves him according to her duty, not more
or less. Her father
is angry and
decides to give her nothing.
Sonnet:
the sonnet is a poem
in 14 lines with one or the other rhyme scheme.
Francis
Bacon:
an
outstanding
prose
writer
in
time.
His
works
may
be
divided
into
three
classes,
the
philosophical (the
Advancement of Learning), the literary (Essays -
Of Truth, Of Death, Of
Friendship),
and the professional
(Reading on the Status of Uses) works.
17
世纪文学
(The Period of Revolution and
Restoration)
The
17
th
century was one of the
most tempestuous periods in English history. It
was a period when absolute
monarchy
impeded the further development of capitalism in
England and the bourgeoisie could no longer
bear
the
sway
of
landed
nobility.
The
contradictions
between
the
feudal
system
and
the
bourgeoisie
had
reached its peak and resulted in a
revolutionary outburst.
1.
John Milton
is the greatest
writer of the 17th century. He is often considered
the greatest English poet
after
Shakespeare. In his life and literary career the
two dominant historical movements of renaissance
and
Reformation combine and receive
their most intense and intelligent expression. His
works include
paradise
lost,
paradise
regained
and
Samson
Agonistes.
Milton
has
noble
thought
and
splendid
imagery.
He
is
a
great
stylist.
His
poetry
has
a
grand
style.
His
poetry
is
noted
for
sublimity
of
thought
and
majesty
of
expression. Milton is a great master of
blank verse. He is the glorious pioneer to
introduce
blank verse
into
non-dramatic poetry. He has used it as
the main tool in his masterpiece Paradise Lost.
His blank verse is rich
in every poetic
quality and never monotonous. His works are marked
by cosmic themes and lofty religious
idealism. Paradise lost is his
masterpiece and the greatest English epic. In the
poem,
god is no better than a
selfish despot, who is cruel and unjust
in punishing Satan, the rebel. Adam and Eve embody
his belief
in the powers of man. Satan
is the real hero of the poem.
2.
John Bunyan. The
Pilgrim
’
s Progress.
The story starts with a
dream in which the author sees Christian the
Pilgrim, with a heavy burden on his back,
reading the Bibble, from which he
learns that the city in which he and his family
live shall be burnt down in
a fire. He
tries to convince his family and his neighbours of
the on coming disaster and asks them to go with
him i search of salvation, but most of
them simply ignore him. so he starts off with a
friend Pliable. Pliable
turns back
after they stumble into a pit, the Slough of
despond. Christian struggles on by himself. Then
he is
misled by Mr. Worldly Wiseman and
is brought back onto the right road by Mr.
Evangelist. There he joins
Faithful,
a
neighbor
who
has
set
out
later
but
has
made
better
progress.
The
two
go
on
together
through
many adventures,
including the great struggle with Apollyon, who
claims them to be his subjects and refuses
to accept their allegiance to God.
After many other adventures, they come to the
Vanity Fair where both are
arrested as
alien agitators. They are tried and Faithful is
condemned to death. Christian, however, manages to
escape and goes on his way, assisted by
a new friend, Hopeful. Tired of the hard journey,
they are attempted
to
take a
pleasant
path
and are thn
captured by
Gelestial City
at
last. There they enjoy
eternal
life in
the
followship of the
blessed.
The
Pilgrim
’
s
Progress
is
the
most
successful
religious
allegory
in
English
language.
Its
predominant
metaphor
–
life
as
a
journey
–
is
simple
and
familiar.
The
objects
that
Christian
meets
are
homely
and
commonplace, and the scenes presented
are typical English scenes, but throughout
details. Here the strange
is
combined
with
familiar
and
trivial
joined
to
the
divine,
and
at
the
same
time,
everything
is
based
on
universal experiences. Besides, a rich
imagination and a natural talent for story-telling
also contribute to the
success of the
work which is at once entertaining and morally
instructive.
Th
secret
of
its
success
is
probably
simple.
It
is,
first
of
all,
not
a
procession
of
shadows
repeating
the