hejiEnglish Literature南师大英国文学笔记

Brief Introduction

1. Old English Period:

William Shakespeare (1564

—

1616)

2. Restoration, English revolution, the bourgeois Dictatorship

(

王朝复辟

)

:

John Milton (1608

—

1674)

3. The Rise of Fiction

(

)

:

Daniel Defoe (1660

—

1731)

Jonathan Swift (1667

—

1745)

Henry Fielding (1707

—

1754)

4. Pre-Romanticism:

Robert Burns (1759

—

1796)

William Blake (1757

—

1827)

5. Romanticism (1798

—

1832):

William Wordsworth (1770

—

1850)

George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788

—

1824)

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792

—

1822)

John Keats (1795

—

1821)

6. Critical realism

——

【

Victorian Age (1832

—

1901)

】

:

Jane Austen (1775

—

1817)

批判现实主义作家，但不属于维多利亚时期

Charles Dickens (1812

—

1870)

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811

—

1863)

Emily Bronte (1818

—

1848)

Thomas Hardy (1840

—

1928)

维多利亚时期向现实主义过度时期

Oscar Wilde (1854

—

1900)

John Galsworthy (1867

—

1933)

George Bernard Shaw(1856

—

1950)

批判现实主义但不属于维多利亚时期

7. Modernism:

D. H. Lawrence (1885

—

1930)

William Butler Yeats (1865

—

1939)

James Joyce (1882

—

1941)

Virginia Woolf (1882

—

1941)

William Somerset Maugham (1874

—

1965)

Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888

—

1965)

John Boynton Priestley (1894

—

1984)

Louis MacNeice (1907

—

1963)

Old English Period:

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare(1564

—

1616)

★

Literary Achievements:

·

37plays,

·

2 narrative poems,

·

154

sonnets

(Sonnets

1-126

addressed

to

a

young

man,

Sonnets

127-152

addressed

to

―Dark Lady‖

, Sonnets 153-154 addressed to Cupid, the God of love in Greek mythology)

★

Literary Position:

·

―not of an age, but for all time‖

,

·

the greatest giant of English language and poetic form,

·

one of the founders of realism in world literature,

·

o

ne of the greatest writers in the world’s literature.

▲

Sonnet

:

1. What

’

s a sonnet?

A poem in 14 lines; originated in Italy, a form very popular in Renaissance Europe, especially

in Italy, France and England; introduced to England by Thomas Wyatt(

怀亚特

) and the Earl

of Surrey (

塞莱

).

2. By rhyme scheme, sonnets can be classified into 2 styles: The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet(

意

大利型或彼得拉克型

) & The Shakespearian or English sonnet(

英国或莎士比亚型

)

①

The first eight lines

—

octave: the theme is put forward or a question is raised; the next six

lines

—

sestet, the answer to the theme

【

abba abba cdc dcd (cde cde)

】

②

Three

quatrains

(

四行诗

)

—

the

theme

is

put

forward

and

developed;

the

couplet(

两行

诗

)

—

a surprising conclusion or a shift of ideas

【

abab cdcd efef gg

】

▲

Plays

(4 periods)

1. First period (1592-1594): His apprenticeship in plays.

Historical plays:

King Henry VI

《亨利六世》

,

Richard

Ⅲ

《查理三世》

Comedies:

Love’

s Labour’

s Lost

《爱的徒劳》

2. Second period (1595-1600): Mature period, a marked increase in the knowledge of humanism

(4

大喜剧

):

A Midsummer Night’

s Dream

The Merchant of Venice

As You Like It, Twelfth Night

Romeo and Juliet

3. Third period (1601-1608): Flourishing period, a period of gloomy and depression

(4

大悲剧

):

Hamlet

Othello

King Lear

Macbeth

4. Fourth period (1608-1612): The period of romantic drama in the form of tragicomedies

Reconciliation plays:

The Winter’

s Tale

《冬天的童话》

,

The Tempest

The Merchant of V

enice

—

William Shakespeare

1. The character of Shylock:

Stone-hearted and pitiless;

Inhuman;

Stubborn;

Malicious;

Revengeful;

Eloquent, quick-minded and flexible;

Religious pious

2. Theme of the play:

·

to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio,

·

to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit and loyalty,

·

to

eulogize

the

triumph

of

friendship

and

love

over

greed

and

avarice,

good

over

evil,

humanity over inhumanity, commercial capitalism over the feudal practice of usury,

·

a

satire

on

the

Christian

hypocrisy

and

their

false

standards

of

friendship

and

love,

their

cunning ways of pursuing worldliness and their unreasoning prejudice against the Jews.

Restoration, English revolution, the bourgeois

Dictatorship< /p>

(

王朝复辟

)

John Milton

★

Historical background

1. The

English revolution

and the

Restoration

.

·

Causes: the conflict between the monarch and Parliament; the persecution of the Puritans

2. The

bourgeois Dictatorship

and the

Restoration

·

Glorious Revolution

—

a bloodless revolution

·

The constitutional monarchy.

John Milton (1608

—

1674)

★

Literary Achievements

▲ Pamphlets

·

The Defense of the English People

(1650)

·

The Second Defense of the English People

(1650)

▲ Poems

·

Paradise Lost

《

失乐园》

(1667): his masterpiece

——

The greatest epic in English literature.

·

Paradise Regained

(1671)

《复乐园》

·

Samson Agonistes

(1671)

《力士参孙》

★

Literary Position

·

A master of the Blank verse

·

The greatest English revolutionary poet of the 17th century

·

One of the greatest poets of the English language

Paradise Lost

—

John Milton

1. Introduction

·

Long epic in 12 books

·

Written in blank verse

·

Based on Genesis

《创世纪》

in the

Old Testament

·

Dramatizes the Biblical account of humanity’s banishment.

2. Theme

—

Milton’s aimed purpose

:

―justify the ways of God to man‖

（昭示天道对人的公正）

—

Real purpose: challenge the restored monarch

·

God

—

tyrannical, represents the king

·

Satan

—

rebelling against monarch

·

Love between Adam and Eve

—

human pursuit for happiness, the spirit of Renaissance

3. Writing features

—

Milton style: Sonority

洪亮

, Eloquence

雄辩

, Majesty

尊严

, Grandeur

壮美

·

The blank verse

·

Long and involved sentences

—

Latinate style

·

Inversion

·

Allusion

The Rise of Fiction

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

※

Fiction

The

mainstream

of

18th

century

literature,

&

The

rise

and

growth

of

realistic

novel

—

the

most prominent achievement of 18th century English literature

Daniel Defoe (1660-1731)

:

Father of modern journalism, & ―jack

-of- all-

traders‖

★

Literary Achievements:

——

Robinson Crusoe

(1719)

·

Defoe’s masterpiece

·

The first English novel in a real sense

·

The first English realistic novel

Robinson Crusoe

—

Daniel Defoe

1. Theme:

—

to sing the praises of human labor

—

to celebrate the strength of human rational will to conquer the natural environment

—

to beautify colonialism & Negro slavery

2. Plot:

run away from home → becom

e a

sailor → a planter in Brazil → to an uninhabited island

because of shipwreck → made a living there all by himself → save a negro named Friday

who became his servant → back to England → visit the remote island again and Friday was

killed

3. Robinson Cru

soe’s characterization:

typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical, diligent, a restless curiosity to know

more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural

challenges; shrewd, care about money and good at managing; courageous and intelligent to

overcome all kinds of obstacles

4. Style:

journalistic truth with many vivid details, simple and plain sentence structure and language,

first person point of view, natural order in narration, making the story intimate to the readers

and become popular among lower classes

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

★

Literary Achievements

▲

Books

·

The Battle of Books

《书籍之战》

·

A Tale of Tub

《一个桶子的故事》

·

Guliver’s Travels

《格列佛游记》

——

his masterpiece: a satire on the whole English society of the 18th century.

▲

Pamphlets

·

The Draper’

s Letters

《一个布商的书信》

·

A Modest Proposal

《一个温和的建议》

——

(A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being

a Burden to Their Parents)

Guliver’s Travels

—

Jonathan Swift

1. Plot:

Part I: A Voyage to Lilliput

Part II: A Voyage to Brobdingnag

Part III: A V

oyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg and Japan

Part IV: A V

oyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms

2.

What are the

implied ideas

the author tried to convey by this chapter?

The author believed Reason was very important for human being. If human’s desires aren’t

controlled by reason, human will become disgusting like yahoos one day in the future.

3. Style of Swift’s prose:

His

prose

style

is

simple,

clea

r

and

vigorous.

His

famous

saying

―Proper

words

in

proper

places, makes the true definition of a style‖ influenced a lot later writers.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

★

Literary Achievements

·

Joseph Andrew

s

《约瑟夫

安德鲁斯》

—

Fielding’s first novel

—

Parody (sat

irical imitation) of Richardson’s < /p>

Pamela

《帕米拉》

/

《贞洁得报》

—

A comic epic poem in prose

·

Jonathan Wild the Great

《大伟人江奈生

魏尔德传》

·

The History of Tom Jones, A Founding

《弃儿汤姆

琼斯》

·

Amelia

《阿米利亚》

★

Literary Position

·

The father of English novel

—

The founder of English realistic novel-setting up the theory of realism in literary position.

—

Establishing once for all the form of the modern novel.

★

Writing Features

·

Third-person narration

第三人称叙述

·

Satire

·

Human portraits & dialogue

·

The educational function of the novel

—

The purpose of the novel is not only to amuse, but also to instruct.

※

Parody

Writing,

music,

art

something

said,

etc,

which

intentionally

copies

the

style

of

someone

famous or copies a particular situation, making the features or qualities of the original more

noticeable in a way that is humorous.

为嘲弄某作者或某作品而作成的模仿滑稽作品

The History of Tom Jones, A Founding

—

Henry Fielding

·

Fielding’s masterpiece, showing the whole life of 18th century England as she saw it.

·

18 books divided into 3 parts with 6 in each.

·

Country- versus-city motif

—

the countryside: the basic goodness of human race

—

the city: evil and sin

·

An allegorical (

寓言的

) novel

The 18th Century (1688-1798)

★

Historical Background

1. Comparatively peaceful development under the constitutional monarchy

·

A compromise between Tory and Whig

·

The leading navel power in Europe

2. The Industrial Revolution

工业革命

·

Unprecedented technical innovations

·

Rapid growth of industry and commerce

★

The Enlightenment

1. An intellectual movement in Europe began in the late 17th and 18th centuries and ended

with the French revolution of 1789

—

Originated in France, represented by Montesquieu, V

oltaire, Diderot, Rousseau

—

An expression of struggle of bourgeoisie against Feudalism

2. The influence of science and philosophy

—

Newton’s discovery of universal gravitation

—

John Locke

·

Knowledge is not innate, but comes only from experience and observation guided by reason.

·

A great premium was placed on the discovery of truth through the observation of nature, rather

than through the study of authoritative sources, such as Aristotle and

the Bible

★

Age of Reason

1. Importance

—

a lasting heritage for the 19th and 20th century

—

it marked a key stage in the decline of the church and the growth of modern

secularism

(

世俗主义

)

—

it served as the model for political and economic liberalism.

2. The development of Poetry

: Classicism

古典主义

—

First half of the 18th century

—

Originated in France: Boileau (

布瓦格

):

The Art of Poetry

(

诗艺

)

—

A declaration of Classicism

3. Characteristic of neo-Classicism

1). Emphasizing reason rather than emotion, form rather than content.

2). Didactic and satirical

3). Heroic Couplet (

英雄双韵体

)

4). Town poetry writing for the rising bourgeoisie

5).

Nothing related with ―romantic‖

Alexander Pope(1688-1744)

亚历山大

蒲柏

★

Literary position

—

an outstanding enlightener

—

The greatest and the most important representative of the English classical poetry.

★

Literary achievement

▲

Pastorals

田园诗

·

The Windsor Forest

—

a patriotic poem

▲

Satirical poem

讽刺诗

·

The Rape of the Lock

(1712)

《卷发遇劫记》

—

Finest and one of the most famous mock-heroic poem

(

滑稽英雄体诗

)

in the English language.

·

The Dunciad

(1728)

《愚人记》

▲

Philosophical poems

哲理诗

·

An essay on Criticism

(1711)

《批评论》

To err is human, to forgive divine.

错为人之事，恕为神之业

For fools rush in where angels fears to tread.

智者裹足不前，愚者铤而走险

·

An essay on Man

(1732-1734)

《人论》

Pre- Romanticism:

Latter half of the 18th century

Robert Burns

William Blake

1. Romantic revival

·

A strong protest against the bondage of Classicism (=Formalism)

·

A recognition of the claims of passion and emotion.

2. Representatives

·

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

罗伯特

彭斯

·

William Blake (1757-1827)

威廉

布莱克

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

罗伯特

彭斯

★

Literary Achievements

—

Poems chiefly in the Scottish Dialect

《苏格兰方言诗集》

★

Theme

·

Love and friendship

·

The natural beauty of his native Scotland

·

The life and label of the common people

·

The patriotism of his compatriots and their struggle for liberty

★

Features of his poetry

·

Beautiful lyricism

·

Sincerity of emotions

·

Profound sympathy for the poor

·

A new spirit of romanticism.

A red, red Rose

—

Robert Burns

1. Ballad meter

民歌体

—

Odd-number lines: iambic tetrameter

—

Even-number lines: iambic trimeter

2. Rhetorical devices

3. Theme: love

William Blake

威廉

布莱克

★

Literary Achievements

:

Songs of Innocence

,

Songs of Experience

—These two collections show, in Blake’s words ―two country state of human soul‖

—

The contrast between these two collections is of great significance for it makes a progress in

the poet’s outlook on life.

Songs of Innocence

《天真之歌》

·

Written for children, express the poet’s delight in life.

·

To depict the happy condition of a child before it knows anything about the pains of exerience.

·

Simple without being na?

ve, childlike without being childish, innocent without being insipid.

Songs of Experience

《经验之歌》

·

Much maturer work

·

The atmosphere is no longer sunny but sad and gloomy.

·

To draw pictures of neediness and distress and to show the suffering of the miserable.

London

—

William Blake

『

1

』

Stanza

Ⅰ

1.

Where is the poet?

2.

What does he see?

Stanza

Ⅱ

-sounds

1.

What does he hear?

2.

What is the sound which he can hear while others can not hear?

Stanza

Ⅲ

- sounds

1.

What rhetorical device is mainly used?

2.

Why does the poet use the sharp contrast?

Stanza

Ⅳ

- sounds & sights

1.

What does Blake want to show in the last stanza?

(He attributes the social evil, esp. the evil war to ruling society.)

『

2

』

Q1: Do you think this poem is taken from Song of Innocence or Song of Experience?

?

Song of Experience

Q2: Did the author love the London described in the poem?

?

No.

(He

once

loved

London

very

much

and

wrote

such

lines

―golden

London

and

her

silver Thames‖ but London gradually degenerated in the poet’s heart)

Q3: What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

?

a b a b; iambic tetrameter

Q4: What is the theme of the poem?

?

Criticizing

the

dark

sides

of

English

society

and

showing

the

sufferings

of

common

people (The poem has been called ―mightiest brief poem‖ because it employs only several

images to describe some deep-rooted social vices vividly.)

『

3

』

Linguistic Features

·

Anvil music

—

Simple, short, easy words are repeated used.

—

Regular stanza form -- four-line stanza with rhyme scheme

a b a b

·

Past- participle

is used as adjective which makes the poem more vivid and deeply, clearly

expresses the poet’s theme

·

Repetition

The Age of Romanticism (1798-1832)

William Wordsworth

★

Political and social factors

1.

The

American

and

French

revolution:

an

upsurge

of

national

liberation

and

democratic

movements

American revolution (1775-1783)

—

The formation of the independent United States.

French revolution of 1789

—

―Liberty, equality and fraternity‖

2. The Industrial Revolution

3. The Luddite movement

★

Intellectual Background

--Shift from emphasis on reason to instinct and emotion

1. Rousseau

卢梭

—

the father of romanticism

—

To rely on feelings, to follow the instincts and emotions.

—

Return to nature.

2. Edmund Burke

埃德蒙

伯克

—

Reflection on the Revolution in France

(1790)

《法国革命感想》

3. Thomas Paine

托马斯

潘恩

—

Rights of Man

(1791)

《人权》

★

General characteristic features (style)

1.

Subjectivism

2.

Spontaneity

3.

Singularity

4.

Simplicity: everyday language spoken by the rustic people

5.

A dominating note of melancholy

6.

A freer verse form

★

Romantic Poetry

1. Lake poet (

湖畔诗人

)

—

the passive or escapist romanticists: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey

—

detesting the real world, escaping from the reality.

2. Active or radical romanticists: Byron, Shelley, Keats

—

striving to strengthen man’s will to live and raise hi

m up against the darkness in the world.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

★

Literary Achievements

Major works

·

Lyrical Ballads

(1798)

《抒情歌谣集》

·

The Prelude

(1850)

《序曲》

：

—

Wordsworth’s autobiographical poem.

★

Major concern

1. Nature (is)

·

The embodiment of the Divine Spirit

·

The greatest of all teachers

2. The life of ordinary people

★

Literary Position

·

Poet Laureate

桂冠诗人

（

1843

）

·

One of the best and the most famous romantic poets

★

Poetic features

—

Simplicity and purity of his language.

Lyrical Ballads

(1798)

《抒情歌谣集》

—

William Wordsworth

1.

Written by

Wordsworth

and

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

2.

Marked the break with the conventional poetic tradition of 18th century classicism, and the

beginning of romanticism in English poetry

3.

The preface serves as the manifesto of the English romantic movements in poetry.

4.

The principle of poetry: ―

All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feeling.

‖

——―