英国文艺复兴时期

Chapter I The Renaissance Period

(

一

)

文艺复兴时期概述

1.

识记：（

1

）文艺复兴时期的界定

（

2

）历史文化背景

2.

领会

:

（

1

）文艺复兴运动的意义与影响

（

2

）文艺复兴时期的文学特点

（

3

）人文主义的主张及对文学的影响

3.

应用：文艺复兴，人文主义及玄学诗等名词的解释

I.

应用

Definitions of the Literary Terms:

1. The Renaissance

: The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world.

Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the

flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of

Europe. The Renaissance, which means

series of historical events, such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new

discoveries in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The

Renaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers &

scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new

ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church

from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. Humanism

: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a

medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the

Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on

such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning, humanists not only

saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works.

Renaissance humanists came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual

development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise

but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the

importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the

beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

3. Spenserian stanza:

Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines,

with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iambic hexameter, rhyming ababbcbcc.

？

4. Metaphysical poetry:

The term

17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit, the

metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry.

The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes

the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery in drawn from the actual life. The form is

frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.

5. The Renaissance hero:

A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his

drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from

both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ideas of human dignity and capacity. Different

from the tragic hero in medieval plays, who seeks the way to heaven through salvation and god's will,

he is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts.

With the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the hero interprets the true Renaissance

spirit. Both Tamburlaine and Faustus are typical in possessing such a spirit.

（二）

该时期的重要作家

1.

一般识记：重要作家的文学生涯

2.

识记：重要作品及主要内容

3.

领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺 术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物塑造，语言风格，艺术手法，社会意

义等。

4.

应用：（< /p>

1

）莎士比亚和邓恩诗歌的主题，意象

（

2

）喜剧 《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物性格分析

（

3

）哈姆雷特的性格分析

（

4

）史诗《失乐园》的结构，人物性格，语言特点等的分析

I. Edmund Spenser

1.

一般识记

Brief Introduction

：

English poet

，

born in London, England, about 1552,and died in London, Jan 13, 1599.

2.

识记

His Major Works

Spenser's most important work & masterpiece is

The Faerie Queen

, a great poem of its age. A complex

moral, religious, & political allegory, it is also an epic that exalts Queen Elizabeth

Ⅰ

& the English

nation. According to Spenser's own explanation, his principal intention is to present through a

virtuous & gentle discipline.

poem illustrate the nature of particular virtues, such as, temperance & justice. Other major works of

Spenser are The Shepheardes Calender(1579), a poem consisting of 12 eclogues-corresponding to the

12 months of the year; Epithalamion (1595), a poem expressing the deep personal feelings occasioned

by the poets second marriage; Amoretti (1595), a series of sonnets.

3.

领会

His Influence

1) Main qualities of Spenser's poetry

①

a perfect melody

②

a rare sense of beauty

③

a splendid imagination

④

a lofty moral purity &

seriousness

⑤

a dedicated idealism

2)

In his writing, Spenser drew on the conventions & thought of Classical, medieval, & Renaissance

literature. However, he added to his fusion of these diverse elements much that was original, & his

works inspired many later English poets. He created a new stanza, called the Spenserian stanza, which

is well suited to narrative verse. His skills in writing melodious English verse & his combination of

emotion, erudition, & spiritual vision have won him the admiration of generations of English poets. It is

his idealism, his love of beauty, &his exquisite melody that make him known as

4.

应用

The Faerie Queen:

1) It is a long, allegorical poem. In the poem, Spenser dramatized political, religious, & moral themes

by personifying them, or making them characters.

2)Plot: The story, which is set against a background of Arthur & medieval legend, deals with the

adventures of six knights of the court of the fairy queen named Gloriana, who represents Queen

Elizabeth

Ⅰ

of English. The faerie Queen was left unfinished at Spenser's death. It was originally

planned as a 12-book poem. But only 6 books were completed. The poem is particularly admired for

the melodic beauty of its language & for its rich content of philosophical & mythological material

presented in the form of vivid narratives.

II. Christopher Marlowe

1.

一般识记

Brief Introduction

：

English dramatist & poet,born in Canterbury, England, Feb, 6,1567, died in Deptford, England,

May 30, 1593.

Marlowe was the first great English Dramatist

. He brought to the English stage a new concept of

tragedy, one in which the drama centers around the struggles of a man overwhelmed by his passions & ambitions.

2.

识记

His Major Works

His most famous tragedies are

Doctor Faustus, he Jew of MaltTa, Tamburlaine & Edward

Ⅱ

. In his plays,

Marlowe used blank verse, which he molded into a superb instrument for expressing intense emotions.

After his development of blank verse it became the standard medium for English dramatic & epic

poetry. His non-dramatic poetry includes Hero & Leander,

verse translation of Ovid's Amores.

Doctor Faustus

(about 1589), generally considered his best play, was based on a real Dr. Faustus,

who was later associated with a medieval legend of a man selling his soul to the devil. The play's

dominant moral is human rather than religious. It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power

& happiness; it also reveals man's frustration in realizing the high aspirations in a hostile moral order.

The last scene, in which Faustus confronts his doom, brilliantly renders the fear & agony of a

condemned man.

The Jew of Malta

(about 1589) illustrates Marlowe's outstanding portrayal of character. Its hero,

Barabas the Jew,

served as the model for Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.

In

1592.

Marlowe wrote one of the first successful English historical dramas,

Edward

Ⅱ

。

It is his most

dramatically mature play & exhibits his mastery of characterization, stage craft & rhetoric.

Tamburlaine

is a play about an ambitious & pitiless Tartar conqueror in the fourteenth century who

rose from a shepherd to an overpowering King. By depicting a great hero with high ambition & sheer

brutal force in conquering one enemy after another, Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of

the Renaissance for infinite power & authority.

3.

领会

His Achievements & Influence

Achievements

: Marlowe's greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse & made it the

principal medium of English drama.

His second achievement

is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English theme of his

works is the praise of the Renaissance spirit.

His influence:

A man of wide learning, Marlowe was one of the extra ordinary poets & playwrights of

his time.

contributions to the art of English literature.

4.

应用

Dr. Faustus

The selection of Act

Ⅰ

from Dr. Faustus is mainly about Faustus is showing his great ambition, that is,

if he had many souls, he would give them all to the Devil so that he could control the world. In

portraying Faustus, a more introspective & philosophical figure than Tamburlaine, Marlowe praises his

soaring aspiration for knowledge while warning against the sin of pride since Faustus's downfall was

caused by his despair in God & trust in Devil.

Ⅲ

. William Shakespeare

1.

一般识记

Brief Introduction

William Shakespeare was the greatest writer of plays who ever lived. He was described as

time.

2.

识记

His Career: Generally, his dramatic career is divided into 4 periods.

●

The First Period (1590-1594)-five historical plays & four comedies:

Henry

Ⅵ

, part

Ⅰ

(1590)

；

Henry

Ⅵ

, part

Ⅱ

(1590)

；

Henry

Ⅵ

, part

Ⅲ

(1591)

；

Richard

Ⅲ

(1592)

Titus Andronicus

.

《泰特斯·安德洛尼克斯》