英国文学简史 文艺复兴(16世纪)

四、

The Renaissance

（

16

世纪）

一、文学知识

Definitions of the Literary Terms:

1. The Renaissance:

It is a cultural and intellectual movement. It started in Italy in the late 13

th

century and gradually

spread

in

Europe.

The

peak

of

Renaissance

occurred

at

different

time

in

different

places.

In

England

it

was

in

16

th

century. It was brought out by the growth of productive forces with the development of new forces of social relationships.

It

signified

the

beginning

of

disruption

of

feudal

system.

It

’

s

a

great

liberation

of

human

thought.

It

became

the

movement

against

feudalism

and

the

classical

literature

and

culture.

The

second

feature

is

keen

interest

in

human

activities. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance.

2.

Humanism:

Humanism

is

the

essence

of

the Renaissance.

It

is

a

kind

of

literature

and

psychological

system

of

thought. It tries to place the affairs of mankind at the center of their concerns. It originated in Italy during Renaissance

and soon spread through out west Europe. It reflects the interest and new outlook of the rising bourgeois class. Thomas

More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.

二、文学分类和代表作家

1

、

小说：

1)Thomas More (1478-1535)

an outstanding humanist in the early 16

th

century

Utopia

:

The first book contains a long discussion on the social conditions of England. In the second book is described

in detail an ideal communist society, Utopia.

2)John Lyly(1553-1606):

Eupheus

大学才子：

Thomas Kyd, John Lyly, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Deloney, Thomas Nashe,

Christopher Marlowe, Robert Greene.

2

、

诗歌

lyrical poems:

Sonnet:

is

a

lyrical

poem

in

14

lines

with

10

syllables

in

each

line,

usually

in

iambic

pentameter.

It

’

s

composed

in

definite

rhyming

scheme,

of

which

the

Petrarcan

and

Shakespearean

are

the

principle.

The

Petrarcan

sonnet

was

introduced into England by Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey in the early 16

th

century. The rhyme pattern was abba

abba cdcdcd/ cde cde. The rhyme pattern of Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. Sonnet became a perfect

English poetic medium in the hands of Shakespeare and Milton and so on.

1

）

Thomas Wyatt(1503-1542)[

first introduced the

sonnet

into English literature

]; Earl of Surrey

2

）

Earl of Surrey(1527-1547)[

created

blank verse

];

3

）

Philip Sidney(1554-1586);

4

）

Edmund

Spenser(1552-1599).

the

author

of

the

greatest

epic

poem

of

the

time

The

Fairy

Queen

;

The

Shepherds

’

Calendar.

He created a new stanza, called the Spenserian stanza, which is well suited to narrative verse.

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.

3

、

Essay

Francis Bacon(1561-1626)

The founder of English materialist philosophy and modern science in England.. He is

the first English essayist.

散文

：

Of Truth; Of Studies

4

、戏剧

A

）

Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593)

Marlowe was the

first great English Dramatist.

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

1