英美文选---权威讲义1.doc

English LiteratureIntroduction :The old and Medieval English literature.*A. The old English literature1.The time period :The period of Old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066.2.The classification of the old English poetry :The old English poetry can be divided into two groups : the religious group and the secular one . a.)The religious group is mainly on biblical themes. b.)The secular group concludes;The national epic poem , Beowulf ,and lyrical poems of shorter length . 3.The representative of this period : Beowulf .a.)The nature Beowulf is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons.b.)The setting The story took place in Scandinavia.c.)The theme: The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage under a wise heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader .d.)The significance :The poem is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends. The battle between Beowulf and the Dragon Symblically represent that phrase of Winter and Summer myth in which the Summer God,here embodied by Beowulf . *B. The medieval English literature 1.The time period : From 1066 up to the mid-14th century.2.The classification of the medieval English Literature: Middle English literature deals with a wider range of subjects.a.)popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period . b.)Romance which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the Medieval period .3. The representative of this period : Chaucer and the Canterbury tales.a.)The influence of Renaissance :The influence of Renaissance was already felt in the field of English literature when Chaucer was learning from the great Italian writers like Petrarch and Boccaccio.b.)The contributions to English Literature :1)Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas to replace the old English alliterative verse.2)In the Romaunt the Rose , he fixst introduced into English the octosyllabic couplet. 3)In The Legend of Good Women , he used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter.And in The Canterbury Tales , Chaucer employed the heroic couplet with true ease.4)Chaucer also developed the art of literature itself . In Troilus and Criseyde, he gave the world what is virtually the first modern novel . 5)In The Canterbury Tales , he developed his art of poetry still further towards drama and the art of novel. John Dryden, called Chaucer the father of English peotry . For the Renaissance , he was the English Homer.=Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period (文艺复兴时期)本章概述一. 文艺复兴运动和人文主义思想产生的历史, 文化背景; 二. 文艺复兴时期文学创作的基本特征和基本主张; 三. 文艺复兴时期的哲学与文艺理论对同时代及后世英国文学与文化的影响.四. 主要作家与作品.文学史分析* A. The time period The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern word . It refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries . * B. The definition of Renaissance :a. The birthplace : In Italy b. The meaning : The Renaissance means rebirth or revival .c. The nature : The Renaissance ,in essence , is a historical period. * c. The theoretical basis of the Renaissance : 1. The essence of the Renaissance :a.) The source Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance , It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors . b.) The basis of the Humanism . it was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things . 2.The representative :a. The symbol : Humanism began to take hold in England when the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus came to teach the classical learning b. The major representatives : Thomas More , Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists . * D. The cultural Background of the Renaissance :1. The national feeling : Strong national feeling in the time of the Tudors gave a great incentive to the cultural development in England . English schools and universities were established in place of the old monasteries . 2. The introduction of printing : William Caxton Introduced printing into England . In this lifetime ,Caxton printed about one hundred books in English . 3. The emergence of an age of translation With the introduction of printing , an age of thranslation came into being . 4. The significance : The introduction of printing led to a commercial market for literature , making everything ready for the appearance of the great Elizabethan writers. * E. The literature forms during the Renaissance :1. The poetry a. The feature : The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation . 1.) petrarch was regarded as the fountain head of literature by the English writers . 2.) Wyatt introduced the petrarchan sonnet into England . 3.) Surrey brought in blank verse. 4.) Sidney followed with the sestina and terza rima 5.) Marlowe gave new vigor to the blank verse with his mighty lines. b. The representatives :1.) Spensers The Shepheardes Calender showed the pastoral convention . 2.) In The Passionate Shepherd to His Love . Marlowe spoke that it would be very difficult for us to connect it with the voice in his tragedies . 3.) Poetry and Poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and carried on by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson . 2. The dramaA.) The feature :The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance . English material was put into the regular form of the Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence . Tragedies were in the style of Seneca . B.) The representative dramatists :The most famous aramatists are christopher Marlowe , William Shakespeare , and Ben Johnson. 3.The essays :A.) The representatives essayist :Francis Bacon , the first important English essayist , is best known for his essays . B.) The influence :Bacon was also the founder of modern science in England , His writings pave the way for the use of scientific method . 主要作家作品埃德蒙*斯宾塞一. The masterpiece : The Faerie Queene .1. The intention and the structure A.) The intention The principal intention is to present through a historical poem the example of perfect gentleman . B) The structure:There are 12 virtues of the perfect gentleman ,and plans 12 books , each one with a different hero distinguished for one of the private virtues .2. The unifying element :A.) The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as whole . B.) Another character contributing to the unity of the work is Gloriana. 3. The allegory :The Redcross knight in Book I stands for st. George , he also represents Holiness.4. The themeThe theme is not Arms and the man , but something more romantic -Fierce Wares and faithful loves . 二. The poetic features :1. The five main qualities :The five main qualities of Spensers are : 1.) a perfect melody ; 2.) a rare sense of beauty; 3.) a splendid imagination ; 4.) a lofy moral purity and seriousness 5.) a dedicated idealism 2. In addition :Spenser uses strange forms of speech and obsolete words , His exquisite melody that make him known as the poets poet . 克里斯托夫*马洛一. The works :1. The play : ( 6 plays ) 2. The non-dramatic poetry. 3. The verse translation . 二. The masterpieces :1. Tamburlaine :A. The outline :Tamburlaine is a play about an ambitious and pitiless Tartar conqueror in the fourteenth century who roes from a shepherd to an overpowering king . B. The intention :By depicting a great hero with high ambition and sheer brutal force , Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power and authority .2. Dr. Faustus :A. The outline :Dr. Faustus is a play based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for knowledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil . B. The intention :It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness ; it also reveals mans frustration . 三. The artistic achievements 1. The stylistic features :A. Marlowe perfected the blank verse and brought vitality and grandeur into the blank verse with his Mighty lines . B. Marlowe employed hyperbole as his major figure of speech . 2. The characters and the humanistic ideal :A. Marlowe s second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama . Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition. B. He embodies Marlowes humanistic ideal of human dignity and capacity . with the endless aspiration for power, knowledge , and glory , the hero interprets the true Renaissance Spirit . 威廉*莎士比亚一. The dramatic career : (4 periods )1. Apprenticeship period 2. High individualized period 3. Greatest stragedies and dark comedies period .4. Romantic tragicomedies period . 二. The themes of Shakespeares works 1. The history plays :A. The theme Shakespeares history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity .B. The examples :Henry VI (I,II, III ) are the beginning of Shakespeares epic treatment of English history . Henry IV (I,II,III) are undoubtedly the most widely read among his history plays .2. The romantic comedies :A . The theme :On his romantic comedies , Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth , and the romantic elements are brought into full play . The example :The important play among the comedies is the Merchant of Venice . a. The traditional theme :The traditional theme of the play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty , wit and loyalty , and to expose the insatiable greed and brutality of the Jew . b. The modern theme :Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christians hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love , their cunning ways of pursuing worldiness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews . 3. The tragedies :A . The theme :The play , though a tragedy , is permeated with opitimistic spirit . B. The example :The successful romantic tragedy is Romeo and Juliet, which eulogizes the faithfulness of love and the spirit of pursuing happiness . 三. The greatest tragedies :1. The common features :Shakespeare s greatest tragedies are : Hamlet , Othello , King Lear , and Macbeth . They have some characteristics in common . Each portrays some noble hero , who faces the injustic of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation . 2. The realistic spirits Along with the portrayal of the weakness or bias of the hero , we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society , which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense . 3. The analysis A. Hamlet : a. Hamlet , the first of the great tragedies , is generally regarded as shakespeares most popular play on the stage . b. Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revengers . It is not because he is incapable of action , but because the cast of his mind is so speculative , so questioning , and so contemplative that action . c. His life is one of constant role-playing , examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility . d. By revealing the power-seeking , the jostling for place , shakespeare condemns the hypocrisy and treachery and general corruption at the royal court . B. The Tempest :a. The Tempest , an elaborate and fantastic story , is known as the best of his final romances . b. The Tempest is a typical example of his Pessimistic view toward human life and society in his late years . 四. The artistic achievements :1. The characters :A. Shakespeares major characters are neither merely individual ones or type ones . B. By applying a psyche-analytical approach , Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters inner mind . C. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs . Contrasts are frequently used to bring vividness to his characters . 2. Construction :A. Shakespeares plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction . He borrows them from some old plays or storybooks , or from ancient Greek and Roman sources . B. He would shorten the time and intensify the story . There are usually several threads running through the play . 3. Language and style :A. Irony is a good means of dramatic presentation . Disguise is also an important device to create dramatic irony , usually with woman disguised as man . B. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom . His influence on later writers is immeasurable . Almost all English writers after him have been influenced by him either in artistic point of view , in literary form or in language . 弗朗西斯*培根一. The works His works can be divided into three groups . 1. The philosophic groups . 2. The literary groups .3. The law groups . 二. The masterpieces :1. The Advancement of Learning :A. The theme :The Advencement of Learning is a great tract on education . B. The contents :In Book I , Bacon highly praises knowledge . He divided knowledge into two kinds . One is from the Divine Revelation , the other i sfrom the workings of human mind . The second book is a survey of learning , According to Bacon , mans understanding consists of three parts : history to mans memory , poetry to mans imagination and creation and philosophy to mans reason . 2. Novum Organum :A. The theme :Novum Organum is a successful treatise written in Latin on methodology . B. The contents :is the most impressive display of Bacon s intellect . The argument is for the use of the inductive method of reasoning in scientific study , In the scond book , Bacon suggest the industive reasoning . 3. Essays :A. The sources :Montaigne is the predecessor of Bacon . The term essay was borrowed from Montaignes Essais . B. The comparison with Montaignes :They are totally unlike in temperament . outlook and writing style . Montaignes essays show a strong personal touch . Bacon , as a practical and prudential man , intends to write for the ambitious Elizabethan and Jacobean youth of his class and tell them how to be efficient and make their way in public life . Of the fifty-eight essays in its final edition , more than half are about public life or public duty . C. Bacons styles :Bacons essays are famous for their brevity , compactness and powerfulness . The essay are well-arranged and enriched by Biblical allusions , Metaphors and Cadence . 约翰*邓恩一. The metaphysical poetry :The tern Metaphysical peotry is commonly used to name the work of the 17th -century writers who wrote under teh influence of John Donne . 1. The theme The metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry . 2. The language :The diction is simple , and echoes the words and cadences of common speech . 3. The imagery :It is drawn from the actual life . 4. The form :It is frequently the form of an argument with the poets beloved , with God , or with himself . 二. The characteristic of Donnes works :1. The inherently theatrical impression :John Donne is the leading figure of the metaphysical school . His poems give a more inherently theatrical impression . 2. The poetic mode :The mode is dynamic rather than static ,with ingenuity of speech , vividness of imagery and vitality of rhythms. 3. The stylistic features :The most striking feature of Donnes poetry is precisely its tang of reality , in the sense that it seems to reflect life in a real rather than a poetical world . 三. The masterpieces 1. The songs and sonnets :A. The theme The songs and Sonnets , contains most of his early lyrics , Love is the basic theme . B. The understanding of love :Donne holds that the nature of love is the union of soul and body . This though is quite contrary to the medieval love idea . What is love , idealism and cynicism about love coexist in Donnes love poetry . he sometimes expresses the fufility and instability of love in his poems . C. The stylistic method :When eulogizing a woman ,Donne tells us very little about her physical beauty . Instead , Donnes interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love . 2. The Holy sonnets :A. The theme:Donnes chief power as a religious poet is shown in the Holy Sonnets . B. Contents :In A Hymn to God the Father do we find a an assured faith .The best of the Holy Sonnets express these strugles with unparalleled force . 四. The Artistic features 1. The conceits :In his poetry , Donne frequently applies conceits , his conceits may be divided into two kinds ; easy ones and difficult ones . By combining the easy conceits with the difficult ones , Donne achieves surprising good effects in his poetry . 2. the argument :Donnes poetry involves a certain kind of argument , sometimes in rigid syllogistic form . with the brief . Simple Language , the argument is continuous throughout the poem . 3. The imagination :Donnes great prose works are sermons , which are both rich and imaginative . some of Donnes sermons are carefully contrived with a dramatic . And it is the