review of British literature(2015).doc

Chapter 1Three stages of English literary development: i. Old English /Anglo-Saxon (OE. As the language up to 1066 is usu. called) The old English language, also called Anglo-Saxon, was the earliest form of English. It is difficult to give exact dates for the rise and development of a language, because it does not change suddenly; but perhaps it is true to say that Old English was spoken from about AD. 600 to about 1100. ii. Middle English literature(about 1100-1500) iii. Modern English literature(about 1500-present)Beowulf written in Old English sometime before the tenth century A.D., describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. A rich fabric of fact and fancy, Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic（史诗） in British literaturen What is an Epic?It is a long verse narrative on a serious subject, told in a formal and elevated style, and centered on a heroic or quasi-divine figure on whose actions depends the fate of a tribe, a nation, or the human race.Geoffrey Chaucer(1343-1400) the greatest name in the Middle English literature.father/founder of English poetry.He is named in that trio of English poetry giants: Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton.The writing career of Chaucer can be divided into three periods: the French period, the Italian period, and the English period.n The Canterbury Tales, his masterpiece, presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic pictures of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life.n He presents, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and creates a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life，influenced by humanism.n He introduced heroic couplet into English poetryn It was Chaucer who made London dialect the foundation for modern English speechSelecting from the prologue of The Canterbury TalesThere was a Knight, a most distinguished man,Who from the day on which he first beganTo ride abroad had followed chivalry,Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesyHe had done nobly in his sovereigns war,And ridden into battle, none more far As well in Christendom as in heathen places,And ever honoured for his noble graces.When we took Alexandria, he was there.He often sat at table in the chairof honour, above all nations, when in Prussia.In Lithuania he had ridden, and Russia,No Christian man so often, of his degree.He never yet a boorish thing had saidIn all his life to any, come what might;He was a truly perfect gentle-knight.Speaking of his equipment, he possessedFine horses, but he was not gaily dressed.He wore a fustian tunic stained and darkWith smudges where his armour had left mark;He had just come back from his voyage,And now was going on this pilgrimage.Chapter 2Renaissance .The Renaissance refers to the period between 14th-mid-17th century. In essence, Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars tried to get rid of the old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie/middle class, and to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of Roman Catholic church. Humanism is the essence of Renaissance.Humanism Humanism is the essence of Renaissance -Man is the measure of all things. Shakespeare, Marlowe and Francis Bacon etc. were the remarkable representatives of the English Renaissance.William Shakespeare 1564-1616 The Plays 37 plays firmly attributed to Shakespeare 14 comedies 10 histories 10 tragedies 4 romances 154 Sonnets Numerous other poemsComedies Much Ado About Nothing 无事生非 As You Like I 皆大欢喜 Twelfth Night 第十二夜 The Merchant of Venice 威尼斯商人Tragedies Hamlet哈姆雷特 Othello奥赛罗 King Lear李尔王 Macbeth麦克白 Character study of Hamlet: 1. Intellectual genius： 1) a great observer- 2) an idealist thinker - 2. Melancholy resist /die or not feeling of world weariness, a sea of troubles unable to change the situation 3. hesitation/delay: 4.humanist: His attitude to death is well reflected in his soliloquy “to be or not to be”. To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings & arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocksThat flesh is heir to, tis a consummation Devoutly to be wishd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, theres the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,Must give us pause. Theres the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressors wrong, the proud mans contumely,The pangs of despised love, the laws delay, The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes,When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, The undiscoverd country from whose bourn No traveller returns, puzzles the will And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought,And enterprises of great pitch and momentWith this regard their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. How Hamlets attitude towards death changes during the play. Hamlets attitude towards death changes during the play. He changes from a troubled man, very fearful of the unknown, and of death, into a confident person, who understands the reality of death. Ultimately he dies, but this is only because of a dramatic change in his attitude towards death, and there are many reasons as to why his attitude changes so much.In act 3 during his third soliloquy, he discusses death openly, and more bluntly he contemplates committing suicide to be or not to be. Hamlet sees suicide very much as an escape from all of the troubles surrounding his present life. He longs for death in a time of such intense grief and misery, but he has doubts over whether it is morally the right thing to do or not. At the time, Christian views on suicide were very strong. It was thought that suicide would lead to eternal suffering in hell. Hamlet knows that suicide is thought of as a sin, and he fears the afterlife. It is this fear, he concludes, makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others we know not of.Francis Bacon: Literary works:1. The Essays 论说文集(1597, 1621 and 58 in 1625), the first collection of essays in English, an important landmark in the development of English prose; considered an important landmark in the development of English prose. “Of Studies”Christopher Marlowe n Tamburlaine (c.1587) 帖木儿n Edward II (1592-1593) 爱德华二世n The Jew of Malta（1592） 马耳他岛的犹太人n The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1604)浮士德博士的悲剧Chapter 3The Glorious Revolution in 1688 represented the beginning of the modern England and the final triumph of the principle of political liberty for which the Puritan had fought for a hundred years.John Donne the leading figure of the metaphysical school n life experience reflected in his works: conflict between soul and body:-Obscene and vulgar/ serious philosophical thinking n Father of the Metaphysical schooln Metaphysics 形而上学n initially used by Dryden and Samuel Johnson to criticize the style as being excessive in showing off knowledgeWhat is metaphysical poetry?n The term “metaphysical” was first used derogatively by John Dryden to describe John Donnes work. Metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. using intellectual and theological (神学的) concepts in surprising conceits (奇喻), strange paradoxes and far-fetched imagery.n The poetry was characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.n contentemphasis on wit, ideas of philosophy, intellect, image, knowledge, originalityn Formextended metaphorsn Roughness of meter and irregular rhyme.John Donnes PoetryYouthful love lyrics: Songs & Sonnet: different from most of the Elizabethan lyrics, cut wide from the path of courtly polish and restraint;whimsical and satirical in mood and almost exclamatory in tone; characterized by directness, irony and cynicism. suffused with an emotional intensity and a spiritualized ardour unique in English poetry; fantastic metaphors and extravagant hyperboles Later sacred verses: Devotions upon Emergent Occasions in 1624: showed the intense interest Donne took in the spectacle of morality under the shadow of death.Death be not proudby John DonneDeath be not proud, though some have called theeMightyand dreadful, for, thou art not so,For, those, whom thou thinkst, thou dostoverthrow,Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me；From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,And soonest our best men with thee do go,Rest of their bones, and souls delivery.Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,And better than thy stroak； why swellst thou then？One short sleep past, we wake eternally,And death shall be no more； Death, thou shalt die.死神，你莫骄傲死神，你莫骄傲，尽管有人说你如何强大，如何可怕，你并不是这样；你以为你把谁谁谁打倒了，其实，可怜的死神，他们没死；你现在也还杀不死我。休息、睡眠，这些不过是你的写照，既能给人享受，那你本人提供的一定更多；我们最美好的人随你去得越早，越能早日获得身体的休息，灵魂的解脱。你是命运、机会、君主、亡命徒的奴隶，你和毒药、战争、疾病同住在一起，罂粟和咒符和你的打击相比，同样，甚至更能催我入睡；那你何必趾高气扬呢？睡了一小觉之后，我们便永远觉醒了，再也不会有死亡，你死神也将死去。（这首诗选自约翰-多恩的神圣十四行诗。诗中说明死亡是瞬间的，而死后的欢乐则是永恒的。）注释：dost：动词do的第二人称单数现在时的古用法。canst：情态动词can第二人称单数现在时的古用法。swellst：swell第二人称单数现在时形式。shalt：即shall.Speakers Attitude to death:personify death in order to explain the phenomenon of death and, more importantly, the wonder of eternal life. In his Holy Sonnet “Death Be Not Proud,” John Donne uses personification to characterize death as a weak antagonist, unworthy of the dread it causes. Speakers attitude is bold and defiant as he attacks deaths supposed invulnerability. Form of Expressing supposed dialogue with “death” mocking tone. Theme Man is superior to Death; one should not fear death. Death is admonished directly to “be not proud”; it is belittled vehemently as a slave whose job providing rest and sleep for the soul is better done by humble drugs or simple magic charms. The poem implies an unspoken fear that death can still pack a wallop only good and faithful Christians will enjoy eternal life, while everyone else will spend eternity suffering the pains of hell, a fate that Christians believe to be much worse than death. 死亡是瞬间的，将很快不复存在，而死后的欢乐则是永恒的，人对于死亡的畏惧变成了死亡自身的恐惧，死亡对于人来说不过是通往幸福永生的大门。这种强烈的戏剧化效果和反讽意味的获得最终是通过悖论语言实现的。 1. Rhyme Scheme: The sonnet has an ABBA ABBA CDD CEE rhyme scheme.2. Assonance(半谐音) refers to the repetition of vowel sounds within a phrase. Nearly every line contains a repetition of “o” sounds. For example, “Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me”. The frequent use of assonance does not directly enhance the poems theme, yet it helps convey its message more vividly by making the lines flow, thus making readers to understand each stanza more easily.3. Personification .personification: death-“Death be not proud, though some have called theeMighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;” By telling death not to be proud, he implies death does not have the ability to feel proud.4. metaphor : sleep, pleasure“From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow“Slave“Thou art slave to fate, chance, king and desperate men”5. irony“And poppy, or charm can make us sleep as well, and better than thy stroke; why swellst thou then？”6. paradox“And Death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.”.The FleaMarke but this flea, and marke in this, How little that which thou denyst me is; Me it suckd first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled bee; Confesse it, this cannot be said A sinne, or shame, or losse of maidenhead, Yet this enjoyes before it wooe, And pamperd swells with one blood made of two, And this, alas, is more than wee would doe.The poem “The Flea” uses conceit, a kind of far-fetched comparison.John Milton n Works: Paradise Lost (1667, the only epic since Beowulf), Paradise Regained (1671), Samson Agonistes (1671)Paradise Lost A long epic divided into 12 books. The original story is taken from Genesis 3:1-24 of the Bible. n Epic based upon the Biblical story of genesis and the fall of human race from Eden n Satans as a hero: rebellious, intelligent, brave, undaunted spirit, defiant of authorityn Satans wrong actions originate from his pride and vanityThe theme is the Fall of Man, ie, mans disobedience and the loss of Paradise, with its prime cause Satan. The story of rebellion and punishmentRunning through the epic are the key political questions of freedom and choice. The image of Satan: rebellious, intelligent, brave, undaunted spirit, defiant of authority;a tragic figure who describes himself with the now-famous quote Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heavn.Satans persuasive powers are evident throughout the book; not only is he cunning and deceptive, but he also is able to rally the angels to continue in the rebellion after their agonising defeat in the Angelic War.John Bunyan (1628-1688) 约翰班扬Pilgrims Progress: the religious allegory of Christians journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City,The pilgrimage of human soul searching salvationChapter 4 Eighteenth Century Literaturen the Enlightenment movement 启蒙运动n the Age of ReasonThe Enlightenment Movement revived writers interest in the classical works: order, logic, restrained emotion; accuracy, objectivity; unity, harmony and grace. The literary trend is known as Neo-classicism. Samuel Richardson, Oliver Goldsmith, Pope, Addison, Steele, Swift, Johnson and Lawrence Sterne wrote in the literary trend.Daniel DefoeWorks: “The True-born Englishman” (1701), made his fame.“The Shortest Way with Dissenters” (1702)“A Hymn to the Pillory” Moll Flanders Captain SingletonA Journal of the Plague YearThe Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe-Robinson: a typical 18th century middle class tradesman, the empire builder, a pioneer colonistCharacter/image : Robinson Crusoe Defoe traces the development of Crusoe from a nave and artless youth into a clever and hardened man tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life. Crusoe is typical of the English bourgeoisie at the early stage of its development: practical, exact, mindful of his own profit, and persistent in overcoming obstacles, with strong will.a new mana man sure of himself and sure of being able to establish himself anywherea man of new age, in which doubt and uncertainty are replaced by hope and confidence.With self-help and religious belief, optimistic and full of energy. Crusoe is the enterpriser of his age, colonist, the empire builder. Robinson Crusoe is an embodiment of the spirit of individual enterprise and colonial expansion of the rising bourgeoisie.He is the colonist, the empire builder. Robinson Crusoe is an embodiment of the spirit of individual enterprise and colonial expansion of the rising bourgeoisie.Crusoes virtues (industry, intelligence, strong will and perseverance) are private, while his vice is social. His character is dull and unable for deep feelings: attitude to his family, his wife and to Friday. Jonathan Swift (16671745) Swift is generally considered the greatest prose satirist in English literature. Through fables, allegories, & pamphlets he savagely exposed the vices & follies of mankind & championed common senseHis worksv “A Tale of a Tub”一个木桶的故事 （1698）v “The Battle of the Books”书籍之战（ 1697）v “A Modest Proposal”一个温和的建议 （ 1729 ）The Drapiers Letter布商来信: protest against the English government.v “Gullivers Travels”格列佛游记 （1726）v A Voyage to Lilliputv A Voyage to Brobdingnagv A Voyage to Laputa. v A voyage to the Country of the HouyhnhnmsSignificance of Swifts writingv Highest achievement, a satire on the whole English society: political, religious, legal, military, scientific and philosophical institutions, all walks of English society.v Exposure of the ugliness of the ruling class: hypocrisy, greed, corruption, intrigue, ruthless oppression and exploitationv Critique of the declining feudalism and new capitalist relations, the predominant money relationship in human relationsv Applicable to any class society, anywhere, at any period of timeSamuel RichardsonPamela, or Virtue Rewarded 1. A “best-seller” of the day2. Epistolary form3. For the first time the author gave a detailed description of the English Family life in the mid of 18th century.4. The first English psycho-analytical novel.Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady n Masterpiecen Multiple narrator, many voicesn Clarissa, a different heroine from Pamelan Die with dignity rather than live in humiliationn Sentimentaln Psychological depthHen