英国文学课件

The Anglo Saxon Period 449 1066 The Anglo Saxons were heathens upon their arrival in Britain English literature derived from the Anglo Saxon literature I Historical Background 1 Britons Celtic The aboriginal inhabitants 2 major invasions made by A The Romans in 43 55 B C Caesar invaded from then on dominated by Roman Empire 410 A D Roman Empire withdrew their troops from Britain to protect Rome herself against invaders B The English around 449 449A D Anglo Saxons who came from the West of Denmark and the northwest of Germany conquered and settled in the island the Anglo Saxon Period began C the Normans in 1066 3 The Anglo Saxons A Tribes from Northern Europe B Old English a branch of the Germanic language family C Heathens worshipped Heaven and Earth Summer god Winter monster Frost Giants 4 St Augustine and Christianity In 597 Pope Gregory the Great sent St Augustine to England to convert the Anglo Saxons and then within a century all England was Christianized Churches were established and monks became the most learned in the country Heathen mythology was gradually replaced by Christian religion II Literature 1 oral saga 长篇英雄故事 2 early prose and poetry Among the survivals preserved in written form Beowulf is the most remarkable literary work in Old English III Beowulf Beowulf is the first national epic in English literature It is a part of the epic tradition like Homer s The Iliad and The Odyssey and Virgil s Aeneid It is the national epic of the Anglo Saxons It is concerned with human values and moral choices 1 Epic Epic is a long poem telling the story of the great deeds of gods and heroes in the ancient times The epic poet also functions as a historian blending past present and future in a unique all encompassing way 2 subject matter see the textbook 3 The structure three parts The fight against Grendel The fight against Grendel s mother The fight against the Dragon 4 Major Themes 1 Goodness conquers evil Beowulf stands for all that is good brave and proper while the monsters stand for evil 2 Men against nature The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader 3 Judge the greatness of a human being by the greatness of his deeds and his noble ancestry 4 Help thy neighbor Beowulf risks his life to help a neighbor King Hrothgar in trouble 5 Forces of darkness irrational menacing are always at work in society 5 Mythic pattern Beowulf s fights against the monsters can be regarded as the overcoming of the hostile forces of nature by man s indomitable will and perseverance The battle between Beowulf and the Dragon symbolically represents that phase of Winter and Summer myth in which the Summer God here embodied by Beowulf fights his last battle against the Winter Dragon in order to rescue the treasures of earth that is the golden corn and ruddy fruits Having given them back to men Beowulf himself dies of the Winter s breath 6 The influence of Christianity Beowulf was originally composed by the pagans It was later written down by a Christian Thus it was a pagan epic adapted to the feelings of a Christian world IV Linguistic Features of Old English Period 1 Alliteration The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words It is a form of initial rhyme or head rhyme 2 Kenning compound words i e a word picture A kenning is a metaphor usually composed of two words which becomes the formula for a special object For example the world candle the sun swan road or whale path sea sea wood or wave floater ship shield bearer battle hero or spear fighter soldier etc V Further Study Rhythm 节奏 韵律 and Meter 格律 Rhythm is the metrical flow of sound determined by the placement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line Meter is the kind of rhythm we can tap our foot to the number of poetic feet in a line of poetry Metrical language is called verse non metrical language is prose Anglo Norman Period 1066 1350 I Historical Background 1 1066 Normans headed by Duke William defeated the Anglo Saxons The Norman Conquest 2 In nearly 300 years after the Norman Conquest the French Italian and other European countries culture was introduced into England gradually 3 The Consequence of the Conquest A Politically a feudalist system was established B Religiously the Rome backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country C Three languages co existed in England D The conquest opened up England to the European continent II Cultural Background 1 The fall of the Roman Empire 2 Catholicism God centered universe 3 The Great Chain of Being All the created things are ordered into a hierarchy ascending from stones through plants animals men angels to God It is bound by God in harmony of love great man s sin corruption or fall might cause disaster destruction and sterility in the society 4 man s next life ever lasting happiness or misery This life is only a preparatory period of suffering sin purging and soul saving II Cultural Background 1 The fall of the Roman Empire 2 Catholicism God centered universe 3 The Great Chain of Being All the created things are ordered into a hierarchy ascending from stones through plants animals men angels to God It is bound by God in harmony of love great man s sin corruption or fall might cause disaster destruction and sterility in the society 4 man s next life ever lasting happiness or misery This life is only a preparatory period of suffering sin purging and soul saving IV Medieval Romance 1 features of romance a To sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds in verse or prose b Motifs of the quest challenge test and meeting with the evil giant c The hero is the knight setting out on a journey to accomplish some goal to protect the church and the poor to attack infidelity to rescue a maiden to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command d Mysteries and fantasies improbable supernatural e Romantic love f Standardized characterization g Loose and episodic structure h The language and style are simple and straight forward i The romance reflects a chivalric age 2 major subjects A The Matter of France about Chalemagne and his peers B The Matter of Rome stories about the ancient Romans and the Greeks C The Matter of Britain about King Arthur and his round table knights V Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 1 plot Arthurian legend 2 Tow motifs A The test of faith courage purity B The test of human weakness for self preservation 3 Major themes Nature vs human society The futility of human constructions The viability of chivalric values The fall of man and loss of innocence 4 Mythical pattern A The motif of the Green Knight s head cutting might originate in ancient vegetation myth 植被 神话 in which the beheading would have been a ritual death to ensure a rebirth in the following spring B Another mythic interpretation of the poem would have the Green Knight as an Otherworldly lord and Gawain s journey from Camelot into a terrifying strange land as the hero s archetypical descent into the Otherworld or Underworld 5 Character analysis The Green Knight is portrayed as fertility god with the symbols of fertility a he is green the color of the land in the spring and summer Represents the life force in nature and in human beings b his clothes are embroidered in gold the color of the sun without whose warmth and light no life on earth could endure c he wears holly which is an ideal plant specimen for a creature that represents the eternality of life 6 Structure A The prologue 1 2 B The challenge 3 21 A bridge 22 23 C The temptation 24 79 First day deer hunting Second day boar hunting Third day fox hunting D Explanation 80 99 Gawain meets the Green Knight E Epilogue 100 101 7 theme a to prove Sir Gawain s bravery and faith by means of the Green Knight s challenge b to prove Sir Gawain s honesty and fidelity by means of the hostess s inducement 8 Legend A song or narrative handed down from the past Legends differs from myths on the basis of the elements of historical truth they contain 9 Chivalry A system of ethical ideals arose from feudalism The chief chivalric virtues were piety honor valor courtesy chastity and loyalty Love in the chivalrous sense was largely platonic Geoffrey Chaucer 1340 1400 I title the father of English poetry the first to compose verse using heroic couplets heroic couplet A pair of rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter II Historical background 1 feudalism 2 catholic church English Renaissance III Literary creation 1 The French period The Book of the Duchess 2 The Italian period Troilus and Criseyde 3 The mature period The Canterbury Tales IV contributions 1 Messenger of Humanism Affirm man s right to pursue earthly happiness Praise man s energy intellect quick wit and love of life Expose and satirize the social vices including religious abuses 2 The first important realistic writer Present a comprehensive realistic picture of the En society Create a gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life Explore the theme of the individual s relation to the society 3 Father of English poetry Introduce the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry e g heroic couplet Develop his art of poetry Master of the English language V The Canterbury Tales 1 form collections of Stories just like The Thousand and One Nights Confessio Amantis by Gower Metamorphoses by Ovid Decameron by Boccaccio 2 Chaucer s plan 30 pilgrims 4 stories each altogether 120 stories 3 structure three parts The General Prologue 24 tales two of which left unfinished Separate prologues to each tale with links comments and quarrels in between the Pilgrims 4 The pilgrims Five ideals Chaucer treats seriously Knight Squire 乡绅 Clerk 营业员 Parson 牧师 Plowman 农夫 Some he pokes fun at Prioress 修女院院长 Monk Wife of Bath Some he is quiet about short portraits with personal view coming through Prioress s entourage 随从 Some not very good Chaucer is just a little negative Shipman Manciple 伙食管理员 Hardened sinners all of them religious officials Friar 男修道士 Pardoner 卖赦罪符者 Summoner 法院传票送达员 5 The Opening Lines 当四月的甘霖普降 渗透了三月干枯的根须 滋润沐濯了丝丝茎络 触动着生机 使得枝头蓓蕾涌现 花儿绽放 当和风吹香 使得山林莽原 遍吐嫩芽新条 青春的朝阳 已过半个白羊宫座 飞禽们唱着悠扬的曲调 人们彻夜未眠 是自然在拨弄着他们的心弦 1 Cycles of time 4 seasons of a year 4 parts of a day 4 phases of the moon 4 stages of man 2 Connotations of Spring Rebirth or revival of nature biological erotic Reawakening of super nature religious 3 Two kinds of force Natural force to mellow vegetation stimulate birds and animals stir up hearts of men Religious force to waken man s piety 4 Two kinds of love voice motivation earthly love divine love 5 Structure generality to specification secular to religion 6 Chaucer goes to some trouble to create realism A Quarrels break out along the way with several pilgrims telling stories meant to insult another B When a story becomes tiresome it is cut short Chaucer s Tale of Sir Thopas the Monk s tragedies C The pilgrims are overtaken along the way by a Canon 大教堂的咏礼司铎 and his yeoman 自 耕农 who talks too freely about his master s affairs causing the Canon to ride off in embarrassment Popular Ballad 15thc I Historical Background 1 1337 1453 war between England and France 2 1348 1369 black death 3 1455 1485 war of the Roses civil war II Definition Ballads are anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission A narrative song or an oral form of verse Composed by common people during a long period of time An important