英美文学选读.doc

此文档收集于网络，如有侵权，请联系网站删除英美文学选读 Lecture 1 William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) (1) Historical BackgroundA. Queen Elizabeth I: a powerful England with the fast development of capitalismB. Renaissance: an intellectual movement sprung first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. Two features are striking of this movement. The one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. Another is the humanism, which means the new feeling of admiration for human beauty and human achievement. (2) LifeA. His complete works include 37 plays, 2 narrative poems and 154 sonnets.B. He is mainly famous for his great plays, especially the outstanding Four Great Tragedies. (Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth) He is also the author of some other famous plays, such as Romeo and Juliet(3) Sonnet 18A. A sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. (It is a very popular poem form and used widely in English literature. In the Elizabeth era, Edmund Spenser was also famous for his sonnets. And later, John Milton, Byron and Keats all contributed excellent sonnets.)B. abab cdcd efef gg: the typical rhyme scheme used by Shakespeare in all his sonnets. Theme: expressing the deep love to his friend(4) The Merchant of VeniceA. Famous comedy written by Shakespeare in his youthB. Setting: Venice, the Middle AgeC. Characters: Bassanio, Antonio, Shylock, Portia Portia: Shakespeares ideal woman, beautiful, intelligent, cultured, gracious, independent, a daughter of RenaissanceShylock: most successful character, a Jew, a greedy and merciless usurer and also a victim of racial discrimination and religious persecution (sympathy)Theme: Mercy wins over malice.D. The selection is the most famous scene of the whole play and also the climax of the play.E. form of the play: verse drama written in blank verse mostlyblank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter. it became the standard meter for Elizabethan and later poetic dramas and some poets, such as John Milton, also employed this form to write their long poems. Lecture 2 John Milton (16081674)1. Historical BackgroundEnglish Bourgeois RevolutionThe conflicts between King (James I and then Charles I) and the ParliamentProfound conflicts: the Old Feudalism and New CapitalismIn religion: The Anglican Church and the PuritanThe consequence of those contradictions: the Civil War (1642 - 1649)The King was executed in 1649 and monarchy was abolished.Oliver Cromwells dictatorship (1649 - 1660)The Restoration: Charles II and then James IIGlorious Revolution (1688)2. Most important works - three great poems: Paradise Lost (1667); Paradise Regained (1671); Samson Agonistes (1671) (poetic drama)Paradise Lost (失乐园)is generally considered the finest fruit of Miltons genius.Miltons masterpiece; greatest epic written in the English language; Real theme: praising the rebellious spirits against the despot.赞扬对独裁者的反抗Lecture 3 Daniel Defoe (1660 0 1731)(He is a very famous novelist around the world because of his popular novel Robinson Crusoe.)1. Historical Background(1) Comparing with the 17th century, the 18th century is a period for peaceful development.(2) The constitutional monarchy has been set up by parliament in 1688. After the Glorious Revolution, the monarch was deprived of ruling power and in his place Parliament became the actual leader of the country. The Tory and the Whig, as two major parties in England, competed with each other in politics. (3) England grew from a second rate country to a powerful naval country in this century. In a series of wars, England proved her power of naval force.(4) With the ascent of the bourgeoisie cultural life had undergone remarkable changes: A. Political writing: depending on patrons to working for either party in order to help them win more votes; B. Newspapers and journals: for parties and also for the rising middle classC. Due to the development of science and philosophy, (Issac Newton) reason rather than emotion played a more important role in the age. Thus the age was called the Age of Reason. Churchs influence was greatly weakened. (5) The rise of the English novel The modern European novel began after the Renaissance, with Cervantes Don Quixote. (西班牙,塞万提斯,唐吉诃德) The rise and growth of the realistic(现实主义作家,以描写现实生活为主要目的) novel is the most prominent achievement of the 18th century English literature. 2. Life (P29 Paragraph 1 and 2)(1) born in a butchers family; father was a dissenter(2) graduated from a dissenting academy but did not want to be a clergyman(3) once a prosperous merchant; bankrupt and got into a heavy debt(4) writing all kinds of books including political pamphlets and trade books for a living(5) questionable political character because served both parties(6) versatile person contributing a lot to journalism (The Review; father of modern journalism) and trade(7) When he was 60 years old, he published Robinson Crusoe and then a series of novels which made him a major novelist in English literary history.3. most important works: Robinson Crusoe and Moll Flanders (1722)Moll Flanders: Defoe introduces, for the first time, a lowly woman as the subject of literature. And it anticipates many later novels that take women as the center of attention in order to expose how the social system victimized them. The heroine is a woman living by stealing and cheating. It is also a tradition in English novel but the authors purpose is not showing her tricks. His purpose is satirizing the social system. The last four novels show his deep sympathy for the poor and down-trodden people.4. Robinson Crusoe鲁滨逊漂流记(1) Background: a real incident; 1704, Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was thrown onto a desolate island by the mutinous crew of his ship. He lived there alone for 5 years. Defoe read about his adventures in a newspaper and went to interview him to get first-hand information. The first translation wad done by Lin Shu in 1905 and became quite popular in China.(2) Plot: run away from home become a sailor a planter in Brazil to an uninhabited island because of shipwreck made a living there all by himself save a negro named Friday who became his servant back to England visit the remote island again and Friday was killed(3) Robinson Crusoes characterization: typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical, diligent, a restless curiosity to know more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges; shrewd, care about money and good at managing; courageous and intelligent to overcome all kinds of obstacles(4) Theme: praising labor and mans courage and effort to conquer nature, but at the same time he beautifies colonialism and slavery (Friday)Style: journalistic truth with many vivid details, simple and plain sentence structure and language, first person point of view, natural order in narration, making the story intimate to the readers and become popular among lower classesLecture 4 Jonathan Swift (1667 0 1745)(He is a master satirist famous for his Gullivers Travels.)1. Life He was born in a poor family in Dublin, Ireland. His father died before his birth. He graduated from Trinity College in Dublin but he was a rebellious student there. He didnt want to join the church. He worked in a noblemans house (Sir Temple, his distant relative) and it was a bitter experience for him because he was treated as a servant. He first supported Whig and then Tory and then left the political circle. He was good at political writing and once a very popular character. (Review the introduction of Whig and Tory.) After he left political circle he returned to Ireland and became a dean. He wrote a lot of pamphlets to protest the unjust policies of English government to Ireland. Because of a brain disease, Swift became insane and died miserably.2. Works A Modest Proposal?Climax of his pamphlets on Ireland?It was a bitter satire and in this small book Swift suggested the poverty of the Irish people should be relieved by the sale of their children as food for the rich. (Irony)?这本小册子除了是对英国政府对爱尔兰的剥削政策的讽刺之外,也是对一些projectors的讽刺,Swift在写这本小册子时就以一个projector(献策者)自居.本文流传很广,是Swift最有名的政论文章,也是历来英国散文选必选之文章.(英国文学名篇选注)*Irony(反讽):This term derives from a character in a Greek comedy. In most of the modern critical uses of the term irony, there remains the root sense of dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve rhetorical or artistic effects. Gullivers Travels(格列佛游记)?Background: famous as a book for children but actually an important satirical book; took the form of a travel book because this form was popular at that time?Central character: Lemuel Gulliver, a surgeon on a merchant ship?Four voyages: Lilliput to Brobdingnag to Laputa to the country of Houyhnms? Do you think Swift designed these strange stories only for fun (Answer: no, the purpose is making a bitter satire on English politics and other vices in the society at that time.)?(Turn to P50 and see the excerpt) This is a chapter taken from the last part of the book. It is mainly about the country of Houyhnms. In Gullivers Travels, before each chapter begins, you can find several sentences telling you the main ideas of the chapter.What are the implied ideas the author tried to convey by this chapter (The author believed Reason was very important for human being. If humans desires arent controlled by reason, human will become disgusting like yahoos one day in the future. Notice the special historical background of the book - Age of Reason.) Style of Swifts prose: His prose style is simple, clear and vigorous. His famous saying Proper words in proper places, makes the true definition of a style influenced a lot later writers.Lecture 5 Robert Burns and William Blake1. Robert Burns (1759 0 1796) (罗伯特彭斯) (He was called the national poet of Scotland. But he mainly lived a hard life and died when he was only 37 years old.)(*Scotland: 1707 为英格兰吞并,1745发生过大规模反英起义,曾经是一个独立的国家,有自己独特的民族传统,著名电影Brave Heart) PoemsA. On love and friendship A Red, Red Rose, Auld Lang Syne(友谊地久天长)etc.B. On patriotism Scots Wha Hae etc.Sample: A Red, Red RoseA. Background: wrote in 1794 and published in 1796, based on a Scottish folk song, a famous English love poemB. Rhyme scheme of the poem ：ballad meter: in each stanza the odd-numbered lines are iambic tetrameters while the even-numbered lines are iambic trimesters and the rhyme scheme is abcbWho is speaking in the poem： first-person I, a person in love with a girlTo whom is the poem addressed： the lover, girlfriend of the poetWhat is the theme of the poem : showing the deep love to the loverC. Features: using of Scottish dialect; form of folk song and ballad (rhyme scheme and repetition); musical quality; plain but passionate languageHis themes vary：love and friendship, the natural beauty of his native Scotland, the life and labor of the common people, the patriotism of his compatriots and their struggle for liberty, satire on the corruption and hypocrisy of the clergy and high society. His poetry is unsurpassed for its beautiful lyricism and sincerity of emotions, and is characterized by a profound sympathy for the down-trodden man. He ranks among the greatest poets Britain has ever produced. 2. William Blake (1757 - 1827)a pious Christian and died in obscurity and povertyWorksA. Songs of Innocence (1789): contains poems which are simple without being nave, childlike without being childish, innocence without being insipid. We can see the pictures of merry nature and innocent children; everything in harmony; only some minor vices. B. Songs of Experience (1794): contrast; pictures of neediness and distress and showed the sufferings of the poor; showing the change of the authors world view and also showing the change of the social background(3) Sample: London A. Do you think this poem is taken from Song of Innocence or Song of Experience? Song of ExperienceDid the author love the London described in the poem ?No. (He once loved London very much and wrote such lines golden London and her silver Thames but London gradually degenerated in the poets heart)the rhyme scheme of the poem? abab; iambic tetrameterthe theme of the poem criticizing the dark sides of English society and showing the sufferings of common people(The poem has been called mightiest brief poem because it employs only several images to describe some deep-rooted social vices vividly.)B. Features: vivid images to make the poem picturesque; short, clear and concise; simple and fresh words; mysterious atmosphere and difficult symbolism in some poemsC. Conclusion: a precursor of Romanticism in English poetry (pay more attention on inspiration and emotion rather than reason and neat form of the poem)Lecture 6 William Wordsworth and John Keats1. Age of Romanticism(1) Time: 1798 (publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge) to 1832 (death of Sir Walter Scott)(2) Essence: shift from reason to emotion(3) Historical BackgroundFrench Revolution (1789 Bastille) and American Independence War (1776 win): revolution enthusiasm swept nearly all European countries.Industrial Revolution (end of the 18th century): great wealth to the rich and worsen the working and living condition of the poor(4) FeaturesA. Subjectivism (Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings): poetry expresses poets minds.B. Spontaneity: opposing rules and regulations, free choice of formC. Enlarging the subject matter: countryside life; supernatural; natural beauty etc.D. Simplicity of languageE. For English literature, it was an Age of Poetry. (lots of famous poets)2. William Wordsworth (1770 - 1850)(1) LifeA. born in a lawyers family but lost both of his parents when he was youngB. was educated in a school in the beautiful lake district thus developed an interest in natureC. graduated from Cambridge and a supporter of French RevolutionD. gradually grew conservative and became Poet Laureate*lake poets: three poets including William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Robert Southey; they lived in the Lake District in the northwestern part of England. They were friends and traversed the same path in politics and in poetry.(2) PoemsA. Collection: Lyrical Ballads (1798) (mark the beginning of romanticism) B. Two categories according to themeHe is mainly famous for his poems on nature, such as I wandered lonely as a cloud.He also wrote lots of poems on common peoples life, such as The solitary reaper, She dwelt among the untrodden way, We are seven etc.3. John Keats (1795 - 1821)(He was a genius in poem creation but lived a short and tragic life.)All his life time, Keats lived in poverty. And because he took care of his brother who got consumption, he himself was stricken by same kind of disease, which cannot be cured at that time. And because of the disease, Keats cannot marry the girl he loved deeply. All the misery made a shadow in Keats poetry.Poems(Keats wrote some nice long poems, but he was mainly famous for his short poems.) SonnetsKeats famous sonnets include When I have fear, Bright Star, On First Looking into Chapmans Homer and On the Grasshopper and Cricket and so on. Odes* Odes: A lyric poem of some length, usually of a serious or meditative nature and having an elevated style and formal stanza structure. 颂诗His famous odes include Ode to Autumn, Ode to a Nightingale and Ode on a Grecian Urn and so on.(3) Sample: On the Grasshopper and Cricket (P112)Form and rhyme scheme of the poem :sonnet (Petrarchan sonnet) ;abba abba cde cdethe theme of the poem Ask readers to appreciate the natural beauty from the trivial things; persons at the lowest level can also contribute to human world, thus they should be treated equally.Notice: The one artistic aim in Keats poetry was always to create a beautiful world of imagination as opposed to the sordid reality of his day. His famous saying Beauty is truth, truth beauty shows his constant pursuit of immortal beauty.Difference between Keats and the other two, Byron and Shelley: Keats didnt show so much about political passion as Byron and Shelley did. Keats pursuit of romantic beauty and liberty was restricted to the sphere of the art. Lecture 7 George Gordon Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley(These two poets may be quite famous in China. They were friends and had nearly same tragic fate. They were talented but both died early.)1. George Gordon Byron (1788 0 1824)拜伦(1) LifeA. He was born in a noble family but his childhood life was unhappy.B. He inherited the baronial title when he was ten years old and then he graduated from Cambridge University.C. He entered House of Lords but he delivered a speech which showed his strong sympathy with those common works that destroyed the machines.D. He was strongly criticized by those conservatives and at last Byron left England.E. He stayed in Italy and then Greece, supporting the struggle for independence there.F. Because of disease, he died in Greece at 36.(2) WorksA. Hebrew Melodies (lyrical poem collection)She Walks in Beauty and When we two parted both come from this collection.B. Childe Harolds Pilgrimage (long poem)Four cantos published in different timeIt is the work that made Byron famous.About Childes travels in Europe and his comments of each country and important eventsC. Don Juan (unfinished long poem) (masterpiece)(唐璜)Hero of the long poem: Don Juan, a Spanish young man born in a noble family; strange adventures he has ex