英国文学所有的名词解释

1、Renaissance: The period in European history that began at late 14th century in Italy through 15th century and 16th century ， Following Middle Ages;It is the dividing line between the Middle Ages and the Modern Ages. European culture reached eminence; came to England in 16th century Wars of Roses (ro

2、yal power, noble houses of York and Lancaster)Establishment of Tudor dynasty (1485-1603)Renaissance humanism: It is an approach in study, philosophy, or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. It is a philosophy that places faith in the dignity of humankind and rejects the medieval perce

3、ption of the individual as a weak, fallen creature.FeaturesNew learning ： Greek knowledge, printing; cultivated Renaissance aristocracy,“The CourtierNew religion: Martin Luther challenging Roman Catholic church, direct transaction with God New world: Columbus; economic exploitationNew cosmos: Copern

4、icus, the center being the sun, not the earth; Descartes (Give me extension and motion, and I will construct the universe); Enlightenment Women of the Renaissance (Margaret L. King)Elizabethan Age This is a period of the flowering time of English literature. University Wits : A group of people wrote

5、 for the stage of the time and survive by writing skills Church and theatres : morality plays; attacks on theatres by church (breeding grounds for infection) Elements of Drama:Protagonists: Antagonists, Exposition,Suspense,Rising Action,Climax,Falling action:Aside 独白 : inaudible to other charactersT

6、ragedy Representations of serious actions which eventuate in a disastrous conclusion for the protagonist (the chief character)Comedy It is any humorous discourse generally intended to amuse and to interest.Sonnet It is one of several forms of lyric poetry originating in Europe. A fourteen-line poem

7、usually composed in iambic pentameter, employing one of several rhyme schemes. In Shakespeares sonnets, the rhyme pattern is abab cdcd efef gg, with the final couplet used to summarize the previous 12 lines or present a surprise ending.An iamb is a metrical foot consisting of one stressed syllable a

8、nd one unstressed syllable as in dah-DUM, dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM. five of these in each line, which makes it a pentameter.Lyric poetry It is a form of poetry with rhyming schemes that express personal and emotional feelings.Soliloquy A monologue in a drama used to give the audience informat

9、ion and to develop the speakers character. It is typically a projection of the speakers innermost thoughts. Usually delivered while the speaker is alone on stage, a soliloquy is intended to present an illusion of unspoken reflection.Rhyme: This term generally refers to a poem in which words sound id

10、entical or very similar and appear in parallel positions in two or more lines.Alliteration: A poetic device where the first consonant sounds or any vowel sounds in words or syllables are repeated.Meter: The repetition of sound patterns creates a rhythm in Poetry. The patterns are based on the number

11、 of syllables and the presence and absence of accents. The unit of rhythm in a line is calleda Foot. Types of meter are classified according to the number of feet in a line.Foot: The smallest unit of rhythm in a line of Poetry.ImageryImaginary : uses of language in a literary work that evoke sense-i

12、mpressions by reference to concrete objects, scenes, actions, or states.Appeal to sensesMetaphor: one idea is referred to by a word or expression normally denoting another thing, idea so as to suggest some common quality shared by the two.Imaginary identity rather than directly stated as a compariso

13、n. He is a pig. He is like a pig. (simile)Ode? Elaborately formal lyric poem? Address to a person or entity? Serious and elevated in tone? Greek choral odes: praise of athletes? Horace s privately reflective odes in Latin? Horatian odes: same form of stanza is repeated regularly? Keats: “ Ode on a G

14、recian Urn” , “ Ode to a NightingaleHeroic Couplet: A rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter (a Verse with five iambic feet).Stanza: A stanza consists of a grouping of lines, set off by a space that usually has a set pattern of meter and rhyme.The Middle Ages : a period of enormous historical,

15、 social, and linguistic changeThe Protestant Reformation : It is a movement which emphasis on the authority of scripture and salvation by faith alone (Henry VIII inss istence on divorcing his wife, Catherine of Aragon, against the wishes of the Pope)Restoration It refers to the restoration of Charle

16、s II to his realms across the British Empire. 1660-1785Epic It is a long narrative poem about the adventures of a hero of great historic or legendary importance. Epics are typically written in a classical style of grand simplicity with elaborate metaphors and allusions that enhance the symbolic impo

17、rtance of a heros adventures.Paradox 悖论 It is a statement that appears illogical or contradictory at first, but may actually point to an underlying truth.Hyperbole It is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech.Valediction 告别辞 It is a statement made as a farewell.Novel It i

18、s a long fictional prose work.Picaresque novel It is a series of loosely strung episodes about an adventurer or a lovable rogue.Novel of sentiment It is a moral tale of romance and tears.Novel of manners : witty society tales.Tone It is the author s implicit attitudes toward people.Irony It is the e

19、ffect of language in which the intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated.It reveals reality different from what it appears to be.Symbol ： Anything that stands for something else beyond it an idea conventionally associated with it. Evocative image; concrete object with further significance;

20、differing from metaphor in that its application is left open as an unstated suggestion.Allusion: A reference to a familiar literary or historical person or event, used to make an idea more easily understood.Classicism Admiration of the qualities of formal balance, proportion, decorum, and restraint

21、attributed to the major works of ancient Greek and Roman literature. Condemned romantic self-expression as eccentric self-indulgence. Doctrines of Matthew Arnold and more especially of T. S. Eliot are classicist NeoclassicismCodified form of classicism that dominated French literature in the 17th an

22、d 18th centuries,with a significant influence on English writing, especially from 1660 to 1780In contrast with Romanticism- “ Age of ReasonIt is” e merged from rediscovery of Aristotle sPoetics (4th century BC) by Italian scholars in the 16th century.Etching : a method of making prints from a metal

23、plate, usually copper, into which the design has been incised by acid.Etching: a unity of the corporeal and the spiritual the contraries : creatively opposite and necessary / complementary to form a united whole Tetrameter Line: eight syllables .Trochaic Foot 抑扬格诗句 : a stressed syllable followed by

24、an unstressed syllable.Catalexis: absence of a syllable in the final foot in a line. In Blake s poem, an unstressed syllais absent in the last foot of each line. Thus, every line has seven syllables, not the conventional eight.Alliteration 头韵 : A poetic device where the first consonant sounds or any

25、 vowel sounds in words or syllables are repeated.Blank Verse: unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter.Ballad: A short poem that tells a simple story and has a repeated refrain. Ballads were originally intended to be sung. Early ballads, known as folk ballads, were passed down through generations, so the

26、ir authors are often unknown. Later ballads composed by known authors are called literary balladsRhymed couplet A rhyming couplet written in iambic pentameter (a Verse with five iambic feet).Enlightenment:Age of Reason, late 17th century to late 18th century especially in France and Switzerland.Baco

27、n, Descartes, Newton, Locke, human reason to clear away superstition.Faith in human progress brought about by propagation of rational principlesEdward Burke, Thomas Paine“ Negative Capability”the ability to bask in the beautiful without questioning either it or his methods of description.In other wo

28、rds to take beauty simply as it is.Theme(1) the abstract concept explored in a literary work;(2) frequently recurring ideas, such as enjoy-life while-you-can;(3) repetition of a meaningful element in a work, such as references to sight, vision, and blindness in Oedipus Rex. Sometimes the theme is al

29、so called the motif.A theme in Keatss Ode to a Nightingale is the difficulty of correlating the ideal and the real. Metaphysical Poetry It is a complex, highly intellectual verse filled with intricate and far-fetched metaphors. The body of poetry produced by a group of seventeenth-century English wr

30、iters called the Metaphysical Poets. The group includes John Donne and Andrew Marvell. TheMetaphysical Poets made use of everyday speech, intellectual analysis, and unique imagery . They aimed to portray the ordinary conflict s and contradictions of life. Their poems often took the form of an argume

31、nt, and many of them emphasize physical and religious love as well as the fleeting nature of life. Elaborate conceit s are typical in metaphysical poetry.Metaphysical Poets : a group of 17th century English poets whose work is notable for its ingenious use of intellectual concepts in surprising conc

32、eits, strange paradoxes, and far-fetched imagery.Oedipus Complex: A sons amorous obsession with his mother. The phrase is derived from the story of the ancient Theban hero Oedipus, who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.Tragic Flaw 悲剧性缺陷 : In a tragedy, the quality within the hero

33、or heroine which leads to his or her downfall. Examples of the tragic flaw include Othellos jealousy and Hamlets indecisiveness, although most great tragedies defy such simple interpretation.Unities: (Also known as Three Unities.) Strict rules of dramatic structure, formulated by Italian and French

34、critics of the Renaissance and based loosely on the principles of drama discussed by Aristotle in his Poetics. Foremost among these rules were the three unities of action, time, and place that compelled a dramatist to: (1) construct a single plot with a beginning, middle, and end that details the causal relationships of action and character; (2) restrict the action to the events of a single day; and (3) limit the scene to a single place or city.