英国文学教案Lecture12

1、文档编码 : CS3B6S6G1V8 HM9N10D7G9M7 ZP6N9A9T5Q7授课时间英国文学史及作品选读 课程教案（第 12 讲）2022-2022学年其次学期05.13-05.19 授课对象 15-17 级各专业选修生Lecture 12 授课主题教学目的与 要 求Chapter 9 Social Images in 19th-Century English Novels 1 Help the students know about the historical background of the Victorian Age, especially the achievements

2、 in novels of the Victorian Age. 2 Be familiar with the novelists Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray and Thomas Hardy.教学重、1 Charles Dickens 2 Thomas Hardy Lecture; Discussion; Multi-media 1 The Victorian Age 难点主要教学方法Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Q

3、ueen Victoria who ruled over England from 1837 to 1901, but it really began with the passage of Reform Bill in 1832 and closed at the end of the Boer War in 1902. All in all, the Victorian Age was a period of rapid growth, development, and reform. This period has been generally considered as one of

4、the most glorious in the English history. The Victorian Age is usually subdivided into the following phases: the early Victorian Period 1832-1848, the Mid-Victorian Period 1848-1870, and late Victorian Period 1870-1902. 1.1 Historical Background of the Victorian Age 教学内容In 1832 the Reform Bill was p

5、assed, which placed the power of the nation into the hands of the wealthy industrialists who would soon reconcile with the aristocracy and 的组织与redouble their exploitation of the working people. Thus, after 1832, the conflict 设计between labour and capital became sharper in the English political scene.

6、 This conflict resulted in the Chartist Movement 1836-1848, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. During the next twenty years, England settled down to a time of prosperity and relative stability. The middle-class life of the time was characterized by prosperi

7、ty, respectability, modesty and domesticity. Common sense and moral propriety, which were ignored by the romanticists, again became predominant preoccupation in the literary works. But the last three decades of the century witnessed the decline of the British Empire and the glory of the Victorian va

8、lues. Beginning from the 70s, a sharp decline occurred with economic depressions, agricultural failures, and the flooding of Australian wool and American wheat. Domestic balance of power, which used to be the Whigs and Tories, was also threatened with the growth of labour as a political and economic

9、 force. Class struggle was intensified in the last two decades of the 19 thcentury. 1.2 Ideology of the Victorian Age Ideologically, The Victorians experienced fundamental changes. The rapid development of science and technology, new inventions and discoveries in geology, astronomy, biology and anth

10、ropology drastically shook peoples religious co Darwin s The Origin of Species 1859 and The Descent of man 1871 shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. New scientific discoveries increased people religious doubts and anxieties. On the other hand, Utilitarianism was widely accepted and

11、practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it would promote the material happiness. The Bible and the Evangelical Orthodoxy were regarded either as an outmoded superstition or tested by the principle of utility. Church service became a

12、form of instead of real devotion. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost and brought greater suffering and poverty to the working mass. 1.3 Literature of the Victorian Age Victorian literature, as a product of

13、its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude and diversity. It was many-sided and complex, and reflected both romantically and realistically the great changes that were going on in people nd thought. Great writers and great works abounded. In this period, the novel became the most widely read

14、 and the most vital and challenging expression of progressive thought. Among the famous novelists of the time were the critical realists like Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte, Mrs. Gaskell 1810-1815 and Anthony Trollope 1815-1882, etc. An in the last few d

15、ecades there were also George Eliot, the pioneering woman who, according to D. H. Lawrence, was the first novelist that tareted putting all the actions inside, and Thomas Hardy. Although writing from different points of view and with different techniques, they shared one thing in common, that is, th

16、ey were all concerned about the fate of the common people. They were angry with the inhumane social institutions, the decaying social morality as represented by money-worship and Utilitarianism, and the widespread misery, poverty and injustice. Prose and poetry are also produced in this period. Alfr

17、ed Tennyson, Robert Browning, the typical feature of whose poetry is dramatic monologue and Matthew Arnold”the “ Big Three ” created memorable poetry.In addition to the trend of critical realism, there appeared other trends, such as Aestheticism, represented by Oscar Wilde, who advocated the theory

18、of “ art forsake” , Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood led by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Victorian literature, in general, truthfully represents the reality and spirit of the age. The high-spirited vitality, the down-to-earth earnestness, the good-natured humor and unbounded imagination are all unprecedented.

19、In almost every genre it paved the way for the coming century, where its spirits, values and experiments are to witness bumper harvest. English critical realism: English critical realism o f the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the early fifties. The critical realists described with muc

20、h vividness and artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic view point. The greatest English realist of the time was Charles Dickens. With striking force and truthfulness, he pictures bourgeois civilization, showing the misery and suf

21、ferings of the common people. Another critical realist, William Makepeace Thackeray, was a no less severe exposer of contemporary society. Thackeray s novels are mainly a satirical portrayal of the upper strata of society. Other adherents to the method of critical realism were Charlotte and Emily Br

22、onte, and Elizabeth Gaskell. In the fifties and sixties the realistic novel as represented by Dickens and Thackeray entered a stage of decline. It found its reflection in the works of George Eliot. Though she described the life of the laboring people and criticized the privilegedclasses, the power o

23、f exposure became weaker in her works. She seemed to be more morally than socially minded. The English critical realists of the 19th century not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed profound sympathy for the common people. 2 Charles Dickens 1

24、812-1870 2.1. Life of Charles Dickens Charles Dickens is the greatest representative of English critical realism and he was called “ the expression of the conscience of his age” .He was born in a middle class family. His father was a clerk, but an extravagant spender and was thrown into prison becau

25、se of debts. He once was a child labor and worked in a shoe-blacking factory. After his father was released, he was send to school again. When he was 15, he worked as a lawyers clerk. When he was 19, he became a reporter. When he was 21 he published first essay. Then he gradually became a corner. su

26、ccessful writer. After his death he was buried at the poets2.3 Major Works of Charles Dickens and Comments on the Works The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club（匹克威克外传） ; Oliver Twist （雾 都孤儿） ; Dombey and Son（董贝父子） ; David Copperfield（大卫科波菲尔） ; Hard Times （艰难时事） ; A Tale of Two Cities（双城记） ; Great

27、 Expectations（远大前程） . Refer to Textbook A New Concise History of English Literature P228-233 novels 2.4 Features of Charles DickensA tendency to depict the grotesque characters His characters always have peculiar habits, manners or behaviors such as Micawber Believing in social reforms to change the

28、 world, thus sometimes created unnatural happy ending for his novels Delicate structure and plot well-designed and attractive Good at depicting pathetic scenes to arouse sympathy Good at using rhetorical devices to make his language vivid and humorous 3 William Makepeace Thackeray Refer to Textbook

29、A New Concise History of English Literature P234-237. 4 Thomas Hardy 4.1 Life and achievements Thomas Hardy is both a naturalistic and a critical realist writer. He is best known for his novels of character and environment, which are also called Wessex Tales or Wessex stories. Most of his novels are

30、 set in Wessex. Refer to Textbook A New Concise History of English Literature P240-245. 4.2 Major novels and comments 4.2.1 Tess of the DUrbervilless The story A New Concise History of English Literature, 242-243 Major characters Tess Durbeyfield The protagonist, eldest daughter in a poor rural work

31、ing family; a fresh, pretty country girl. Angel Clare The son of a clergyman; Tesss husband and true love. H e considers himself a freethinker, but his notions of morality turn out to be fairly conventional: he rejects Tess on their wedding night when she confesses that she isn a virgin, even though

32、 he, too, has engaged in premarital sex. He works at the Talbothay dairy to gain practical experience because he hopes to buy a farm of his own. Alec Stoke-dUrberville The libertine son of Simon Stoke and Mrs. dUrberville. He either rapes or seduces Tess when she is no more than seventeen years old,

33、 and later pursues her relentlessly until she agrees to become his mistress again. Jack Durbeyfield Sir John dUrberville Tessfather, a carter in Marlott based on the Dorset village of Marnhull who is lazy and given to drinking. When he learns that his family is descended from nobility, he works less

34、 and less and starts pretending that he is an aristocrat. Joan Durbeyfield Tesshardworking mother who has a practical outlook on life. This includes being prepared to use her daughter for her own gains. Themes The theme “ ache of modernism ” is notab le in Tess, which portrays “ the energy of tradit

35、ional ways and the strength of the forces that are destroying them” . Modern farm machinery with infernal imagery, the milk sent to the city watered down, Angel s middle-class fastidiousness making him reject Tess, Angel reduction to a “ mere yellow skeleton ” in Brazil, all these instances are typi

36、cally interpreted as indications of the negative consequences of mans separation from nature, boththe creation of destructive machinery and in the inability to rejoice in pure nature. Another important theme of the novel is the sexual double standard to which Tess falls victim despite being, in Hard

37、ys view, a truly good woman, she is despised by society after losing her virginity before marriage. SymbolismFrom numerous pagan and neo-Biblical references made about her, Tess can be viewed variously as an Earth goddess or as a sacrificial victim. Early in the novel, she participates in a festival for Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, and when she performs a baptism she chooses a passage from Genesis, the book of creation