Chapter.ppt

1、2020/7/27,1,Chapter The Eighteenth Century,1688-1798,2020/7/27,2,1. Historical background:,The Constitutional monarchy set up by parliament in 1688 was a compromise between the bourgeoisie and the aristocrats. The cultural life had undergone remarkable changes. Newtons scientific discovery and the p

2、hilosophy of John Locke affected peoples thinking of the world. Reason rather than superstition dominated. English literature was influenced by French enlighteners and ancient Roman writers. Neo-classicism was the leading literary trend in early 18th century.,2020/7/27,3,Enlightenment,Originated in

3、France: to use critical reason to free minds from prejudice, authority, oppression. In religion: secular; Deism: the universe is set in motion by a God as a self-regulating mechanism; everything was operated according to natural laws, which could be understood by the human mind.,2020/7/27,4,In art a

4、nd literature: neo-classicism great respect for the classical artists. Harmony, proportion, balance and restraint In economic thought: state inference did violate to the law of nature; favored laissez-faire policies.,2020/7/27,5,2 Three Stages of the 18th Century English Literature:,(1) 1688-the end

5、 of the 1730s, neo-classicism in poetry of Alexander Pope, a new prose literature in the essays of Addison and Steele and in the first realistic fiction of Defoe and Swift. (2) 1740s-1750s, the realistic novels of Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, of whom the last two made rather fierce attacks on

6、the existing social conditions but still maintained sufficient faith in the eventual triumph of virtue over vice and in the final attainment somehow of social justice. (3) The last decades, decline of the Enlightenment, the appearance of new literary tendencies of sentimentalism and pre-romanticism.

7、,2020/7/27,6,3. English Literature in Early 18th century:,Alexander Pope Joseph Addison and Richard Steele Daniel Defoe Johathan Swift,2020/7/27,7,3.1 Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Criticism,Pope asserts that the chief requirement of a good poet is natural genius coupled with a knowledge of t

8、he classics and an understanding of the rules of poetry (literature). Couplet: consists of two lines of verse forming a discrete unit of meaning. Heroic couplet: consists of two lines of rhymed iambic pentameter. An appropriate form for the classical rhetoric and logical development of the ideas.,20

9、20/7/27,8,3.2 Periodical Literature in Early 18th-Centruy England: Addison and Steele,The Tatler: edited chiefly by Steele; out of the total of 271 numbers published of the periodical, Steele wrote 188, and Addison only 42, while together they did 36 others. The Spectator: a daily from Mar. 1, 1711

10、to Dec. 6, 1712, not including the revival of it by Addison alone in 1714. It is a collaborative projects. The style is more mature than that of The Tatler.,2020/7/27,9,3.3 Daniel Defoe (1661-1731),A pioneer novelist of England, a prolific writer of books and pamphlets. Defoes versatility: a merchan

11、t, economist, politician, journalist, pamphleteer, and a novelist. Robinson Crusoe: The hero is typical of the rising English bourgeois class, practical and diligent. Defoe beautifies colonialism and Negro slavery. Moll Flanders: It is written in an autobiographical form called memoir. Defoe introdu

12、ces, for the first time, a lowly woman as the subject of literature.,2020/7/27,10,3.4 Jonathan Swift (1667-1745):,Forerunner of the modern sociologist, social worker, economic planner: correct a social evil by means of a theoretically conceived plan. Sift viewed human society with contempt and has b

13、een called a cynic and even a misanthrope. “ A Modest Proposal”: His pity for the oppressed, ignorant, populous, and hungry Catholic peasants of Ireland; his anger at the rapacious English absentee landlords.,2020/7/27,11,English Prose Fiction in the Middle and Last Decades of the 18th Century:,Henr

14、y Fielding Henry Fielding vs. Samuel Richardson Samuel Johnson,2020/7/27,12,4.1 Henry Fielding (1707-1754),Writing career: As a playwright: 1730-1737, wrote 25 plays-mostly comedies; filled with political and social satire; exposed the corruption of state officials, the vices, hypocrisy, greed and c

15、ruelty of English Bourgeois class. As a novelist: 4 major novels: Joseph Andrew (1742); Jonathan Wild Great; (1743) Tom Jones; (1749) Amelia (1751),2020/7/27,13,4.2 Fielding vs. Richardson,Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded: In a series of Familiar Letters from a Beautiful Yon

16、g Damsel to Her Parents” (1740) Fielding was disgusted with the excessive sentimentality and ethics of Pamela. So he wrote a novel to criticize it. Shamela (i.e. Shameful Pamela),2020/7/27,14,4.3 Samuel Johnson,“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”: The letter symbolizes the inde

17、pendence from the patron for the first time in literary history. In 1747, a bookseller Robert Dodsley suggested the idea. The Plan was addressed to Earl of Chesterfield.,2020/7/27,15,5. Pre-Romanticism in English Poetry in late 18th Century Robert Burns; William Blake,2020/7/27,16,5.1 Robert Burns (

18、1759-1796),Burns was born in Scotland in a poor peasant family. Burns wrote poems and songs in the Scottish dialect and in the tradition of Scottish folk songs. Besides love lyrics, most of his poems and songs are about patriotic and political themes. His Poems and songs are premeated with the Scottish national spirit.,2020/7/27,17,Robert Burns : “A Red, Red Rose”,A term: simile rich traditional associations of the rose. Questions for “A Red, Red Rose”: 1. What explains the “sands of life” metaphor? Sand (on