英国文学复习笔记
英国文学简史
Part one: Early and Medieval English Literature Historical Background
1.When does early and medieval period refer to? “Early” here means English literature in primitive and slavery society.
“Medieval” means English literature in feudal England before the Renaissance.
2. What main events happened during this period? Roman conquest
English conquest
Norman conquest
Literature Achievements in old English period
1.two groups of English poetry in Anglo-Saxon period. The first group was the pagan poetry represented by Beowulf, the second was the religious poetry represented by the works of Caedmon and Cynewulf.
2. In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon prose appeared. The famous prose writers of that period were Venerable Bede and Alfred the Great.
Venerable Bede : is the first scholar and chronicler in
England. The most important works : The Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Alfred the Great : started the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Beowulf
I.Definition of epic:
an extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.
II.Story of Beowulf : P3-4
Questions :
1.setting :
2. characters:
3.plot
III. Some important points
“Beowulf” is a folk legend brought to England by Anglo-Saxons from their continental homes. However it also reflected the features of the tribal部落society in Britain.
Originally Beowulf, the great epic, was in oral form and it must be a collective creation.
Beowulf in the epic is a legendary figure. In formal history you can not find a man named Beowulf.
IV. Artistic features of “Beowulf’’
1. Using alliteration
Definition of alliteration: Words beginning with the same consonants alliterate with each other within each line. Each line of verse may contain an indefinite number of words or syllables but generally has four stresses, with a pause between the second and the third stresses. Some examples on P4
2. ·Using metaphor and understatement
Definition of understatement: expressing something in a controlled way
Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideas. You may find some examples on P5
Literary Features of the Anglo-Saxon Period
1) secular(非宗教的) poetry,
non religious poems but with Christian coloring;
2) created collectively and orally;
3) based on history, legend or events of the time;
4) for entertainment;
5) unknown writers, written down by the monks in the 10th century
Literature achievement in Middle English Period
1.Romance: ( for noble )
2.Ballads: ( folk literature) (oral)( for English people)
3. Poetry:
1) William Langland (popular literature)
2) Chaucer ( the founder of English literature)
1.Romance:
It is the most prevailing kind of literature in England on feudal period. It is a long composition, in verse or in prose. It describes the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central theme is loyalty to king and Lord. The code of manners and morals of a knight is Chivalry. The most important romance is king Arthur and his knights of the Round Table.
2. Ballads:
a.It is the most important form of English folk
literature.
b.It is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas
with the second and fourth line rhymed.
c.It is a literature of common people,( mainly the
literature of the peasants) from them one is able to understand the outlook of the English common people
in feudal society.
d.It flourished in England in the 15th century.
e.The most important ballads in England are Robin Hood .
3. Poetry
William Langland:
a. life:
b. content:
1.attack on the corruption of the rich and the wickedness of clergy
2.the political situation of the time
3.search for truth
4. attack on the seven Deadly Sins:
(pride, lechery (色欲），envy, wrath, Avarice, glutton, sloth)
c. Social significance:
1.a classic of popular literature
2.kindled the toiling people’s sense of human dignity and equality before God
3.arousing revolutionary sentiment
d. artistic features:
1.It is written in the form of a dream vision.
2.It is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.
But in the main, it is a realistic picture of medieval England.
3. The poem uses satire in his description of social abuses caused by the corruption
4.The poem is written in alliteration.
https://www.wendangku.net/doc/582129852.html,nguage style: lively speech of the countryside , blunt and unpolished words.
Geoffrey Chaucer
I. His life
II. Literary career: 3 stages
III. His works:
a.Troilus and Criseyde
b.The Canterbury Tales
IV. His Contributions:
?I. His Life
?Born in a wine merchant’s family
?Trip to the continent on diplomatic missions,two of which took him to Italy
?Buried in Westminster Abbey, the poets’ corner
?Political background:relation with John of Gaunt
?II. Literary Career:
?French period:The Book of the Duchess
?Italian period: works adapted from the Italian: Troilus and Criseyde
?English period: The Canterbury Tales
He reached maturity and was free from dominant foreign influence.
?III. His works:
?The Book of the Dutchess 《公爵夫人之书》
?The House of Fame《声誉之堂》
?The Parliament of Fowls《百鸟议会》
?The Canterbury Tales《坎特伯雷故事集》
?Troilus and Criseyde 《特罗勒斯和克莱西》
Troilus and Criseyde
?It is based on a poem by Boccaccio, his longest poem, written in the rhymed royal(君王体）(a seven-line stanza in iambic pentameter rhyming ababbcc.)
The Canterbury Tales
?Questions :
1. the organization of the book
( the relationship between the general prologue and each tale)
2.The main features of Chaucer’s narration
3.The image of Wife of Bath
Basic information
form: most of the tales are written in heroic couplet setting: Tabard Inn
characters: types of literature: courtly romance, folk tale.,beast fable, story of travel and adventure, saint’s life, allegorical tale, sermon, alchemical account. Language: Middle English, vivid, exact, word- pictures Length: planned to be 120 stories. The General prologue,20 complete tales, 4 fragments, separate prologues to each tale with links, comments,quarrels ,etc. in between. Arrangemen t: linked through the host’s comments and prologue.two ways: the personality of the host affords a clear string of connection from the 1st to the last tale. There is an intimate connection between the tales and prologue.
Typical characters: almost all medieval figures from different sides of life except noble and serfs.
Character of the wife of Bath
the owner of a cloth factory, light-hearted, merry, somewhat vulgar and talkative. a lengthy account of her feelings about marriage.
?The Canterbury Tales’ significance
reflection of his times--- a panoramic view of his contemporary life; reflection of his humanist idea---- he exposed the evils of the church, the corruption of the upper class, praise man’s intellect and love; he affirms men and women’s right to pursue their happiness and oppose the dogma of asceticism preached by church.
?IV. Chaucer’s contributions:
a.Forerunner of humanism
b.The first realistic writer
c.Father of English poetry
d.Master of the English language
Part Two: The English Renaissance
Historical Background
Renaissance and Humanism
Main literary form:
poetry Edmund Spencer
drama: most important William Shakespeare
essay: (prose) Francis Bacon
The English Renaissance
1. Renaissance in Europe
a. It began in the 14th century in Italy.
b. nature: a cultural and intellectual movement
c. content: there arose a current for the study of Greek
and Latin authors; a general dissatisfaction at the catholic and feudal ideas.
d. two striking features: curiosity for classical literature
interest in the activities of humanity
II. Historical Background
The establishment of Tudor Dynasty(1485-1603)
Religious Reformation
The establishment of Protestantism
Commercial expansion abroad
The war with Spain
(English bourgeoisie fought for existence and power)
III. Renaissance and Humanism
Humanism
a.Nature: a literary and philosophical system of thought
which attempt to place the affairs of mankind at the center of its concerns.
b.Origin: in Italy
c.Source: based on a new reading of Greek and Roman
literature, and an affirmation of the importance of Platonic philosophy and reinterpretation of the writings of Aristotle.
d.Idea: It took the life of man in the presence as a major
interest.
e.Humanism was one of the most important factors giving
rise to the Renaissance. It is an attitude rather than
a philosophy.
The main traits of the Renaissance Literature
a. Its chief characteristic is the expression of secular
values with man instead of God as the center of the universe.
b. It emphasizes the dignity of man, affirms and eulogizes the value of man.
c. It advocates the full expression of individualism and
the fulfillment of one’s abilities against the despotic rule of the feudalism.
d. It affirms the delight of earthly achievement as well as men’s desire for happiness and pleasur
e.
Poetry
I.Two poets before the Elizabethan Age:
Thomas Wyatt; Henry Howard , Earl of Surrey
a. sonnet: an exact form of poetry in 14 lines of iambic pentameter rhymed, introduced to England from Italy by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.
b. Surrey: the first English blank verse, the form of poetry to be later masterly handled by Shakespeare and Milton. Two poets before the Elizabethan Age
c. the songs and sonnets by Wyatt and Surrey was the first anthology of English lyric poems.
II.Two poets of the Elizabethan Age
1. Philip Sidney
a. life: well-known as a poet and critic of poetry. He is
Spencer’s friend. Spencer wrote Shepherd’s
Calendar to dedicate to him. He was a courtier, a
scholar and soldier.
b. his collection of love sonnets:
Astrophel and Stella
c. criticism:
Apology for Poetry: represent the spirit of literary criticism of the Renaissance.
2. Edmund Spencer
a. life : a minor noble family, good education, the
Poet’s poet ,buried in Westminster Abbey.
b. works:
1) The Shepherds’ calendar
2) Amoretti
a sequence of 88 sonnets, containing Spencer’s love
poems to his future wife, Elizabeth Boyle.
Question: what are most famous Sonnet sequences of the Elizabethan Age?
3) Masterpiece : Faerie Queen
Planned in 12 books but only 6 finished.
Content: In the epic each hero or heroine represents
a virtue. In the course of their trials, they
come to fully embody that virtue. The virtues
are Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship,
Justice, and Courtesy.
Form: allegory
Language: has sweet melody and its lines are very musical
Verse form: “Spenserian Stanza”
Spenserian Stanza: First eight lines are iambic
pentameter and ninth has two more
syllables, rhyming ababbcbcc.
theme: 1)nationalism 2) humanism 3) Puritanism Influence: used by all the later poets, especially imitated by the romantic poets of the 19th
century.( Byron, Shelley, Keats)
Everything in the story has two levels — as part of the story and as part of the allegory, or symbolic meaning. This can be seen in Book I, which summarizes the whole poem. As a Romantic adventure, this is the story of the Redcrosse Knight and Lady Una searching for Una’s parents, who are trapped by a dragon. The knight kills the dragon and so wins the right to be the lady’s husband. As a spiritual allegory, this is the story of a soul’s encounter with the seven deadly sins, its separation from and reunion with the one faith, and its final salvation by divine grace.
c. school-belong: like Lyly and Sidney, Spencer was a
court poet.
d. position: as a model of poetical art among the
Renaissance English poets, the 1st to make
English the natural music in poetry.
Prose
I. Bible
a)Translation of Bible: the first complete English Bible
was translated by John Wycliffe(1324-1384), the
morning star of the Reformation, and his
followers.( from Latin to English)
b)The authorized version of Bible: translated under the
auspice of James I in 1611 and so it was called the
King James Bible. This version is simple and dignified
in language.( modern English has been fixed and
confirmed.)
II.The greatest humanist: Thomas More
a.was born in a middle-class family. humanist leader of
the early 16th century, a scholar, master of Latin, witty talker, music lover, great thinker; once Lord
Chancellor; beheaded on a false charge of treason.
b.Masterpiece
Utopia in 1516(in Latin) translated into English in
1551.
Form: a conversation between More and a returned voyager.
Comment :
a. He is a far-sighted thinker, living on the eve of the bourgeois revolution.
b. More was the first to see the relation between wealth
and poverty and to bring up the ideal of communist
society. He was one of the forerunner of modern
socialist thought.
Question:
What is More’s Limitation?
III.Bacon( the most important prose writer)
Sir Francis Bacon was an English writer, philosopher and statesman and was educated in Cambridge. When he was fourteen, Bacon finished his education and went to Paris. In the French capital, he began to know humanism.
In 1584, Francis Bacon was elected for the House of Commons and started his political career. Bacon advised for the union of England and Scotland and suggested ways to deal with Roman Catholics. For all these he had done, he was given the title of knight in 1603. By the time of James I,
he was named as Lord Chancellor in 1618. In 1621, he was accused by Parliament and they said that he had accepted bribes. For this reason his political career ended.
Drama:
1. Three kinds of drama:
a. the Miracle play: it is the root of English drama. It is based on Bible stories. Miracles were first performed in the church.
b. the Morality play: It presents the conflict of good and evil with allegorical personages such as Mercy, Peace, Hate, Fally, et
c.)( eg: Everyman)
c. the Interlude: a short performance during the break.( eg: the play of the weather)
2. Two influences on Elizabethan Drama
1) influence from the classics. (Greek and Latin drama)
2) influence from the popular drama.
3. Gammer Gurton’s needle is the first English comedy, describing a quarrel over the loss of a needle.
Gorboduc is the first English tragedy.
The morality play Everyman at the end of 15th century makes the beginning of modern English drama.
4. The London theatre and the audience
5. playwrights:
a. the university wits: they are Lily, Peele, Marlowe,
Greene, Lodge and Nash, etc. The most influential is Marlowe. They had studied at the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge and then set up as professional writers, selling their learning and their “ wits” to the London public of playgoers and reading public as well.
b. Marlowe
c. Shakespeare
d. Ben Jonson
b. Marlowe
Works: (tragedies)
Doctor Faustus( for knowledge)
Tamburlaine ( based on a German Legend, ambition) Jew of Malta ( greed for wealth)
Themes of his plays:
scorn of orthodox creeds
praise of individuality , freed from the restraints of medieval dogmas and law.
Position and achievements:
He was the predecessor of Shakespeare
He was the greatest pioneer of English drama.
His two achievements: 1) He first made blank verse
(unrhymed iambic drama), the
principal instrument of English
drama.
2) He replaced the stilted heroes of drama in the past by men of vitality and passion. He created the Renaissance hero for English drama. Shakespeare
Life :
Four periods in play- writing
His comedies
His tragedies
Historical plays
Poetical works
Features of Shakespeare’s drama
Four periods in play-writing
1st period:
Features:
a) It’s Shakespeare’s early experimental period. It is
marked by youthfulness and rich imagination.
b) by extravagance of language
c) by the frequent use of rhymed couplets with blank verse
d) He looked down upon the world as a just one. Justice would eventually win in the end.
e) Love, faith, work and duty were the four elements that made the world right.
Works: P 58
2nd period:
Features:
a)He worked as a master in play writing
b)It was a period of rapid growth and development of his
artistic power.
c)He had a keen insight into human nature, great power
of expression and genius for constructing a play.
d)This period belongs to his best history plays. Works: P60
3rd period:
features:
a)The period of gloom and depression
b)He was concerned with deposit matters of human life.
c)He grew in experience, in vision and in sympathy
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浙江省2018年1月高等教育自学考试 英国文学选读试题 课程代码：10054 Part I. Choose the relevant match from Column B for each item in Column A. (10%) Section A A B (1)Jonathan Swift（） A. The Rainbow (2)D.H. Lawrence （） B. Adam Bede (3)Emily Brontё（） C. Gulliver’s Travels (4)Thomas Hardy （） D. Wuthering Heights (5)George Eliot（） E. Far From the Madding Crowd Section B A B (1) Middlemarch（） A. Shylock (2) Jane Eyre（） B. Sir Peter Teazle (3) The Merchant of Venice（） C. Mr. Rochester (4) Mrs. Warren’s Profession（） D. Will Ladislas (5) The School for Scandal（） E. Vivie Part II. Complete each of the following statements with a proper word or a phrase according to the textbook. (5%) 1. In Paradise Lost, the author intended to expose the ways of Satan and to “justify the ways of _________ to men.” 2. As the greatest novelist of the Victorian period, Charles Dickens set out a full map, and a large -scale criticism of the _________century. 3. In Jane Austen’s novels, stories of _________ and marriage provide the major themes. 4. In the novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles, the two men Alec and _________ are both agents of the destructive force of the society. 1
罗经国《新编英国文学选读》(第4版)教材【复习笔记+考研真题典型题详解】-第1~6章【圣才出品】
第1章盎格鲁-撒克逊时期(450～1066) 1.1 复习笔记 Ⅰ. Historical Background（历史背景） (1) The earliest settlers of the British Isles were the Celts, who migrated to the British Isles about 600 B.C. 不列颠群岛最早的定居者是凯尔特人，他们大约在公元前600年移民到不列颠群岛。 (2) From 55 B.C. to 407 A.D. the British Isles were under the rule of the Roman Empire. 从公元前55年到公元407年，不列颠群岛处于罗马帝国的统治之下。 (3) About 450 A.D., waves of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded the British Isles. They settled in England, and drove the Celts into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. 公元450年左右，盎格鲁人、撒克逊人和朱特人占领了不列颠群岛。他们在英格兰定居，将凯尔特人驱逐到威尔士、苏格兰和爱尔兰。 (4) It was around 500 A.D., in the struggle against Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of Wessex, that the Celtic King Arthur, a legendary figure, is said to have acquired his fame. 大约在公元500年，在与威塞克斯王国创始人塞迪奇的斗争中，传说中的凯尔特王亚瑟获得了他的名声。 (5) Beginning from the later part of the 8th century, the Danes, or the Vikings, came to invade England, at first, along the eastern coast, but later they threatened
英国文学笔记
Middle English Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century.For three centuries after Norman conquest , two languages were were used side by side in England , Latin and French were the languages of the upper classes, used in official and formal conditions.however the inflectional system of old English was weakened and a large number of French words had been absorbed.and many inflectional forms of the words were dropped and formal grammar simplified. Romance Romance is a type of literature that was very popular in the Middle Ages.Romance , in the original sense of the word , means the native language,as opposed to Latin,and later it means a tale in verse, embodying the life and adventures of knights. John wycliff He was one of the first man who demand to reform the church in order to do away with the corruption and rottenness, he was the one who translate the bible into standard english. His translation for bible is a great contribution to english literature ,as well as english lanuage. For he fixed a national standard for englsih prose to replace various dialects. His work owned him the title of father of english prose. William langland He is the author of Piers Plowman 《农夫皮尔斯》or the vision of piers plowman.The story takes the form of an allegory, but it gives a realsitic picture of 14th century England, (an allegory is a story or description in which the characters and events symbolize some deeper underlying meaning,and serve to spread moral teaching)in his work , within the scope of allegorical characters, the lives of the religious people and the laymen are vividly portrayed.the corruption and the rottenness of the church people are truthfully exposed. Chaucer （The Canterbury Tales） Geoffrey Chaucer, the founder of English poetry, father of English literature.was born, about 1340, in London. Chaucer's contribution to English poetry lies chiefly in the fact that he introduced the "heroic couplet"into English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. Though drawing influences from French, Italian and Latin models, he is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English speech.
郑克鲁《外国文学史》笔记整理
郑克鲁《外国文学史》笔记 第一章古代文学 西方古代文学包括：古希腊罗马文学和早期基督教文学。(它们是氏族社会向奴隶制过渡时期的产物)。古希腊罗马文学和早期基督教文学中分别体现出来的世俗与人本色彩和神圣与超越色彩共同构成西方文学(和文化)的两个源头。恩格斯说："没有希腊文化和罗马帝国的基础，也就没有现代的欧洲"。 第一节古代文学 一古代希腊文学 (一)主要成就：神话、史诗和戏剧，此外还有寓言、抒情诗和文艺理论等 (二)主要特征： 1 鲜明的人本色彩，命运观念.从诸神的恣情纵欲，到盗火者的狂热殉情；从阿喀琉斯的冲天怒火，到美狄亚的残忍复仇。一切都是世俗，活生生的。绝无宗教恐怖的压抑和彼岸天国的诱惑 2 现实主义和浪漫主义并存。古希腊文学的许多篇章从不同程度，不同侧面反映了当时社会。为后人提供了第一手资料，也有相当一部分作品充满了神奇的想象、怪诞色彩、表现出浓厚的浪漫主义色彩 3 种类繁多，且具有开创性除神话，史诗外还有悲剧，喜剧、寓言、故事、教谕诗、抒情诗、散文、小说 (三)古希腊文学的发展状况分为三个时期： 第一时期公元前12世纪到公元前8世纪(由氏族社会向奴隶社会过渡时期)史称"荷马时代"(英雄时代)： 主要成就：神话、史诗代表作家赫西俄德 教谕诗《工作与时日》：现存最早一部以现实生活为题材的诗作。 叙事诗《神谱》：最早一部比较系统地叙述宇宙起源和神的谱系的作品。 第二时期公元前8世纪到公元前4世纪中叶(奴隶制社会形成至全盛时期)史称"古典时期"：主要成就：戏剧成就最大，另外还有抒情诗、散文、寓言、悲剧、喜剧、文艺理论。萨福：柏拉图称她为"第十位文艺女神"。寓言：《伊索寓言》(散文体主要反映奴隶制社会劳动人民的思想感情，是劳动人民生活教训和斗争经验的总结(《农夫和蛇》《乌龟和兔子》等。全盛时期欧洲文学史上著名的三大悲剧诗人：埃斯库罗斯、索福克勒斯、欧里庇得斯.喜剧诗人：阿里斯托芬"喜剧之父"：希罗多德《希腊波斯战争史》雄辩家：苏克拉底和狄摩西尼。文艺理论家：柏拉图(西方客观唯心主义的始祖)反对民主制，创立"理念论"。代表作《对话录》。亚里斯多德：代表作《诗学》 第三时期从公元前4世纪末到公元前2世纪中叶(奴隶制衰亡时期)史称"希腊化"时期主要成就：新喜剧：不谈政治，以描写爱情故事和家庭关系为主要内容。又称"世态喜剧" 最著名的新喜剧作家：米南德(雅典人)田园诗(牧歌)：主要作家：忒俄克里托斯二古罗马文学(连接古希腊文学和欧洲近代文学的桥梁) 恩格斯说"没有希腊文化和罗马帝国所奠定的基础，也就没有现代的欧洲"。
英国文学选读一考试大题必备 重点题目分析(人物分析 诗歌分析 三大主义)
Hamlet is the first work of literature to look squarely at the stupidity, falsity and sham of everyday life, without laughing and without easy answers. In a world where things are not as they seem, Hamlet…s genuineness, thoughtfulness, and sincerity make him special. Hamlet is no saint. But unlike most of the other characters (and most people today), Hamlet chooses not to compromise with evil. Dying, Hamlet reaffirms the tragic dignity of a basically decent person in a bad world Hamlet is the first work of literature to show an ordinary person looking at the futility and wrongs in life, asking the toughest questions and coming up with honest semi-answers like most people do today. Unlike so much of popular culture today, "Hamlet" leaves us with the message that life is indeed worth living, even by imperfect people in an imperfect world. 犹豫scholars have debated for centuries about Hamlet's hesitation in killing his uncle. Some see it as a plot device to prolong the action, and others see it as the result of pressure exerted by the complex philosophical and ethical issues that surround cold-blooded murder, calculated revenge and thwarted desire. More recently, psychoanalytic critics have examined Hamlet's unconscious desires (Freud concludes that Hamlet has an "Oedipal desire for his mother and the subsequent guilt [is] preventing him from murdering the man [Claudius] who has done what he unconsciously wanted to do". Robinson Crusoe is a grand hero in westerners? eyes. He survived in the deserted island and lived a meaningful life. He almost has everything needed for becoming a successful man, such as his excellent creativity, great working capacity, courage, and persistence in overcoming obstacles. But he has shortcomings, too. Sometimes he was irresolute; he was not confident; he was fetishistic, although his belief had done him much good. He serves somehow as a lighthouse for the ambitious people. It?s also instructive for average people. Robinson was the representative of the bourgeois of the 18th C. It was the time when bourgeois grew stronger and stronger. The author Defoe paid a tribute to bourgeois by creating such a rational, powerful, clever, and successful man. 【Themes of Robinson Crusoe】 1. The ambivalence of mastery In short, while Crusoe seems praiseworthy in mastering his fate by overcoming his obstacles, and controlling his environment, the praiseworthiness of his mastery over his fellow human Friday is more doubtful. Defoe explores the link between the two in his depiction of the colonial mind. 2. The necessity of Repentance Crusoe?s experiences constitute not simply an adventure story in which thrilling things happen, but also a moral tale illustrating the right and wrong ways to live one?s life. Crusoe?s story instruct s others in God?s wisdom, and one vital part of this wisdom is the importance of repenting one?s sins. 3. The Importance of Self-Awareness Crusoe?s arrival on the island does not make him revert to a brute existence and he remains conscious of himself at all times. His island existence actually deepens his self-awareness as he withdraws from the external society and turns inward. The idea that the individual must keep a careful reckoning of the state of his own soul is a key point in the Presbyterian doctrine that the aothor took seriously all his life. ·Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte The protagonist and title character, orphaned as a baby. She is a plain-featured, small and reserved but talented, sympathetic, hard-working, honest and passionate girl. Skilled at studying, drawing, and teaching, she works as a governess at Thornfield Hall and falls in love with her wealthy employer, Edward Rochester. But her strong sense of conscience does not permit her to become his mistress, and she does not return to him until his insane wife is dead and she herself has come into an inheritance. 【Themes of Jane Eyre】 1. Gender relations A particularly important theme in the novel is patriarchalism and Jane…s efforts to assert her own identity within male-dominated society. Among the three of the main male characters,
英国文学选读知识总结
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) 乔叟He was born in 1343 in London. He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets Corner”.The father of English Poetry and one of the greatest narrative poets of England.“The Canterbury Tales” (1387-1400) It is Chaucer?s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature. Chaucer’s Contribution to English Literature Chaucer is regarded as the founder of English poetry and has been called “the founder of English realism.” He is the firs t great poet who wrote in the English language. He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the “heroic couplet” (英雄双韵体) to English poetry.His masterpiece “The Canterbury T ales” is one of the monumental works in English literature 公爵夫人之书，百鸟议会，声誉之堂，特罗勒思和克里西德 Structure of a poem: A poem can be broken down into three parts: (1) Stanza (节) : a group of lines set off from the other lines in a poem. It is the poetic equivalent of a paragraph in prose. In traditional poems, the stanza usually contains a unit of thought.(2) The line (行) : a single line of poetry (3) The foot (音步) : a syllable or a group of 2 or 3 syllables. T o scan a line of poetry one counts the number of feet in a line. For a beginner, the easiest thing to do is to count the number of stresses. Typically a foot will contain a stressed and an unstressed syllable. William Shakespeare (1564-1616)playwright, poet, actor.Shakespeare and Aeschylus are the two greatest dramatic geniuses the world has ever known.—Carl Marks.The Great Tragedies: 《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet,1601 ) 《奥赛罗》(Othello, 1604) 《李尔王》(King Lear, 1605) 《麦克白》(Macbeth, 1606) The Great Comedies威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice, 1596) 《仲夏夜之梦》(A Midsummer Night's Dream,1596) 《第十二夜》(Twelfth Night, 1600) 《皆大欢喜》(As You Like It, 1601) Shakespeare’s car eer as a dramatist may be divided into four major phases.: The First Period(1590-1594) This period is the period of his apprenticeship in play-writing. Works: Henry VI The Comedy of Errors《错误的喜剧》/《连环错》Love?s Labor?s Lost 《迷失的爱》/《空爱一场》/《爱的徒劳》Romeo and Juliet, etc. The Second Period (1595-1600) This period is his mature period, mainly a period of “great comedies” and mature historical plays. It includes 6 comedies, 5 historical plays and 1 Roman tragedy. His sonnets are also thought to be written in this period. The Third Period (1601-1607) The third period of Shakespeare?s dramatic career is mainly the period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies”. It includes 5 tragedies, 3 comedies and 2 Roman tragedies.Major works written in this period:Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra The Fourth Period (1608-1612) The fourth period of Shakespeare?s work is the period of romantic drama. It includes 4 romances or “reconciliation（和解，复合）plays”. Shakespeare’s Literary Position:Shakespeare and the Authorized Version of the English Bible are the two greatest treasuries of the English language. Shakespeare has been universally acknowledged to be the summit of the English Renaissance, and one of the greatest writers in world literature. Hamlet:Hamle t is considered the summit of Shakespeare?s art. It is one of Shakespeare?s canon, and it is universally included in the list of the world?s greatest works.It?s written in the form of blank verse.blank verse : poetry in rhymeless iambic pentameter.（素体诗剧）The story, coming from an old Danish legend, is a tragedy of the “revenge” genre. Shakespeare incorporates into the medieval story other major humanistic themes, including love, justice, good and evil, and most notably, madness, and the spirit of the time Injustice, conspiracy, and betrayal in the society。1. first blow: father?s murder and mother?s re-marriage2.second blow: betrayal of his two former friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern3. third blow: betrayal of his girl friend OpheliaThe greatness o f the play: in praise of the noble quality of Prince Hamlet as a representative of humanist thinkers and his disillusionment with the corrupt and degenerated society in which he lived.
英国文学史及选读__复习要点总结
《英国文学史及选读》第一册复习要点 1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements （此处可能会有填空，选择等小题） 2. Romance （名词解释） 3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’s story 4. Ballad（名词解释） 5. Character of Robin Hood 6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written in Middle English; significance; form: heroic couplet) 7. Heroic couplet (名词解释)8. Renaissance（名词解释）9.Thomas More——Utopia 10. Sonnet（名词解释）11. Blank verse（名词解释）12. Edmund Spenser “The Faerie Queene” 13. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies”（推荐阅读，学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照，本文用词正式优雅，多排比句和长句，语言造诣非常高，里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句，非常值得一读） 14. William Shakespeare四大悲剧比较重要，此外就是罗密欧与朱立叶了，这些剧的主题，背景，情节，人物形象都要熟悉，当然他最重要的是Hamlet这是肯定的。他的sonnet也很重要，最重要属sonnet18。（其戏剧中著名对白和几首有名的十四行诗可能会出选读） 15. John Milton 三大史诗非常重要，特别是Paradise Lost和Samson Agonistes。对于Paradise Lost需要知道它是blank verse写成的，故事情节来自Old Testament，另外要知道此书theme和Satan的形象。 16. John Bunyan——The Pilgrim’s Progress 17. Founder of the Metaphysical school——John Donne; features of the school: philosophical poems, complex rhythms and strange images. 18. Enlightenment（名词解释） 19. Neoclassicism（名词解释） 20. Richard Steele——“The Tatler” 21. Joseph Addison——“The Spectator”这个比上面那个要重要，注意这个报纸和我们今天的报纸不一样，它虚构了一系列的人物，以这些人物的口气来写报纸上刊登的散文，这一部分要仔细读。 22. Steel’s and Addison’s styles and their contributions 23. Alexander Pope: “Essay on Criticism”, “Essay on Man”, “The Rape of Lock”, “The Dunciad”; his workmanship (features) and limitations 24. Jonathan Swift: “Gulliver’s Travels”此书非常重要，要知道具体内容，就是Gulliver游历过的四个地方的英文名称，和每个部分具体的讽刺对象; （我们主要讲了三个地方）“A Modest Proposal”比较重要，要注意作者用的irony 也就是反讽手法。 25. The rise and growth of the realistic novel is the most prominent achievement of 18th century English literature. 26. Daniel Defoe: “Robinson Crusoe”, “Moll Flanders”, 当然是Robinson Crusoe比较重要，剧情要清楚，Robinson Crusoe的形象和故事中蕴涵的早期黑奴的原形，以及殖民主义的萌芽。另外注意Defoe的style和feature，另外Defoe是forerunner of English realistic novel。 27. Samuel Richardson——“Pamela” (first epistolary novel), “Clarissa Harlowe”, “Sir Charles Grandison” 28. Henry Fielding: “Joseph Andrews”, “Jonathan Wild”, “Tom Jones”第一个和第三个比较重要，需要仔细看。他是一个比较重要的作家，另外Fielding也被称为father of the English novel. 29. Laurence Sterne——“Tristram Shandy”项狄传 30. Richard Sheridan——“The School for Scandal” 31. Oliver Goldsmith——“The Traveller”(poem), “The Deserted Village” (poem) (both two poems were written by heroic couplet), “The Vicar of Wakefield” (novel), “The Good-Natured Man” (comedy), “She stoops to Conquer” (comedy),