英国文学史盎格鲁撒克逊时期Part I

Part I. English Literature of the Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066)

1.The Historical Background:

Before the coming of the Anglo-Saxons, the Celtic tribes lived in what is now Britain. In the middle of the first century B.C., Roman troops led by Julius Caesar invaded Britain, then Claudius conquered it in A.D. 43 and Britain became a Roman province till the beginning of the fifth century. During their rule the Romans built roads, walls, garrisons, villas, etc., and the Celtic became either slaves or unfree cultivators of the land. Then, in early 5th century, as the Germanic races attacked and overran the Roman Empire, the Roman garrisons in Britain withdraw.

Not long after that, in the mid-5th century, the tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes (later known simply as Anglo-Saxons) migrated to England from the European Continent, or more specifically from western Denmark and the northwest coast of Germany. They settled down there and soon ruled over the whole of England, enslaving some of the native Celts while driving the others to the hills north and west, to Wales and Scotland and even Ireland across the sea. Thus began the Anglo-Saxon period in English history.

While still on the Continent, the Anglo-Saxons were in the later stages of tribal society. Their common occupation was agriculture, with a small number of them already set apart as professional soldiers or as hereditary military leaders. Some of these leaders gradually became thanes or the nobility and a few of them rose to be chieftains or even kings. Settlement in Britain hastened the disintegration of tribalism as the tribal chieftains and thanes had the possession of large tracts of land and grew in wealth and power while the free farmers became more and more dependent economically.

By the 7th century, seven kingdoms of fairly large territories emerged out of more numerous smaller kingdoms and there were wars among them. Of the seven Mercia and then Northumberland in the north flourished particularly in wealth and culture in the 7th and 8th centuries, and Wessex in the south became a more important centre of military and political power and assumed supremacy in culture and learning in the 9th and 19th centuries. Beginning from late 8th century the Danes came to invade England and for more than a century they made intermittent raids on the eastern coast of Britain and occupied for fairly long periods of time large areas of northeastern England. In late 9th century King Alfred the Great (A.D. 840-901？) of the Kingdom of Wessex successfully led the English people in a protracted war against the invading Danes who were threatening to overrun the whole country. The invaders were repulsed and gradually all the kingdoms in England were united into one.

In early 11th century the Danes again came to invade England and under Canute they conquered and ruled over all England for a quarter of a century (A.D. 1017-1042). Then, following the expulsion of the Danes the Normans from Normandy in northern France came to invade England in 1066, and under the leadership of William the Duke of Normandy who claimed the succession to the English throne they succeeded in defeating the English troops and conquering the whole of England. The “Norman Conquest”marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon period.

In late Saxon England feudalism assumed definite shape, with the king at the top, then the earls and the thanes, then the freemen and last the serfs. Agriculture developed and trade expanded. Towns came into existence and wealth became more concentrated. With the Norman Conquest feudalism underwent further development.

The Anglo-Saxons were heathen upon their first arrival in England. In A.D. 597 the first missionaries led by St. Augustine came to England from Rome and converted King Ethelbert of Kent, and within a century all England was Christianized. Churches were built and the monks were among the most learned in the country. The heathen mythology was gradually replaced by the Christian religion, but heathen concepts of nature and the supernatural persisted for a considerable period of time and often were curiously mixed with Christian views and expressions. This phenomenon found its expression not infrequently in literary works of the Anglo-Saxon period.

2.“Beowulf” the National Epic of the Anglo-Saxon:

The earliest poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, like that of many other peoples, originated from the collective efforts of the people, usually while they were working or resting from their labors. Then these stories based on history or legend or contemporaneous events would be narrated orally and often sung, during festivities and other occasions, chiefly for entertainment. Some of the more interesting of these narratives would pass from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, and as they were told by different singers at different times, additions or deletions were introduced in the successive rehandlings of the oral tradition of each epic.

With the disintegration of tribal society and the appearance of class divisions, professional narrators or singers of these popular stories emerged. They were known as “scops” or “gleemen” among the Anglo-Saxons, the former being poet-singers who sang poetic tales of their own making while the latter mere retellers of epics already in circulation. At first these “scops” and “gleemen” also served as priests gibing spells or citing incantations on various solemn occasions but later they became simply wandering minstrels traveling extensively from one chieftain’s court to that of another, providing entertainment with their singing. Two of the earliest Anglo-Saxon lyrics extant, “Widsith” (probably of the 7th century) and “Deor’s Lament” (probably of the 8th century), are good literary specimens that illustrate the life and social position of the later “scops” or “gleemen”.

Because these popular narratives of the Anglo-Saxons in the earliest times existed originally in oral tradition and few of them seemed to have been handed down in written form, “Beowulf”is possibly the only important single poem of this kind preserved to this day more or less in its entirety and has generally been considered the most monumental work in English poetry of the Anglo-Saxon period.

“Beowulf” probably existed in its oral form as early as the 6th century and was written down in the 7th or 8th century, though the manuscript of the poem now extant dated back to the 10th century. It contains 3183 lines of alliterative verse, being the longest of the early Anglo-Saxon poems preserved. The story in the epic is based on part-historical, part-legendary material brought over to England by the Anglo-Saxons from their original homes on the European Continent. So Beowulf the hero of the

poem and his adventures are placed in Denmark and southern Sweden rather than in England.

The poem opens with a brief account of the line of Danish kings down to Hrothgar, Beowulf’s kinsman who builds a splendid hall names Heorot to entertain his followers (lines 1-100 in the poem). A monster by the name of Grendel frequently comes to the hall at night and at one time devours as many as thirty warriors sleeping there, so that the hall is deserted after dark (lines 101-193). The news of Grendel’s ravages finally reaches southern Sweden, where Beowulf, nephew to King Hygelac of he Geats and a man of great strength, hears of it and sails with fourteen companions to lend help to Hrothgar. They reach the Danish coast and are directed by the watchman to Hrothgar’s abode (lines 194-319). There the Danish king tells of his friendship with Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow and Beowulf states the purpose of his coming. Then the cisitors ae invited to a feast (lines 320-497). At the banquet one of Hrothgar’s followers Unferth speaks tauntingly to Beowulf and our hero retorts by relating his successful contest with a certain Breca in swimming (lines 498-606). Thereupon Hrothgar’s queen, Wealhtheow, fills Beowulf’s cup and the hero utters his determination to conquer the monster or die. Soon it grows dark and the king and his retinue depart, leaving Beowulf and his men to guard the hall (lines 607-665).

Then the first adventure begins. Before Beowulf and his companions get ready to go to sleep, the former puts off his armour and declares not to use his sword in the coming combat. Soon enough Grendel bursts into the hall and very quickly eats up one of the warriors and comes directly to Beowulf. The hero then engages in a terrific battle with the monster ass the hall rings with the sound of their combat. Eventually Beowulf tears an arm and a shoulder off the monster who runs away, mortally wounded (lines 665-833). The victor displays Grendel’s torn arm and the Danes show their admiration by telling stories of the heroes of the past. Then Hrothgar comes and rewards Beowulf with rich gifts (lines 834-1062). At the feast that follows, Hrothgar’s minstrel sings of old tales (lines1063-1159), and the queen appears and thanks Beowulf and presents him with a valuable necklace which is later worn by Hygelac and becomes the property of the Franks after the latter’s death (lines 1160-1232). Hrothgar and Beowulf now retire while a number of warriors stay on in the hall for the night. Then Grende’s mother comes and carries off Aeschere, the kings’chief councilor (lines1233-1306). Beowulf is sent for and Hrothgar tells him of the tragic event and describes the abode of the monsters and Beowulf promises to avenge Aeschere (lines 1306-1396).

The second adventure opens with Beowulf and his companions setting out for a pool and upon arrival he plunges into the water and reaches a cave underneath. There he engages in a long struggle with Grende l’s mother and finally succeeds in killing her with a magic sword of the ancient giants hanging in the cave. He cuts off her head as well as that of her son Grendel lying dead nearby. With these as his booty he returns to the shore of the pool where his companions are still waiting, already in despair about his life (lines 1397-1631). The victors march back to Heorot and are welcomed by Hrothgar who eulogizes the hero but then enters into a lengthy moralizing discourse on the evils of pride (lines 1632-1784). The next day Beowulf

bids farewell to Hrothgar who rewards him with further gifts and the visiting warriors embark to return to their native land (lines 1785-1921). Then, after a laudatory account of the virtues of Hygd, King Hygelac’s young wife, we are told of the meeting between Hygelac and Beowulf at which the latter first speaks digressively of the relations between Hrothgar and his daughter Freawaru and son-in-law Ingeld, and then gifts are exchanged between uncle Hygelac and nephew Beowulf (lines 1922-2199). After a lapse of time Hygelac dies and his son succeeds to the throne but is soon killed in battle by the Swedes. Then Beowulf is chosen king and he rules gloriously over the Geats for fifty years (lines 2200-2210).

The third and last adventure of our hero takes place in his own country. A dragon has kept guard over a hidden treasure hoarded for many years but suddenly finds part of the hoard stolen by a runaway slave, and in revenge he starts to ravage the land with the fatal blasts of his fiery breath. Beowulf, now an aged king, resolves to fight with the dragon himself (lines 2210-1349). But before the description of the battle, lengthy digressions are introduced. First there are reminiscencesby our hero, as he recalls how at a battle in the land of the Frisians Hygelac lost his life while Beowulf himself escaped by swimming, how upon his return therefrom he refused the throne offered him by Hygelac’s widow-queen Hygd, how young Heardred succeeded his father Hygelac but was soon lain by the Swedish king Onela and finally how Beowulf some time later avenged the death of Heardred by participating in a feud that led to Onela’s death (lines 2349-2396). Then, the main thread of the story is resumed with an account of Beowulf taking with him twelve companions and approaching the shore dwelling of the dragon, but a second digression is inserted as the old king recollects the more remote past of his family history: how one brother of Hygelac’s, Haethcyn, then the king of the Geats, accidentally killed another bother Herebeald, how their father Hrethel died of grief in consequence, how subsequently in a war with the Sweded Haethcyn and the Swedish king Ongentheow, Onela’s father, were both killed, How Hygelac the third brother died among the Frisians, and how there Beowulf killed Daeghrefn a warrior of the Hugas (lines 2397-2509). Then when the main narrative is picked up again, Beowulf orders his men to wait outside while he goes down to the mound of the hoard where the dragon lives. There he is attacked by the dragon and his sword fails him when he uses it to pierce the monster’s scales. Beowulf now falls under the threat of the fiery breath of the dragon and is in great danger, but one of the companions Wiglaf, son of Weoxstan, rushes down to help while the other companions flee into a wood. In the meantime Beowulf strikes at the dragon on the head, but his sword breaks and the dragon seizes him by the neck. In the nick of time Wiglaf succeeds in wounding the dragon and Beowulf kills the monster with his knife (lines 2510-2709). But the old king is himself mortally wounded, and as Wiglaf brings the treasure out of the hoard, the king gives his last orders about his own funeral and presents the faithful companion with his armour and necklace and then dies (lines 2709-2842). The cowardly warriors now return and Wiflaf rebukes them and sends a messenger to the people to announce the king’s death. The messenger in his speech foretells the disasters that are to follow Beowulf’s death, recalling the former wars with the Franks, the Frisians and the Swedes and

prophesying future strife with these enemies now that the hero is no longer alive to protect his people. Then the people arrive at the scene of the fight and carry away the treasure hoard. Wiglaf repeats Beowulf’s dying instructions, and the dragon is thrown into the sea as a funeral pyre is built on which Beowulf’s body is buried. Over his remains a huge mound is piled up and the dragon’s treasures are placed therein. Twelve warriors ride round the barrow lamenting the death of Beowulf and praising his virtues as a great and good king: “of all kings he was the gentlest and most gracious of men, the kindest to his people and the most desirous of renown”(lines 2842-3183).

Except for occasional digressions when the hero recalls past events or when some gleemen sings a tale, “Beowulf”as a poem centres on the narration of the exploits of the heroic figure Beowulf, including his adventures with Grendel and his mother in Denmark and with the dragon in the land of the Geats. In other words, it is a long verse narrative on the theme theme of “arms and the man” and such belongs to the tradition of a national epic in European literature that van be traced back to Homer’s “Iliad” and Vergil’s “Aeneid”.

Another characteristic of the epic tradition to be found in “Beowulf”is the part-historical, part-legendary origin of the story. It’s part-historical as quite a number of the characters either appearing or mentioned in the poem are real persons lifted from the pages of history, including King Hrothgar of the Danes (based on “Historia Danica” of Saxo Grammaticus) and King Hygelac of the Geats (based on “Historica Francorum”of Gregory of Tours and “Gesta Regum Francorum”as well as “Liber Monstrorum”), both of whom play rather important roles in the development of the tale. Besides, several digressional episodes in the epic, those about Finn and Hnaef (in the gleeman’s lay) and about Ingeld and Freawaru as well as the one about the wars between the Swedes and the Geats, all have their historical basis. And these historical figures and events place the poem in the historical period of the disintegration of tribal society, when there were tribal wars as well as inter- and intra-family feuds among the rulers. But the hero Beowulf is essentially a legendary figure. His name cannot be found in any historical document, and all that scholarly research can do has been to try to identify him with Beowa, a deity in Northern Mythology known to have killed sea monsters and dragons, or to compare him with Sigmund or his son Sigourd (alias Siegfried) in the “Edda” or “V olsunga Saga” or “Nibelungenlied”, though his relations with Hygelac and the Geat People and with Hrothgar and the Danes all appear to be rather realistic reflections of the social cinditionsof the tribal age during which the poem must have been first conceived and sung. Also, Beowulf’s fights with Grendel and Grende l’s mother and the dragon, all with a distinctly mythical or fabular character, have their parallels in other European legends, and they also illustrate the common desire of the tribal people in ancient times to conquer the mysterious forces of nature that wrought havoc upon human society.

There can be little doubt that the development of “Beowulf” as an epic, from its oral tradition to its present written form, took up several centuries. The fact that the locale of the story is set in Denmark and southern Sweden shows all too clearly that the tale was brought over by the Angles, Saxons or more likely Jutes from their

Continental homes upon their immigration to England. Therefore, while the epic contains chiefly reflections of tribal society in a heathen world, there are also many feudal elements in it and some Christian coloring. For instance, while the chief theme of the poem is the primitive people’s struggle against hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader and there are gleeman’s tales of tribal wars and inter- and intra-family feuds and of intimate kinsmen’s relationship between the kings and their warriors, yet on the other hand the kings described not only were already hereditary but were possessed of absolute authority to have big halls built and hold feasts there and dispense gifts to his guests and followers. The warriors or thanes were loyal subjects of the king and were ever ready to risk their lives for their sovereign, and they resembled somewhat the feudal knights as they sallied forth on their adventures to kill monsters and dragons in order to relieve the distressed. Also there is in the poem obvious censure here and there of the bloody feuds among the kinsmen in the ruling circles. Even the story of the runaway slave’s robbery of the hoard of gold and of the dragon’s revenge for the loss is a motif that has its many parallels in other old legendary tales in European poetry (e.g., the Nibelungenlied”) and belongs to the feudal age rather than to the earlier days of tribalism.

Likewise, the curious mixing in the poem of pagan elements with Christian coloring was the natural result of the epic descending from its original oral form and passing through the hands of a number of different scribes from generation to generation. The most striking example is the frequent reference in the epic to “wyrd”

(i.e., fate) as the decisive factor in human affairs, but at other times and in different places there is also the mention of “God” or “Lord” as the omniscient and omnipotent being that rules over the whole universe. Sometimes the poet-singer even interrupts the narrative with uncalled-for interpolations to point to God’s intervention in helping the virtuous and punishing the wicked or to lament the misfortunes of the heathens who were unable to see the invisible power of God everywhere. Direct but rather curious references to Biblical personages are also occasionally to be found, such as identifying the monster Grendel with “the children of Cain”. Also, in Hrothgar’s lengthy passages of moralizing following Beowulf’s conquest of Grendel’s mother and in the not infrequent comments here and there on the brevity and transitoriness of human existence, the influence of Christian religion is quite unmistakable, with its emphasis on moral behavior and on the importance of “future life”above earthly bliss.

But, on the whole, the pagan mood is more dominant and tribal life rather than feudal ways seems to be the determining factor for the main structure of the story. However, though the tale deals with happenings on the European Continent, the extant written version of the poem grew up on the English soil and consequently must have absorbed much from the social life and manners of the Anglo-Saxons following their settlement in England, so it is not improper to consider the work as an early national epic of the English people.

Anglo-Saxon or Old English, in which “Beowulf” was written, represents the earliest stage in the history of the English language and is very different from modern English. It appears almost like another language altogether and cannot be understood

today by English-speaking peoples unless one consults notes and glossary in detail or reads its translation in modern English. It was closely related to Old Low German and therefore it is highly-inflected like other Germanic languages. “Beowulf” was written in alliterative verse, employing the device of alliteration instead of the use of rhymes or blank verse that was common to the English poems beginning from the Middle English period. In the practice of alliteration, words beginning with the same consonants alliterate with each other within each line, or a word beginning with a vowel alliterates with another word beginning with the same or another vowel. 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, thus breaking the line into two parts. Alliteration invariably falls upon the stressed syllables, but not all four of the stresses in a line need to alliterate, usually two or three of them alliterate, with at least one from each half-line. The first three lines of the original poem are given here as specimen, with their translation into modern English provided below: Hwaet! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagum

Peod-cyninga prym gefranon,

Hupa aeth lingas ellen fremedon.

(Lo! We Spear-Danes in days long past

Of warrior kings’glory have heard,

How the princes wrought deeds of prowess.)

One peculiar characteristic of style in “Beowulf”is the frequent use of compound-words to serve as indirect metaphors that are sometimes very picturesque. These are known as “kennings”, such as: “swan-road”, “whale-path”or “seal-bath”used to refer to the sea; “wave-tra veler”, to indicate a ship; “shield-bearer”, “battle-hero”or “spear-fighter”as substitute for the word “soldier”; “sword-clashings”or “edge-clash”to describe battlings or fights; “ring-mail”, “limb-sark” or “breast-net” as equivalent to armour.

“Beowulf”towers above all other literary works written in Anglo-Saxon, chiefly because it is a powerful poem about a people’s hero written in true epic style, and not so much because the other extant writings of the period are mediocre or fragmentary. Beowulf is not simply a man of great military prowess but he is forever eager to help others in distress and in his last adventure with the dragon he shows himself a worthy leader ready to sacrifice his own life for the welfare of his people. Setting aside the supernatural elements pervading the poem as an inevitable limitation of the tribal-feudal age, “Beowulf” deserves to be ranked among the great heroic poems of northern Europe though it has not been as well known as the “Nibelungenlied”. In artistic form the epic tells the tale in a leisurely way, full of elaborations in legendary details, and the verse rises at places to heights of poetic grandeur, particularly in the descriptions of the hero’s nobility of character and in the narrations of his courageous batttlings with malevolent foes.

大三_英国文学史(绝对标准中文版)

英国文学源远流长，经历了长期、复杂的发展演变过程。在这个过程中，文学本体以外的各种现实的、历史的、政治的、文化的力量对文学发生着影响，文学内部遵循自身规律，历经盎格鲁-撒克逊、文艺复兴、新古典主义、浪漫主义、现实主义、现代主义等不同历史阶段。下面对英国文学的发展过程作一概述。 一、中世纪文学（约5世纪-1485） 英国最初的文学同其他国家最初的文学一样，不是书面的，而是口头的。故事与传说口头流传，并在讲述中不断得到加工、扩展，最后才有写本。公元5世纪中叶，盎格鲁、撒克逊、朱特三个日耳曼部落开始从丹麦以及现在的荷兰一带地区迁入不列颠。盎格鲁-撒克逊时代给我们留下的古英语文学作品中，最重要的一部是《贝奥武甫》（Beowulf），它被认为是英国的民族史诗。《贝奥武甫》讲述主人公贝尔武甫斩妖除魔、与火龙搏斗的故事，具有神话传奇色彩。这部作品取材于日耳曼民间传说，随盎格鲁-撒克逊人入侵传入今天的英国，现在我们所看到的诗是8世纪初由英格兰诗人写定的，当时，不列颠正处于从中世纪异教社会向以基督教文化为主导的新型社会过渡的时期。因此，《贝奥武甫》也反映了7、8世纪不列颠的生活风貌，呈现出新旧生活方式的混合，兼有氏族时期的英雄主义和封建时期的理想，体现了非基督教日耳曼文化和基督教文化两种不同的传统。 公元1066年，居住在法国北部的诺曼底人在威廉公爵率领下越过英吉利海峡，征服英格兰。诺曼底人占领英格兰后，封建等级制度得以加强和完备，法国文化占据主导地位，法语成为宫廷和上层贵族社会的语言。这一时期风行一时的文学形式是浪漫传奇，流传最广的是关于亚瑟王和圆桌骑士的故事。《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight，1375-1400）以亚瑟王和他的骑士为题材，歌颂勇敢、忠贞、美德，是中古英语传奇最精美的作品之一。传奇文学专门描写高贵的骑士所经历的冒险生活和浪漫爱情，是英国封建社会发展到成熟阶段一种社会理想的体现。 14世纪以后，英国资本主义工商业发展较快，市民阶级兴起，英语逐渐恢复了它的声誉，社会各阶层普遍使用英语，为优秀英语文学作品的产生提供了条件。杰弗利·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer， 1343-1400）的出现标志着以本土文学为主流的英国书面文学历史的开始。《坎特伯雷故事》（The Canterbury Tales）以一群香客从伦敦出发去坎特伯雷朝圣为线索，通过对香客的生动描绘和他们沿途讲述的故事，勾勒出一幅中世纪英国社会千姿百态生活风貌的图画。乔叟首创英雄诗行，即五步抑扬格双韵体，对英诗韵律作出了很大贡献，被誉为"英国诗歌之父".乔叟的文笔精练优美，流畅自然，他的创作实践将英语提升到一个较高的文学水平，推动了英语作为英国统一的民族语言的进程。 二、文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期-17世纪初） 相对于欧洲其他国家来说，英国的文艺复兴起始较晚，通常认为是在15世纪末。文艺复兴时期形成的思想体系被称为人文主义，它主张以人为本，反对中世纪以神为中心的世界观，提倡积极进取、享受现世欢乐的生活理想。托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More， 1478-1535）是英国最主要的早期人文主义者，他的《乌托邦》（Utopia）批评了当时的英国和欧洲社会，设计了一个社会平等、财产公有、人们和谐相处的理想国。Utopia现已成为空想主义的代名词，但乌托邦是作者对当时社会状况进行严肃思考的结果。《乌托邦》开创了英国哲理幻想小说传统的先河，这一传统从培根的《新大西岛》（The New Atlantis）、斯威夫特的《格列佛游记》（Gulliver's Travels）、勃特勒的《埃瑞璜》（Erewhon）一直延续到20世纪

英国文学史及选读__期末试题及答案

考试课程：英国文学史及选读考核类型：A 卷 考试方式：闭卷出卷教师: XXX 考试专业：英语考试班级：英语xx班 I.Multiple choice (30 points, 1 point for each) select from the four choices of each item the one that best answers the question or completes the statement. 1._____，a typical example of old English poetry ,is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. A.The Canterbury Tales B.The Ballad of Robin Hood C.The Song of Beowulf D.Sir Gawain and the Green Kinght 2._____is the most common foot in English poetry. A.The anapest B.The trochee C.The iamb D.The dactyl 3.The Renaissance is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, which one of the following is NOT such an event? A.The rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture. B.England’s domestic rest C.New discovery in geography and astrology D.The religious reformation and the economic expansion 4._____is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. A.The Pilgrims Progress B.Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners C.The Life and Death of Mr.Badman D.The Holy War 5.Generally, the Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries, its essence is _____. A.science B.philosophy C.arts D.humanism 6.“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”(Shakespeare, Sonnets18)What does“this”refer to ? A.Lover. B.Time. C.Summer. D.Poetry. 7.“O prince, O chief of my throned powers, /That led th’ embattled seraphim to war/Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds/Fearless, endangered Heaven’s perpetual king”In the third line of the above passage quoted from Milton’s Paradise Los t, the phrase“thy conduct”refers to _____conduct. A.God’s B.Satan’s C.Adam’s D.Eve’s

(完整)英国文学史知识点,推荐文档

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2014-2015英国文学史及选读期末试题B

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班级_________________学号姓名考试科目英美文学史及作品选读【（1）】B卷闭卷共 5 页 学生答题不得超过此线····································密························封························线································

班级_________________学号姓名考试科目英美文学史及作品选读【（1）】B卷闭卷共 5 页 学生答题不得超过此线····································密························封························线································

(完整word版)吴伟仁--英国文学史及选读--名词解释

①Beowulf: The national heroic epic of the English people. It has over 3,000 lines. It describes the battles between the two monsters and Beowulf, who won the battle finally and dead for the fatal wound. The poem ends with the funeral of the hero. The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use if alliteration. Other features of it are the use of metaphors(暗喻) and of understatements(含蓄). ②Alliteration: In alliterative verse, certain accented(重音) words in a line begin with the same consonant sound(辅音). There are generally 4accents in a line, 3 of which show alliteration, as can be seen from the above quotation. ③Romance: The most prevailing(流行的) kind of literature in feudal England was the Romance. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse(诗篇), sometimes in prose(散文), describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, usually a knight, as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournament(竞赛), or fighting for his lord in battle and the swearing of oaths. ④Epic: An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significantly to a culture or nation. The first epics are known as primacy, or original epics. ⑤Ballad: The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad which is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas(诗节), with the second and fourth lines rhymed. The subjects of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters and class struggle. The paramount(卓越的) important ballad is Robin Hood(《绿林好汉》). ⑥Geoffrey Chaucer杰弗里.乔叟: He was an English author, poet, philosopher and diplomat. He is the founder of English poetry. He obtained a good knowledge of Latin, French and Italian. His best remembered narrative is the Canterbury Tales(《坎特伯雷故事集》), which the Prologue(序言) supplies a miniature(缩影) of the English society of Chaucer’s time. That is why Chaucer has been called “the founder of English realism”. Chaucer affirms men and women’s right to pursue their happiness on earth and opposes(反对) the dogma of asceticism(禁欲主义) preached(鼓吹) by the church. As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry lies chiefly in the fact that he introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic(抑扬格) meter(the “heroic couplet”) to English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. ⑦【William Langland威廉.朗兰: Piers the Plowman《农夫皮尔斯》】

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