刘炳善《英国文学简史》完整笔记.docx

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1、刘炳善英国文学简史完整笔记英国文学简史完全版 A Concise History of British Literature Chapter 1 English Literature of Anglo-Saxon Period I. Introduction 1. The historical background Before the Germanic invasion During the Germanic invasion a. immigration; b. Christianity; c. heptarchy. d. social classes structure: hide-hu

2、ndred; eoldermen thane - middle class - lower class ; e. social organization: clan or tribes. f. military Organization; g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education; h. economy: coins, trade, slavery; i. feasts and festival: Halloween, Easter; j. legal system. 2. The Overview of the culture

3、The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit. Literature: a. Poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures. II. Beowulf. 1. A general introduction. 2. The content. 3. The literary features. the use of alliteration the use of metaphors and understatements the mixture of pagan and Christian elements III. The

4、Old English Prose 1. What is prose? 2.figures The Venerable Bede Alfred the Great Chapter 2 English Literature of the Late Medieval Ages I.Introduction 1. The Historical Background. The year 1066: Norman Conquest. The social situations soon after the conquest. A. Norman nobles and serfs; B. restorat

5、ion of the church. The 11th century. A. the crusade and knights. B. dominance of French and Latin; The 12th century. A. the centralized government; B. kings and the church ; The 13th century. A. The legend of Robin Hood; B. Magna Carta ; C. the beginning of the Parliament D. English and Latin: offic

6、ial languages The 14th century. a. the House of Lords and the House of Commonsconflict between the Parliament and Kings; b. the rise of towns. c. the change of Church. d. the role of women. e. the Hundred Years Warstarting. f. the development of the trade: London. g. the Black Death. h. the Peasants

7、 Revolt1381. i. The translation of Bible by Wycliffe. The 15th century. a. The Peasants Revolt b. The War of Roses between Lancaster and Yorks. c. the printing-pressWilliam Caxton. d. the starting of Tudor Monarchy 2. The Overview of Literature. the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittan

8、ygreat myths of the Middle Ages. Geoffrye of MonmouthHistoria Regum BritanniaeKing Authur. WaceLe Roman de Brut. The romance. the second half of the 14th century: Langland, Gawin poet, Chaucer. II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight. 1. A general introduction. 2. The plot. III. William Langland. 1. Life 2.

9、Piers the Plowman IV. Chaucer 1. Life 2. Literary Career: three periods French period Italian period master period 3. The Canterbury Tales A. The Framework; B. The General Prologue; C. The Tale Proper. 4. His Contribution. He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types. He is the first

10、 great poet who wrote in the current English language. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech. V. Popular Ballads. VI. Thomas Malory and English Prose VII. The beginning of English

11、Drama. 1. Miracle Plays. Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th century, reaching its height in the 15th century. The simple lyric character of the early texts was enlar

12、ged by the addition of dialogue and dramatic action. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and the marketplace. 2. Morality Plays. A morality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or lesson by means of the speech and action of characters which are personified abstractions figures r

13、epresenting vices and virtues, qualities of the human mind, or abstract conceptions in general. 3. Interlude. The interlude, which grew out of the morality, was intended, as its name implies, to be used more as filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best it was short, witty, simple

14、 in plot, suited for the diversion of guests at a banquet, or for the relaxation of the audience between the divisions of a serious play. It was essentially an indoors performance, and generally of an aristocratic nature. Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissance I.A Historical Background II.

15、The Overview of the Literature Printing pressreadershipgrowth of middle classtrade-education for laypeople-centralization of power-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus and direction of literature. Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education. Literary style-mod

16、eled on the ancients. The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents. 1. poetry The first tendency by Sidney and Spenser: ornate, florid, highly figured style. The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical stylecomplexity a

17、nd ingenuity. The third tendency by Johnson: reactionClassically pure and restrained style. The fourth tendency by Milton: central Christian and Biblical tradition. 2. Drama a. the native tradition and classical examples. b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe Shakespeare Jonson.

18、 3. Prose a. translation of Bible; b. More; c. Bacon. II. English poetry. 1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard Wyatt: introducing sonnets. Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse. 2. Sir Philip Sidneypoet, critic, prose writer Life: a. English gentleman; b. brilliant and fascin

19、ating personality; c. courtier. works a. Arcadia: pastoral romance; b. Astrophel and Stella : sonnet sequence to Penelope Dvereuxplatonic devotion. Petrarchan conceits and original feelings-moving to creativenessbuilding of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writing. c. Defense of Poes

20、y: an apology for imaginative literaturebeginning of literary criticism. 3. Edmund Spenser life: Cambridge - Sidneys friend - Areopagus Ireland - Westminster Abbey. works a. The Shepherds Calendar: the budding of English poetry in Renaissance. b. Amoretti and Epithalamion: sonnet sequence c. Faerie

21、Queen: l The general endA romantic and allegorical epicsteps to virtue. l 12 books and 12 virtues: Holiness, temperance, justice and courtesy. l Two-level function: part of the story and part of allegory l Many allusions to classical writers. L Themes: puritanism, nationalism, humanism and Renaissan

22、ce Neoclassicisma Christian humanist. Spenserian Stanza. III. English Prose 1. Thomas More Life: Renaissance man, scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer, diplomat, patron of arts a. learned Greek at Canterbury College, Oxford; b. studies law at Lincoln Inn; c. Lord Chancellor; d. beheaded. Utopi

23、a: the first English science fiction. Written in Latin, two parts, the secondplace of nowhere. A philosophical mariner tells his voyages in which he discovers a land-Utopia. a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy. b. The part two is a description of the island

24、 kingdom where gold and silver are worn by criminal, religious freedom is total and no one owns anything. c. the nature of the book: attacking the chief political and social evils of his time. d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way, but it possesses an modern

25、character and the resemblance is in externals. e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century which moved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissance secularism. f. the Utopia the significance. a. it was the first champion of national ideas and national languag

26、es; it created a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artistic material. b. a elegant Latin scholar and the father of English prose: he composed works in English, translated from Latin into English biography, wrote History of Richard III. 2. Francis Bacon: writer, philosopher a

27、nd statesman life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris knighted - Lord Chancellor bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature. philosophical ideas: advancement of sciencepeople: servants and interpreters of naturemethod: a child before naturefacts and observations: experimental. Essays: 57. a. he was

28、a master of numerous and varied styles. b. his method is to weigh and balance maters, indicating the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each, but leaving the reader to make the final decisions. IV. English Drama 1. A general survey. Everyma

29、n marks the beginning of modern drama. two influences. a. the classics: classical in form and English in content; b. native or popular drama. the University Wits. 2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeare and most gifted of the Wits. Life: first interested in classical poetrythe

30、n in drama. Major works a. Tamburlaine; b. The Jew of Malta; c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. The significance of his plays. V. William Shakespeare 1. Life 1564, Stratford-on-Avon; Grammar School; Queen visit to Castle; marriage to Anne Hathaway; London, the Globe Theatre: small part and p

31、roprietor; the 1st Folio, Quarto; Retired, sonHamlet; H. 1616. 2. Dramatic career 3. Major plays-men-centered. Romeo and Juliettragic love and fate The Merchant of Venice. Good over evil. Anti-Semitism. Henry IV. National unity. Falstaff. Julius Caesar Republicanism vs. dictatorship. Hamlet Revenge

32、Good/evil. Othello Diabolic character jealousy gap between appearance and reality. King Lear Filial ingratitude Macbeth Ambition vs. fate. Antony and Cleopatra. Passion vs. reason The Tempest Reconciliation; reality and illusion. 3. Non-dramatic poetry Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece. Sonnets:

33、 a. theme: fair, true, kind. b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in dark complexion. c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet. d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg. VI. Ben Jonson 1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the literary king 2.contribution

34、: the idea of humor. an advocate of classical drama and a forerunner of classicism in English literature. 3. Major plays Everyone in His Humorhumor; three unities. Volpone the Fox Chapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical Background II. The Overview of the Literature 1. The rev

35、olution period The metaphysical poets; The Cavalier poets. Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissance merged with Protestant political and moral conviction 2. The restoration period. The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized by reason, moderation, go

36、od taste, deft management, and simplicity. The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentation promoted by the newly founded Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge were influential in the development of clear and simple prose as an instrument of rational communicati

37、on. The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasize rationalism. The restoration drama. The Age of Dryden. III. John Milton 1. Life: educated at Cambridgevisiting the continentinvolved into the revolutionpersecutedwriting epics. 2. Literary career. The 1st period was up to 1641

38、, during which time he is to be seen chiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism is not absent. LAllegre and IL Pens eroso are his early masterpieces, in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance, a scholar of exquisite taste and rare culture. Next came

39、 Comus, a masque. The greatest of early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a college mate, Edward King. The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in such complete ascendancy that he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began a long period of pamphleteering for

40、the puritan cause. For some 15 years, the Puritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambition to the call of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting. The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan have been fused into an exalted entity. This period is the

41、 greatest in his literary life, epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of the long contest within Milton of Renaissance tradition and his Puritan faith. They form the greatest accomplishments of any English poet except Shakespeare. In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanis

42、m could not extinguish the lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism merged in magnificence. 3. Major Works Paradise Lost a. the plot. b. characters. c. theme: justify the ways of God to man. Paradise Regained. Samson Agonistes. 4. Features of Miltons works. Milton is one of th

43、e very few truly great English writers who is also a prominent figure in politics, and who is both a great poet and an important prose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and his republicanism. Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especia

44、lly a great master of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first used blank verse in non-dramatic works. Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for its dignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study. Milton has always bee

45、n admired for his sublimity of thought and majesty of expression. IV.John Bunyan 1. Life: puritan age; poor family; parliamentary army; Baptist society, preacher; prison, writing the book. 2. The Pilgrim Progress The allegory in dream form. the plot. the theme. V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poe

46、ts. 1. Metaphysical Poets The term metaphysical poetry is commonly used to designate the works of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysical poets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new phil

47、osophies, new sciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from the conventional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for a more colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and the single-minded working out of a theme or argument. 2. Cavalier Poets T

48、he other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. They were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves sons of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals. Cavalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethan lyric without its