Interpretation of “Bartleby”
2012 English Class, 1204402019, Crush Abstract Herman Melville?s tale “Bartleby”is one of those highly acclaimed symbolic short stories in the 19th century. Bartleby is an exploited worker in the capitalistic prison—Wall Street. To some critics, he is “a Thoreau-like practitioner of passive resistance”or “an autobiographical projection of Melville as alienated author.”1In this article, I am going to concentrate on the dark, ruthless commercial society and its defective capitalist values the narrator wants to reveal in “Bartleby”; specifically, I will illustrate how the narrator?s failure to understand the existence of Bartleby and to help him indicates the limitations of rationalism. Further more, I will also try to explain what does Bartleby really need, and how can people really save him from terrible forlornness.
Key words Bartleby society limitation rationalism capitalist values
Melville?s “Bartleby”is narrated by the first-person narrator, as he describes himself, is “a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best…one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men?s bonds and mortgages and title-deeds.” He is quite satisfied with his profitable life. He is proud of himself in his successful business and proudly attached that he was once employed and praised by John Jacob Astor: “All who know me consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next method.”The narrator is a typical business man of Wall Street—the epitome of the increasing urbanized, capital-driven society.
The author does not set Wall Street as the backdrop randomly, but uses it
1(journal articles) Y on-jae Jung, “The Poe-esque Elements in Melville?s…Bartleby the Scrivener?”, Foreign Literature Studies 4 (2009), p. 63.
technically. The word “wall”in Wall Street has its intended symbolic meaning, namely, the ideological barrier which thwarts communication and alienates people from each other not only in body, but also in soul. Meanwhile, the description of the “walls” appears in this story for many times. As Marx Leo2has pointed out, “wall” in “Bartleby” is a kind of image. The recurrent image of the “wall” serves as an epitome to satirize the dark side of the capital-driven society. The first time is to depict about his chambers: “At one end they looked upon the white wall of the interior of a spacious sky-light shaft, penetrating the building from top to bottom…the interval between this wall and mine not a little resembled a huge square cistern”. They are really living in the “concrete forests”. Imagine that when they look up out of their windows, they can see only “an unobstructed view of a lofty brick wall, black by age and everlasting shade” and what dull and suffocating environment they are living in day by day. Are they not like the “prisoners”in those little concrete cells? But the narrator doesn?t realize it and even tries to create more “walls” between himself and his employees: “ground glass folding doors divided my premises into two parts, one of which was occupied by my scriveners, the other by myself”; “Still further to a satisfactory arrangement, I procured a high green very small screen, which might entirely isolate Bartleby from my sight, though not remove him from my voice.”The narrator separates himself from his employees by screen and limits their activities to dull copying and he merely wants them to serve as gofers without any acknowledgment of their liberty. The shrewd reconstructing of this office, just as Y on-jae Jung points out: “creates an atmosphere of separation and division, and contribute to establishing the office as a typical hierarchically structured Wall Street business enterprise”.3
From the narrator?s arrangement of his office, we could reach a conclusion that he to some degree regards his employees as mere tools of making profit. And this point can be further demonstrated in his opinions and attitudes towards his scriveners. We know that he has two persons as copyists, called Turkey and Nippers, both of
2（journal articles）Marx Leo, “Mervilleps Parable of the Walls” , Sewanee Review 61 (1953), 602 -27.
3Y on-jae Jung, 2009, p. 67.
whom bore some unbearable queer habits or characters. But considering about their “values”he didn?t drive them away. He was willing to overlook Turkey?s eccentricities after twelve o?clock because the old copyist was “in many ways a most valuable person” during his period of productivity: “all the time before twelve o?clock, meridian, he was the quickest, steadiest creature, accomplishing a great deal of work in a style not easily to be matched”. Like Turkey, Nippers was also regarded by the narrator “a very useful man”who “wrote a neat swift hand”and also “was not deficient in a gentlemanly sort of deportment” and “always dressed in a gentlemanly sort of way”which “reflected credit upon” the narrator?s business. And when he had fully noticed Bartle?s weird behaviors and began to reconsider about this man, he told himself that “He is useful to me”and “to befriend Bartleby…will cost me little or nothing”. He at first considered Bartleby as “a valuable acquisition” because of “his steadiness, his freedom from all dissipation, his incessant industry”. In my opinion, these judgments made towards his clerks reflect his pragmatism and the typical capitalist values—there is only eternal interest relationship between people. To a certain extent, he judges people merely by the potential values they could bring about. As Wilson James C. has put out, the lawyer?s repeated use of the word “value”, “use”and “cos t”indicates that in the lawyer?s perspective“everything becomes a matter of profit and loss”4
Although he claimed that he had been struck by Bartleby?s melancholy, which made him gloomed that both himself and Bartleby were “sons of Adam”, and he had recalled the divine injunction in The Bible: “A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another”, but as far as I am concerned, the narrator is a little bit hypocritical. Under the clothes of the principle of sweet charity, he tried to act up to moral and religious doctrine: “there is no vulgar bulling, no bravado of any sort…nothing of that kind.” Nevertheless, his all sorts of lofty and gracious behaviors were a kind of investment: he just wanted to feel relieved about himself conscientiously and, as he confessed himself, to “cheaply purchase a delicious
4(journal articles)Wilson James C., “Bartleby: The Walls of Wall Street”, Arizona Quarterly 37 (W inter 1981), p. 335.
self-approval”. In spite of his kind-hearted intentions towards Bartleby at first, he finally decided to get rid of him and the direct reason was his worry that keeping him as a strange creature will scandalize his professional reputation. He may not be a man of vanity, but is absolutely keen on face-saving. Also from those lawyers and witnesses and businessmen who whisper and wonder about Bartle in the office—their indifferent features, we can easily get a glimpse of how the dark society has influenced people who live in it and reduced them to such ruthless men.
“Bartleby”not only objects to the hypocrisy and utilitarianism of the capitalist religion, but also profoundly reveals the limitations of rationalism. In the opposite relation between rationality and irrationality, the two terms seem to be equal at the ends of the scale. However, in the operation of the specific social ideology, the former is endowed with affirmative significance, while the latter is in most cases spurned.
Specifically, to Bartleby, accepting money and the admonition, doing as he was commanded, is considered to be rational. Otherwise, his resistance to work is a sign of being irrational. When the narrator asked Bartleby to help him examine a paper and got the reply “I prefer not to” for the first time, his instant thought was that his ear had deceived him or Bartleby had misunderstood his meaning, for he couldn?t believe that he should say so. And he began to reason with him, trying to persuade him by putting out his set of rational rules. He said, “These are your own copies…Every copyist is bound to help examine his own copy.”
There is no doubt that the narrator was living in a grid-shaped world made up of standard norms. He tried to attribute every unreadable thing to reasonable factors. For example, he sorted another two scriveners into different classes: Turkey was idle, noisy and reckless after twelve o?clock probably because he had drunk in the noon; and Nippers was irritable and insolent in the morning inasmuch he had indigestion. As to Bartleby, the narrator expected that his behavior, like Turkey?s and Nippers?, also have some regular patterns to follow: the agony in soul might be explained by the disease in body; the complex symptom in the subjective spiritual world might be simplified through the appearance of the objective material universe. Old lawyer
found a variety of reasons: the dull and tiresome work, the physical disease or the visual loss resulted from the dim light, and so on, to explain the anomalous behavior of Bartleby. However, in this case—when he was “browbeaten in some unprecedented and violently unreasonable way”, he began to “stagger in his own plainest faith” and surmise that “wonderful as it may be, all the justice and all the reason is on the other side.”
Rationality has its fatal limitations. It is sometimes even against humanity. Bartleby was “one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable”. In other words, his independence from the society can?t be interpreted by rational reasons. It was love, care and humanity that the society really needed if it was to understand and save Bartleby. However, this society was estimated according to truth and false, rationality and irrationality. The promotion of the former and the suppression of the latter leaded to the inevitability of Bartleby?s death. He?s fate was doomed to be grinded by the wheel of rationality.
Bartleby died because the narrator let him die. The narrator bribed the grub-man to take care of him and offer the best food for him. Bartleby, as might be expected, preferred “not to dine”at that time and wanted nothing to do with the narrator. As William Slaughter5put out: “Bartle was starving, but not for money. For love.”
What Bartleby really needed is love. However, the narrator failed to do what he had power to do. But the narrator might not have realized that he had such power until his death. Actually there are several conspicuous hints in Bartleby?s words which told people that he was longing for love and friendship from common humanity. At the period just preceding Bartleby?s sent into the Tombs, when the narrator asked him would him like to do some other jobs and make a change to his current life, I believer not only me, but all readers must be surprised that Bartleby spoke more words than before:
“What are you doing here, Bartleby?” said I.192
“Sitting upon the banister,” he mildly replied.193
5 (journal articles) William Slaughter, “Bartleby and The Anclent Mariner: Parallel Texts”, Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages 1 (1989), p. 2.
I motioned him into the lawyer’s room, who then left us.194
“Bartleby,” said I, “are you aware that you are the cause of great tribulation to me, by persisting in occupying the entry after being dismissed from the office?”195
No answer. 196
“Now one of two things must take place. Either you must do som ething, or something must be done to you. Now what sort of business would you like to engage in? Would you like to re-engage in copying for some one?”197
“No; I would prefer not to make any change.”198
“Would you like a clerkship in a dry-goods sto re?”199
“There is too much confinement about that. No, I would not like a clerkship; but I am not particular.”200
“Too much confinement,” I cried, “why you keep yourself confined all the time!”201
“I would prefer not to take a clerkship,” he rejoined, as if to settle that little item at once.
202
“How would a bar-tender’s business suit you? There is no trying of the eyesight in that.”
203
“I would not like it at all; though, as I said before, I am not particular.”204
His unwonted wordiness inspirited me. I returned to the charge. 205
“Well then, would you like to travel through the country collecting bills for the merchants? That would improve your health.”206
“No, I would prefer to be doing something else.”207
“How then woul d going as a companion to Europe, to entertain some young gentleman with your conversation,—how would that suit you?”208
“Not at all. It does not strike me that there is any thing definite about that. I like to be stationary. But I am not particular.”209
It seems that the narrator?s tolerance and mild attitudes towards him had some good effects on this poor creature; Bartleby was more willing to reveal his thoughts. But he might be stricken and hurt too seriously in his past job as a subordinate clerk in the Dead Letter Office; he was afraid of adventures and changing and preferred a stationary life. Some people may be doubtful that his word “but I am not particular” is totally contradictory to his unwillingness to do this, to do that or to do anything e lse but staying unchanged—he was not unparticular at all, but rather was too particular. However, in my opinion, such behavior was his silent declaration that he needed nothing but love. He was not particular about his job, but he was afraid that there was no humanity in his job. If the narrator continued to help him in his solitary life and offered love and care in his freezing soul, there was great possibility that the ice made by despair would melt away some day. At least he was willing to speak more words now—wa sn?t it a hint that there was more hope dwelling within him?
As the narrator said about Bartleby, he was “billed upon me for some mysterious purpose of an all-wise Providence, which it was not for a mere mortal like to fathom”. That mysterious purpose was to teach the narrator to love. But the narrator had not yet grasped it. He had not really comprehended that he and Bartleby are both “sons of Adam” and share “the bond of a common humanity”
Impotence about Bartleby?s misfortune as he was, the old lawyer was restless in his heart for the conscience stirs. That is why the narrator wrote down Bartleby?s story. Since he had failed to redeem himself via helping the poor creature thoroughly when he was alive, he hoped that he could be redeemed by making sense of him after his death.
All told, the narrator, as a representative middleclass immersed in such a relentless capitalist society, was incontinently influenced by bourgeois ideology. While we probably do not condone his bad behavior towards Bartleby, at least we might understand it. Actually, the depiction of the little depressive story happened in the little law office is also the poignant portrait of the 19th century capitalist society. Melville is not simply against the commercialization, but rather is criticizing the impersonality of the business society that rules America.
一．中古英语时期 ?Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, and the most important specimen (范例、典范)of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. ?The romance is a popular literary form in the medieval period（中世纪）. It uses verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. ?Geoffrey?Chaucer, one?of the greatest English poets, whose masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales（《坎特伯雷故事集》）,was one of the most important influences on the development of English literature. ?Chaucer is considered as the father of English poetry and the founder of English realism. 二．文艺复兴Renaissance ?Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. It marks a transition(过渡) from the medieval to the modern world. ?It started in Italy with the flowering of painting, sculpture（雕塑）and literature, and then spread to the rest of Europe. ?Humanism is the essence of Renaissance -----Man is the measure of all things. ?This was England’s Golden Age in literature. Queen Elizabeth reigned over the country in this period. The real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama. The most famous dramatists in the Renaissance England ? ?“Of Studies” is the most popular of Bacon’s 58 essays. ?Thomas More ——Utopia ?Edmund Spenser——The Faerie Queene 相关练习 ? 1. Which is the oldest poem in the English language? ? A. Utopia B. Faerie Queene ? C. Beowulf D. Hamlet ? 2. _____ is the father of English poetry. ? A. Edmund Spenser B. William Shakespeare ? C. Francis Bacon D. Geoffrey Chaucer ? 3. ____ is not a playwright during the Renaissance period on England. ? A. William Shakespeare B. Geoffrey Chaucer ? C. Christopher Marlowe D. Ben Johnson 三．莎士比亚William Shakespeare ?“All the world 's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”——William Shakespeare ?William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright in the world and the finest poet who has written in the English language. Shakespeare understood people more than any other writers. He could create characters that have
《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 V illage” (poem) (both two poems were written by heroic couplet), “The Vicar of Wakefield” (novel), “The Good-Natured Man” (comedy), “She stoops to Conquer” (comedy),
Unit 1 Geoffrey Chaucer 1343-1400 夏雨给大地带来了喜悦送走了土壤干裂的三月沐浴着草木的丝丝经络顿时百花盛开生机勃勃西风轻吹留下清香缕缕田野复苏吐出芳草绿绿碧蓝的天空腾起一轮红日青春的太阳洒下万道金辉小鸟的歌喉多么清脆优美迷人的夏夜怎好安然入睡美丽的自然撩拨万物的心弦多情的鸟儿歌唱爱情的欣欢香客盼望膜拜圣徒的灵台僧侣立愿云游陌生的滨海信徒来自全国东西南北众人结伴奔向坎特伯雷去朝谢医病救世的恩主以缅怀大恩大德的圣徒那是个初夏方临的日子我到泰巴旅店投宿歇息怀着一颗虔诚的赤子心我准备翌日出发去朝圣黄昏前后华灯初上时分旅店院里涌入很多客人二十九人来自各行各业不期而遇都到旅店过夜这些香客人人虔心诚意次日要骑马去坎特伯雷客房与马厩宽敞又洁净店主的招待周到而殷勤夕阳刚从地平线上消失众人同我已经相互结识大家约好不等鸡鸣就起床迎着熹微晨光干燥把路上可是在我叙述故事之前让我占用诸位一点时间依我之见似乎还很必要把每人的情况作些介绍谈谈他们从事什么行业社会地位属于哪个阶层容貌衣着举止又是如何那么我就先把骑士说说骑士的人品出众而且高尚自从军以来就驰骋于疆场待人彬彬有礼大度而豪爽珍惜荣誉节操和骑士风尚为君主效命创辉煌战绩所到国家之远无人能比转战于基督和异教之邦因功勋卓著缕缕受表彰他攻打过亚历山大利亚在普鲁士庆功宴上有他这位佼佼者多次坐首席从立陶宛直打到俄罗斯同级的骑士都大为逊色攻克阿给西勒有他一个还出征到过柏尔玛利亚夺取烈亚斯和萨塔利亚他还
多次游弋于地中海跟随登陆大军将敌战败十五次比武他大显身手为捍卫信仰而浴血奋斗在战场上三次杀死敌将高贵的武士美名传四方他还侍奉过柏拉西亚国君讨伐另一支土耳其异教军没有一次不赢得最高荣誉他骁勇善战聪慧而不痴愚他温柔顺从像个大姑娘一生无论是在什么地方对谁也没有讲过半个脏字堪称一个完美的真骑士他有一批俊美的千里马但是他的衣着朴实无华开价的底下是结识的布衣上上下下到处是斑斑污迹他风尘仆仆刚从战场归来片刻未休息就急忙去朝拜 Unit 2 William Shakespeare 1564-1616 生存或毁灭这是个必答之问题是否应默默的忍受坎苛命运之无情打击还是应与深如大海之无涯苦难奋然为敌并将其克服此二抉择就竟是哪个较崇高死即睡眠它不过如此倘若一眠能了结心灵之苦楚与肉体之百患那么此结局是可盼的死去睡去但在睡眠中可能有梦啊这就是个阻碍当我们摆脱了此垂死之皮囊在死之长眠中会有何梦来临它令我们踌躇使我们心甘情愿的承受长年之灾否则谁肯容忍人间之百般折磨如暴君之政骄者之傲失恋之痛法章之慢贪官之侮或庸民之辱假如他能简单的一刃了之还有谁会肯去做牛做马终生疲於操劳默默的忍受其苦其难而不远走高飞飘於渺茫之境倘若他不是因恐惧身后之事而使他犹豫不前此境乃无人知晓之邦自古无返者所以「理智」能使我们成为懦夫而「顾虑」能使我们本来辉煌之心志变得黯然无光像个病夫再之这些更能坏大事乱大谋使它们失去魄力第二场同前凯普莱特家的花园罗密欧上罗密欧没有受过伤的才会讥笑别人身上的创痕朱丽叶自上方
I. Each of the following below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the one that would bet complete the statement. 1. The long poem ______ in Anglo-Saxon period was termed England’s national epic. A. The Canterbury Tales B. Paradise Lost C. The Song of Beowulf D. The Fairy Queen 2. Romance, which uses verse or prose to describe the adventures and life of the knights, is the popular literary form in ______. A. Romanticism B. Renaissance C. medieval period D. Anglo-Saxon period 3. Among the great Middle English poets, Geoffrey Chaucer is known for his production of____. A. Piers Plowman B. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight C. Confessio Amantis D. The Canterbury Tales 4. _______ is regarded as the father of English poetry. A. Geoffrey Chaucer B. Edmund Spenser C. John Milton D. W. Wordsworth 5. It is _____ alone who, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. A. Geoffrey Chaucer B. Martin Luther C. William Shakespeare D. John Gower 6. One of Chaucer’s main contributions to English poetry is ______. A. he introduced the rhymed stanzas from France to English poetry B. he created striking brilliant panorama of his time and his country C. he wrote in blank verse D. he was the first to write sonnet 7. During the Renaissance, _______ was the first one to introduce the sonnet into English poetry. A. Chaucer B. John Donne C. Thomas Wyatt D. Earl of Surrey 8. During the Renaissance, _______ wrote the first English blank verse. A. Chaucer B. Edmund Spencer C. Thomas Wyatt D. Earl of Surrey 9. Which of the following historical events does not directly help to stimulate the rising of the Renaissance Movement？ A. The rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture B. The new discoveries in geography and astrology C. The Glorious revolution D. The religious reformation and the economic expansion 10. 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. 11. Generally, the Renaissance refers to the period between ______ and ______ centuries. A. 14th...mid-17th B. 14th...mid-18th C. 16th...mid-18th D. 16th...mid-17th 12. 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 13. _______ frequently applied conceits in his poems. A. Edmund Spenser B. John Donne C. William Blake D. Thomas Gray 14. _______ is known as “the poet’s poet”. A. William Shakespeare B. Christopher Marlowe C. Edmund Spenser D. John Donne 15. Romance，which uses narrative verse or prose to tell stories of____ adventures or other heroic deeds，is a popular literary form in the medieval period. A. Christian B. knightly C. pilgrims D. primitive 16. ________ and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanism. A. Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe B. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe
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
Interpretation of “Bartleby” 2012 English Class, 1204402019, Crush Abstract Herman Melville?s tale “Bartleby”is one of those highly acclaimed symbolic short stories in the 19th century. Bartleby is an exploited worker in the capitalistic prison—Wall Street. To some critics, he is “a Thoreau-like practitioner of passive resistance”or “an autobiographical projection of Melville as alienated author.”1In this article, I am going to concentrate on the dark, ruthless commercial society and its defective capitalist values the narrator wants to reveal in “Bartleby”; specifically, I will illustrate how the narrator?s failure to understand the existence of Bartleby and to help him indicates the limitations of rationalism. Further more, I will also try to explain what does Bartleby really need, and how can people really save him from terrible forlornness. Key words Bartleby society limitation rationalism capitalist values Melville?s “Bartleby”is narrated by the first-person narrator, as he describes himself, is “a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best…one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men?s bonds and mortgages and title-deeds.” He is quite satisfied with his profitable life. He is proud of himself in his successful business and proudly attached that he was once employed and praised by John Jacob Astor: “All who know me consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next method.”The narrator is a typical business man of Wall Street—the epitome of the increasing urbanized, capital-driven society. The author does not set Wall Street as the backdrop randomly, but uses it 1(journal articles) Y on-jae Jung, “The Poe-esque Elements in Melville?s…Bartleby the Scrivener?”, Foreign Literature Studies 4 (2009), p. 63.
英国文学史 Part one: Early and Medieval English Literature Chapter 1 The Making of England 1. The early inhabitants in the island now we call England were Britons, a tribe of Gelts. 2. In 55 B.C., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar. The Roman occupation lasted for about 400 years. It was also during the Roman role that Christianity was introduced to Britain. And in 410 A.D., all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never returned. 3. The English Conquest At the same time Britain was invaded by swarms of pirates（海盗）. They were three tribes from Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. And by the 7th century these small kingdoms were combined into a United Kingdom called England, or, the land of Angles. And the three dialects spoken by them naturally grew into a single language called Anglo -Saxon, or Old English. 4. The Social Condition of the Anglo -Saxon Therefore, the Anglo -Saxon period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudalism. 5. Anglo -Saxon Religious Belief and Its Influence The Anglo -Saxons were Christianized in the seventh century. Chapter 2 Beowulf 1. Anglo -Saxon Poetry But there is one long poem of over 3,000 lines. It is Beowulf, the national epic of the English people. Grendel is a monster described in Beowulf. 3. Analysis of Its Content Beowulf is a folk lengend brought to England by Anglo -Saxons from their continental homes. It had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of years before it was written down in the tenth century. 4. Features of Beowulf The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration, metaphors and understatements. Chapter 3 Feudal England 1）T he Norman Conquest 2. The Norman Conquest The French -speaking Normans under Duke William came in 1066. After defeating the English at Hastings, William was crowned as King of England. The Norman Conquest marks the establishment of feudalism in England.
《英国文学史及作品选读》教学大纲 一、课程说明 1. 课程中文名称：英国文学史及作品选读 2 课程英文名称：History and Selected Readings of English Literature 3. 课程总学时数：32 4. 课程学分数： 2 5. 授课对象：英语专业本科学生 6. 本课程的性质、地位和作用 本课程为面向英语专业高年级（三年级）学生开设的一门专业选修课，在学科体系中居重要地位。要求学生以先修英语阅读、综合英语、英美文化和英美概况等课程为基础。通过教学，使学生对英国文学有一个概观了解，同时初步培养学生对英国文学作品的鉴赏能力，增强学生对西方文学及文化的了解。该课程有助于增强学生的语言基本功，丰富学生的人文知识、充实学生的文化修养，提高学生的精神素质。 二、教学基本要求 1. 本课程的目的、任务 英国文学史及文学作品包含着历史的记忆和哲学的睿智，是英语语言艺术的结晶。本课程旨在介绍英国文学各个时期的主要文化思潮，文学流派，主要作家及其代表作，使学生对英国文学的发展脉络有一个大概的了解和认识，提高他们对文学作品的阅读鉴赏能力，并能掌握文学批评的基本知识和方法。要求学生在阅读和分析英国文学作品的基础上了解英国的历史、社会、政治等方面的情况及传统，促进学生对西方文学及文化的了解，提高学生对文化差异的敏感性、宽容性，培养学生对作品的洞察批判能力，从而丰富提升学生人文素养。 2. 本课程的教学要求 了解英国文学的发展概况，熟悉发展过程中出现的历史事件，文学思潮，文学流派；熟悉具体作家的文学生涯，创作思想，艺术特色和所属流派；能读懂代表作家的经典作品，并能分析评介作品的主题思想，人物形象，篇章结构、语言
.. ;.. 一．中古英语时期 Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, and the most important specimen (范例、典范)of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. The romance is a popular literary form in the medieval period（中世纪）. It uses verse or prose to sing knightly a dventures or other heroic deeds. Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the greatest English poets, whose masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales（《坎特伯雷故事集》）,was one of the most important influences on the development of English literature. Chaucer is considered as the father of English poetry and the founder of English realism. 二．文艺复兴Renaissance Renaissance r efers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. It marks a transition(过渡) from the medieval to the modern world. It started in Italy with the flowering of painting, sculpture（雕塑）and literature, and then spread to the rest of Europe. Humanism is the essence of Renaissance -----Man is the measure of all things. This was England’s Golden Age in literature. Queen Elizabeth r eigned over the country in this period. The real mainstream of the English Renaissance i s the Elizabethan drama. The most famous dramatists in the Renaissance E ngland are Christopher Marlowe and W illiam Shakespeare. The greatest of the pioneers of English drama was Christopher Marlowe. Francis Bacon was the best known essayist of this period. “Of Studies” is the most popular of Bacon’s 58 essays. Thomas More ——Utopia Edmund Spenser——The Faerie Queene 相关练习 1. Which is the oldest poem in the English language? A. Utopia B. Faerie Queene C. Beowulf D. Hamlet 2. _____ is the father of English poetry. A. Edmund Spenser B. William Shakespeare C. Francis Bacon D. Geoffrey Chaucer 3. ____ is not a playwright during the Renaissance period on England. A. William Shakespeare B. Geoffrey Chaucer C. Christopher Marlowe D. Ben Johnson 三．莎士比亚William Shakespeare “All t he world 's a stage, a nd all the men and women merely p layers.”——William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright in the world and the finest poet who has written in the English language. Shakespeare understood people more than any other writers. He could create characters that have
2018年自学《英国文学选读》试题及答案 1. What are Shakespeare ’s achievements? a. Shakespeare represented the trend of history in giving voice to de desires and aspirations of the people. b. Shakespeare’s humanism: more important than his historical sense of his time, Shakespeare in his plays reflects the spirit of his age. c. Shakespeare’s characterization: Shakespeare was most successful in his characterization. In his plays he described a great number of characters. d. Shakespeare’s originality: Shakespeare drew most of his materials from sources that were known to his audienc e. But his plays are original because he instilled into the old materials a new spirit that gives new life to his plays. e. Shakespeare as a great poet: Shakespeare was not only a great dramatist, but also a great poet. Apart from his sonnets and long poems, his dramas are poetry. f. Shakespeare as master of the English language. 2. What are the basic characteristics of ballads? a. The beginning is often abrupt. b. There are strong dramatic elements. c. The story is often told through dialogue and action. d. The theme is often tragic, though there are a number of comic