英国文学1

Caedmon---he is the first known religious poet of England. He is known as the father of English songs. His life story is vividly described in Bede’s The Ecclesiastical History of the English People. His first poem is The Hymn of Praise. He composed many other poems by using the biblical material.Alfred the Great---king of Wessex kingdom. He is another important figure in prose writing of Anglo-Saxon period. He was a well-known translator. He translated some important Latin works into English, among which, the most important is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This book records the main happenings of the Anglo-Saxon period. It is the best monument of the Old English prose. Beowulf---It is the oldest poem in the English language. It is the most important specimen of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. It consists of more than 3,000 lines. It had been passed form mouth to mouth for hundreds off years before it was written down in the 10th century or at the end of the 9th century. The main stories in the poem are based on the folk legends of the primitive northern tribes. Writing Features---1) It is not a Christian but a pagan poem, despite the Christian flavor given to it by the monastery scribe who wrote it down. It is the product of an advanced pagan civilization. The whole poem presents to us an all-round picture of the tribal society. The social conditions and customs can be clearly seen in the poem. It helps us a lot when we study the primitive society off Europe. So the poem has a great social significance. 2) The use of strong stresses and the predominance of consonants are notable in the poetical lines. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half is made to have two heavy stresses. 3) The use of alliteration is another notable feature of the poem. Three stressed syllables of each line are arranged in alliteration, which makes the whole line even more emphatic.4) A lot of metaphors and understatements are used in the poem.Romance----The romance was the prevailing literary form in the medieval period. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse and sometimes in prose, which described the life and adventures of a noble hero. Its essential features are the following: 1) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality. 2) It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealises the virtues. 3) It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life. 4) It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady. 5) The central character of the romance is the knight who is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, or taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the church and the king. The romance, as a literary genre, prospered for about 300 years (1200-1500). It was written for the upper class, so it had little to do with the common people. Romance cycles: the matter of Britain, the matter of Rome, the matter of France. The master works of romance is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.The Norman conquest----In October 1066, the Duke of Normandy William the Great led the Norman army to attack England. The two armies met and fought at Hastings. Finally the English army was defeated. William and his men marched speedily into London and William became the king of England. Its consequences---William the Conqueror confiscated almost all the land and gave it to his Norman followers. He replaced the weak Saxon rule with a strong Norman government. So the feudal system was completely established in England. After the Norman conquest, chivalry was introduced into England. The knightly code, the romantic interest in women, tenderness and reverence paid to Virgin Mary were reflected in the literature of that period. English language was made a despised thing as the leading language used by the ruling class and a large number of French words entered the English language. Latin was used by the scholars and clergymen. Three languages existed in England then.William Langland ------his masterpiece is Piers Plowman. Artistic Features of the poem---1) It is written in the form of a dream vision. The author tells the stories under the guise of having dreamed them. 2) The poem is an allegory that relates truth through symbolism. 3) The poet uses indignant satire in his description of social abuses caused by corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular. 4) The poem is written in alliteration. Social Significance of Piers Plowman----Piers Plowman, the hero of the story, is not a representative of the poor peasants. He is one of the well-to-do peasants. He has no intention of upsetting the feudal order of society, and he accepts the existing social relations. This is the limitation of the poem. In spite of that, Piers Plowman remains a classic in popular literature. It praises the poor peasants, and condemns and exposes the sins of the oppressors. It was very popular in the 14th and 15th centuries. It played an important part in arousing the revolutionary sentiment on the eve of the uprising of 1381 headed by Wat Tyler and John Ball. It gives us a realistic social picture of medieval England. Geoffrey Chaucer-------He is acclaimed not only as the father of English poetry but also as the father of English fiction. His literary career can be divided in to three periods. 1) The first period, about 30 years, including his youth and early manhood, is the period of French influence. In this period, he translated The Romaunt of the Rose, the most popular poem of Middle Ages, from French into English. 2) The second period, about 15 years, covers Chaucer’s active life as a diplomat and man of affairs. In this period, Italian influence seemed to be stronger than the French. The major works were adaptations from Italian writers in this period. His masterwork is Troilus and Criseyde. 3) The third period, covering his last 15 years, is generally known as the English period. His masterpiece is The Canterbury Tales. In this great work, the author gives his reader a picture of English society in Middle Ages. Features of Chaucer’s writing-----Chaucer’s language is vivid and exact. His style is flexible. His prose is easy and informal. He uses mild satire when he deals with people’s foibles and weaknesses. He uses rhyming couplet, which he introduced from France, in writing his major poems. He is the first great writer to use the dialect of London in writing. The social significance of Canterbury Tales----- In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer draws a true-to-life picture of English feudal society of his day. Taking the stand of the rising bourgeoisie, he affirms man’s right to pursue happiness and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the church. As one of the forerunners of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirise the social evils of his day. They criticize the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, and the corruption of the church.Popular Ballads----popular ballads are originally dance songs. They are little stories in verse form, which can be sung or recited by the common people. The origin of the English and Scottish ballads is obscure. Usually they are anonymous, and are handed down orally for many generations. They are simple and crude in story and highly condensed and dramatic in presentation. In the 15th century, there were several kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. Popular ballads were found all over Europe in that period, but a particularly fertile soil was the border area between England and Scotland, for once many bloody battles were fought between the English and Scots there, such as Robin Hood.Morality play----It is an allegory in dramatic form. It is a dramatization of the battle between the forces of good and evil in the human soul. A well-known example is Everyman.Renaissance -------The original meaning of the word “renaissance” was the “rebirth’ of classical Greek and Latin literature. The term is commonly applied to the historical period which followed the Middle Ages. Renaissance period was thought to be in contrast with the Middle Ages, whichwas considered and inhibited by dogmatic theology. Renaissance was extolled as learned, civilized, broad-minded, progressive, enlightened and free-thinking. Italy is customarily taken as the starting place of Renaissance. Later, the movement spread northward to other European countries—to France, to Germany, to the Low Countries, and lastly to England. English Renaissance started in the late 15th century or the early 16th century. In Renaissance period, great achievements were made by painters, writers, sculptors, architects, scientists, philosophers and astronomers. The famous writers in this period are: Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio in Italy; Erasmus in the Netherlands; Montaigne, Rabelais and the poets of the Pleiad in France; Lope de Vega and Cervantes in Spain; Sir Thomas More, Thomas Wyatt, Edmund Spenser, Philip Sidney, Shakespeare and Francis Bacon in England.Sir Philip Sidney------He is known for three principal works. 1) Arcadia----It is a long prose-verse pastoral romance, written for the entertainment of Sidney’s sister. In this romance, the poet praises the delights of rural life and the love of the young people, and expresses his aspiration for a peaceful and happy life. 2) Astrophel and Stella-----This work is a collection of songs and sonnets. It consists of 108 sonnets and 11 songs. 3) An Apology for Poetry---It is one of the earliest English critical literary essays. It was written to answer a pamphlet called The School of Abuse, an attack on poetry and drama.University wits: a name given to a group of writers who flourished in London in the last 20 years or so of the 16th century. All of members of this group were oxford or Cambridge university graduates, the most notable of them were: Marlowe, Nash, Greene, Lyly, Lodge and Peele. They were famous for writing comedies and tragedies.Edmund Spenser: He is often referred to as “the poets’poet”because of his influence on later poets is considerable. He is generally acknowledged to be the greatest non-dramatic poet of the Elizabethan age. Major work: The Shepherd’s Calendar pastoral poem in twelve books, one for each month a year. The Shepherd in the poem represent the poet and his friends. It is Spenser’s first important poem, which consists of 12 eclogues and is written in different metres. All 12 eclogues, with the exception of the first and the last, are in dialogue form. The theme of love is the dominant one. And the more significant eclogues are those on the theme of religion. The poem demonstrates Spenser’s skilful mastery of a variety of meters and his innovative efforts also showed that the traditional form of pastoral could be adapted to a variety of subjects, moral or heroic. The Faerie Queen is a long poem planned in 12 books, of which he finished only 6. The work was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. The plan of the whole poem is a stranger in distress appears, claiming help against a dragon or giant. A knight is assigned to each guest, and the 12 books were to describe the 12 adventures of 12 knights who stand for 12 different virtues, as Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice and Courtesy. The dominating thoughts of the poem are nationalism, humanism and Puritanism. For The Faerie Queen, Spenser originated a nine-line verse stanza. The verse has 8 iambic pentameter lines followed by a 9th line of 6 iambic feet, with the rhyme scheme abab bcbc c. This verse, the “Spenserian Stanze” is justly famous and has often been used since. (characteristics of Spenser’s poetry:1.a perfect melody. 2. a rare sense of beauty.3.a splendid imagination.4.a lofty moral purity and seriousness.5.a dedicated idealism. In addition to above, Spenser uses strange forms of speech and obsolete words in order to increase his rustic effect.) William Shakespeare The second period: he wrote four histories: RichardⅡ, Henry Ⅳ,par tⅠ＆Ⅱ,and Henryⅴ;6 comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Twelfth Night and The Merry Wives ofWindsor, and two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar. It is a period of “great Comedies” and mature historical plays. The general spirit of this period is optimism. Meantime, there is sorrow, there is pathos and there is sin; the innocent may suffer, the guilty may go unpunished for a time, and even find good fortune; but virtue, nevertheless, shall have its reward and triumph in the end, and the wrong shall disappear before the force of good. In the historical plays of this period, different phases of English life are shown before us: kings and princes, statesmen and courtiers, the rich citizen life and the life of the tavern, and the adventures of rogues and cheats, as a whole, this period is Shakespeare’s sweet and joyful time, in which he succeeds in portraying a magnificent panorama of the manifold pursuits of people in real life.(great tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth great comedies: As you like it, Twelfth night, A mid-summer night’s dream, Merchant of Venice ) Features of Shakespeare’s Dramatic Works--- 1) Shakespeare is a realist. He is one of the founders of realism in English literature. His plays are mirrors of his age, reflecting the major contradictions of that time. He described the decaying of the feudal society and the rising of the bourgeois spirit. 2) In his plays, Shakespeare also clearly reflected the contradictions between the rich and the poor. He showed his sympathy to the poor people and disclosed the greed and cruelty of the upper class. 3) The story of Shakespeare’s plays often took place in other countries or in the past instead of in England or in his own age. 4) Shakespeare’s main characters are depicted in typical situations. They are typical characters. Their fundamental traits are revealed their conflicts with their surroundings, in their relations with they fellowmen. 5) Shakespeare’s dramatic form fits the content of his plays very well. His plays are not controlled by the rules of the classical unities of time, place and action. A plays covers several days or years. 6) In order to reproduce the manifold images of life, Shakespeare used peculiar combination in his drama: combination of majestic and funny, of poetic and prosaic, of tragic and comic. 7) Shakespeare was a great master of English language. The language of each of his characters fits his position in society and reveals the peculiarities of his character. He commanded a vocabulary larger than any other English writer. 8) Shakespeare is also a great poet. He was skilled in many poetic forms. He could write songs, lyrics, sonnets, couplets, quatrains, and blank verse. Influence------ 1) He is a universal poet. His genius includes all the world of nature and of man. He has been given the highest praise by various scholars and critics all over the world. 2) Shakespeare’s plays have been so widely read and so carefully studied that all English writers of any importance cannot escape form Shakespeare’s influence, either directly or indirectly, either in thought, content, or in poetic form or language. Moreover, he has been known all the world and his works have been translated into many different languages and consequently exerted great influences upon many writers in many countries. 3) As a great artist, Shakespeare was more than the supreme representative of a great era. Ben Jonson’s famous observation that “he was not of an age, but for all time” has stood the test of more than three centuries.Restoration comedy: the kind of drama which prevailed between the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660 and early 18th century. It was chiefly concerned with presenting a society of elegance and stylishness. Its characters were gallants, ladies and gentlemen of fashion and rank, fops, rakes, social climbers and country bumpkins. Witty, urbane and sometimes licentious, it dealt with the intricacies of sexual and marital intrigue and also with adultery and cuckoldry. Wycherley’s The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer; and Congreve’s The Double Dealer and The Way of the World are example.Francis Bacon------ When Bacon published in 1597 his first collection of short Essays, he became the first English “essayist”. His “scientific” style introduced to England a form of writing that was easy to understand, precise in language and diversified in topics. Bacon wrote prose in an age of poetry, when men around him were composing songs, sonnets and plays in verse, his pioneering efforts made essay writing a popular form in England.Bacon’s works-----1) the philosophical works: The Advancement of Learning (In this work, it deals with the accomplishments of science up to his time.) The New Instrument (Bacon describes the method by which knowledge could be universalized,) 2) the literary works of Bacon are his essays. They are noted for their style and striking observations of life. They are the first true English prose classics. 3) the professional works: Essays (among these essays the famous pieces are Of Study, Of Travel, and Of Wisdom) Generally speaking, Bacon’s literary style has three prominent qualities: directness, terseness and forcefulness.。

第二节18世纪英国文学一、概述在世纪初，现实主义小说登上文坛，在长达五十余年的发展中，产生了笛福、斯威夫特、理查逊、菲尔丁、高尔斯密、斯泰恩等一批出色的小说家，它代表18世纪英国文学的最高成就，也使英国文学在整体上达到欧洲同一时期的最高水平。

18世纪中后期，具有感伤主义色彩的墓园诗派出现繁荣局面，哥特式小说也展露异彩。

18世纪后期，彭斯和布莱克的诗歌唱了浪漫主义先声。

启蒙主义是18世纪英国文学的思想主轴。

18世纪英国启蒙文学具有发展的特点。

前期相信理性的绝对权威，力图在现存社会结构内树立美德，创造自由。

英国启蒙文学发生在资产阶级革命之后，它所面临的主要任务是全面确立资本主义社会的伦理规范。

三、现实主义小说与戏剧1、产生背景：（1）哲学基础；（2）印刷技术的改进与廉价读物的出现；（3）大量普通读者出现。

2、丹尼尔·笛福（Daniel Defoe, 1660－1731）及《鲁滨逊漂流记》（Robinson Crusoe, 1719）《鲁滨逊漂流记》写鲁宾逊在海外荒岛的冒险开拓经历，那种试图单枪匹马与未知世界斗争的开拓本能，敢于挑战极限的精神，开天辟地的气魄和勇气宣示了个人英雄主义时代的来临。

3、撒姆尔·理查逊（Samuel Richardson, 1689－1761）有书信体小说《帕米拉》（Pamela, 1739－1740），以及小说《克莱丽莎》（Clarissa, 1747－1748）。

《帕米拉》：贵族B先生、女仆帕米拉。

小说中对阶级关系的处理方式：两个阶层各守其职，以此为基础建立起来稳定的社会结构。

新道德的基础是建立在阶级划分、阶级容忍、阶级合作以及理性基础上的。

小说的书信体结构。

5、亨利·菲尔丁（Henry Fielding, 1707－1754）的主要小说：《大伟人江奈生·魏尔德传》（The Life and Death of Jonathan Wild the Great, 1739－1740）、《约瑟·安德鲁传》（The Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend, Mr. Abraham Adams, 1742）、《汤姆·琼斯》（Tom Jones, 1749）、《亚美丽娅》（Amelia, 1751）等。

[英国文学作品]英国文学英国文学篇(1):10部英国经典小说10. 《名利场》Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray, 1848)威廉·梅克皮斯·萨克雷，1848年出版这部小说的主角或许就是英国文学史上最知名的非正统派女主角——贝奇·夏普，小说的情节围绕阶级、社会、跻身上流社会以及现代读者听来又熟悉又害怕的金融危机。

《名利场》这些要素全都具备, 讲述那个年代，也讲述着每一个年代。

9. 《科学怪人》Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)玛莉·雪莱，1818年出版这部先锋作品集科幻和哥特式恐怖于一身，营造了一个难以磨灭的“恶魔”主题，即科学家中的“现代普罗米修斯”，几世纪以来经久不衰。

8. 《大卫·科波菲尔》David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1850)查尔斯·狄更斯，1850年出版David Copperfield is populated by some of the most vivid characters ever created. They are as much a part of readers’ world, and their way of thinking about the world, as people they have actually met.《大卫·科波菲尔》人物形象众多，性格鲜活的角色云集。

这些人物角色仿佛是读者所在真实世界的一部分，和读者亲身遇见的人一样，有着相似的世界观。

7. 《呼啸山庄》Wuthering Heights (Emily Bront, 1847)艾米莉·勃朗特，1847年出版《呼啸山庄》“蕴含巨大的心理能量，没有其它书籍能够与之匹敌。

”读者推崇《呼啸山庄》是因为其“层层叠叠的叙述结构”和丰富惊人的想象力，更因为《呼啸山庄》超越了爱情故事本身，展现了我们转瞬即逝的欲望之下“永恒的震撼”。

Part on: Early and medieval english literature早期和中古时期的英国文学I.Beowulf <贝奥武夫>Features of Beowulf<贝奥武夫>的特点(1)Certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound.,每一行的重读单词以相同的辅音开始。

(2)Other features of Beowulf are the use of metaphors and of understatements.《贝奥武夫》的另一些特点是隐喻和低调陈述的大量运用。

II The Romance(1)The Content of the Romance传奇文学的内容The most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England was the romance. It was a long composition, sometimes n verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character of romances was the knight.封建时期的英国最流行的文学形式是传奇文学。

传奇文学的作品篇幅较长，有时是诗歌的形式，有时是散文的形式，描写贵族英雄的生活和冒险故事。

传奇文学的中心人物是贵族出身的善于使用武器的骑士。

(2)The Romance Cycles传奇文学的类型a.Matters of Britain(adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table)“取材于英国的作品”（亚瑟王和他的圆桌骑士）b.Matters of France(Emperor Charlemagne and his peers)“取材于法国作品”（查理曼大帝和他的贵族）c.Matters of Rome(Alexander the Great and so forth)“取材于罗马的作品”（亚历山大大帝）d.The romance of King Arthur is comparatively the most important for the history of English literature.比较起来亚瑟王的传奇故事是英国文学史中最重要的。

英国文学名著必读
英国文学有着悠久的历史和丰富的遗产，包括了许多经典名著。

以下是一些必读的英国文学名著。

1. 《傲慢与偏见》–简·奥斯汀所著。

这部小说是英国文学的经典之一，讲述了女主角伊丽莎白·班纳特的爱情故事，也是一部关于社会阶层和婚姻制度的戏剧。

2. 《呼啸山庄》–勃朗特姐妹所著。

这部小说描述了两个家族之间的恶意和复仇，以及热情和爱情的力量。

它是一部关于人性和道德的故事，也是一部英国文学中的经典之作。

3. 《雾都孤儿》–查尔斯·狄更斯所著。

这部小说讲述了孤儿奥利弗的冒险故事，以及他在维多利亚时代的贫困生活和社会不公。

它是一部关于社会和人性的故事，也是一部英国文学中的经典之作。

4. 《战争与和平》–列夫·托尔斯泰所著。

这部小说虽然不是英国文学作品，但是它对英国文学有着深刻的影响。

它是一部关于俄罗斯农民战争和拯救祖国的故事，也是一部关于爱情和家庭的故事。

5. 《鲁宾逊漂流记》–丹尼尔·笛福所著。

这部小说讲述了鲁宾逊在荒岛上生存的故事，以及他如何通过自己的聪明才智和勇气克服困难。

它是一部关于人性和
适应力的故事，也是英国文学中的经典之作。

这些作品代表了英国文学的不同流派和主题，从爱情和社会阶层到冒险和人性等各种领域。

无论你是英国文学爱好者还是新手，这些经典必读作品都值得一读。