(2) 17th century English literature

British Literature 英国文学The Middle Age 中世纪文学( 约5 世纪---1485)Geoffrey Chaucer 杰弗里·乔叟（1343---1400）Chaucer is regarded as the first short story teller and the first modern poet in English literature. He innovate the heroic couplet and he is regarded as “Father of English Poetry”首创英雄诗行，即五步抑扬格双韵体（the heroic couplet），被誉为“英国诗歌之父”。

乔叟翻译过法国诗歌，其早期的文学创作受到法国文学的影响。

两次游历欧洲文艺复兴的发源地意大利后，乔叟接触到意大利文学，深受以但丁（Dante, 1265---1321）、彼特拉克（Petrarch, 1304---1347）和薄伽丘(Boccaccio, 1313---1375)等作家为代表的意大利人文主义文学的影响。

乔叟去世后安葬在威斯敏斯特教堂（Westminster Abbey）,从此威斯敏斯特教堂的一角便成为大诗人安息的“诗人角”（the Poet’s Corner）代表作：《公爵夫人之书》（Book of the Duchess）（1836）《声誉之宫》（The House of Fame）（1374---1384）《百鸟会议》（The Parliament of Fowls）（1380）《特罗勒斯与克丽西德》（Troilus and Criseyde）（1380---1385）《坎特伯雷故事集》（The Canterbury Tales）（1386---1400）Renaissance 文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期---17世纪初）William Shakespeare 威廉·莎士比亚莎士比亚从1590年起至1613年，一共创作了38（或39）部戏剧包括悲剧、戏剧、编年史剧、传奇剧等，另外还创作有154首十四行诗和2首长诗（Venus and Adonis，1593）。

英国文学复习一上古、中古The Making of England1.The BritonsBritons（不列颠人）, a tribe of Celts （凯尔特人）, lived in the2. The Roman Conquest●Leader: Julius Caesar (朱利斯·凯撒)3. The English Conquest （盎格鲁·撒克逊人的入侵）●Invaders: Three Germanic tribes from Northern Europe●Seven kingdoms (Heptarchy)A: Jutes: KentB: Saxons: Wessex, Essex, Sussex, Mercia (莫西亚), Northumbria(北恩布瑞安)C: Angles: East Anglia (东英吉利亚)●United Kingdom -----England / the land of AnglesA: A whole people-----English B: A single language------Anglo-Saxon / Old English●Social Condition of the Anglo-Saxons tribal society→feudalism●Anglo-Saxon Religious Belief and Its Influence Northern mythology→Christianity4.The Danish Invasion●Time: Began in 787 and occupied in 1013, governing for 30 years.●King Alfred the Great (艾尔弗雷德大帝, 849-901):5. The Norman Conquest●Time: in 1066 ●Leader: William (I)●Measures: Sword and fire; high hand. Domesday`s Book （英格兰土地记录书）●Significance: The establishment of feudalism in England●Influence on the English language use :A: French: Romance. Eg. Mutton, entree, a la carte (照单点菜)B: Latin: Chronicles; religious poems.C: English: dominant speech by the end of 14th century.贝奥武甫（Beowulf ）Beowulf - The protagonist of the epic, Beowulf is a hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In his old age, he proves a wise and effective ruler.三个写作特点：Alliteration 押头韵、M etaphor 隐喻、Understatement低调陈述Alliteration: Repetition of the initial letter (generally a consonant) or first sound of several words, marking the stressed syllables in a line of poetry or prose. A simple example is the phrase “through thick and thin.”The device is used to emphasize meaning and thus can be effectively employed in oratory.Thus made their mourning the men of Geatland ,For their hero’s passing, his hearth-companionsMetaphors:ring-giver颁赏金环的人;battle-hero战斗英雄/ shield-bearer携盾侍从;Whale’s road 鲸鱼之路;sea-wood大海之木.Chaucerdied at 60 and was buried in Westminster Abbey (Poet`s Corner).Literary worksA: French Period (1355-1372) : works translated from French: The Romance of Rose《玫瑰传奇》. B: Italian Period (1372-1385) ：works adapted from the Italian: Troilus and Criseyde（《特罗伊拉斯和克莱西德》）：C: English Period (1385-1400)：The Canterbury Tales 《坎特伯雷故事集》first time to use ‘heroic couplet’(双韵体) by middle EnglishKeynote (主基调): Realism and vigorous optimism (现实主义与朝气蓬勃的乐观主义). heroic couplet 英雄双韵体： A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter (五步抑扬格) lines. The rhyme is always masculine. Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is also widely credited with first extensive use of iambic pentameter.英雄双韵体是一种英国古典诗体，由乔叟首创。

3 English Literature in the 17th CenturyⅠ. Essay questions.1. Give supporting reasons for the statement: Samson in Samson Agonistes is John Milton the author himself.2. Analyze the character of Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost.Ⅱ. Define the following terms.1. Elegy 9. Pastoral2. Pamphlet 10. Diction3. Assonance 11. Epithalamion4. Stanza 12. Dream vision (Dream allegory)5. Folktale 13. Metaphysical poetry6. Hyperbole 14. Fable7. Prose poems 15. Parable8. Conceit 16. Masques (Masks)Ⅲ. Fill in the blanks.1. One school of poetry prevailing in the 17th century is that of __________, who were sided with the King against the Parliament and Puritans.2. Though as __________, the characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress impress the readers like real persons. The places in it are English scenes, and the conversations which enliven his narratives vividly repeat the language of the writer’s time.3. The poems of John Donne belong to two categories: the _________, and the later________.4. John Donne is the founder of the school of __________. His works are characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form.5. Because of the success of Paradise Lost, John Milton produced in 1671 another epic, _________.6. John Milton’s Paradise Lost opens with the description of a meeting among the fallen angels, and ends with the departure of _______and ________from the Garden of Eden.7. George Herbert, “the saint of the Metaphysical school,” sometimes resorts to tricks of typographical layout to express his religious piety, as shown by “_________”: “A broken Altar, Lord, thy servant rears…”8. The most distinguished literary figure of the Restoration Period was John Dryden, poet, ________, and playwright.9. Paradise Lost is a long epic. The stories are taken from __________.10. The Pilgrim’s Progress tells of the spiritual pilgrimage of Christian, who flies form City of Destruction, and finally comes to the Delectable Mountains and the __________.11. Sir Thomas Browne and Jeremy Taylor have been thought to be tworepresentative_________ prose writers in English literature for their elaborate and magnificent style.Ⅳ. Choose the best answer.1. John Dryden’s tragedy All for Love deals with the same story as ________’s Antonym and Cleopatra.A. William ShakespeareB. John MiltonC. Christopher MarloweD. John Bunyan2. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of _________.A. Love and HateB. Good and EvilC. Faith and BetrayalD. Scene and Sensibility3. ________ is shown in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.A. UtopianismB. IdealismC. RealismD. Puritanism4. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan is often said to be concerned with the search for ________.A. Material wealthB. spiritual salvationC. Universal truthD. self-fulfillment5. “To wage by force or guile eternal war, Irreconcilable to our grad Foe.” (John Milton, Paradise Lost) By what means were Satan and his followers to wage this war against God?A. By planting a tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.B. By turning into poisonous snakes to threaten man’s life.C. By removing God from His throne.D. By corrupting man and woman created by God.6. By making the truth-seeking pilgrims suffer at the hands of the people of Vanity Fair, John Bunyan intends to show the prevalent political and religious _______of his time.A. PersecutionB. improvementC. prosperityD. disillusionment7. “Areopagitica” is John Milton’s best-known______.A. ProseB. epicC. novelD. drama8. ______ is one of the most remarkable passages in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.A. Holy LivingB. Holy DyingC. Vanity FairD. Lycidas9. The only love poem of John Milton is “__________”.A. LycidasB. On His Deceased WifeC. On MarriageD. Areopagitica10. Metaphysical poets and Cavalier poets share a similar awareness of _________in their poetry.A. MortalityB. sensualityC. destinyD. joyⅤ. Short-answer questions.1. Analyze the relation between John Milton’s works and the English Revolutions.2. What are the contributions of John Dryden to the English neoclassical school of literature?3. List no less than five characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress.4. Illustrate with an example that John Milton is a great stylist.Ⅵ. Answer the questions according to the following passage.Passage 1Judge: thou runagate, heretic, and traitor, hast thou heard what these honest gentlemen have witnessed against thee?Faithful: May I speak a few words in my own defense?Judge: Sirrah, sirrah! Thou deservest to live no longer but to be slain immediately upon the place: yet, that all men may see our gentleness towards thee, let us hear what thou, vile runagate, hast to say.Questions:1. Which work is the passage quoted from?2. Who is the author of the work?3. Summarize the story of the passage.Passage 2“…Knowledge forbidden?Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their LordEnvy them that? Can do they only standBy ignorance, is that their happy state,The proof of their obedience and their faith?…Hence I will excite their mindsWith more desire to know, and to rejectEnvious commands, invented with designTo keep them low whose knowledge might exaltEqual with gods…Questions:4. Which epic are these two stanzas quoted from?5. Who is the author of the epic?6. Who is the image, “I”?7. What is the possible theme of the epic?KeysⅠ. Essay questions.1. (1) Samson Agonistes is a poetical drama modeled on the Greek tragedies. It dealswith the story of Samson from the “Book of Judges” in the Old Testament.Samson is an athlete of the Israelites. He stands as the champion fighting for the freedom of his country. But he is betrayed by his wife Dalilah and blinded by his enemies the Philistines. Led into the temple to make them sport, he wreaks his vengeance upon his enemies by pulling down the temple them and upon himself in a common ruin.(2) There is much in common between Samson and John Milton. Like Samson,Milton had also been embittered by an unwise marriage, persecuted by his enemies, and suffered from blindness. And yet he was unconquerable.(3) Samson’s miserable blind servitude among his enemies, his agonizing longingfor sight and freedom, and the last terrible triumph all strongly suggest Milton’s passionate longing that he too could bring destruction down upon the enemy at the cost of his own life. There fore, Samson in the drama is Milton himself in life.2. (1) In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan, like a conquered and banished giant,remains obeyed and admired by those who follow him down to hell. He is firmer than the rest of angels. It is he who, passing the guarded gates obstacle, makes man revolt against God.(2) Satan is the spirit of questioning the authority of God. When he gets to theGarden of Eden, he believes in no reason why Adam and Even should not taste the fruit of tree of Knowledge.(3) Though defeated, Satan prevails, since he has won from God a third part of hisangels, and almost all the son of Adam. Though wounded, he triumphs, for the thunder which hits upon his head leaves his heart invincible. Though feebler in force, he remains superior in nobility, since he prefers independence to happy servility, and welcomes his defeat and his torments as a glory, a liberty, and a joy. In conclusion, the finest thing in Paradise Lost is the description of hell.And Satan is the real hero of the poem.Ⅱ. Define the following terms.1. Elegy: In Greek and Roman times, the term elegy was used to refer to any poem composed in elegiac meter. Since the 17th century, elegy has typically been used to refer to reflective poems that lament the loss of something or someone, or loss or death more generally, although in Elizabethan times it was also use to refer to certain love poems. Elegies written in English frequently take the form of the pastoral elegy.2. Pamphlet:Originally a pamphlet was a sort of treatise or tract. It then came to mean a short work written on a topical subject on which an author feels strongly. Many outstanding writers have used the pamphlet to express vigorous political or religious views.3. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar vowels-especially in stressed syllables-in a sequence of nearby words.4. Stanza: A stanza is a grouping of the verse lines in a poem, often set off by a space in the printed text. Usually the stanzas of a given poem are marked by a recurrent pattern of rhyme and are also uniform in the number and length of the componentlines.5. Folktale: Folktale, strictly defined, is a short narrative in prose of unknown authorship which has been transmitted orally; many of these tales eventually achieve written form. The term, however, is often extended to include stories invented by a known author which have been picked up and repeatedly narrated by word of mouth as well as in written form.6. Hyperbole:It is bold overstatement, or the extravagant exaggeration of fact or possibility.7. Prose poems: Prose poems are densely compact, pronouncedly rhythmic, and highly sonorous compositions which are written as a continuous sequence of sentences without line break.8. Conceit: From the Italian concetto(meaning idea or concept), it refers to an unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor or simile presenting a surprisingly apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or feeling. Poetic conceits are prominent in Elizabethan love sonnets and metaphysical poetry. Conceits often employ the devices of hyperbole, paradox and oxymoron.9. Pastoral: the originator of the pastoral was the Greek poet Theocritus, who in the third century B.C. wrote poems representing the life of Sicilian shepherds. (Pastor is Latin for “shepherd.”) It is a deliberately conventional poem expressing an urban poet’s nostalgic image of the peace and simplicity of the life of shepherds and other rural folk in an idealized natural setting.10. Diction: The term diction signifies the types of words, phrases, and sentence structures, and sometimes also of figurative language, that constitute any work of literature. A writer’s diction can be analyzed under a great variety of categories, such as the degree to which the vocabulary and phrasing is abstract or concrete, Latin or Anglo-Saxon in origin, colloquial of formal, technical or common.11. Epithalamion:Epithalamion, or in the Latin form epithalamium, is a poem written to celebrate a marriage. The term in Greek means” at the bridal chamber,” since the verses were originally written to be sung outside the bedroom of a newly married couple. The form flourished among the Neo-Latin poets of the Renaissance, who established the model that was followed by writers in the European vernacular languages.12. Dream vision (Dream allegory): It is a mode of narrative widely employed by medieval poets: the narrator falls asleep, usually in a spring landscape, and dreams the events he goes on to relate; often he is led by a guide, human or animal, and the events which he dreams are at least in part an allegory.13. Metaphysical poetry: A term that can be applied to any poetry that deals with philosophical or spiritual matters but that is generally limited to works written by a specific group of 17th century poets are linked by style and modes of poetic organization. Common elements include the following: (1) an analytical approach to subject matter; (2) colloquial language ;( 3) rhythmic patterns that are often rough or irregular, and (4) the metaphysical conceit, a figurative device used to capture though and emotion as accurately as possible.14. Fable: A fable is also called an apologue. It is short narrative, in prose or verse,which exemplifies an abstract moral thesis or principle of human behavior; usually, at its conclusion, either the narrator or one of the characters states the moral in the form of an epigram.15. Parable: A parable is a very short narrative about human beings presented so as to stress the tacit analogy, or parallel, with a general thesis or lesson that the narrator is trying to bring home to his audience. The parable was one of Jesus’ favorite devices as a teacher.16. Masques (or Masks):The masque was inaugurated in Renaissance Italy andflourished in England during the reigns of Elizabeth Ⅰ. It was an elaborate form of court entertainment that combined poetic drama, music, song, dance, splendid costuming, and stage spectacle. A plot—often slight, and mainly mythological and allegorical—served to hold together these diverse elements. The speaking characters, who wore masks (hence the title), were often played by amateurs who belonged to courtly society. The play concluded with a dance in which the players doffed their masks and were joined by the audience.Ⅲ. Fill in the blanks.1. Cavalier poets2. Allegory3. Youthful love lyrics, sacred verses4. Metaphysical poetry5. Paradise Regained6. Adam; Eve7. The Altar8. Critic9. The Old Testament10. Celestial City11. BaroqueⅣ. Choose the best answer.1. A2. B3. B4. B5. D6. A7. A8. C9. B 10. AⅤ. Short-answer questions.1. John Milton defended the English Commonwealth with his pen. His epic Paradise Lost and his pamphlets played an active part in pushing on the revolutionary cause. For example, the image of Satan embodies the political passions of the persecuted Republicans after Restoration.2. Following the standards of Classicism, John Dryden established the heroic couplet as one of the principal English verse form, clarified the English prose and made it precise, concise and flexible, and raise English literary criticism to a new level. He was the forerunner of the English neoclassical school of literature in the 18th century.3. Christian, Faithful, Envy, Mr. Badman and Judge Hate-good.4. John Milton is famous for his grand style, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblical study. It is an art attained by definite and conscientious rhetorical devices. For example, he likes to use Latinisms proper names of resonance and color to create an elevated and dignified effect.Ⅳ. Answer the questions according to the following passages.Passage 11. It is quoted form The Pilgrim’s Progress.2. The author is John Bunyan.3. The passage is entitled Vanity Fair. Christian and Faithful come to Vanity Fair. As they refuse to buy anything but Truth, they are beaten and put in a cage, and then taken out and led in chains up and down the fair, and at length brought before a court. Judge Hate-good summons three witnesses: Envy, Superstition and Pick thank, who testify against him. The case is given to the jury, composed of Mr. Badman, Mr. No-good, Mr. Malice, etc. each gives verdict against Faithful, who is presently condemned. Here Bunyan intends to satirize the estate trials in the reactionary reigns of Charles Ⅱ and James Ⅱ, which are merely forms preliminaryto hanging, drawing and quartering.Passage 24. They are quoted from Paradise Lost.5. It is an epic written by John Milton.6. “I” in the two stanzas refers to Satan.7. On appearance, the epic is to justify the ways of God to man, i.e., to advocate submission to the Almighty. But actually the theme of the epic is a revolt against God’s authority because in the poem God is no better than a selfish despot, seated upon a throne with a chorus of angels about him eternally singing his praises. He is cruel and unjust in his struggle against Satan. What Milton actually intends to appraise is Satan, who in the author’s eyes is a real hero. He amid so many dangers makes man revolt against God.。

英国文学6个时期的简介：）1. The term Middle English literature refers to the literature written in the form of the English language known as Middle English, from approximately 1066, the date of the Norman Conquest, up until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, became widespread and the printing press regularized the language. During this period of English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, the Pearl Poet wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, William Langland wrote Piers Plowman, and many morality plays and miracle plays were produced. Sidrak and Bokkus is an example of late Middle English literature. There are three main categories of Middle English Literature: Religious, Courtly love, and Arthurian.2. The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the 14th century. This era in English cultural history is sometimes referred to as "the age of Shakespeare" or "the Elizabethan era", the first period in English and British history to be named after a reigning monarch.Poets such as Edmund Spenser and John Milton produced works that demonstrated an increased interest in understanding English Christian beliefs, such as the allegorical representation of the Tudor Dynasty in The Faerie Queen and the retelling of mankind’s fall from paradise in Paradise Lost; playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, composed theatrical representations of the English take on life, death, and history. Nearing the end of the Tudor Dynasty, philosophers like Sir Thomas More and Sir Francis Bacon published their own ideas about humanity and the aspects of a perfect society, pushing the limits of metacognition at that time. England came closer to reaching modern science with the Baconian Method, a forerunner of the Scientific Method.3.European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama and novels) produced in Europe during this period. The 18th century saw the development of the modern novel as literary genre, in fact many candidates for the first novel in English date from this period, of which Daniel Defoe's 1719 Robinson Crusoe is probably the best known. Subgenres of the novel during the 18th century were the epistolary novel, the sentimental novel, histories, the gothic novel and the libertine novel.18th Century Europe started in the Age of Enlightenment and gradually moved towards Romanticism. In the visual arts, it was the period of Neoclassicism. During the Age of Sensibility, literature reflected the worldview of the Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) – a rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues that promoted a secular view of the world and a general sense of progress and perfectibility.4. The Age of Romanticism5. Victorian literature6. The Modern Period / The 20th century English LiteratureIt has witnessed wars and revolutions. And the postwar economic dislocation and spiritual disillusion produced a profound impact upon the British people, who came to see the prevalent wretchedness in capitalism.Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels put forward the theory of scientific socialism; Darwin’s theory of evolution caused many people to lose their religious faith; the social Darwinism, under the cover of “survival of the fittest”, strongly advocated colonialism and jingoism.Ps: 4,5 部分的内容实在太多可说了，到时候课堂上再说，大家自己可以查询相关资料去补充！赶快加我QQ54332678。