十八世纪英国小说的文化解读

18世纪英国文学的特点
18世纪英国文学的特点包括以下几点：
1. 启蒙运动的影响：18世纪是启蒙运动的时期，思想家们强调理性和科学，这种思潮在文学中也得到了体现，作家们开始尝试用理性的方式来描述社会和人性。

2. 社会观察的重要性：18世纪的英国民众逐渐开始关注社会问题，作家们也开始将社会观察和批判融入到文学作品中。

这些作品主题多为社会的不公和阶级的斗争。

3. 个人主义的兴起：18世纪是个人主义的时期，作家们开始强调个人的自主和自由意志，表达了对常规和制度的质疑。

4. 叙事手法的多样化：18世纪英国文学实验了不同的叙事手法，如回忆录式叙述、描写现实生活的小说和历史小说等。

5. 小说的兴起：18世纪是小说的黄金时期，英国文学中出现了许多经典小说，这些作品对英国文学和世界文学产生了深远的影响。

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。

18世纪英国文学的趋势
18世纪是英国文学发展的重要阶段，其中出现了一些明显的趋势和特点。

以下是一些重要的趋势：
1. 古典主义：18世纪英国文学受到古典文学的强烈影响，特别是古希腊和罗马文学。

作家们研究和模仿古典作品的风格和主题，追求文学的严谨和规范性。

2. 启蒙思想：18世纪是启蒙时代的全盛期，思想家们强调理性和科学的重要性，反对迷信和专制。

这种思潮在文学中也有所体现，作家们开始关注社会问题、人权和个人自由。

3. 社会批判：18世纪英国社会出现了巨大的变革，人们开始对社会问题展开批判。

一些作家，如塞缪尔·理查森和亨利·菲尔丁，通过小说探讨了社会阶级、性别和家庭关系等问题。

4. 英国浪漫主义：18世纪末，浪漫主义逐渐兴起，对理性主义和古典主义的反叛开始显露。

浪漫主义作家，如威廉·华兹华斯和塞缪尔·柯勒律治，强调个人情感和自然的力量。

5. 小说的兴起：18世纪是英国小说发展的重要时期。

小说成为一种流行的文学形式，作家们开始创作长篇小说，如丹尼尔·笛福的《鲁滨逊漂流记》和简·奥斯汀的《傲慢与偏见》。

6. 诗歌的转变：18世纪的英国诗歌呈现出一种转变，由古典的形式
和主题向更加个人化和自由的方向发展。

诗人们开始关注个人情感和自然景观，并采用更加自由的诗体，如威廉·布莱克的无韵诗。

总的来说，18世纪英国文学在古典主义和启蒙思想的影响下，开始关注社会问题和个人情感，同时也为后来浪漫主义和小说的兴起铺平了道路。

18世纪英国现实主义文学
小说是18 世纪英国文学最主要的贡献.在古典主义盛行时期,史诗和悲剧才是正统文学作品的形式.小说是随着中产阶级的兴起而兴起的新的文体.西班牙的“流浪汉小说”、骑士传奇、意大利的以《十日谈》为代表的短篇故事、英国的描写下层人物冒险经历的故事和人物特写,都是形成近代小说的重要因素.
特点是：①它偏重对现实的客观的、具体的、历史的描写,强调人物和环境之间的现实关系.
②典型是现实主义创作的核心.典型化和个性化不可分割,每个典型又是“这一个”.③具有强烈的批判性或揭露性,特别注重描绘社会的黑暗和丑恶现象,以及社会下层、“小人物”的悲惨遭遇.④在艺术形式和表现手法上,以生活本身的形式反映生活为其基本形式,但不局限于这一形式.它具有广阔的审美可能性,不排除采用假定、夸张、荒诞、变形、意识流等多种手法.它重视社会分析,包括心理分析.探索人的复杂内心世界的心理描写,是它的艺术特征之一.
⑤思想基础一般为资产阶级的人道主义.谴责社会黑暗,同情下层人民的苦难与不平等地位,但一般未触及社会矛盾和现实关系的真正根源.
成就：①笛福与《鲁滨逊飘流记》；②斯威夫特与《格列佛游记》；③理查生与《克拉丽莎》；
④菲尔丁与《汤姆.琼斯》.。

启蒙时期文学（17世纪后期—18世纪中期）1688年的“光荣革命”推翻复辟王朝，确定了君主立宪制，建立起资产阶级和新贵族领导的政权，英国从此进入一个相对安定的发展时期。

18世纪初，新古典主义成为时尚。

新古典主义推崇理性，强调明晰、对称、节制、优雅，追求艺术形式的完美与和谐。

亚历山大·蒲柏（Alexander Pope, 1688-1744）是新古典主义诗歌的代表，他模仿罗马诗人，诗风精巧隽俏，内容以说教与讽刺为主，形式多用英雄双韵体，但缺乏深厚感情。

18世纪英国散文出现繁荣，散文风格基本建立在新古典主义美学原则之上。

理查德·斯梯尔（Richard Steele, 1672-1729）与约瑟夫·艾迪生（Joseph Addison, 1672-1719）创办《闲谈者》（Tatler）与《观察者》（Spectator）刊物，发表了许多以当时社会风俗、日常生活、文学趣味等为题材的文章，他们清新秀雅、轻捷流畅的文体成为后人模仿的典范。

乔纳森·斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745）是英国文学史上最伟大的讽刺散文作家，他的文风纯朴平易而有力。

斯威夫特的杰作《格列佛游记》（Gulliver's Travels）是一部极具魅力的儿童故事，同时包含着深刻的思想内容。

作者通过对小人国、大人国、飞岛国、慧马国等虚构国度的描写，以理性为尺度，极其尖锐地讽刺和抨击了英国社会各领域的黑暗和罪恶。

塞缪尔·约翰逊（Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784）是18世纪英国人文主义文学批评的巨擘，《莎士比亚戏剧集序言》（The Preface to Shakespeare）和《诗人传》（Livesof the Poets）是他对文学批评作出的突出贡献。

他从常识出发，在某些方面突破了新古典主义的框框，不乏真知灼见。

约翰逊的散文风格自成一家，集拉丁散文的典雅、气势与英语散文的雄健、朴素于一体。

期，英国文学在许多方面都取得了显著的成就。

首先，十八世纪的英国文学深受启蒙主义思想的影响。

启蒙主义强调理性、科学和知识，这些思想在许多作家的作品中都有所体现。

例如，丹尼尔·笛福的《鲁滨逊漂流记》就是一个典型的例子，它体现了人类对自然界的探索和科学精神。

其次，十八世纪的英国文学也注重表现人性和情感。

许多作家通过他们的作品表达了对人性的深刻理解和同情。

例如，罗伯特·彭斯的诗歌《一朵红红的玫瑰》就表达了对爱情的深深向往和赞美。

此外，十八世纪的英国文学还具有鲜明的民族特色。

许多作家通过他们的作品展现了英国的历史、文化和传统。

例如，约翰·克莱尔的《乡土风俗习惯》就是一部描写英国乡村生活习俗的作品，它让读者更加了解英国的传统文化和风俗。

最后，十八世纪的英国文学还具有鲜明的时代特征。

这个时期的英国正处于工业革命和城市化进程中，这些变化也在许多作家的作品中得到了反映。

例如，狄更斯的《双城记》就通过讲述一个历史故事展现了工业革命对人们生活的影响。

时期的英国文学在许多方面都取得了显著的成就，为世界文学的发展做出了重要贡献。

十八世纪英国文学的分类十八世纪是英国文学的黄金时期，这一时期涌现出了许多杰出的作家和作品。

这些作品被广泛地分为几类，如小说、诗歌、戏剧等。

以下是对十八世纪英国文学的分类的探究。

一、小说在十八世纪，小说成为了最为流行的文学形式。

小说包含了丰富的内容和不同的风格。

其中，浪漫小说和现实主义小说是最为流行的两种类型。

浪漫小说通常描写一些奇异的事件和情节，其中最著名的作品是简·奥斯汀的《傲慢与偏见》和《理智与情感》。

这些小说通常描写了一个女性主角的故事，她在不同的环境中经历了各种各样的情感和爱情。

现实主义小说则更加注重现实生活中的事件和情节，其中最著名的作品是丹尼尔·笛福的《鲁滨逊漂流记》。

这些小说通常描写了一个男性主角的故事，他在不同的环境中经历了各种各样的挑战和困境。

二、诗歌十八世纪的诗歌涵盖了许多不同的流派，包括浪漫主义、启蒙主义和古典主义。

其中最著名的作品是威廉·华兹华斯的《悼念诗》和约翰·基茨的《抒情诗集》。

浪漫主义诗歌通常描写一些浪漫和情感的主题，如爱情、自然和宗教。

这些诗歌通常使用比喻和象征来表达作者的情感和思想。

启蒙主义诗歌则更加注重理性和科学的主题，如自然、人类和社会。

这些诗歌通常使用清晰和明确的语言来表达作者的观点和思想。

古典主义诗歌则更加注重传统和历史的主题，如希腊和罗马神话。

这些诗歌通常使用优美和华丽的语言来表达作者的情感和思想。

三、戏剧十八世纪的戏剧涵盖了许多不同的类型，包括喜剧、悲剧和历史剧。

其中最著名的作品是威廉·莎士比亚的《哈姆雷特》和奥利弗·戈德史密斯的《船长》。

喜剧通常描写一些轻松和幽默的主题，如爱情和友谊。

这些戏剧通常使用滑稽和夸张的手法来吸引观众的注意力。

悲剧则更加注重人性的悲剧和悲惨的结局，如爱情和家庭。

这些戏剧通常使用严肃和深刻的手法来表达作者的情感和思想。

历史剧则更加注重历史和政治的主题，如战争和国家。

【关键字】分析The Literary Principles of the 18th Century English LiteratureThe 18th century was generally considered as “the Age of Reason”. In the period Enlightenment prevailed in England and most European countries. Most of the literary works put significant emphasis on the social order, morality, justice and freedom of human nature, which are the essence of Enlightenment. Reason, which Enlightenment advocated, was the most important mode for the English people in the 18th century. The main tasks of the Enlighteners were to call for the elimination of the feudal remnants and religious ignorance, and to pave the path for the development of the bourgeoisie.The 18th century was of great significance in English history. Owing to the enormous strides in politics and economy, the literature of the century entered the period of prosperity.1. Historical BackgroundIn politics, the “Glorious Revolution” in 1688 made the smooth transition to a constitutional monarchy in peace come into realization, and afterwards Capitalism was definitely established in Britain. After many centuries of wars and civil trifles, the 18th century saw a period for the English people to enjoy peace and tranquility in their social and political life.The power of the monarch was deprived and fell into the hands of the Parliament, which was under the control of two major political parties, the Whigs and the Tories. Even though the Whigs were for the democracy and the Tories were the supporters of the British monarchy, the two parties had no much dispute in economic development and the policy of moderation, which ensured a relatively speedy development of the English society in economy and in democracy.The Act of Union united England, Scotland and Welsh into one country, which laid a foundation for the rise of the British Empire in the middle of the 18th century.In economy, the international trading and the lucrative slave trade brought tremendous wealth. Although almost all the European countries had been on the process of industrialization, in England the development was accelerated with the help of the new inventions and a large-scale Enclosure Movement all over the country. The social status of the newly rising bourgeoisie was gradually set up by the boom of economy at home and abroad.However, the time the capitalists accumulated the enormous profits was the time thousands of peasants were expropriated off the land and the labor workers lost their jobs. The gap between the ruling class and the oppressed was aggravated. The social contradictions were accumulated and deteriorated.In social life, economic development also brought changes for the English people’s way of life. The people began to have more energy to participate in the social life. Such places for the social activities as the coffeehouse, the theaters and libraries gradually thrived. In the coffeehouse, information, opinions and even gossips on various issues were exchanged and the style of literature was formed and influenced in the public way.The economic prosperity and the rising of the bourgeois class produced a new requirement for a new social order and rules to meet the need of the social development in politics and morality, and the need of a way to clear away the feudal remnants. The literary men achieved the aim by means of the introduction of the reason, morality, and equality. The development of science and technology boosted the process. Isaac Newton exerted great influence upon Enlightenment with his law of gravitation, which smashed the medieval superstition to the natural forces.2. The Principles of LiteraryIt was impossible to make a clear distinction of the different literary genres with so many factors mixed together. Roughly, the literature in the 18th century was divided into three periods, from the late of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th century the popularity of the Neoclassicism, the early to the middle 18th century the rapid growth of the realistic novels of Defoe, and the outstanding novelists Fieldingand Smollett, and the last decades of the prevalence of Sentimentalism and the appearance of Romanticism.The literary trend of this century could be summarized as the development of poetry, the prosperity of prose, the rise of novel and the decline of drama.2.1 Enlightenment in LiteraryThe 18th century is known as “the Age of Enlightenment”, which is a progressive intellectual movement as a furtherance of the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Enlightenment left a lasting heritage for the 19th and 20th centuries.Enlightenment was not only a culture and thought movement, but has exerted huge influence on almost all of the aspects of the English people’s social life. The Enlighteners took the task to enlighten the people with the modern ideas in philosophy, politics and arts. The Enlighteners believed that the universe was rational and could be understood through Reason. Truth could be got through the empirical observation. And reason was the only yardstick to measure all human activities and relations. Only in this way can the primitive thoughts and feudal behaviors, such as superstition, injustice, oppression and religious persecution, be eliminated. The Enlighteners also fought against the social hierarchy system and called on the development of science and technology.Besides, they praised highly for the function of education. They held the belief that the universal education could bring about rationality, equality and truth. They believed that the human beings could be manipulated like the engine once they acquired these characteristics.In essence, the Enlightenment Movement was the struggle of the progressive bourgeoisie against Feudalism. For the bourgeois intellectuals, the Reason was the weapon to overthrow the domination of Feudalism. They sought the freedom of politics and academic thinking to pave the way for the establishment of the Capitalism.In brief, the Enlightenment movement was to enlighten or educate the peoplewith the modern philosophical and artistic ideas. Literature at the time showed the strong characteristics of didacticism and moralization. Among the famous Enlighteners in England, John Dryden and Alexander Pope were the most conspicuous.2.2 NeoclassicismThe influence of the Enlightenment Movement to the English literature of the 18th century was first reflected in the emergence and popularity of the Neoclassicism. Neoclassicism was a literature genre that came into being in the middle and late of the 17th century in England and France, and thrived in the beginning of the 18th century. John Dryden，though dead in 1700, was the first advocator and the most important performer.After the Renaissance, a reaction came against intricacy, boldness and extravagance. In the period, the literature brought about a revival of interest in the old Classical works. The writers got the ideas and art forms from the classical times. As John Dryden stated in his Essay of Dramatic Poesy, the Neoclassicists demanded that literature should learn from the Classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers and also their contemporary French writers, such as V oltaire and Diderot. The Neoclassicists advocated simplicity, restraint, regularity and good sense. They believed that accuracy and wits should be the most important elements in the art creation.The Neoclassicists formulated fixed rules and laws guided by Greek and Latin works for the genres of literature to follow. They believed that there was the proper language to choose and the right style and tone to use when they wrote different literature, which was the “correctness” that they pursued. Therefore, such standards of the Classics as drama, rhyme and good proportion were advocated. Under the guideline, poetry should be lyric, epic, didactic, or dramatic, and prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible.Meanwhile, the Neoclassicists argued that literature should be judged by the function of moralization and education. Therefore, most of the literature during thatperiod was didactic so as to form a new social order and morality to meet the needs of the new era.What’s more, another aim of the literature was to entertain the readers. With the boom of the publishing industry and the increase of the educated population, new ways to entertain the mass, especially the people of the middle class, were called on. The expectation of the people to participate in social activities and express their emotions grew stronger. Hence, the simple, elegant and restraint writing styles gained popularity.Furthermore, the writings of Neoclassicism shared a common feature—objectivity. As the neoclassicists emphasized Reason and thought that art should be logically organized, neoclassical art did not appreciate the emotion or imagination, but logic, good organization and proportion. However, literature under this guideline seemed a bit cold and inhumane. The absence of any elements of romantic and the over emphasis on Reason led to the rise of the opposite genr e—Romanticism in the period followed.However, literature at that period was not simply the imitation of the Classics but something new was injected into it. Dryden, the advocator of the Movement, laid emphasis not only on Neoclassicism, but also on the traditional English literature. He praised the works of Shakespeare’s and Chaucer’s, and encouraged the combination of the classics with the native elements of England to make the writing style new. Dryden’s theory was modern and flexible, so it was easy to be accepted and promoted by his followers in the 18th century, such as Alexander Pope and Swift. The idea promoted the popularity of the English literature, especially the first half of the 18th century.With the influence of Neoclassicism, the prose was developed dramatically. A lot of prose writers and novelists appeared, like Addison, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and Samuel Richardson.Even though the Neoclassicism did not flourish very long in the history of English literature and was substituted by the Sentimentalism and Romanticism. The ideas of reason, wit, simplicity and regularity existed and influenced the Englishliterature even to the modern times.2.3 The Origin of the English NovelThe 18th century was the golden age of the novel. The origin of the novel can date back to Homer’s epic, the legend in the medieval times of Europe and the adventure stories in Europe. However, in English literature, the novel, the new genre, emerged and the realistic novels reached the peak in the 18th century. Many great novelists, such as Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, were not only world famous, but has left a great cultural heritage.In the 18th century, the rapid growth of economy boomed the city life. The middle class had more leisure time to entertain themselves. They called for fresh ways of entertainment and expressions of their thoughts and emotions. In the new social system, the patronage, which used to be the main means for the writers to get subsidization, was substituted by the new system of publishing and copyright. The writers had more freedom to write what they wanted to and some of them wrote to cater to the popular taste. At the same time, a new and great need for the reading emerged. Libraries stepped into the people’s daily life, so that more and more prints were called for in the huge market. They were all the reasons to promote the originality and development of English novels, especially the rise and the prosperity of the realistic novels in the 1730s to 40s.2.3.1 The Realistic NovelIn the first half of the 18th century, “reality”became the most important conception of the creation of novels. Novels were not only the means for the writers to reflect their life and feelings but also the way for the common people to express their passion and emotions.In the process of elevating their social status and accumulating the wealth, the bourgeois fought with the old system and had endured the hardships. The whole meaning of their life was to work hard, to make wealth and to get a better life. What was realistic in the true life was represented faithfully in the realistic novels of thecentury.The feature was best found in Robinson Crusoe, Denial Defoe’s masterpiece. Denial Defoe was named the “father of English realistic novel” by some scholars not only because Robinson Crusoe was the first realistic novel in the 18th century and the first modern English novel, but also it was a good example of the “truth to life”.In the novel, the writer gave the reader a vivid description of the spirit of struggle and adventure at the beginning of the Capitalism, and successfully portrayed an image of an enterprising Englishman. The realistic presentation of the growth and struggle of Robinson showed the spirit of that time. Robinson, as a businessman who pursued wealth, was a typical representative of the English middle-class men with courage, energy, persistence and wisdom. His struggle against the hostile natural environment showed the strong confidence of the bourgeoisie to fight for the ambitions. Robinson grew from a naive youth full of dreams into a realistic and hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life.Besides, Robinson was also the representative of the bourgeois colonizers who took control of the new land and his servant, Friday. Therefore, this novel was the product of the Industrial Revolution and a real presentation of life of the common people.Generally, the writers of the realistic novels would claim that what they had written was really based on the true events with the real place names and the exact date as the background. At the beginning of Robinson Crusoe, “he” said, “I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, though not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen who settled first at Hull.” And later the description of his life in Brazil as a planter conformed to the historical facts at that time. In the novel, the colloquial, easy language and sometimes, short, plain sentences were used to leave the readers the impression that the hero was true to life and was telling his stories face to face. In the narrative, the writers put an emphasis on the detailed account of the process and the description of the mental activity. In Robinson Crusoe, the vivid description of the details made the story fascinating. However, this novel was criticized for the repetition and the loose structure.Besides, even though the themes of the realistic novels were different, they had the same core, which was the searching for the essence of life. Through the account of the living conditions and the way of living at that period, the writers sought the answers from the common people, and even the vulgar and the poor, which was contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats or epics. Through Robinson, who lived alone in an isolated island, and Tom Jones, an outcast in Henry Fielding’s masterpiece The life and History of the Foundling Tom Jones, the writers, against the mode of the Neoclassicism, expounded that the courage, the wisdom, the persistence and the morality of the mass people were the primitive power for the social progress.To summarize, the realistic novels, for the first time turning their attention from the grand themes and the high classes to the common people and the reality, adding the modern element to the writing style of that period. That is why Robinson Crusoe was taken as the forerunner of the modern novel.Besides Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and Tobias Smollett made even higher achievement. Their works had impact on some of the great works of European writers, and paved the way for the great 19th century realistic writers like Jane Austen, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and William M. Thackeray.2.3.2 The Epistolary NovelIn the 18th century, another style emerged and brought in a new way of narrative, which is the epistolary novel. Samuel Richardson flourished the style by three famous works Pamela, Clarissa and Grandson.The novel Pamela was written in the form of a series of letters from the heroine to her parents. In the letters she told them her life and experience at her master’s house. The epistolary novels not only enriched the narrative form of the novel, but also transformed the role of the writers from the narrator to the editor. By means of the pile of letters, the heroine herself told the story. In the epistolary novel, the characters would get closer to the reader. The mental activities and the change of their emotions could be more vivid. It was easy to get the readers to resonate deeply with the fate of the heroine. Pamela was among the first novels to give detailed descriptionof the character’s psychology. It described not only the common life of the characters, but through the letters their inner thoughts and feelings. Therefore, this novel was also considered as the first psycho-analytic novel in the history of English literature. The vivid description of the psychology of the females gave an impetus to the development of the modern novels. From this perspective, Richardson was thought of the real founder of English modern novels by some scholars.The subtitle of the novel was Virtue Rewarded, the function of moral instruction and education was clearly showed in the novel beside that of entertainment.2.3.3 The Gothic NovelIn the last decades of the 18th century, the English realistic novel gradually gave way to the Gothic novel or the Gothic romance.The Gothic novel refers to the strange, mysterious adventures happening in dark and lonely places such as graveyards and old castles built in the middle ages, such as the Gothic castle. The Gothic novel originated from Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto in 1764. As a branch of the English literature, the Gothic novels played an important role in the development of the horror movies and left great influence upon the English romanticists.Generally speaking, the Gothic novels included such elements as horror, mystery, supernature, and death. Usually the story would be set in the classic castles with haunted ghosts. The typical story focused on the sufferings or mystery imposed on an innocent heroine. Frequent use was made of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, sensational and supernatural occurrences. The principal aim of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors.2.4 The Satire StyleSatire，another typical feature of this period’s writing, prevailed in the first half of the 18th century. A common feature of satire was to use strong irony or sarcasm, usually in parody, exaggeration and comparison, to attack something they did not accept or approve of. Not only was satire an effective weapon for arguments of allkinds and attacks on the political views, the social system and social life, but also it answered well the purpose of the Enlightenment, aiming at universal education to perfect the mass in moral, social as well as cultural life.In the 18th century, satire prevailed at a certain historical background. Even though this was a relatively peaceful period in English history, various divergences of values and conflicts still existed. With the increase of the wealth, the bourgeoisie expected to have higher social status and more power to control the nation, which was to turn over the social hierarchy and social custom. The contradictions between the two parties increased the social unrest. Among them the contradictions between the ruling class and the laboring poor were gradually intensified. The industrial Revolution and foreign trade brought a large quantity of wealth to the country, but that did not spread to the mass of the poor people. Correspondingly, social problems and discontent were constantly emerging. The social reality was reflected in the literary works in a satirical style.Pope and Swift were the superb satirists during that period. Swift defined a good style as “proper words in proper places”. Their satires are well-known for witty remarks and adept techniques. So satire became the fashion and was performed almost in all forms of writing at the time.Jonathan Swift not only was one of the greatest representatives of the genre, but also was thought of the first writer to perform the modern satire. Even though he advocated Reason, he sometimes held certain skepticism to the “universal Reason”. He was well-known for his meaningful wording and the diversified writing techniques in his satiric novels.In A Modest Proposal, the writer suggested a seemingly logical proposal for the Irish slum, only to mock the heartlessness and selfishness of the high classes as well as their inhumane Irish policy in general. This essay has been regarded as the most ridiculous and savage ironical satire.In Gulliver’s Travels, the writer used fancy to make up an imaginary social condition, by using imaginary plots and exaggerated techniques to satirize and attack the social system and the politics. The book seemed to be an allegorical story forchildren, but in it the vanity and hypocrisy of the contemporary courts, statesmen and political parties were satirically attacked. In the first two parts of the novel, the writer mocked the conflicts between the parities, the Whigs and the Tories. In the part of the Flying Island, the writer described the strange and useless experiments that the scientists did, through which Swift satirized that the science was far away from the practical life.Henry Fielding’s works showed a grand panorama of life of the 18th century English society through the realistic description of the details. In his works, the characters were true-to-life, and full of optimism. Yet he also mildly criticized the weakness of the human nature and the vulgar social customs. His works Joseph Andrews was at first written to ridicule Richardson’s Pamela for its utilitarian morality, but made a big success unexpectedly. He claimed that this novel was “a comic epic poem in prose”in the preface of Joseph Andrews. However, different from the traditional epic, which is a genre generally used to praise heroes, nobles or kings, Fielding took advantage of the conception but portrayed the heroes of the middle or low classes so as to produce the ironic effect.Fielding’s Jonathan Wild the Great is a bitter satire on the exploiting and oppressing class. It is one of the best exposures of the corruption of the English bourgeois-aristocratic society. The “great”in the title referred not only to the hero “Jonathan Wild”, but also the minster “Robert Walpole” and other “great” men in the ruling class. From these men, Fielding summarized a common virtue “greatness” from their true nature of tyranny, corruption, oppression and exploitation to others.The Life and the History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, as Fielding’s masterpiece, was another good example. The story, through the growth of a foundling, Tom Jones, touched upon all kinds of people as well as the social problems. The novel was about a young man and a young woman who tried to unravel their birth myth, and their love story. In the process of their looking for their birth, Fielding gave the readers an extensive view of the social life in the city and the town. Through the comparison of different characters they met, the writer severely criticized the corruption, greed and hypocrisy of the nobles at that period. Fielding contributed a lot to the advance of theEnglish and European novels.2.5 SentimentalismSentimentalism was a trend of thought beginning in the 1740s and 50s. Its name was gained from Laurence Stern’s A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768). By the middle of the 18th century, sentimentalism came into being due to the discontent with the social reality.In the middle of the century, the contradictions were intensified to the degree that the nation was faced with the threat of instability. The Enlighteners, such as, Fielding and Smollett, who at first had sufficient faith in the eventual triumph of virtue and the final achievement of social justice, began to be skeptical about the eternal “truth” and Reason, which were preached by the bourgeoisie.Even though the people began to doubt the power of the Reason to solve the social problems, they could not find out a more positive way to make the society better. The decline of the great Enlightenment brought about sentimentalism and pre-romanticism as the protest against the social reality of the day. Sentimentalism was an outlet for their dissatisfaction to the reality and for the escape from the far-from-perfect reality. Sentimentalism was the forerunner of the Romanticism later prevailing in the European literature.Form the angle of the ideology, sentimentalism was against the classicism and the rationalism. It was totally opposite to the perspective of the rationalism that the individuals should be under the control of the sovereignty. Sentimentalism stressed the expression of the emotions and feelings of the individual in the daily life. It concentrated on the distress of the poor and the virtuous people. It revealed grief, pains and tears. The emotions were mainly melancholy, sentimental and sensitive.Leslie Stephen once argued, “Sentimentalism could be defined to be indulgence in emotion for its own sake. The sentimentalist does not weep because painful thoughts are forced upon him but because he finds weeping pleasant in itself (p160).”In sentimental works, the first characteristics is that the characters’ mood and miserable life were portrayed to arouse readers’ sympathy to the ordinary people and discontent towards the social reality. The appeal to sentiment, not Reason, was themain characteristics. Sentimentalists thought that Reason was only a cold rule or law to tell the people the code of conduct. In their views, human beings were born good and were endowed with compassion, kindness and morality. Hence, the function of literature was to awaken and motivate the potential.The writers usually made use of death, loneliness and miserable experience to make the atmosphere desolate, dark and melancholy. In this way, the readers were easy to move and full of sympathy to the character. At the beginning of the century, almost all the works, as poetry, novels and essays were rational, ironic and instructive. Sentimentalism totally changed the direction of English literature. At the same time, the educational function was also fulfilled.Besides, the common people molded in the works made the readers feel real empathy for what the characters had been through. And the sympathy for the misery of others became a sign of good manners and social morality.What’s more, in the views of the sentimentalists, there was no distinction of the genres of literature, that is, elegance or vulgarity. Therefore, a lot of different literature styles, such as prose, lyric, letter, autobiography, became the common styles in sentimentalism.Sentimentalism, having obtained pleasure in nature and the mysterious, paved the way for Romanticism, which put high value on nature and spontaneous expression of emotion. In addition, romanticists’ praise for the virtue of the common people and the attack on the rich and the system owed a good deal to sentimentalism.The most outstanding figure of English sentimentalists are Laurence Sterne who wrote A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy in 1768 and Thomas Gray with his masterpiece, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, the model of sentimental poetry.Sentimentalism in poetry first found its full expression in the 40s and the 50s and was the bridge from Classicism to Romanticism. In Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, the poem reflected the poet’s melancholy on the death and the sorrowful life of human beings. The poet also pointed out that death was inevitable no matter who you were. This poem, with the well-balanced structure and。