英国文学史维多利亚时期文学背景及特点课堂

Chapter 4 The Victorian Period一．学习目的和要求通过本章的学习，对19世纪维多利亚时代英国的政治，经济，历史，文化背景，对维多利亚时代的诗歌，散文，小说在创作思想上的进步和创作技巧上的改革，以及对该时代主要作家的生平，观点，创作旨意，艺术品特点及其代表作的主题，结构，语言，人物刻画等都有一个全面的了解。

并通过作品选读加深体会感受，增强对作品的理解和鉴赏能力。

二．考核要求（一）维多利亚时期概述1．识记:（1）维多利亚时期的界定（2）社会政治，经济，文化背景2．领会:（1）维多利亚时期的文学特点（2）批判现实主义小说对后世文学的影响3．应用：宪章运动，功利主义，批判现实主义，戏剧独自等名词的解释（二）该时期的重要作家1．一般识记：重要作家的生平与创作生涯2．识记: 重要作品及主要内容3．领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题思想，人物塑造，语言风格，社会意义等4．应用:（1）狄更斯和萨克雷作品的批判现实主义思想及各自的创作手法，艺术特色（2）小说《简·爱》，《呼啸山庄》的主题思想与人物塑造（3）"我逝去的公爵夫人”中的戏剧独白（4）乔泊·艾略特和哈代小说中环境，氛围描述与人物内世界的展示The Victorian Period （P233）Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from 1836 to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history.Its Political, Economical & Cultural Background（P233）The early years of the Victorian England was a time of rapid economic development as well as serious social problems. After the Reform Bill of 1832 passed the political power from the decaying aristocrats into the hands of the middle-class industrial capitalists, the Industrial Revolution soon geared up. Towards the mid-century, England had reached its highest point of development as a world power. And yet beneath the great prosperity & richness, there existed widespread poverty & wretchedness among the working class. The worsening living & working conditions, the mass unemployment & the new Poor Law of 1834 with its workhouse system finally gave rise to the Chartist Movement宪章运动(1836-1848).During the next twenty years, England settled down to a time of prosperity & relative stability. The middle-class life of the time was characterized by prosperity, respectability & material progress.But the last three decades of the century witnessed the decline of the British Empire & the decay of the Victorian values.Ideologically, the Victorians experienced fundamental changes. The rapid development of science & technology, new inventions & discoveries in geology, astronomy, biology & anthropology drastically shook people's religious convictions. Darwin's The Origin of Species《物种起源》(1859) & The Descent of Man《人类的起源》(1871) shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. On the other hand, Utilitarianism功利主义was widely accepted & practiced. Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. （P235）Features of the Victorian LiteratureVictorian literature, as a product of its age, naturally took on its quality of magnitude & diversity. It was many-sided & complex, & reflected both romantically & realistically the great changes that were going on in people's life & thought. Greatwriters & great works abounded. （P235）Features of Victorian novels（P236）In this period, the novel became the most widely read & the most vital & challenging expression of progressive thought. While sticking to the principle of faithful representation of the 18th-century realist novel, novelists in this period carried their duty forward to the criticism of the society & the defense of the mass. Although writing from different points of view & with different techniques, they shared one thing in common, that is, they were all concerned about the fate of the common people. They were angry at the inhuman social institutions, the decaying social morality as represented by the money-worship & Utilitarianism & the widespread misery, poverty & injustice. Their truthful depiction of people's life & bitter & strong criticism of the society had done much in awakening the public consciousness to the social problems & in the actual improvement of the society.（P236）Victorian literature, in general, truthfully represents the reality & spirit of the age. The high-spirited vitality, the down-to-earth earnestness, the good-natured humor & unbounded imagination are all unprecedented. In almost every genre it paved the way for the coming century, where its spirits, values & experiments are to witness their bumper harvest. （P237）名词解释（Definitions of several terms）The Chartist Movement (1836-1848) (P233)The English workers got themselves organized in big cities & brought forth the People's charter, in which they demanded basic rights & better living & working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the government, with hundreds of thousands of people's signatures. The movement swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppress-ed people.Utilitarianism (P235)Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happiness. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class industrialists, whose greed drove them to exploiting workers to the utmost & brought greater suffering & poverty to the working mass.Critical RealismThe Victorian Age is an age of realism rather than of romanticism-a realism which strives to tell the whole truth showing moral & physical diseases as they are. To be true to life becomes the first requirement for literary writing. As the mirror of truth, literature has come very close to daily life, reflecting its practical problems & interests & is used as a powerful instrument of human progress.Dramatic MonologueBy dramatic monologue, it is meant that a poet chooses a dramatic moment or a crisis, in which his characters are made to talk about their lives, & about their minds & hearts. In “listening” to those one-sided talks, readers can form their own opinions & judgments about the speaker's personality & about what has really happened. Robert Browning brought this poetic form to its maturity & perfection & his "My Last Duchess"《我的已故公爵夫人》is one of the best-known dramatic monologues.Victorian WritersI. Charles Dickens (P238)His Life & Literary CareerCharles Dickens (1812-1870) was born at Portsmouth. His father, a poor clerk in the Navy Pay office, was put into the Marsalsea Prison for debt when young Charles was only 12 years old. The son had to give up schooling to work in an underground cellar at a blacking factory - a position he considered most humiliating. We find the bitter experiences of that suffering child reflected in many of Dickens's novels. In 1827, Charles entered a lawyer's office, & two years later he became a Parliamentaryreporter for newspapers.From 1833 Dickens began to write occasional sketches of London life, which were later collected & published under the title Sketches by Boz《博兹札记》(1836). Soon The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club《匹克威克外传》(1836-1837) appeared in monthly installments. And since then, his life became one of endless hard work. In his later years, he gave himself to public readings of his works, which brought plaudits & comfort but also exhausted him. In 1870, this man of great heart & vitality died of overwork, leaving his last novel unfinished. (P238)His Major WorksUpon his death, Dickens left to the world a rich legacy of 15 novels & a number of short stories. They offer a most complete & realistic picture of English society of his age & remain the highest achievement in the 19th-century English novel. In nearly all his novels, behind the gloomy pictures of oppression & poverty, behind the loud humor & buffoonery, is his gentleness, his genial mirth, his simple faith in mankind.The following is a list of his novels & other collections in three periods:(1) Period of youthful optimistSketches by Boz (1836); The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836-1837); Oliver Twist《雾都孤儿》(1837-1838); Nicholas Nickleby《尼古拉斯·尼克贝》(1838-1839); The Old Curiosity Shop《老古玩店》(1840-1841); 《巴纳比·拉奇》Barnaby Rudge(1841)(2) Period of excitement & irritationAmerican Note s《美国札记》(1842); Martin Chuzzlewit《马丁·翟述伟》(1843-1845); A Christmas Carol《圣诞颂歌》(1843); Dombey & Son《董贝父子》(1846-1848); David Copperfield《大卫·科波菲尔》(1849-1850)(3) Period of steadily intensifying pessimismBleak House《荒凉山庄》(1852-1853); Hard Times《艰难时世》(1854); Little Dorrit 《小杜丽》(1855-1857); A Tale of Two Cities《双城记》(1859); Great Expectations 《远大前程》(1860-1861); Our Mutual Friend《我们共同的朋友》(1864-1865); EdwinDrood《艾德温·德鲁德之谜》(unfinished)(1870)Distinct Features of His Novels(1) Character Sketches & ExaggerationIn his novels are found about 19 hundred figures, some of whom are really such " typical characters under typical circumstances," that they become proverbial or representative of a whole group of similar persons.As a master of characterization, Dickens was skillful in drawing vivid caricatural sketches by exaggerating some peculiarities, & in giving them exactly the actions & words that fit them: that is, right words & right actions for the right person.(2) Broad Humor & Penetrating SatireDickens is well known as a humorist as well as a satirist. He sometimes employs humor to enliven a scene or lighten a character by making it (him or her) eccentric, whimsical, or laughable. Sometimes he uses satire to ridicule human follies or vices, with the purpose of laughing them out of existence or bring about reform.(3) Complicated & Fascinating PlotDickens seems to love complicated novel constructions with minor plots beside the major one, or two parallel major plots within one novel. He is also skillful at creating suspense & mystery to make the story fascinating.(4) The Power of ExposureAs the greatest representative of English critical realism, Dickens made his novel the instrument of morality & justice. Each of his novels reveals a specific social problem.His Literary Creation & Literary AchievementsCharles Dickens is one of the greatest critical realistic writers of the Victorian Age. It is his serious intention to expose & criticize in his works all the poverty, injustice, hypocrisy & corruptness he saw all around him. In his works, Dickens sets a full map & a large-scale criticism of the 19th-century England, particularly London. A combination of optimism about people & realism about society is obvious in these works. His representative works in the early period include Oliver Twist,DavidCopperfield & so on. (P239)His later works show a highly conscious modern artist. The settings are more complicated; the stories are better structured. Most novels of this period present a sharper criticism of social evils & morals of the Victorian England, for example, Bleak House, Hard Times, Great Expectations & so on. The early optimism could no more be found.Charles Dickens is a master story-teller. His language could, in a way, be compared with Shakespeare's. His humor & wit seem inexhaustible. Character-portrayal is the most outstanding feature of his works. His characterizations of child (Oliver Twist, etc.), some grotesque people (Fagin, etc.) & some comical people (Mr. Micawber, etc.) are superb. Dickens also employs exaggeration in his works. Dickens's works are also characterized by a mixture of humor & pathos. (P241)Selected ReadingAn Excerpt from Chapter III of Oliver Twist(P238)The novel is famous for its vivid descriptions of the workhouse & life of the underworld in the 19th-century London. The author's intimate knowledge of people of the lowest order & of the city itself apparently comes from his journalistic years. Here the novel also presents Oliver Twist as Dickens's first child hero & Fagin the first grotesque figure. (P243)This section, Chapter III of the novel, is a detailed account of how he is punished for that " impious & profane offence of asking for more" & how he is to be sold. At three pound ten, to Mr. Gamfield, the notorious chimneysweeper. Though we can afford a smile now & then, we feel more the pitiable state of the orphan boy & the cruelty & hypocrisy of the workhouse board.It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, itwas the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.A Tale of Two Cities这是最好的时代，也是最坏的时代；这是智慧的年代，也是愚蠢的年代；这是信仰的时期，也是怀疑的时期；这是光明的季节，也是黑暗的季节；这是希望的春天，也是失望的冬天；大伙儿面前应有尽有，大伙儿面前一无所有；大伙儿正在直登天堂；大伙儿正在直落地狱。

维多利亚时代的英国文学：狄更斯与艾略特的描写风格分析概述维多利亚时代是指1837年至1901年期间，维多利亚女王在位期间。

这一时期是英国历史上工业革命和帝国扩张的黄金时代，也是英国文学迎来巨大发展的阶段。

在这个时代里，狄更斯（Charles Dickens）和艾略特（George Eliot）成为了备受赞誉的作家，他们的作品以其丰富而真实的描写闻名。

狄更斯的描写风格狄更斯以其深刻而生动的描写方式著称。

他善于塑造各种各样生动鲜明的角色，并通过精准而详细的描述使读者能够深入感受到人物内心世界。

他擅长刻画社会底层人物，揭示出贫困、不公正和社会问题。

同时，狄更斯对环境描写也非常注重，通过细致入微地描述街道、建筑和气氛来营造出浓厚的现实主义氛围。

艾略特的描写风格艾略特与狄更斯有着不同的描写风格。

她注重对人物内心世界的探索和复杂性的描绘。

通过深入分析角色的情感、动机和道德困境，艾略特创造出了具有强烈现实主义色彩的人物形象。

此外，她也擅长以自然来反映人物心理和命运的变化，她认为自然是一个表达人类内心世界和关系的重要元素。

异同点比较狄更斯与艾略特在描写风格上有一些共同之处，例如都倾向于展示社会底层人群的生活和挣扎；都运用了许多生动具体的细节来塑造角色。

然而，他们在途径和目标上存在明显差异。

狄更斯追求对社会问题直接而激烈地呼吁，通过通俗易懂、感染力强的故事吸引读者；而艾略特则更加注重探索高尚价值观、个体教育以及道德困境等更深层次问题。

结论维多利亚时代的英国文学中，狄更斯和艾略特是两位备受赞誉的作家，他们的描写风格都具有独特性和影响力。

狄更斯擅长刻画社会底层人物和揭示社会问题，而艾略特则注重内心世界的深入探索和道德困境的表现。

他们对于维多利亚时代的文学发展做出了重要贡献，并对后来的作家产生了深远影响。

维多利亚时期文学的特点维多利亚文学作为一个时代的产物，自然带有宏大与多样性的特点。

它是多侧面而且复杂的从各个角度，包括浪漫的与现实的反映了人民生活中的各种巨大变化，这个时代也诞生了一大批顶天立地的文学巨人。

1、小说这个时期，小说广泛流行，繁荣发展。

著名小说家有批判现实主义的狄更斯、萨克雷、勃朗蒂姐妹、哥斯凯尔夫人（1810-1865〉与特罗洛普（1815-1882）等人。

这些批判现实主义小说家一方面重新倡导18世纪的现实主义，一方面又肩负起批判社会，保卫人民利益的责任。

尽管他们的创作角度与风格各不相同，但共同特点是关心广大百姓的生活与命运，他们为不人道的社会机构、堕落的社会道德、拜金主义的盛行及大面积的贫困与不公深感愤慨。

他们作品中对人民生活的真实写照和对社会制度的无情批判唤醒了公众对社会问题与社会发展的意识。

在19世纪末还出现了一位勇敢的女性小说家乔治·埃略特与一个不仅揭露批判社会丑恶现象，还大胆向维多利亚传统道德观发起攻击的文学家哈代。

2、散文维多利亚时代还产生了许多伟大的散文家。

其中许多人与批判现实主义小说家一道揭露抨击社会阴暗面，并在意识形态领域具有举足轻重的影响。

他们创作了大量重要的历史事件评述、宗教论文、散文及各种主题的演讲稿，同时他们将英国的散文与文学评论发展到一个新高点。

当时最有名的散文作品有卡利尔的《法国革命》（1837）与《*** 主义》（1840），麦考利的《英国历史》（1849-1861）拉斯金的五卷《现代画家》（1843一1860）及哈克斯雷的部分演讲稿。

3、诗歌维多利亚时期的诗歌具有风格标新、表达立异的特点，尝试这种改革的诗人有罗伯特·布朗宁，他创造了一种诗体小说，即把小说中对人物的塑造方式引用到诗歌中。

这使得诗体小说重点，从单纯对故事的叙述向人物内心世界的探究转变，使得维多利亚时期的诗歌带有心理分析的因素。

维多利亚时期文学，真实地反映了时代的现实与精神。

维多利亚时期的英国文学（考研资料）English literature in the 20th century20世纪的英国文学1. Historical BackgroundHistorically：Modernism rose out of skepticism and disillusion of capitalism. The First World War and the Second World War had greatly influenced the English literature.Economically:The Second World War marked the last stage of the disintegration of the British Empire. Britain suffered heavy losses in the war: thousands of people were killed; the economy was ruined; and almost all its former colonies were lost. People were in economic, cultural, and belief crisis. Frequent economic depressions and mass unemployment sharpened the contradictions between the rich and the poor.Ideologically:The rise of the irrational philosophy and new science greatly incited modern writers to make new explorations on human natures and human relationships. (Scientific Socialism, Social Darwinism)2. Artistic features of modern periodRealismRealism was, to a certain extent, eclipsed by the rapid rise of modernism in the 1920s.In the 1930s, novelists began to turn their attention to the urgent social problems. They also enriched the traditional ways of creation by adopting some modernist techniques. However, the realist novels of this period were more or less touched by apessimistic mood, preoccupied with the theme of man’s loneliness, and shaped in different forms: social satires by Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, comic satires on the English upper class by Evelyn Waugh; and Catholic novels by Graham Greene.The Angry Young Man: A group of young novelists and playwrights with lower-middle-class or working-class background in the mid-1950s and early 1960s.They demonstrated a particular disillusion幻灭over the depressing situation in Britain and launched a bitter protest against the outmoded过时的social and political values in their society. Kingsley Amis was the first to start the attack on the middle-class privileges and power in his novel Lucky Jim (1954). The term “The Angry Young Man” came to be widely used. Having been merged and interpenetrated with modernism in the past several decades, the realistic novels of the 1960s and 1970s appeared in a new face with a richer, more vigorous and more diversified style.二十世纪英国现实主义文学改变了维多利亚时代那种高雅温和的倾向，加强了对英国社会的保守性和虚伪性的批判，具有一种冷峻地直面人生的特点。