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英国文学第二十一讲※Basic Objectives1. John Keats’ life, literary contribution and features2. Charles Lamb’s life, literary contribution and featuresKnowledge Enlargement1. Appreciation of “On the Grasshopper and Cricket” by Keats2. Brief introduction of Gothic novel and its influence3. Charles Lamb’s peculiarities and his position in development of English essayTime: 1 hour 40 minutesT extbook: A Short History of English Literature by Liu BingshanStudents: English Majors, Grade ThreeProceduresPart 6 English Critical RealismIII. William Makepeace Thackeray (1811 – 1863)1. Life① He was born in India and his father was an English official there, who died when he was four and left a large sum of money to him.② He was educated in the public school and Cambridge, but he left university without taking a degree.③ Because of the bankrupt of the bank where he deposited his money, he had to make a living by writing articles for newspapers and magazines.④His first literary success came from a series of satirical sketches named “The Snobs of England”. This book is a prelude to his later works because it contains all the important ideas expressed in his later novels.⑤His masterpiece “V anity Fair” was published in 1847 – 1848.⑥He also wrote some other novels including “Pendennis”, “The Newcomes”, “Henry Esmond” and “The Virginians”. However, these novels can’t match with “V anity Fair”. Y ou may read the introduction about these novels by yourself.2. “V anity Fair”（《名利场》）① Background·The title of the novel comes from John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.·The subtitle of the book is “A novel without a hero”. Originally, Thackeray wanted to use this as the title of the novel because his intention was not to portray individuals, but the bourgeois and aristocratic society as a whole. And it also means there are no positive characters in the novel according to the author.② StoryRead the story from P368 to P369 by yourself.③ Theme: attacking the social relationship of the bourgeois world. Obtaining wealth and social position is most important thing in everybody’s minds in such an evil society.④ Characterization·Becky Sharp: example of money-grubbing instinct, employing all kinds of possible ways to obtain money and social position, gifted and shrewd·Amelia Sedley: tame, sentimental, shallow and useless* Thackeray’s cynical attitude made his clever characters rogues and virtuous characters fools.⑤ ConclusionThis one is a classical novel in English literature.3. Comparison between Thackeray and DickensThey were contemporaries and representatives of critical realism. They were both novelists, humorists and criticized the Victorian society satirically.Their differences:① The world described by Thackeray was a different one from that of Dickens. Thackeray mainly described the lives of aristocrats and rich people, whereas Dickens’ chief contribution was his description of the common people, like Olive Twist.② Dickens was a sentimentalist. He liked to seize every opportunity to arouse the emotions of his readers. He was noted for his pathetic scenes. Thackeray was a cynic who saw no good in anything and doubted the goodness of human nature. Even in pathetic scenes, he was like a spectator.③ Unlike Dickens, who advocated social reforms, Thackeray was not a crusader for good causes.④ Whereas Dickens was a romanticist in many aspects, Thackeray was against all romantic conventions. He once said “I have no brains above my eyes; and I describe what I see.” His satire is never personal like Pope’s or brutal like Swift’s and is tempered by humor. He presented his characters as they are real in life. He recorded their shortcomings with their capacities. Some critics thought that his characterization is more subtle that Dickens’. The former’s creations are “round, entire, and quite alive and convincing.”VI. Female writers in the Victorian Age1. Jane Austen (1775 – 1817)She didn’t belong to the V ictorian Ag e. She lived in the Romantic Age but her novels were anti-romantic.①Life·She was born in a countryside clergyman’s family.·She was educated at home and never married in all her life.·She only lived 42 years and only lived in her hometown with occasional visits to London.·She passed all her life in doing small domestic duties and lived a comfortable and peaceful life.②Works·She wrote 6 novels: “Northanger Abbey”（《诺桑觉寺》），“Sense and Sensibility”（《理智与情感》）, “Pride and Prejudice”（《傲慢与偏见》）, “Mansfield Park”（《曼斯菲尔德庄园》）, “Emma”（《艾玛》）and “Persuasion”（《劝导》）。
