英国文学史选读课件The Anglo-Saxon Period

英国文学史选读第一册Part I The Anglo-Saxon Period(449-1066)The literature: The literature of this period falls naturally into two divisions: pagan(异教徒文学) and Christian(基督徒文学)Form: Alliterative verseThe coming of Christianity meant not simply a new life and leader for England; it meant also the wealth of a new language.Caedmon(开德蒙) wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the Bible.The great epic—The Song of Beowulf : The Song of Beowulf can be justly termed England’s national epic and its hero Beowulf—one of the national heroes of the English people.Part II THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (1066-1350) Background: the Normans headed by William, defeated the Anglo- Saxon.The literature:The literature is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure. English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon language.Literary work: Sir Gawain and the Green KnightTerm explanation:Romance(传奇): Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the Middle Ages. It is about the life and adventures undertaken by aknight. It reflected the spirit of chivalry. The content of romance: love, religion, chivalry. It involves fighting and adventures.Part III GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1340?-1400)Geoffrey Chaucer, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatestnarrative poets of England. Chaucer’s creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the14 century.thChaucer chose the metrical form(格律诗) which laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse. And also found the London dialect as the English literary language.Works: The Canterbury TalesTerm explanation:Popular Ballads：The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. Ballads are anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth line rhymed. The subjects of ballads are various, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families. Bishop Thomas was among the first to take a literary interest in ballads. There are various kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. The paramount ballad is Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale .Comments on Robin Hood: Robin Hood is a partly historical and partlylegendary character. The first mention of Robin Hood in literature is in William Langland’s The Vision of Piers, the Plowman.The character of Robin Hood is many-sided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the same time tender-hearted and affectionate. His hatred for the cruel oppressors is the result of his love for the poor and downtrodden.Works: Robin Hood and Allin-a-DaleGet up and Bar the DoorSir Patrick SpensPART IV THE RENAISSANCE(1485-1603) an age of drama and lyrical poetryThe 16 century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal threlations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism.Term explanation:Renaissance:1) renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the14 century to the 17 century. With the development ofth thbourgeois relationships and formation of the English national statethis period is marked by a flourishing of nation culture known asthe Renaissance. The term renaissance originally indicated arevival of classical(Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after thedark ages of medieval obscurantism(蒙昧主义). The greatest ofthe English humanists were Thomas More and William Shakespeare.2) Theme: the expression of secular values with man instead of Godas the center of the universe. It emphasizes the dignity of man, values of man.3) Two major types: drama and lyrical poetry.It affirms the earthly achievement, man’s desire for happiness and pleasure.Works:1. Thomas More: humanist,utopia (give a profound and truthful picture of the people’s sufferings and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.2. Francis Bacon: scientist and philosopher;his works may be divided onto three classes: the philosophical, the literary, and the professionalessays3. Thomas Wyatt: the first to introduce the sonnet into Englishliterature.4. Edmund Spenser: The Fairy Queen5. John Lyly: Eupheus; gave rise to the term “euphuism”,designating an affected style of court speech.6. Christopher Marlowe: the greatest pioneers of English drama;made bland verse the principal vehicle expression in drama.7. Robert Greene: George Green, the Pinner of Wakefield8. William Shakespeare: one of the first founders of realism, amaster hand at realistic portrayal of human characters andrelations.Hamlet ( Hamlet is considered to be thesummit of Shakespeare’s art. The whole tragedy is permeat edwith the spirit of Shakespeare’s own time. Hamlet is theprofoundest expression of Shakespeare’s humanism and hiscriticism of contemporary life.)PART V THE 17 TH CENTURYTHE PERIOD OF REVOLUTION AND RESTORATIONLiterary characteristics in this period:The 17 century was one of the most tempestuous periods in Englishthhistory. The contradictions between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.(1)The Puritan influence:medieval standard of chivalry, the impossible love and romances perished. The Puritans believed in simplicity of life. They disapproved of the sonnets and love poetry. The Bible became now the one book of thepeople.(2) the exaggeration of the “metaphysical” poetsPoetry took new and startling forms. Prose became somber. The spiritual gloom sooner or later fastens upon all the writers of this age. This so- called gloomy age produced some minor poems of exquisite workmanship, and one great master of verse whose work would glorify any age or people---John Milton.(3) The French influence is most marked in the drama.Rimed couplets instead of blank verse;The unities, a more regular construction, and the presentation rather than individual;The comedies are coarse in language and their view of the relations between men and women is immoral and dishonest.(4) restoration created a literature of its own, that was often witty and clever, but on the whole immoral and cynical. The most popular genre was that of comedy those chief aim was to entertain the licentious aristocrats. John Dryden, critic, poet and playwright was the most distinguished literary figure of that time.John Donne:His prose style, involuted and ornate, cumulative and Ciceronian, is one of the more glorious monuments to the spirit of the early seventeenth century.Song (“ Go and Catch a Falling Star”)A Valediction: Forbidding MourningSonnet: Death be not proudJohn Milton: poet, Puritan, fight for human rights; in 1652 became totally blind.Paradise Lost: it is based on the biblical legend of the imaginary progenitors of the human race---Adam and Eve, and involves God and his eternal adversary, Satan in its plot. It presents the author’s views in an allegoric religious form, and the reader will easily discern its basic idea--- the exposure of reactionary forces of his time and passionate appeal for freedom.Sonnet: On His Blindness\Sonnet: On His Deceased WifeJohn Bunyan: spiritual independence, gave us the only great allegory. He was imprisoned for preaching without a license.The Pilgrim’s Progress: written in old-fashioned, medieval form of allegory and dream.Bunyan speaks in terse, idiomatic prose, and his characters are living men and women.PART VI THE 18 THCENTURY ( an age of prose and novel)THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT IN ENGLANDThe theme: social reality, common people’s life.The enormous amount of eighteenth century writing devoted to transient affairs, to politics, fashions, gossip.Enlightenment: on the whole, was an expression of struggle of the thenprogressive class of bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual deeds and requirements of the people. The problem of man comes to the fore, superseding all other problems in literature.1.Joseph Addison, Richard Steele: the publishers of a moralistic journal The Tatler and The SpectatorThese two magazines are the first important recognitions by literature of the special of the special interests of women readers, and also brought literature down to everyday life and kept it clean and wholesome.The essays and stories of Addison and Steele, devoted not only to social problems, but also to private life and adventures, gave an impetus to thedevelopment of the 18 century novel.thSir Roger是Joseph Addison塑造的经典形象。

英国文学史选读第一册Part I The Anglo-Saxon Period(449-1066)The literature: The literature of this period falls naturally into two divisions: pagan(异教徒文学) and Christian(基督徒文学)Form: Alliterative verseThe coming of Christianity meant not simply a new life and leader for England; it meant also the wealth of a new language.Caedmon(开德蒙) wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the Bible.The great epic—The Song of Beowulf : The Song of Beowulf can be justly termed England’s national epic and its hero Beowulf—one of the national heroes of the English people.Part II THE ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (1066-1350) Background: the Normans headed by William, defeated the Anglo-Saxon.The literature:The literature is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure. English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon language.Literary work:Sir Gawain and the Green KnightTerm explanation:Romance(传奇): Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the Middle Ages. It is about the life and adventures undertaken by aknight. It reflected the spirit of chivalry. The content of romance: love, religion, chivalry. It involves fighting and adventures.Part III GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1340?-1400)Geoffrey Chaucer, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England. Chaucer’s creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the 14th century.Chaucer chose the metrical form(格律诗) which laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse. And also found the London dialect as the English literary language.Works:The Canterbury TalesTerm explanation:Popular Ballads：The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. Ballads are anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth line rhymed. The subjects of ballads are various, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families. Bishop Thomas was among the first to take a literary interest in ballads. There are various kinds of ballads: historical, legendary, fantastical, lyrical and humorous. The paramount ballad is Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale .Comments on Robin Hood: Robin Hood is a partly historical and partlylegendary character. The first mention of Robin Hood in literature is in William Langland’s The Vision of Piers, the Plowman.The character of Robin Hood is many-sided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the same time tender-hearted and affectionate. His hatred for the cruel oppressors is the result of his love for the poor and downtrodden.Works:Robin Hood and Allin-a-DaleGet up and Bar the DoorSir Patrick SpensPART IV THE RENAISSANCE(1485-1603) an age of drama and lyrical poetryThe 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism.Term explanation:Renaissance:1)renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the14th century to the 17th century. With the development ofbourgeois relationships and formation of the English national statethis period is marked by a flourishing of nation culture known asthe Renaissance. The term renaissance originally indicated arevival of classical(Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after thedark ages of medieval obscurantism(蒙昧主义). The greatest ofthe English humanists were Thomas More and William Shakespeare.2)Theme: the expression of secular values with man instead of Godas the center of the universe. It emphasizes the dignity of man, values of man.3)Two major types: drama and lyrical poetry.It affirms the earthly achievement, man’s desire for happiness and pleasure.Works:1.Thomas More: humanist,utopia (give a profound and truthful picture of the people’s sufferings and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.2.Francis Bacon: scientist and philosopher;his works may be divided onto three classes: the philosophical, the literary, and the professionalessays3.Thomas Wyatt: the first to introduce the sonnet into Englishliterature.4.Edmund Spenser: The Fairy Queen5.John Lyly:Eupheus; gave rise to the term “euphuism”,designating an affected style of court speech.6.Christopher Marlowe: the greatest pioneers of English drama;made bland verse the principal vehicle expression in drama.7.Robert Greene: George Green, the Pinner of Wakefield8.William Shakespeare: one of the first founders of realism, amaster hand at realistic portrayal of human characters andrelations.Hamlet(Hamlet is considered to be the summit of Shakespeare’s art. The whole tragedy is permeated withthe spirit of Shakespeare’s own time. Hamlet is the profoundestexpression of Shakespeare’s humanism and his criticism ofcontemporary life.)PART V THE 17TH CENTURYTHE PERIOD OF REVOLUTION AND RESTORATION Literary characteristics in this period:The 17th century was one of the most tempestuous periods in English history. The contradictions between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.(1)The Puritan influence:medieval standard of chivalry, the impossible love and romances perished. The Puritans believed in simplicity of life. They disapproved of the sonnets and love poetry. The Bible became now the one book of thepeople.(2) the exaggeration of the “metaphysical” poetsPoetry took new and startling forms. Prose became somber. The spiritual gloom sooner or later fastens upon all the writers of this age. This so-called gloomy age produced some minor poems of exquisite workmanship, and one great master of verse whose work would glorify any age or people---John Milton.(3) The French influence is most marked in the drama.Rimed couplets instead of blank verse;The unities, a more regular construction, and the presentation rather than individual;The comedies are coarse in language and their view of the relations between men and women is immoral and dishonest.(4) restoration created a literature of its own, that was often witty and clever, but on the whole immoral and cynical. The most popular genre was that of comedy those chief aim was to entertain the licentious aristocrats. John Dryden, critic, poet and playwright was the most distinguished literary figure of that time.John Donne:His prose style, involuted and ornate, cumulative and Ciceronian, is one of the more glorious monuments to the spirit of the early seventeenth century.Song (“ Go and Catch a Falling Star”)A Valediction: Forbidding MourningSonnet: Death be not proudJohn Milton: poet, Puritan, fight for human rights; in 1652 became totally blind.Paradise Lost:it is based on the biblical legend of the imaginary progenitors of the human race---Adam and Eve, and involves God and his eternal adversary, Satan in its plot.It presents the author’s views in an allegoric religious form, and the reader will easily discern its basic idea---the exposure of reactionary forces of his time and passionate appeal for freedom.Sonnet: On His Blindness\Sonnet: On His Deceased WifeJohn Bunyan: spiritual independence, gave us the only great allegory. He was imprisoned for preaching without a license.The Pilgrim’s Progress: written in old-fashioned, medieval form of allegory and dream.Bunyan speaks in terse, idiomatic prose, and his characters are living men and women.PART VI THE 18TH CENTURY ( an age of prose and novel)THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT IN ENGLANDThe theme: social reality, common people’s life.The enormous amount of eighteenth century writing devoted to transient affairs, to politics, fashions, gossip.Enlightenment: on the whole, was an expression of struggle of the then progressive class of bourgeoisie against feudalism. The enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual deeds and requirements of the people. The problem of man comes to the fore, superseding all other problems in literature.1.J oseph Addison, Richard Steele: the publishers of a moralistic journal The Tatler and The SpectatorThese two magazines are the first important recognitions by literature of the special of the special interests of women readers, and also brought literature down to everyday life and kept it clean and wholesome.The essays and stories of Addison and Steele, devoted not only to social problems, but also to private life and adventures, gave an impetus to the development of the 18th century novel.Sir Roger是Joseph Addison塑造的经典形象。

The Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066)The Anglo-Saxons were heathens upon their arrival inBritain. English literature derived from the Anglo-Saxonliterature.I. Historical Background:1. Britons----Celtic(The aboriginal inhabitants)2. major invasions made byA, The Romans in 43 (55 B.C. Caesar invaded. from then on, dominated by Roman Empire. 410 A.D. Roman Empire withdrew their troops from Britain to protect Rome herself against invaders.) B, The English around 449(449A.D. Anglo-Saxons who came from the West of Denmark and the northwest of Germany, conquered and settled in the island, the Anglo-Saxon Period began.)C, the Normans in 10663. The Anglo-SaxonsA, Tribes from Northern EuropeB, Old English, a branch of the Germanic language familyC, Heathens, worshipped Heaven and Earth, Summer god, Winter monster, Frost Giants4. St. Augustine and ChristianityIn 597 Pope Gregory the Great sent St. Augustine to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons, and then within a century all England was Christianized. Churches were established and monks became the most learned in the country. Heathen mythology was gradually replaced by Christian religion.II. Literature:1. oral saga(长篇英雄故事)2. early prose and poetry▪Among the survivals preserved in written form, Beowulf is the most remarkable literary work in Old English.III. Beowulf:* Beowulf is the first national epic in English literature.It is a part of the epic tradition like Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey, and Virgil’s AeneidIt is the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons.It is concerned with human values and moral choices.1.Epic:▪Epic is a long poem telling the story of the great deeds of gods and heroes in the ancient times. The epic poet also functions as a historian, blending past, present, and future in a unique, all-encompassing way.2. subject matter: see the textbook3. The structure (three parts):▪The fight against Grendel▪The fight against Grendel's mother▪The fight against the Dragon4. Major Themes(1)Goodness conquers evil. (Beowulf stands for all that is good, brave and proper, while themonsters stand for evil.)(2)Men against nature (The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wageheroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader.)(3)Judge the greatness of a human being by the greatness of his deeds and his noble ancestry.(4)Help thy neighbor. (Beowulf risks his life to help a neighbor, King Hrothgar, in trouble.)(5)Forces of darkness— irrational, menacing— are always at work in society.5. Mythic patternBeowulf’s fights against the monsters can be regarded as the overcoming of the hostile forces of nature by man’s indomitable will and perseverance. The battle between Beowulf and the Dragon symbolically represents that phase of Winter and Summer myth in which the Summer God, here embodied by Beowulf, fights his last battle against the Winter Dragon in order to rescue the treasures of earth, that is, the golden corn and ruddy fruits. Having given them back to men, Beowulf himself dies of the Winter’s breath.6. The influence of Christianity▪Beowulf was originally composed by the pagans.▪It was later written down by a Christian.▪Thus, it was a pagan epic adapted to the feelings of a Christian world.IV. Linguistic Features of Old English Period:1. Alliteration: The repetition of initial consonant sounds in a sequence of words. It is a form of initial rhyme, or “head rhyme”.2. Kenning (compound words, i.e. a word picture)A kenning is a metaphor usually composed of two words, which becomes the formula for a special object. For example, “the world candle” (the sun); “swan-road” or “whale-path” (sea); “sea-wood” or “wave-floater” (ship); “shield-bearer,” “battle-hero” or “spear-fighter” (soldier), etc.V. Further Study:Rhythm节奏, 韵律and Meter格律Rhythm is the metrical flow of sound determined by the placement of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line.Meter is the kind of rhythm we can tap our foot to. (the number of poetic feet in a line of poetry) Metrical language is called verse;non metrical language is prose.Anglo-Norman Period(1066-1350)I. Historical Background:1. 1066: Normans (headed by Duke William) defeated the Anglo-Saxons---“The Norman Conquest.”2. In nearly 300 years after the Norman Conquest, the French, Italian and other European countries’ culture was introduced into England gradually.3. The Consequence of the ConquestA, Politically, a feudalist system was establishedB, Religiously, the Rome-backed Catholic Church had a much stronger control over the country C, Three languages co-existed in EnglandD, The conquest opened up England to the European continentII. Cultural Background1. The fall of the Roman Empire2. Catholicism—God-centered universe3. The Great Chain of Being▪All the created things are ordered into a hierarchy ascending from stones through plants, animals, men, angels to God. It is bound by God in harmony of love; great man’s sin, corruption, or fall, might cause disaster, destruction, and sterility in the society.4. man’s next life—ever-lasting happiness or misery. This life is only a preparatory period of suffering, sin purging, and soul saving.II. Cultural Background1. The fall of the Roman Empire2. Catholicism—God-centered universe3. The Great Chain of Being▪All the created things are ordered into a hierarchy ascending from stones through plants, animals, men, angels to God. It is bound by God in harmony of love; great man’s sin, corruption, or fall, might cause disaster, destruction, and sterility in the society.4. man’s next life—ever-lasting happiness or misery. This life is only a preparatory period of suffering, sin purging, and soul saving.IV. Medieval Romance1. features of romancea. To sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds in verse or prose.b. Motifs of the quest, challenge, test, and meeting with the evil giant.c. The hero is the knight, setting out on a journey to accomplish some goal --to protect the church and the poor, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge, or to obey a knightly command.d. Mysteries and fantasies (improbable, supernatural)e. Romantic lovef. Standardized characterizationg. Loose and episodic structureh. The language and style are simple and straight-forward.i. The romance reflects a chivalric age.2. major subjects:A. The Matter of France (about Chalemagne and his peers)B. The Matter of Rome (stories about the ancient Romans, and the Greeks)C. The Matter of Britain (about King Arthur and his round-table knights)V. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight1. plot: (Arthurian legend)2. Tow motifsA. The test of faith, courage, purityB. The test of human weakness for self- preservation3. Major themes▪Nature vs. human society▪The futility of human constructions▪The viability of chivalric values▪The fall of man and loss of innocence4. Mythical patternA, The motif of the Green Knight's head-cutting might originate in ancient vegetation myth(植被神话) in which the beheading would have been a ritual death to ensure a rebirth in the following spring.B, Another mythic interpretation of the poem would have the Green Knight as an Otherworldly lord and Gawain's journey from Camelot into a terrifying, strange land as the hero's archetypical descent into the Otherworld or Underworld.5. Character analysis▪The Green Knight is portrayed as fertility god with the symbols of fertility.a, he is green, the color of the land in the spring and summer. Represents the life force in nature and in human beings.b, his clothes are embroidered in gold, the color of the sun, without whose warmth and light no life on earth could endure.c, he wears holly which is an ideal plant specimen for a creature that represents the eternality of life.6. Structure▪ A. The prologue (1-2)▪ B. The challenge (3-21)▪ A bridge (22-23)▪ C. The temptation (24-79)▪First day: deer hunting▪Second day: boar hunting▪Third day: fox hunting▪ D. Explanation (80-99)▪Gawain meets the Green Knight▪ E. Epilogue (100-101)7, theme:a) to prove Sir Gawain’s bravery and faith, by means of the Green Knight’s challenge;b) to prove Sir Gawain’s honesty and fidelity, by means of the hostess’s inducement.8. Legend: A song or narrative handed down from the past. Legends differs from myths on the basis of the elements of historical truth they contain.9. Chivalry▪ A system of ethical ideals arose from feudalism.▪The chief chivalric virtues were piety, honor, valor, courtesy, chastity, and loyalty.▪Love, in the chivalrous sense, was largely platonicGeoffrey Chaucer(1340-1400)I. title---“the father of English poetry”; the first to compose verse using heroic couplets.heroic couplet: A pair of rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter.II. Historical background1. feudalism↓2. catholic church↓→English RenaissanceIII. Literary creation1. The French period (The Book of the Duchess)2. The Italian period (Troilus and Criseyde)3. The mature period (The Canterbury Tales)IV. contributions1. Messenger of HumanismAffirm man's right to pursue earthly happinessPraise man's energy, intellect, quick wit and love of lifeExpose and satirize the social vices, including religious abuses2. The first important realistic writerPresent a comprehensive realistic picture of the En societyCreate a gallery of vivid characters from all walks of lifeExplore the theme of the individual's relation to the society3. “Father” of Engli sh poetryIntroduce the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry (e.g. heroic couplet)Develop his art of poetryMaster of the English languageV. The Canterbury Tales1. form: collections of Stories, just like:The Thousand and One NightsConfessio Amantis by GowerMetamorphoses by OvidDecameron by Boccaccio2. Chaucer’s plan30 pilgrims; 4 stories each; altogether 120 stories3. structure: three partsThe General Prologue24 tales, two of which left unfinishedSeparate prologues to each tale with links, comments, and quarrels in between the Pilgrims.4. The pilgrims:Five ideals Chaucer treats seriously (Knight, Squire乡绅, Clerk营业员, Parson牧师, Plowman农夫)Some he pokes fun at (Prioress修女院院长, Monk, Wife of Bath)Some he is quiet about; short portrait s with personal view coming through (Prioress’s entourage随从)Some not very good; Chaucer is just a little negative (Shipman, Manciple 伙食管理员) Hardened sinners, all of them religious officials (Friar男修道士, Pardoner卖赦罪符者, Summoner法院传票送达员)5. The Opening Lines当四月的甘霖普降,渗透了三月干枯的根须,滋润沐濯了丝丝茎络,触动着生机,使得枝头蓓蕾涌现,花儿绽放,当和风吹香,使得山林莽原,遍吐嫩芽新条,青春的朝阳,已过半个白羊宫座,飞禽们唱着悠扬的曲调,人们彻夜未眠,是自然在拨弄着他们的心弦……(1) Cycles of time4 seasons of a year4 parts of a day4 phases of the moon4 stages of man(2) Connotations of SpringRebirth or revival of nature (biological, erotic)Reawakening of super-nature (religious)(3) Two kinds of force----Natural force (to mellow vegetation, stimulate birds and animals, stir up hearts of men)Religious force (to waken man’s piety)(4) Two kinds of love, voice, motivation---- earthly love, divine love(5) Structure: generality to specification; secular to religion6. Chaucer goes to some trouble to create realismA, Quarrels break out along the way, with several pilgrims telling stories meant to insult another B, When a story becomes tiresome, it is cut short (Chaucer's Tale of Sir Thopas, the Monk’s tragedies)C, The pilgrims are overtaken along the way by a Canon大教堂的咏礼司铎and his yeoman自耕农, who talks too freely about his master’s affairs, ca using the Canon to ride off in embarrassment.Popular Ballad(15thc)I. Historical Background1. 1337-1453: war between England and France2. 1348-1369: black death3. 1455-1485: war of the Roses (civil war)II. DefinitionBallads are anonymous narrative songs that have been preserved by oral transmission.A narrative song, or an oral form of verseComposed by common people during a long period of timeAn important stream of the Medieval folk literatureIII. ThemeThe themes of popular ballads are of a great variety: There are romantic stories of love and friendship, of treachery and murder, and supernatural tales about ghosts and spirits.IV. Stylistic Features of the Ballads1. Simple, plain language or dialect of the common people with colloquial, vivid and, sometimes, idiomatic expressions2. Composed in couplets or in quatrains known as the ballad stanza, rhyming abab, with the firstand third lines carrying 4 accented syllables and the second and fourth carrying 3.3. Telling a good story with a vivid presentation around the central plot.4. Using a high proportion of dialogue with a romantic or tragic dimension to achieve dramatic effect.5. A dominant mood or tone, either tragic or comic.6. Making full use of hyperbole with actions and events much exaggerated.7. Using refrains and other kinds of repetitions.V. samples1. The Robin Hood Ballads reflects the social reality in England in the second half of the 14th century. At that time, peasants rose against their masters and exploiters.2. Get up and Bar the door is humorously told. It shows the simple life and innocent fun of the common people.3. Sir Patrick Spens. The theme is about treachery that leads to the tragic death of the hero.。

Part I. English Literature of the Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066)1.The Historical Background:Before the coming of the Anglo-Saxons, the Celtic tribes lived in what is now Britain. In the middle of the first century B.C., Roman troops led by Julius Caesar invaded Britain, then Claudius conquered it in A.D. 43 and Britain became a Roman province till the beginning of the fifth century. During their rule the Romans built roads, walls, garrisons, villas, etc., and the Celtic became either slaves or unfree cultivators of the land. Then, in early 5th century, as the Germanic races attacked and overran the Roman Empire, the Roman garrisons in Britain withdraw.Not long after that, in the mid-5th century, the tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes (later known simply as Anglo-Saxons) migrated to England from the European Continent, or more specifically from western Denmark and the northwest coast of Germany. They settled down there and soon ruled over the whole of England, enslaving some of the native Celts while driving the others to the hills north and west, to Wales and Scotland and even Ireland across the sea. Thus began the Anglo-Saxon period in English history.While still on the Continent, the Anglo-Saxons were in the later stages of tribal society. Their common occupation was agriculture, with a small number of them already set apart as professional soldiers or as hereditary military leaders. Some of these leaders gradually became thanes or the nobility and a few of them rose to be chieftains or even kings. Settlement in Britain hastened the disintegration of tribalism as the tribal chieftains and thanes had the possession of large tracts of land and grew in wealth and power while the free farmers became more and more dependent economically.By the 7th century, seven kingdoms of fairly large territories emerged out of more numerous smaller kingdoms and there were wars among them. Of the seven Mercia and then Northumberland in the north flourished particularly in wealth and culture in the 7th and 8th centuries, and Wessex in the south became a more important centre of military and political power and assumed supremacy in culture and learning in the 9th and 19th centuries. Beginning from late 8th century the Danes came to invade England and for more than a century they made intermittent raids on the eastern coast of Britain and occupied for fairly long periods of time large areas of northeastern England. In late 9th century King Alfred the Great (A.D. 840-901？) of the Kingdom of Wessex successfully led the English people in a protracted war against the invading Danes who were threatening to overrun the whole country. The invaders were repulsed and gradually all the kingdoms in England were united into one.In early 11th century the Danes again came to invade England and under Canute they conquered and ruled over all England for a quarter of a century (A.D. 1017-1042). Then, following the expulsion of the Danes the Normans from Normandy in northern France came to invade England in 1066, and under the leadership of William the Duke of Normandy who claimed the succession to the English throne they succeeded in defeating the English troops and conquering the whole of England. The “Norman Conquest”marked the end of the Anglo-Saxon period.In late Saxon England feudalism assumed definite shape, with the king at the top, then the earls and the thanes, then the freemen and last the serfs. Agriculture developed and trade expanded. Towns came into existence and wealth became more concentrated. With the Norman Conquest feudalism underwent further development.The Anglo-Saxons were heathen upon their first arrival in England. In A.D. 597 the first missionaries led by St. Augustine came to England from Rome and converted King Ethelbert of Kent, and within a century all England was Christianized. Churches were built and the monks were among the most learned in the country. The heathen mythology was gradually replaced by the Christian religion, but heathen concepts of nature and the supernatural persisted for a considerable period of time and often were curiously mixed with Christian views and expressions. This phenomenon found its expression not infrequently in literary works of the Anglo-Saxon period.2.“Beowulf” the National Epic of the Anglo-Saxon:The earliest poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, like that of many other peoples, originated from the collective efforts of the people, usually while they were working or resting from their labors. Then these stories based on history or legend or contemporaneous events would be narrated orally and often sung, during festivities and other occasions, chiefly for entertainment. Some of the more interesting of these narratives would pass from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation, and as they were told by different singers at different times, additions or deletions were introduced in the successive rehandlings of the oral tradition of each epic.With the disintegration of tribal society and the appearance of class divisions, professional narrators or singers of these popular stories emerged. They were known as “scops” or “gleemen” among the Anglo-Saxons, the former being poet-singers who sang poetic tales of their own making while the latter mere retellers of epics already in circulation. At first these “scops” and “gleemen” also served as priests gibing spells or citing incantations on various solemn occasions but later they became simply wandering minstrels traveling extensively from one chieftain’s court to that of another, providing entertainment with their singing. Two of the earliest Anglo-Saxon lyrics extant, “Widsith” (probably of the 7th century) and “Deor’s Lament” (probably of the 8th century), are good literary specimens that illustrate the life and social position of the later “scops” or “gleemen”.Because these popular narratives of the Anglo-Saxons in the earliest times existed originally in oral tradition and few of them seemed to have been handed down in written form, “Beowulf”is possibly the only important single poem of this kind preserved to this day more or less in its entirety and has generally been considered the most monumental work in English poetry of the Anglo-Saxon period.“Beowulf” probably existed in its oral form as early as the 6th century and was written down in the 7th or 8th century, though the manuscript of the poem now extant dated back to the 10th century. It contains 3183 lines of alliterative verse, being the longest of the early Anglo-Saxon poems preserved. The story in the epic is based on part-historical, part-legendary material brought over to England by the Anglo-Saxons from their original homes on the European Continent. So Beowulf the hero of thepoem and his adventures are placed in Denmark and southern Sweden rather than in England.The poem opens with a brief account of the line of Danish kings down to Hrothgar, Beowulf’s kinsman who builds a splendid hall names Heorot to entertain his followers (lines 1-100 in the poem). A monster by the name of Grendel frequently comes to the hall at night and at one time devours as many as thirty warriors sleeping there, so that the hall is deserted after dark (lines 101-193). The news of Grendel’s ravages finally reaches southern Sweden, where Beowulf, nephew to King Hygelac of he Geats and a man of great strength, hears of it and sails with fourteen companions to lend help to Hrothgar. They reach the Danish coast and are directed by the watchman to Hrothgar’s abode (lines 194-319). There the Danish king tells of his friendship with Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow and Beowulf states the purpose of his coming. Then the cisitors ae invited to a feast (lines 320-497). At the banquet one of Hrothgar’s followers Unferth speaks tauntingly to Beowulf and our hero retorts by relating his successful contest with a certain Breca in swimming (lines 498-606). Thereupon Hrothgar’s queen, Wealhtheow, fills Beowulf’s cup and the hero utters his determination to conquer the monster or die. Soon it grows dark and the king and his retinue depart, leaving Beowulf and his men to guard the hall (lines 607-665).Then the first adventure begins. Before Beowulf and his companions get ready to go to sleep, the former puts off his armour and declares not to use his sword in the coming combat. Soon enough Grendel bursts into the hall and very quickly eats up one of the warriors and comes directly to Beowulf. The hero then engages in a terrific battle with the monster ass the hall rings with the sound of their combat. Eventually Beowulf tears an arm and a shoulder off the monster who runs away, mortally wounded (lines 665-833). The victor displays Grendel’s torn arm and the Danes show their admiration by telling stories of the heroes of the past. Then Hrothgar comes and rewards Beowulf with rich gifts (lines 834-1062). At the feast that follows, Hrothgar’s minstrel sings of old tales (lines1063-1159), and the queen appears and thanks Beowulf and presents him with a valuable necklace which is later worn by Hygelac and becomes the property of the Franks after the latter’s death (lines 1160-1232). Hrothgar and Beowulf now retire while a number of warriors stay on in the hall for the night. Then Grende’s mother comes and carries off Aeschere, the kings’chief councilor (lines1233-1306). Beowulf is sent for and Hrothgar tells him of the tragic event and describes the abode of the monsters and Beowulf promises to avenge Aeschere (lines 1306-1396).The second adventure opens with Beowulf and his companions setting out for a pool and upon arrival he plunges into the water and reaches a cave underneath. There he engages in a long struggle with Grende l’s mother and finally succeeds in killing her with a magic sword of the ancient giants hanging in the cave. He cuts off her head as well as that of her son Grendel lying dead nearby. With these as his booty he returns to the shore of the pool where his companions are still waiting, already in despair about his life (lines 1397-1631). The victors march back to Heorot and are welcomed by Hrothgar who eulogizes the hero but then enters into a lengthy moralizing discourse on the evils of pride (lines 1632-1784). The next day Beowulfbids farewell to Hrothgar who rewards him with further gifts and the visiting warriors embark to return to their native land (lines 1785-1921). Then, after a laudatory account of the virtues of Hygd, King Hygelac’s young wife, we are told of the meeting between Hygelac and Beowulf at which the latter first speaks digressively of the relations between Hrothgar and his daughter Freawaru and son-in-law Ingeld, and then gifts are exchanged between uncle Hygelac and nephew Beowulf (lines 1922-2199). After a lapse of time Hygelac dies and his son succeeds to the throne but is soon killed in battle by the Swedes. Then Beowulf is chosen king and he rules gloriously over the Geats for fifty years (lines 2200-2210).The third and last adventure of our hero takes place in his own country. A dragon has kept guard over a hidden treasure hoarded for many years but suddenly finds part of the hoard stolen by a runaway slave, and in revenge he starts to ravage the land with the fatal blasts of his fiery breath. Beowulf, now an aged king, resolves to fight with the dragon himself (lines 2210-1349). But before the description of the battle, lengthy digressions are introduced. First there are reminiscencesby our hero, as he recalls how at a battle in the land of the Frisians Hygelac lost his life while Beowulf himself escaped by swimming, how upon his return therefrom he refused the throne offered him by Hygelac’s widow-queen Hygd, how young Heardred succeeded his father Hygelac but was soon lain by the Swedish king Onela and finally how Beowulf some time later avenged the death of Heardred by participating in a feud that led to Onela’s death (lines 2349-2396). Then, the main thread of the story is resumed with an account of Beowulf taking with him twelve companions and approaching the shore dwelling of the dragon, but a second digression is inserted as the old king recollects the more remote past of his family history: how one brother of Hygelac’s, Haethcyn, then the king of the Geats, accidentally killed another bother Herebeald, how their father Hrethel died of grief in consequence, how subsequently in a war with the Sweded Haethcyn and the Swedish king Ongentheow, Onela’s father, were both killed, How Hygelac the third brother died among the Frisians, and how there Beowulf killed Daeghrefn a warrior of the Hugas (lines 2397-2509). Then when the main narrative is picked up again, Beowulf orders his men to wait outside while he goes down to the mound of the hoard where the dragon lives. There he is attacked by the dragon and his sword fails him when he uses it to pierce the monster’s scales. Beowulf now falls under the threat of the fiery breath of the dragon and is in great danger, but one of the companions Wiglaf, son of Weoxstan, rushes down to help while the other companions flee into a wood. In the meantime Beowulf strikes at the dragon on the head, but his sword breaks and the dragon seizes him by the neck. In the nick of time Wiglaf succeeds in wounding the dragon and Beowulf kills the monster with his knife (lines 2510-2709). But the old king is himself mortally wounded, and as Wiglaf brings the treasure out of the hoard, the king gives his last orders about his own funeral and presents the faithful companion with his armour and necklace and then dies (lines 2709-2842). The cowardly warriors now return and Wiflaf rebukes them and sends a messenger to the people to announce the king’s death. The messenger in his speech foretells the disasters that are to follow Beowulf’s death, recalling the former wars with the Franks, the Frisians and the Swedes andprophesying future strife with these enemies now that the hero is no longer alive to protect his people. Then the people arrive at the scene of the fight and carry away the treasure hoard. Wiglaf repeats Beowulf’s dying instructions, and the dragon is thrown into the sea as a funeral pyre is built on which Beowulf’s body is buried. Over his remains a huge mound is piled up and the dragon’s treasures are placed therein. Twelve warriors ride round the barrow lamenting the death of Beowulf and praising his virtues as a great and good king: “of all kings he was the gentlest and most gracious of men, the kindest to his people and the most desirous of renown”(lines 2842-3183).Except for occasional digressions when the hero recalls past events or when some gleemen sings a tale, “Beowulf”as a poem centres on the narration of the exploits of the heroic figure Beowulf, including his adventures with Grendel and his mother in Denmark and with the dragon in the land of the Geats. In other words, it is a long verse narrative on the theme theme of “arms and the man” and such belongs to the tradition of a national epic in European literature that van be traced back to Homer’s “Iliad” and Vergil’s “Aeneid”.Another characteristic of the epic tradition to be found in “Beowulf”is the part-historical, part-legendary origin of the story. It’s part-historical as quite a number of the characters either appearing or mentioned in the poem are real persons lifted from the pages of history, including King Hrothgar of the Danes (based on “Historia Danica” of Saxo Grammaticus) and King Hygelac of the Geats (based on “Historica Francorum”of Gregory of Tours and “Gesta Regum Francorum”as well as “Liber Monstrorum”), both of whom play rather important roles in the development of the tale. Besides, several digressional episodes in the epic, those about Finn and Hnaef (in the gleeman’s lay) and about Ingeld and Freawaru as well as the one about the wars between the Swedes and the Geats, all have their historical basis. And these historical figures and events place the poem in the historical period of the disintegration of tribal society, when there were tribal wars as well as inter- and intra-family feuds among the rulers. But the hero Beowulf is essentially a legendary figure. His name cannot be found in any historical document, and all that scholarly research can do has been to try to identify him with Beowa, a deity in Northern Mythology known to have killed sea monsters and dragons, or to compare him with Sigmund or his son Sigourd (alias Siegfried) in the “Edda” or “V olsunga Saga” or “Nibelungenlied”, though his relations with Hygelac and the Geat People and with Hrothgar and the Danes all appear to be rather realistic reflections of the social cinditionsof the tribal age during which the poem must have been first conceived and sung. Also, Beowulf’s fights with Grendel and Grende l’s mother and the dragon, all with a distinctly mythical or fabular character, have their parallels in other European legends, and they also illustrate the common desire of the tribal people in ancient times to conquer the mysterious forces of nature that wrought havoc upon human society.There can be little doubt that the development of “Beowulf” as an epic, from its oral tradition to its present written form, took up several centuries. The fact that the locale of the story is set in Denmark and southern Sweden shows all too clearly that the tale was brought over by the Angles, Saxons or more likely Jutes from theirContinental homes upon their immigration to England. Therefore, while the epic contains chiefly reflections of tribal society in a heathen world, there are also many feudal elements in it and some Christian coloring. For instance, while the chief theme of the poem is the primitive people’s struggle against hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader and there are gleeman’s tales of tribal wars and inter- and intra-family feuds and of intimate kinsmen’s relationship between the kings and their warriors, yet on the other hand the kings described not only were already hereditary but were possessed of absolute authority to have big halls built and hold feasts there and dispense gifts to his guests and followers. The warriors or thanes were loyal subjects of the king and were ever ready to risk their lives for their sovereign, and they resembled somewhat the feudal knights as they sallied forth on their adventures to kill monsters and dragons in order to relieve the distressed. Also there is in the poem obvious censure here and there of the bloody feuds among the kinsmen in the ruling circles. Even the story of the runaway slave’s robbery of the hoard of gold and of the dragon’s revenge for the loss is a motif that has its many parallels in other old legendary tales in European poetry (e.g., the Nibelungenlied”) and belongs to the feudal age rather than to the earlier days of tribalism.Likewise, the curious mixing in the poem of pagan elements with Christian coloring was the natural result of the epic descending from its original oral form and passing through the hands of a number of different scribes from generation to generation. The most striking example is the frequent reference in the epic to “wyrd”(i.e., fate) as the decisive factor in human affairs, but at other times and in different places there is also the mention of “God” or “Lord” as the omniscient and omnipotent being that rules over the whole universe. Sometimes the poet-singer even interrupts the narrative with uncalled-for interpolations to point to God’s intervention in helping the virtuous and punishing the wicked or to lament the misfortunes of the heathens who were unable to see the invisible power of God everywhere. Direct but rather curious references to Biblical personages are also occasionally to be found, such as identifying the monster Grendel with “the children of Cain”. Also, in Hrothgar’s lengthy passages of moralizing following Beowulf’s conquest of Grendel’s mother and in the not infrequent comments here and there on the brevity and transitoriness of human existence, the influence of Christian religion is quite unmistakable, with its emphasis on moral behavior and on the importance of “future life”above earthly bliss.But, on the whole, the pagan mood is more dominant and tribal life rather than feudal ways seems to be the determining factor for the main structure of the story. However, though the tale deals with happenings on the European Continent, the extant written version of the poem grew up on the English soil and consequently must have absorbed much from the social life and manners of the Anglo-Saxons following their settlement in England, so it is not improper to consider the work as an early national epic of the English people.Anglo-Saxon or Old English, in which “Beowulf” was written, represents the earliest stage in the history of the English language and is very different from modern English. It appears almost like another language altogether and cannot be understoodtoday by English-speaking peoples unless one consults notes and glossary in detail or reads its translation in modern English. It was closely related to Old Low German and therefore it is highly-inflected like other Germanic languages. “Beowulf” was written in alliterative verse, employing the device of alliteration instead of the use of rhymes or blank verse that was common to the English poems beginning from the Middle English period. In the practice of alliteration, words beginning with the same consonants alliterate with each other within each line, or a word beginning with a vowel alliterates with another word beginning with the same or another vowel. Each line of verse may contain an indefinite number of words or syllables but generally has four stresses, with a pause between the second and the third stresses, thus breaking the line into two parts. Alliteration invariably falls upon the stressed syllables, but not all four of the stresses in a line need to alliterate, usually two or three of them alliterate, with at least one from each half-line. The first three lines of the original poem are given here as specimen, with their translation into modern English provided below: Hwaet! We Gar-Dena in gear-dagumPeod-cyninga prym gefranon,Hupa aeth lingas ellen fremedon.(Lo! We Spear-Danes in days long pastOf warrior kings’glory have heard,How the princes wrought deeds of prowess.)One peculiar characteristic of style in “Beowulf”is the frequent use of compound-words to serve as indirect metaphors that are sometimes very picturesque. These are known as “kennings”, such as: “swan-road”, “whale-path”or “seal-bath”used to refer to the sea; “wave-tra veler”, to indicate a ship; “shield-bearer”, “battle-hero”or “spear-fighter”as substitute for the word “soldier”; “sword-clashings”or “edge-clash”to describe battlings or fights; “ring-mail”, “limb-sark” or “breast-net” as equivalent to armour.“Beowulf”towers above all other literary works written in Anglo-Saxon, chiefly because it is a powerful poem about a people’s hero written in true epic style, and not so much because the other extant writings of the period are mediocre or fragmentary. Beowulf is not simply a man of great military prowess but he is forever eager to help others in distress and in his last adventure with the dragon he shows himself a worthy leader ready to sacrifice his own life for the welfare of his people. Setting aside the supernatural elements pervading the poem as an inevitable limitation of the tribal-feudal age, “Beowulf” deserves to be ranked among the great heroic poems of northern Europe though it has not been as well known as the “Nibelungenlied”. In artistic form the epic tells the tale in a leisurely way, full of elaborations in legendary details, and the verse rises at places to heights of poetic grandeur, particularly in the descriptions of the hero’s nobility of character and in the narrations of his courageous batttlings with malevolent foes.。