英国文学史期末总结复习重点

英国文学史期末总结复习要点

1 / 14 英 国 文 学 史

Part one: Early and Medieval English Literature

Chapter 1 The Making of England

1. The early inhabitants in the island now we call England were Britons,

a tribe of Gelts.

2. In 55 ., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar.

The Roman occupation lasted for about 400 years.

It was also during the Roman role that Christianity was introduced to

Britain.

And in 410 ., all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never

returned.

3. The English Conquest

At the same time Britain was invaded by swarms of pirates( 海盗). They were

three tribes from Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes.

And by the 7th century these small kingdoms were combined into a United

Kingdom called England, or, the land of Angles.

And the three dialects spoken by them naturally grew into a single language

called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English.

4. The Social Condition of the Anglo-Saxon

Therefore, the Anglo-Saxon period witnessed a transition from tribal

society to feudalism.

5. Anglo-Saxon Religious Belief and Its Influence

The Anglo-Saxons were Christianized in the seventh century.

Chapter 2 Beowulf

1. Anglo-Saxon Poetry

But there is one long poem of over 3,000 lines. It is Beowulf, the national

epic of the English people. Grendel is a monster described in Beowulf.

3. Analysis of Its Content

Beowulf is a folk lengend brought to England by Anglo-Saxons from their

continental homes. It had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of

years before it was written down in the tenth century.

4. Features of Beowulf

The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration,

metaphors and understatements.

Chapter 3 Feudal England英国文学史期末总结复习要点

1 / 14 1) The Norman Conquest

2. The Norman Conquest

The French-speaking Normans under Duke William came in 1066. After

defeating the English at Hastings, William was crowned as King of England.

The Norman Conquest marks the establishment of feudalism in England.

3. The Influence of the Norman Conquest on the English Language

By the end of the fourteenth century, when Normans and English intermingled,

English was once more the dominant speech in the country.

3) The Romance

1. The Content of the Romance

The most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England was the romance.

4. Malory ’s Le Morte D ’Arthur

The adventures of the Knights of the Round Table at Arthur ’s court

Chapter 5 The English Ballads

2. The Ballads

The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad.

A ballad is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second

and fourth lines rhymed.

Of paramount importance are the ballads of Robin Hood.

3. The Robin Hood Ballads

Chapter 6 Chaucer

1. Life

Geoffrey Chaucer, the founder/father of English poetry.

3. Troilus and Criseyde

Troilus and Criseyde is Chaucer’s longest complete poem and his greatest

artistic achievement.

But the poet shows some sympathy for her, hitting that her fault springs

from weakness rather than baseness of character.

4. The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer ’s masterpiece and one of the monumental

works in English literature.

6. His Language

Chaucer’s language, now called Middle English, is vivid and exact.

Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry lies chiefly in the fact that

he introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially

the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic meter (the “the heroic couplet ”)

to English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse.

The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer英国文学史期末总结复习要点

1 / 14 did much in making dialect of London the standard for the modern English

speech.

Part Two: The English Renaissance

Chapter 1 Old England in Transition

1. The New Monarchy

The century and a half following the death of Chaucer was full of great

changes.

And Henry 7, taking advantage of this situation, founded the Tudor dynasty,

a centralized monarchy of a totally new type, which met the needs of the

rising bourgeoisie and so won its support.

2. The Reformation

Protestantism

The bloody religious persecution came to a stop after the church settlement

of Queen Elizabeth.

3. The English Bible

William Tyndall

Then appeared the Authorized Version, which was made in 1611 under the

auspices of James I and so was sometimes called the King James Bible.

The result is a monument of English language and English literature.

The standard modern English has been fixed and confirmed.

4. The Enclosure Movement

5. The Commercial Expansion

Chapter 2 More

1. Life

Thomas More

2. Utopia

Utopia is More ’s masterpiece, written in the form of a conversation