英国文学史维多利亚时期文学背景及特点

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。

维多利亚时代的文学特点分析一、引言维多利亚时代（1837年-1901年）是指英国女王维多利亚统治下的时期，也是英国历史上一个重要的文学时期。

在这段时间里，英国经历了巨大的社会、政治和经济变革，这些变化也影响到了文学创作。

本文将详细分析维多利亚时代的文学特点。

二、现实主义与道德意义1.现实主义：维多利亚时代的文学以现实主义为主要风格，着重描绘社会生活中的真实场景，呈现细致入微且具有客观立场的描写。

2.道德意义：由于当时社会价值观念深受宗教影响，维多利亚时代的文学作品普遍带有强烈的道德意义，强调个人和社会责任。

三、对抗社会问题与揭示阶级冲突1.对抗社会问题：以小说为主要形式的文学作品常常通过揭示社会问题来提醒读者关注社会不公及贫困等问题，并试图促使社会变革。

2.揭示阶级冲突：工业化带来了巨大的经济分化，维多利亚时代文学充满了对阶级冲突、社会不公以及资本主义压迫的揭露。

四、女性权益与家庭观念改变1.女性权益：维多利亚时代见证了妇女运动的兴起，文学作品中开始出现更多关注女性权益、平等和独立的主题，反映了当时妇女社会地位的提高和复杂的家庭关系。

2.家庭观念改变：传统家庭观念受到挑战，作品中有更多描写复杂家庭关系、离婚和自由选择爱情的情节。

五、哲学思考与科技进步1.响应哲学思考：维多利亚时代文学作品经常表达对人类存在意义和道德价值的深刻思考，并探索宗教信仰与科学理论之间的冲突。

2.科技进步背后：工业革命带来了蓬勃发展的科技进步，在文学中也可以看到对机械化、工业化及其带来的人类困境的思考。

六、文学风格和代表作品1.文学风格：维多利亚时代文学作品的语言风格通常正式、精细，注重细节描写，同时使用丰富多样的修辞手法。

2.代表作品：《雾都孤儿》（Charles Dickens）、《简·爱》（CharlotteBrontë）、《怪医杜立德》（Robert Louis Stevenson）等作品被广泛认为是维多利亚时代的经典之作。

维多利亚时代的英国小说以现实主义为特征。

作为整个欧洲现实主义文艺思潮的一部分维多利亚时代的现实主义小说表现的是普世意义上的生活经验。

道德和常理这些被浪漫主义时代遗弃多年的主题，又回到了文学主流中来。

此时期文学，真实地反映了时代的现实与精神，其中体现出的高度的活力，脚踏实地的精神，善意的幽默与无羁无绊的丰富联想都是空前的。

特别的是艾米莉’勃朗特的《呼啸山庄》，是那个时代的变徵之音。

《呼啸山庄》是一部有丰富象征意义的小说，在艺术手法上，结合了现实主义，浪漫主义，象征主义的边县手法。

一方面通过曲折生动的故事情节，典型的任务形象塑造，表象了英国乡村庄园的日常生活，爱情婚姻，反映19世纪特殊的历背景下，远离都市的庄园生活所受到的外来影响。

同时，小说通过一系列的象征手法，曲折地表达了一种隐蔽的“反家庭”倾向，如画眉山庄的排外与封闭，呼啸山庄的混乱无序。

另一方面，小说采用了大量的象征手法，梦境的运用，超自然力的表现等等。

在小说中，对大自然的描绘占有重要地位，作者通过人物的性格特征，人内心的风暴与大自然的风暴对应描写，表现了人与自然的密切联系。

小说中对于自然充满浪漫主义的激情描写，传达了鲜明的地方色彩。

寂寞的沼泽峡谷，荒凉的山顶上，被风雨摧残的荒野，寒冷的空气，坚硬的土地，形象地传达了苍凉荒凉所特有的那种惊心动魄的狂野。

在小说中，大自然作为男女主人公逃避家庭带来的痛苦的避难所，与家庭封闭，压抑的空间形成了鲜明的对照。

读完了艾米莉·勃朗特的呼啸山庄，有一种难以言表的复杂感受，或许出自于对艾米莉的深佩、或许也就是如同小说本身的主题，思想和艺术结构一般多元而耐人寻味，由此的一些感慨。

应该是在大约1847年左右，至今家喻户晓，世界文坛著名的勃朗特三姐妹中，年长的夏洛蒂·勃朗特和二姐艾米莉·勃朗特同时推出了各自不同寻常的小说。

当时谁也没有想到，亲姐妹的杰作问世之后，命运却大相径庭。

《简·爱》立刻受到热情地欢呼，是作者在一夜间留名于发展迅速的英国文坛，而《呼啸山庄》一开始就遭到评论界猛烈谴责。

英国文学7个时期各自特点介绍（范文）第一篇：英国文学7个时期各自特点介绍（范文）英国文学7个时期英国文学发端于中世纪，经历了古英语、中古英语、文艺复兴、17世纪、18世纪、19世纪、20 世纪文学 7 个时期，取得了举世瞩目的成就。

古英语文学英国在10世纪以前属于古英语时期，早期的凯尔特等部族及5 世纪入侵的盎格鲁、撒克逊和朱特人，起初都没有留下书面文学。

6世纪末到7世纪末，由于肯特国王阿瑟尔伯特皈依基督教，该教僧侣开始以拉丁文著书写诗，其中以比德所著《英国人民宗教史》最有历史和文学价值。

9世纪，威塞克斯国王阿尔弗雷德为振兴文化，组织人力将各种拉丁文著作译成英语，并倡导以英语撰写《盎格鲁-撒克逊编年史》，其中包括有关盎格鲁-撒克逊和朱特人的英雄史诗《贝奥武甫》和《朱迪斯》，以及一些抒情诗、方言诗、谜语和宗教诗、宗教记述文、布道词。

中古英语文学 11世纪，随着诺曼人入侵，古英语渐渐演化为中古英语，文学上开始流行模仿法国的韵文体骑士传奇，其中以《高文骑士与绿衣骑士》最有艺术价值。

14世纪后半叶是中古英语发展的高峰，出现了似受古英语诗影响的口头韵体诗，最有名的长诗《农夫彼尔斯的幻想》，一般认为是教会人员朗兰德所写，以中世纪梦幻故事的形式探讨人间善恶，讽刺社会丑行，表达对贫苦农民的深切同情。

此时期国王查理第二当政，宫廷开始用盎格鲁-诺曼法语，王室贵族兴起赞助文人之风。

英国文学史上出现的第一位大诗人乔叟以其诗体短篇小说集《坎特伯雷故事集》和其他长短诗集成为英国文学的重要奠基人。

15世纪，有民间歌谣抄本流传至今，最有名的是关于绿林好汉罗宾汉的传说；马洛礼的散文小说《亚瑟王之死》为英国小说的雏形。

文艺复兴时期文学16世纪中叶至17世纪初主要是伊丽莎白女王时代，英国开始文艺复兴运动。

学者纷纷翻译意大利和法国学术、文学名著并自行著述，以托马斯· 莫尔（1477～1535)的《乌托邦》最有价值。

英国文艺复兴文学最突出的是诗歌和戏剧。

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。