About British LiteratureBritain is one of the four homes of the world’s earliest civilizations. So there’s no wonder that Britain has a very comprehensive artistic out put, that is literature. To make it clear and easy to follow, I will showcase the British literature in a chronological sequence. It begins with early writing. Much early writing was concerned with religion, namely Christianity. Anglos axons produced beautifully illustrated versions of the Bible. Among them the most famous is the Book of Kells. Besides the Bible, there are still other literary works produced during the period. A symbol one is called Beowulf. After Britain entered the Middle Ages, literature was written in French or Latin since French because the language of the royal court. But there’s also one work that stands out called The Canterbury Tales by Geoffery Chaucer. People of today are still amazed at the variety of social types amongst the 31 pilgrims and the diversity of the stories they tell. In addition, the legend of King Arthur cannot be omit in this period. King Arthur not only enriches people’s imagination but also stimulate the tourism industry of some locations.The flourishing of cultural life in Britain lies in drama, also called Elizabethan Drama. Playwrights created lots of great works. Besides Marlowe and Ben Jonson, there’s a giant that has overwhelmed the whole world with his extraordinary plays, that is William Shakespeare. The whole world has been touched by his tragedies like Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and so on. William Shakespeare has been a reprehensive of Elizabethan Drama.The permanent moments of English literature in the 17th century are King James, Francis Bacon and John Milton. James is remembered for the translation of the Holy Scripture. Francis Bacon’s essays made popular in English a literary from widely practiced afterward. Bacon used to be a public figure and statement of importance. But a scandal put his political career to an end and that threw him into literature. Another literature giant called John Milton was much bound up in Puritan Revolution. The masterpieces of Milton included: Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, and the poetic tragedy Samson Agonistes. As the history has it , John Milton also once had his public service career.18th-century English literature is marked by a rather large shift from the novel and tone of 17th century literature. The 18th century was an age of wit and skepticism, when thinkers and writers argued and questioned all facts and beliefs. There were a great number of satirical comedies put on stages in theaters. The prominence of satire on the stage has pushed the creation of the novel. Jonathan swift is one among the popular writers of this age. His famous work goes to Gulliver’s Travels. Robert Burns is an example on the stage of history. He is a Scottish who wrote in Scottish dialect. Daniel Defoe, a very important person of British literature wrote many books. Defoe’s best-known work is Robinson Crusoe, which was the most famous tale of shipwreck and solitary survival in all literature. So it’s a book that very worth reading. Stepping into the 19th century, the first third makes up English literature’s romantic period. Writers of this period make more use of their imagination and feeling than reason.The industrialization on a large scale had urged writers to turn to literary world. William wordsworth and Samuel Taylor offered romantic poetry’s “Declaration of Independence”, that means they created an opening for the romantic poetry’s reprehensive of their works also include autobiographical and wonderful poems. After the beginning set by the above two persons, it was Lord Byron, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley that had brought the Romantic Movement to its peak. Lord Byron spent a lot of time travelling widely in Europe and died of a fever at 36 in Greece. His main work is an autobiographical. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Coming from a plain background, John Keats showed his talent at an early age. “Ode on a Grecian Urn”and “Ode to a Nightingale” are among his greatest poems. It’s been a big tragedy that John Keats died young. There’s a poem that is beautiful lament on the death of Keats. It’s called Adonais and it was written by another famous writer Percy Bysshe Shelley Percy is also known for the lovely musical quality of his verses. As the tragedy respects, he drowned a month before 30th birthday. He was buried near Keats and they were together forever. Despite the romantic poetry emerged in the 19th century, another expression of romanticism is novel. One outstanding novelist of man in the age goes to Jane Austen. Jane’s novels are renowned for their fine writing, subtle characterization and controlled studies of manners. Because of all this talents, Jane is known as one of the greatest of all English novelists. People are fasinated by the delightful and flawless stylist that that she devoted in her works like Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma. Many of her novels had been made into movies and earned great success. Jane Austen is an extraordinary woman writer of British history. Talking of woman writer, no one can overlook the existence of the most famous literary family in Britain history, the Bronte sisters. They are three daughters of a poor family in Yorkshire. Although their living condition is very bad, the daughters were educated well and respectable. And the sisters had produced very great works in their very short life span. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are both in the world-famous category which written separately by Charlotte and Emily. Later in the 19th century, Robert Louis Stevenson and Tomas Hardy had won seats in the greats. They also contributed many fabulous works to the people around the world. 20th century’s literature was with great complexity. Wars and revolutions had made things change dramatically. The literature of this era can be classified into two kinds: Modernism and Postmodernism. It was classified correspond to literature written before the Second World War and after it. Modernism literature can be seen as a reaction against the 19th century forms. Modernism writers express the difficulty in understanding and communicating how the world works. Joseph Conrad stands for the English Modernist writers. Many of Conrad’s novels are concerned with moral uncertainty. The Heart of Darkness is Conrad’s most famous novel. wrence and E.M.Forster are characterized with novels which are critical of modern world. Lawrence’s forceful writing on daring themes shocked many and one of his best is Sons and Lovers. Forster’s works tend to connected with personal relations. His most notable book is A Passage to India. Moving into the post-war period, George Orwell and John Fowle stand out like giants. Orwell’s 1984 is a powerful satire on the totalitarian tendency in modern states. The story is characteristic of the post –waryears and begins “postmodernism”. Although the main stream of this period is Modern or Postmodern, many post-war writers still continue traditional themes. Graham Greene, John Lecane and Ian Fleming are the cases in point. Fleming’s James Bond stories are even better known to the whole globe, especially for their numerous film versions. Among the A-list never novelists, there’s William Golding, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in1983 and wrote a wonderful book : Lord of the Flies. Another characteristic of the postmodern world is a mixing of cultures on a grand scale. And the mixture has always been an integrated part of British Writing.。
英国文学简史古英语时期(Old English Period)时间：450-1600背景：盎格鲁撒克逊人（Anglo-Saxon）入侵英国作品种类：史诗(epic)代表作家：不详代表作品：贝奥武夫（Beowulf）中世纪英语时期(Middle English Period)时间：1066-1500背景：诺曼人(Normans)征服英国作品种类：传奇(Romans)代表作家:不详代表作品：高文爵士和绿骑士（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight）文艺复兴时期(The Renaissance)时间：1500-1660背景：新航路开辟，伊丽莎白一世登基，自然科学技术的发展。
作品种类：戏剧（drama），诗歌（poetry）代表作家：莎士比亚（William Shakespeare）代表作品：哈姆雷特（Hamlet）17世纪时期(The 17th Century)时间：1603-1688背景：资产阶级革命与复辟时期作品种类：散文（essay），史诗（epic），寓言故事（allegory），诗歌（poetry）代表作家：弥尔顿（John Milton）代表作品：失乐园(paradise lost)新古典主义时期(The Neoclassical Period)时间：1660-1785背景：启蒙运动作品种类：散文（essay），小说（novel），诗歌（poetry）代表作家：亚历山大.蒲泊(Alexander Pope)代表作品：An Essay on Man浪漫主义时期(The Romantic Period)时间：1798-1832背景：法国大革命，工业革命作品种类：诗歌（poetry）代表作家：雪莱(Percy Bysshe Shelley)代表作品：西风颂（Ode to the West Wind）维多利亚时期(The Victorian Period)时间：1832-1900背景：维多利亚女王统治时期，资本主义经济发展，自然科学的发展作品种类：小说（novel）代表作家：狄更斯（Charles Dickens）代表作品：远大前程（Great Expectations）现代主义时期(The Modern Period)时间：1914-1965背景：第二次世界大战，人们对西方文明的危机感作品种类：诗歌（poetry），小说（poetry）代表作家：艾略特（T.S Eliot）代表作品：荒原（The Waste Land）The Middle English PeriodGeoffrey ChaucerSpecial featuresThe first most significant poet in English literary history to write in Middle English.Help perfect English language as as a literary medium.A first rate story-teller. Reading him can be an immensely enlightening and educational experience.Points of viewEnormous sense of humor.Loyalty to reality. A master of realism.Infinite sense of humanity.Major WorksCanterbury TalesA collection of 20-odd stories.Similar with Boccacio’s Decameron.Including 20 complete stories and 4 fragments---already an amazing number.People come from virtually all walks of life. A picture of 14-century English life.Place women on an equal footing with men.(“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” What is that women desire most?)Prominence: The holy orders and the middle classThomas MoreSpecial featuresThe wisest and noblest person that lived then.Privy councilor to the king.Beheaded by the king because of he did not go along with the king’s divorce.Points of viewMore was first and foremost a humanist at heart.Major WorksUtopiaLook forward to the future of man.Offer an ideal which has inspired generations of serious social thinkers. An imaginary country where democracy replaces tyranny, commonwealth replaces private property.Its strict adherence to conformity, simplicity and monotony is totally incompatible with human nature, and curbs individual rights and freedom.Its slavery system goes against individual dignity and self-worth.The utopian society is clearly male-dominated.RenaissanceSpenserSpecial featuresOne of the most important English poets.Milton calls him his “poetic father”Points of viewDetermined to revive Chaucer’s poetic legacy and reinvent English poetry.Conformed to morality and Christian dogmas.Major WorksThe Faerie QueenA grand epic poem“The only long poem that a lover of poetry can sincerely wish longer”Picturesque, rhyme, theme, plot.William ShakespeareSpecial featuresMost popular and most widely respected writer in all English literature. Careful rumination over human condition andsupreme understanding of human nature.His poets drew great attention for their grace in form, depth in thought, and vivacity in tone.His dramatic works:Early period:histories and comediesMiddle period:tragicLate period:Romances&serenityPoints of viewHis universe is a veritable microcosm of the human world, where all types of people exist.He has the common life of the common run of mankind in mind in his literary creations.His cosmos is highly moral with a sense of certitude and justice.He sees reflection of life as legitimate job of a playwright.Major WorksBlack comedyIndividual worthA faithful record of the mood and tenor of the timesFrancis BaconSpecial featuresHis inductive method of reasoning and learning; he valued experience and observation.His prose is fresh, vigorous, powerful, and aphoristic so that he was able to dominate English prose for decades.Bacon’s essays was the first of its kind to appear in English literature. Major WorksHuman nature, political concerns and socio-economic ideas.John MiltonSpecial featuresThe third greatest English poet after Chaucer and Shakespeare.The greatest to come out of the 17th century.His experience with the telescope helped him visualize haven, earth and hell.Major WorksParadise Lost made its author the greatest modern epic poet in English literary history.About biblical story of creation.Samson Agonistes was patterned on Greek tragedies.The character of Samson offers an obvious outlet of self-expression for the poet who resembled the biblical hero in more than one way. Lycidas has certainly proved to be a frame of reference for the writing of the genre of pastoral elegies.John BunyanSpecial features“No one can please God more than I do.”He was known as “Bishop Bunyan”.His prose has a striking modern ring. It has paved the way for the rise of the modern English novel.He became a great force in the history of English prose without ever desiring it.Major WorksThe Pilgrim’s Progress is an allegory.A medieval miracle play with vivid and lively personifications of virtues and vices and all the human qualities in between.The Classic AgeThomas GraySpecial featuresA poet of transition form the neoclassic to the Romantic period.A forerunner of the Romantic movement both in subjects and simple language.Gray is famous for his letter writing.Oliver GoldsmithSpecial featuresGoldsmith is prone to a kind of idealizing and sentimentality that is always easy for modern people to comprehend.Points of viewGoldsmith’s poem was written in the fashionable heroic couplet of the time.The author’s sentiments of grief and nostalgia are genuine and convincing.Major WorksShe stoops to conquerAs a satire on the artificial and pretentious behavior of the day, the play exalts the quality of t ruth and honest feeling.The salutary influence the play exercised on the 18th century is considerable.Goldsmith’s dialogues are vivacious and immensely humorous, and the whole performance impressed the audience with its vitality and joyful mood.The Vicar of WakefieldHis wit, humor, his craft of planning ballads and tales within tales, and his philosophical depth, which all make for the fascination it holds for its readers, modern as well as ancient.William BlakeSpecial featuresAn important landmark in between two literary periods, pointing directly to that of Romanticism.His poets: his social events and his mysticism.He is noted or his originality both in theme and form.Points of view“Without contrast and contraries, there is no progression.”Blake was basically a visionary. His fight was a “mental” fight, one that he hoped would restore England to spiritual and social health.Major WorksBy far his most powerful and the most permanent are Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience.Jonathan SwiftSpecial featuresThe literary king of his day. He wrote a lot of powerful satirical essays and books.His lucid and terse prose has contributed not a little toward the development of the best English prose tradition.Points of viewHis satires on human institutions and social ills were all meant tohelp improve the lot of man.Major WorksGulliver’s TravelsGulliver is a man observant to all the 18th century values, while Swift was, on the other hand, a man intensely critical of his time.The author is different from the narrator, and the author would like people to think twice about what Gulliver disapprove of. Gulliver is part of the author’s satire.Daniel DefoeSpecial featuresA firm supporter of the Glorious Revolution.Points of viewHis views on the novel focus on its realism and aesthetic.“Any story failing to deal with the human experience is pure fiction and a lie.”His protagonists are common people with real common names and speak as “I”, telling their own stories in the first-person narrative.As a moralist, he wrote with the conviction that his works wouldbe educational and help people behave.Major WorksRobinson CrusoeA middle class book, offering justifications for the class’forthcoming rise to pre-dominance in national life.A typical show of Puritan individualism.(self-reliance andhard-working)The creation of the world and and self-identity.An ordinary humankind’s self-made success.。
