英美文学
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dramatic monologue” that is, a poem in which there is one imaginary speaker addressing an imaginary audience. English Romanticism is a revolt of the English imagination against the neoclassical reason. The French Revolution of 1789-1794 and the English Industrial Revolution exert great influence on English Romanticism. The romanticists express a negative attitude towards the existing social or political conditions. They place the individual at the center of art, as can be seen from Lord Byron’s Byronic Hero. The key words of English Romanticism are nature and imagination. English Romanticism tends to be nationalistic, defending the greatest English writers. They argue that poetry should be free from all rules. The Romantic period is an age of poetry Aestheticism :appeared on the literary scene during the latter nineteenth century, heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. The aestheticists stated that art was above life and declared that life should imitate art, not art imitate life, and art should serve no religious, moral or social purposes. They proclaimed the famous doctrine of “art for art’s sake.” this was one of the reactions against the materialism and commercialism of the Victorian industrial era, as well as a reaction against the Victorian convention of art for morality’s sake, or art for money’s sake. Byronic hero: As a leading Romanticist, Byron’s chief contribution is his creation of the “Byronic hero”, a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic hero would carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt world, and would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies. The conflict is usually one of rebellious individuals against outworn social systems and conventions. Historical novels:The historical novel is a literary genre characterized by the attempt to fuse strong dramatic plot lines and credible human psychology, within a setting constituted from specific historical detail (typically based upon diligent research into actual events, locations, and characters, as well as cultural customs, costume, and speech). Critical Realism: is one of the literary trends that flourished mainly in the 19th century. The great critical realists described the chief traits of the society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. Their works do not point toward revolution but rather evolution or reformism. They often start with a powerful exposure of the ugliness of the bourgeois world in their works, but end their novels usually with happy endings or an impotent compromise. Themes of Jane Austen’s Works: Austen focused on middle-class provincial life with humor and understanding. She depicted the life of minor landed gentry, country clergymen and their families, which was familiar to her. Stories of love and marriage provide the framework for all her novels and in them women are always taken as the major characters. The first paragraph: It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. Characteristics of her Works: 1. Jane Austen is one of the realistic novelists. She drew vivid and realistic pictures of everyday life of the country society in her novels. 2.Jane Austen’s main concern is about human beings in their personal relations, human beings with their families and neighbors. In her writing, she shows her sharp insight and her extraordinary understanding of human nature. Themes in Dickens’ Writing: The powerlessness of children. Good’s ability to triumph over evil. Man’s humanity to man. Man’s inhumanity to man. The out cast’s search for status and identity. The heinous nature of crime and criminals MAIN CHARACTERS : JANE EYRE: She is not a very beautiful girl who is left on her own. All through her young years she is in search of love and security. She is hated by her aunt and her cousins, who often hurt her. She is also very intelligent. Though she was brought up under inconvenient and hateful circumstances she developed a good-natured and loving heart. Jane is also friendly, helpful and is able to forgive. She works very hard to earn her money. My Last Duchess: It is Browning ‘s best-known dramatic monologue. The speaker is the Duke of Ferrara (a city in Italy), whose young wife died suspiciously after three years of marriage. Not long after her death, the duke managed to arrange a marriage with the niece of another noble man. This dramatic monologue is the duke’s speech addressed to the agent who comes to negotiate the marriage. In his talk about his “ last duchess,” the duke reveals himself as a self-conceited, cruel and tyrannical man. The poem is written in heroic couplets, but with no regular metrical system. In reading, it sounds like blank verse. Comments on Wordsworth He is a “worshipper of nature”. It is nature that gives him “strength and knowledge full of grace”. He described the beauty of nature, the countryside life in his poems .He is the leading figure of the English Romantic Poetry: an early / lost leader. He was famous for the simplicity and purity of his language. Ode to the West Wind: One of Shelley’s most celebrated works, it was written by Shelley on a day when the weather was unpredictable and windy. The poem reflects the mood of the weather and expresses Shelley’s desire for creativeness and intellect. The poem is written in terza rima. Shelley uses a three-line unit, a tercet, rhyming aba; the “b” rhyme is carried into the next tercet, bcb. Each stanza has four tercets of interlocking rhyme, and ends in a couplet using the middle rhyme of the last tercet; thus the rhyme scheme is aba bcb cdc ded ee. The lines themselves are in a (not very rigorous) pentameter. (1) Form: The poem is divided into 5 parts. Each part consists of four stanzas of terza rima and one couplet lines, rhymed aba bcb cdc ded ee (2) content: the poet describes vividly the activities of the west wind on the earth, in the sky and on the sea, and expresses his envy for the boundless freedom of the west wind, and his wish to be free like the wind and to scatter his words among mankind. (3) Theme : Revolutionary spirit. Wish to destroy the old and build up a new. (4) In what way is the west wind both a destroyer and a preserver? The west wind is considered the “destroyer” for driving the last signs of life from the trees; it is considered the “preserver” for scattering the seeds which come to life in the spring. Themes of Keats’ Writings: optimism; beauty of Nature; praises of Life; loves of poetry Comments on Keats’ poetry: In John Keats’ short writing career of six or seven years, he produced a variety of kinds of works, including epic, lyric and narrative poems. His artistic aim is to create a beautiful world of imagination as opposed to the sordid (miserable) reality of his day.He sought to express beauty in all his poems. His leading principle is “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”. Historical Background For Britain, the twentieth century has been generally a time of declining national fortune and power. The century has had to face two World Wars that have cost many lives and the destruction of much property. In order to pay for the wars, British has had to give up many of its investments abroad that during the nineteenth century had made London the financial capital of