英国文学整理

英国文学1.中古时期的英国文学Ballad(民谣):(1) Ballad is a story in poetic form to be sung or recited. (2) Ballads were passed down from generation to generation. (3) Robin Hood is a famous ballad singing the goods of Robin Hood. Coleridge’s The Rime of Ancient Marine is a 19th century English ballad.Epic（史诗）:(1) Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes. (2) Beowulf is the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. John Milton wrote three great epics：Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonists.Romance（罗曼文学/骑士文学）:(1) Romance is a popular literary form in the medieval England. (2) It sings knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. (3) Chivalry (such as bravery, honor, generosity, loyalty and kindness to the weak and poor) is the spirit of romance.Alliteration（押头韵）:(1) Alliteration means a repetition of initial sounds of several words in aline or group. (2) Alliteration is a traditional poetic device in English literature. (3) Robert Frost’s poem Acquainted with the Night is a case in point: “ I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet”.Beowulf《贝奥武甫》:(1)Beowulf , a typical example of Old English poetry, is regarded as the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. (2) The epic describes the heroic deeds of Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, in fighting against the monster Grendel, his revengeful mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. (3) The poem conveys a hope that the righteous will triumph over the evil.Geoffrey Chaucer（乔叟）:(1) He is regarded as the father of English poetry. (2) The Canterbury Tales is his masterpiece. (3) He presents, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. (4) Chaucer introduced from France rhymed stanzas of various types (heroic couplet) into English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse.(5) It was Chaucer who made London dialect the foundation for modern English speech. (6) His characterization is vivid.His major works: The Canterbury Tales 《坎特伯雷故事集》, Troilus and Criseyde《特罗勒斯和科丽西德》, The Romaunt of the Rose 《玫瑰罗曼史》, The House of Fame《声誉之堂》.Brief description of The Canterbury Tales: (1) The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s monumental success. (2) It is a collection of stories told b y a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. (3) It was influenced by Boccaccio(薄伽丘)’s Decameron（《十日谈》）. (4) In the poem Chaucer presents, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval society and creates a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. (5) The poem shows Chaucer’s humanism and anticipates a new era to come.William Langland (威廉•兰格伦):(1) Piers Plowman（《农夫皮尔斯》）is a poem that gives a picture of the life in feudal England. (2) It is a protest against the then social injustice.2.文艺复兴时期的英国文学Renaissance(文艺复兴):(1) the word “Renaissance” means “rebirth”. It meant the reintroduction into Western Europe of the full cultural heritage of Greece and Rome. (2) The essence of Renaissance is humanism. Attitudes and feelings which had been characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted well down into the era of Humanism and Reformation. (3) The real mainstream ofthe English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama with William Shakespeare being the leading dramatist.Humanism(人文主义):(1)Humanismis the essence of Renaissance. (2) It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.Spenserian stanza(斯宾塞诗节):（1）Spenserian stanza is the creation of Edmund Spenser .(2) It refers to a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter(六步音)，rhyming ababbcbcc. (3) Spenser’s The Faerie Queene was written in this kind of stanza.Conceit(奇特的比喻):(1) Conceit is a far-fetched simile or metaphor, a literary conceit occurs when the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things. (2) Conceit is extensively employed in John Donne’s poetry.Metaphysical poetry(玄学派诗歌):(1) Metaphysical Poetry is commonly used to name the name of the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.(2) With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. (3)The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the neoclassical periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. (4) The imagery is drawn from actual life.Sonnet(十四行诗):（1）Sonnet is one of the most conventional and influential forms of poetry in Europe. (2) A sonnet is a lyric consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme. (3) Shakespeare’s sonnets are well-known.Blank verse (无韵体诗):（1）Blank verse is verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. (2) It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton.Meter（格律）:(1) The word “meter” is derived from the Greek word “metron”, meaning“measure”. (2) In English when applied to poetry, it refers to the regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables. (3) The analysis of meter is called scansion (格律分析).Allegory(寓言) :（1）Allegory is a story told to explain or teach something, especially a long and complicated story with an underlying meaning different from the surface meaning of the story itself. (2) Allegorical novels use extended metaphors to convey moral meanings or attack certain social evils. Characters in these novels often stand for different values such as virtue and vice. (3) Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress,Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Melville’s Moby Dick are three examples of this kind.Stanza(诗节):（1）Stanza is a group of lines of poetry, usually four or more, arranged according to a fixed plan. (2) The stanza is the unit of structure in a poem and poets do not vary the unit within a poem.University Wits（大学才子）:（1）University Wits refer to a group of scholars during the Elizabeth Age who graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge. They came toLondon with the ambition to become professional writers. Some of them later became famous poets and playwrights. They were called “university wits”. (2) Thomas Greene, Thomas Kyd, John Lily and Christopher Marlow were among them. (3) They paved the ways, to some degree, for the coming of Shakespeare.Foreshadowing（预兆）:(1) Foreshadowing, in drama, means a method used to build suspense by providing hints of what is to come. (2) In Shakespeare’s Romeo andJuliet, Romeo’s expression of fear in Act 1, scene 4 foreshadows the catastrophe to come:I fear too early; for my mind misgivesSome consequence yet hanging in the stars…Soliloquy(独白):(1) Soliloquy, in drama, means a moment when a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud. (2) In the lines “To be, or not to be, that is the question”, which begins the famous soliloquy from Act 3, Scene 1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this soliloquy Hamlet questions whether or not life is worth living, and speaks of the reasons why he does not end his life.Narrative Poem(叙述诗):（1）A Narrative Poem refers to a poem that tells a story.(2) It may consist of a series of incidents, as in Homer’s The Iliad and The Odysseus, and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.3.启蒙主义时期的英国文学Literary TermsThe Enlightenment Movement（启蒙运动）(1)Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through Western Europe in the 18th century. (2) The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance from 14th century to the mid-17th century.(3) Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. (4) It celebrated reason or rationality, equally and science. It advocated universal education. Literature at the time became a very popular means of public education. (5) Famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, the two pioneers of familiar essays, Johnathan Swift, Richard Bringsley Sheridan, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson,etc.Neoclassicism（新古典主义）(1)In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought abouta revival of interest in the old classical works. (2) This tendency is known as neoclassicism. The neoclassicists held that forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers such as Homer and Vigil and those of the contemporary French ones. (3) They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.The Graveyard School（墓地派诗歌）(1)The Graveyard School refers to a school of poets of the 18th century whose poems are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present, with death and graveyard as themes.(2) Thomas Gray is considered to be the leading figure of this school and his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is its most representative work. The Heroic Couplet（英雄对偶句）The Heroic Couplet means a pair of lines of a type once in English poetry, in other words, it means iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines.Elegy（挽歌）(1)Elegy has typically been used to refer to reflective poems that lament the loss of something or someone. (2) In Memoriam by Alfred Tennyson is a famous elegy.Satire（讽刺）(1)Satire means a kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the weakness and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general. (2) The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society , and they attempt to persuade the reader to see their point of view through the force of laughter. (3) Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a great satire of the then English society from different aspects.Sentimentalism（感伤主义）(1)Sentimentalism is a pejorative term to describe false or superficial emotion, assumed feeling, self-regarding postures of grief and pain. (2) In literature it denotes overmuch use of pathetic effects and attempts to arouse feeling by “pathetic” indulgence. (3) The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith is a case in point.Didactic( 说教的）(1)Didactic literature is said to be didactic if it is deliberately teaches some moral lesson. The use of literature for such teaching is one of its traditional justifications. (2) Most modern literary works during the Enlightenment period tended to be didactic.Farce（闹剧/滑稽剧）Farce refers to a play full of ridiculous happenings, absurd actions, and unreal situations, meant to be very funny.Aside（旁白）(1)Aside refers to words spoken by an actor which the other actors are supposed not to hear. (2) An actor’s asides are usually spoken to the audience. (3) Hamlet’s very first line is an aside.Denouement（戏剧结局）Denouement, pronounced Dee-noo-ma, is that part of a drama which follows the climax and leads to the resolution.Name of the WriterAlexander Pope（亚历山大.蒲柏）(1)He is a representative of the Enlightenment and the greatest poet of the Neoclassical period.(2)He is the first to introduce rationalism to England. He strongly advocated neoclassicism, emphasizing that literary works should be judged by classical rules of order , reason, logic, restrained emotion, good taste and decorum.Works An Essay on Criticism 《论批评》(1) An Essay on Criticism is his masterpiece. It is a didactic poemwritten in heroic couples.(2) It consists of 744 lines and is divided into three parts.(3) It sums up the art of poetry as upheld and practiced by theancientslikeAristotle, and the 18th century European classicists.(4) Pope first laments the dearth of true taste in poetic criticism of hisdayand calls on people to turn to the old Greek and Romanwriters for guidance.(5) It helped spread neoclassicist tradition in England.The Rage of the Lock 《夺发记》The Dunciad《群愚史诗》John Dryden（约翰.德莱顿）(1)He is called “the father of English Criticism”.(2)An Essay of Dramatic Poesy is his masterpiece.Works An Essay of Dramatic Poesy 《论戏剧诗歌》(1) An Essay of Dramatic Poesy is John Dryden’s best work.(2) In it he discusses the works of the great playwrights of Greece and Rome, the English Renaissance, and contemporary France.(3) He was call ed “the father of English Criticism”.All for Love 《一切为了爱》Alexander’s Feast 《亚历山大的宴会》Thomas Gray （托马斯.格雷）He is the leading figure of the Graveyard School.Works Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard 《墓畔哀歌》(1) Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is the most representative workof the Graveyard School.(2)In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life, and themysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy.(3) The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wonderingwhat the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance.Herehe reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocksthegreat ones who despise the poor and bring havoc on them.4.浪漫主义时期的英国文学Romanticism（浪漫主义）(1)In the middle 18th century, a new literary movement called Romanticism came to Europe and then to England. (2) It is characterizedby a strong protest against the bondage of neoclassicism, which emphasized reason, order and elegant wit. Instead , romanticism gaveprimary concern to passion, emotion, and natural beauty. (3) In thehistory of literature, romanticism is generally regarded as the thought thatdesignates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see theindividual as the very center of all life and all experience. (4) The EnglishRomantic Period is an age of poetry. Major romantic poets include Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelly and Keats. Romanticism prevailedin England from 1798 to 1837.Lyric( 抒情诗 )(1)Lyric is a short poem wherein the poet expresses an emotion orillustrates some life principle. (2) Lyric often concerns love. “My love is like a red, red rose” is Robert Burns well-known lyric.Byronic Hero( 拜伦式英雄 )(1)Byronic Hero refers to a profound, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. (2) 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 society, 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.(3) Byron’s chief contribution to the English literature is the creation of “Byronic hero”.Terza Rima( 三行诗 )(1)Terza Rima is an Italian verse that consists of a series of three line stanzas in which the middle line of each stanza rhymes with the first and third lines of the following stanza with the rhyming scheme a b a, b c b, c d c, d e d, etc.(2) Shelly’s Ode to the West Wind is a case in point.Ottava Rima( 八行诗 )(1)Ottava Rima is a form of eight-line iambic stanza rhyming a b a b a bc c.(2) Byron’s Don Juan and William Butlter’s Sailing to Byzantium are outstanding examples.Canto( 诗章 )(1)Canto is a section of division of a long poem.(2) The most famous cantos in literature are those that make up Dante’s Division Comedy, a 14th century epic. In English poetry Alexander Pope’s The Rage of the Lock and Byron’s Don Juan are divided into cantos.Gothic Novel( 哥特式小说 )(1)Gothic Novel is a type of romance very popular late in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century.(2) Gothic novel empathizes things which are grotesque, violent, mysterious, supernatural, desolate and horrifying.(3) Gothic originally means in the sense of “medieval, not classical” was applied by Horac e Walpole to his novel The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic story, published in 1765.(4) With its description of the dark and irrational side of human nature, Gothic novel has exerted a great influence over the writers of the Romantic period. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe and Frankenstein by Mary Shelly are typical Gothic romance.High Comedy(正统喜剧 )High Comedy is a comedy that deals with a polite society and depends more on witty dialogue and well-drawn characters than on comic situations.Ode (颂歌)(1)Ode is a dignified and elaborately structured lyric of some length,praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally.(2)John Keats wrote great odes. His Ode on a Grecian Urn is a case inpoint.Lake Poets(湖畔派诗人)In English literature Lake Poets refer to such romantic poets as William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey who lived in the Lake District. They came to be known as the Lake School or “Lakes”.William Blake (威廉布莱克)(1)He is one of major English Romantic poets in the 19th century.(2)The distinctive feature of his poetry is the symbolism in wide range.(3)He is famous for his two volumes of poems: Songs of Innocence andSongs of Experience.(4)Chil dhood is central to Blake’s concern in these two volumes of poems. Works: Songs of Innocence《天真之歌》Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and sufferings.Songs of Experience 《经验之歌》Songs of Experience presents a different world, a world ofmisery,poverty, disease, war and repression with amelancholy tone.The Tiger《老虎》The Tiger is also a famous poem by Blake. Lamb in the poem is a symbol of peace and purity whereas tiger a symbol of dreadand violence.Poetical Sketches《素描诗集》Robert Burns （罗伯特彭斯）（1）H e is the greatest Scottish poet in the late 18th century.（2）I n his poetry he glorifies a natural man—a healthy, joyous and clever Scotch peasant.（3）H e wrote in Scottish dialect, drawing his inspiration from the treasury of Scottish folklore.（4）H is poetry is rich in such qualities as love, humor, pathos and love of nature. All these qualities suggest the coming of EnglishRomanticism.Works：A Red , Red Rose《一朵红红的玫瑰》My Heart’s in the Highland《我的心在高原》Auld Lang Syne《友谊地久天长》Mary Shelly (玛丽雪莱)She was the wife of Percy Bysshe ShelleyWork: Frankenstein《弗兰克肯斯坦》Frankenstein is a Gothic novel.Walter Scott(沃尔特司各特)（1）H e is the creator and a master of the historical novel. His historical novel is his chief contribution to English literature.（2）H is historical novels concern the history of Scotland, English history and the history of European countries.Works: Waverley《威弗利》The Black Dwarf《黑侏儒》Rob Roy《罗伯罗伊》Old Mortality《清教徒》Ivanhoe 《艾凡赫》(1)Ivanhoe is Scott’s masterpiece.(2)It is a novel of English subjectcovering the days after the Norman Conquest.5.维多利亚时期的英国文学Critical Realism(批判现实主义)（1）C ritical Realism is a term applied to the realistic fiction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.（2）I t means the tendency of writers and intellectuals in the period between 1875 and 1920 to apply the methods of realistic fiction tothe criticism of society and the examination of social issues. （3）R ealist writers were all concerned about the fate of the common people and described what was faithful to reality.（4）C harles Dickens is the most important critical realist.Dramatic Monologue(戏剧独白)（1）D ramatic Monologue，in literature, refers to the occurrence of a single speaker saying something to a silent audience.（2）R obert Browning’s My Last Duchess is a typical example in which the duke, speaking to a non-responding audience, revealsnot only the reasons for his disapproval of the behavior of hisformer duchess, but some tyrannical and merciless aspects of hisown personality as well.Psychological novel（心理小说）（1）P sychological novel refers to a kind of novel that dwells on acomplex psychological development and presents much of thenarration through the inner workings of the character’s mind.（2）T hackeray’s characterization of Rebecca Sharp is very much psychological.Point of View（叙述角度）（1）P oint of View can be divided by the narrator’s relationship with the character, represented by the grammatical person: the first-person narrative, the third-person narrative, and omniscientnarrator.（2）I n the first-person narrative, the narrator appears in the novel as “I”or “me”. In the third-person narrative, the narrator does notactually appear and all the characters are referred to as “he” or“they”. If the speaker knows everything including the actions,motives and thoughts of all the characters, the speaker is referredto as omniscient.Plot（情节）(1)Plot refersto the structure of a story.(2)The plot of a literary work includes the rising action, the climax, thefalling action and the resolution. It has a protagonist who is opposed by an antagonist, creating what is called conflict.Flashback (倒叙)（1）F lashback refers to an event which took place prior to the beginning of a story or play.（2）F lashback is used in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. In Hemingway’s The Snow of Kilamanjaro the protagonist, Harry Street, has been injured on a hunt in Africa. Dying, his mind becomes preoccupied with incidents in his past. In a flashback Street remember one of his wartime comrades dying painfully on barded wire on a battlefield in Spain.Allusion(典故/暗指)（1）A llusion means a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize andrespond to.（2）A n allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.（3）T hacker’s Vanity Fair serves as a literary example. The name of the novel is borrowed from the famous scene in John Bunyan’ ThePilgrim’s Progress.Protagonist and Antagonist(正面人物与反面人物)（1）I n a literary work Protagonist refers to the hero or central character who is often hindered by some opposing force either human or animal (Antagonist)in accomplishing his or her objective.（2）F or example, Captain Ahab is the protagonist in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick whereas the white whale (Moby-Dick) is the antagonist.Charles Dickens(查尔斯狄更斯)（1）H e is one of the greatest critical realist writers of the Victorian Age. （2）H is works are intended to expose and criticize all the poverty, injustice, hypocrisy and corruptness of the 19th-century England, particularly London.（3）A ll his works are characterized by a mingling of humor and pathos Works:Oliver Twist《雾都孤儿》Oliver Twist criticizes the dehumanizing workhouse system and the dark, criminal underworld life.David Copperfield《大卫科波菲尔》David Copperfield is about the debtor’s prison.Dombey and son《董贝父子》Dombey and son exposes the money-worship that dominates people’s life, corrupts the young and brings tragedy to Mr.Domby’s family.Bleak House《荒凉山庄》Bleak House attacks the legal system and practices that aim at devouring every penny of the clients.Hard Times《艰难时世》Hard Times lashes the Utilitarian principle that rules over the English education system and destroys young hearts and minds.Great Expectations《远大前程》Our Mutual Friends 《我们共同的朋友》Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friends expose the overwhelming social environment which brings moral degeneration and destruction to people.A Tale of Two City 《双城记》The Old Curiosity Shop 《老古玩店》Little Dorrit《小杜丽》The Pickwick Papers Great ExpectationsOur Mutual FriendsRobert Stevenson Treasure Island《金银岛》（罗伯特﹒史蒂文森） Kidnapped 《诱拐》6.现代时期的英国文学Modernism （现代主义）(1)Modernism is an international movement in literature and arts, especially in literary criticism, which began in the late 19 century and flourished until 1950s.(2)Modernism takes the irrational philosophy and the theory of psycho-analysis as theoretical case.（3）The modernist writers concentrate more on the private and subjunctive than on the public and objective, mainly concerned with the inner of an individual.(4)James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Virgina Woolf and William Faulkner are prominent modernist writers.Dadaism（达达主义）Dadaism refers to a western European artistic and literary movement (1916---1923) that sought the discovery of authentic reality through the abolition of traditional, cultural and aesthetic forms by a technique of comic derision in which irrationality, chance, and intuition were the guiding principles.Stream of Consciousness（意识流）(1)Stream of Consciousness has something to do with a method of storytelling in which the author tells the story through the freely flowing thoughts and associations of one of the characters. It is used to depict the mental and emotional reactions of characters to external events, rather than the events themselves.(2) Among English writers, James Joyce and Virgina Woolf are two major advocates of this technique.The Theater of Absurd（荒诞派戏剧）(1)The Theater of Absurd is a kind of drama that explains an existential ideology and presents a view of absurdity of the human condition by the abandoning of usual or rational devices and the use of nonrealistic form.(2)The most original playwright of the Theater of Absurd is Samuel Beckett, who wrote about human beings living a meaningless life in an alien, decaying world. His play, Waiting for Godot, is regarded as the most famous and influential play of the Theater of Absurd.。

Term Definition：Alliteration（押头韵）: Alliteration is the repetition of a speech sound in a sequence of nearby words. The term is usually applied only to consonants, and only when the recurrent sound begins a word or a stressed syllable within a word.Arthurian legend（亚瑟王传奇）: It is a group of tales (in several languages) that developed in the Middle Ages concerning Arthur L, semi-historical king of the Britons and his knights. The legend is a complex weaving of ancient Celtic mythology with later traditions around a core of possible historical authenticity.Sonnet（十四行诗）: A lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. There are two major patterns of rhyme in sonnets written in the English language:( 1) The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet (named after the fourteenth century Italian poet Petrarch) falls into two main parts: an octave(eight lines) rhyming abbaabba followed by a sestet (six lines) rhyming cdecde or some variant, such as cdccdc .(2) the English sonnet, or else the Shakespearean sonnet. This sonnet falls into three quatrains and a concluding couplet: abab cdcd efef gg. There was one notable variant, the Spenserian sonnet, in which Edmund Spenser linked each quatrain to the next by a continuing rhyme: abab bcbc cdcd ee.Conceit（夸张）: From the Italian concetto (meaning idea or concept), it refers to an unusually far-fetched or elaborate metaphor or simile presenting a surprisingly apt parallel between two apparently dissimilar things or feelings. Poetic conceits are prominent in Elizabethan love sonnets and metaphysical poetry. Conceits often employ the devices of hyperbole, paradox and oxymoron.Neoclassicism（新古典主义）: A style of Western literature that flourished from the mid-seventeenth century until the end of the eighteenth century and the rise of Romanticism. The neoclassicists looked to the great classical writers for inspiration and guidance. They believed that literature should both instruct and delight, and the proper subject of art was humanity. Neoclassicism stressed rules, reason, harmony, balance, restraint, decorum, order, serenity, realism, and form—above all, an appeal to the intellect rather than emotion. The Restoration in 1660 marked the beginning of the Neoclassical Period in England, whose writers included John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, etc.Romance（传奇小说）: It is a literary genre popular in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century), dealing, in verse or prose, with legendary, supernatural, or amorous subjects and characters. Popular subjects for romances included the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, King Arthur of Britain and the Knights of the Round Table, and the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne.Renaissance（文艺复兴）: Renaissance ("rebirth") is the name commonly applied to the period of European history following the Middle Ages. The development came late to England in thesixteenth century, and did not have its flowering until the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. It also has been described as the birth of the modem world out of the ashes of the Dark Ages. Soliloquy（独白）: Soliloquy is the act of talking to oneself, whether silently or aloud. In drama it denotes the convention by which a character, alone on the stage, utters his or her thoughts aloud.Metaphysical poetry（玄学派诗歌）: A term that can be applied to any poetry that deals with philosophical or spiritual matters but that is generally limited to works written by a specific group of 17th century poets who wrote in the manner of the poet John Donne. The metaphysical poets are linked by style and modes of poetic organization. Common elements include the following: (1) an analytical approach to subject matter; (2) colloquial language; (3) rhythmic patterns that are often rough or irregular, and (4) the metaphysical conceit, a figurative device used to capture thought and emotion as accurately as possible.Graveyard school of poetry（墓园派诗歌）: It refers to a group of 18 century English poets who emphasized subjectivity, mystery, and melancholy. Death, mortality (immortality), and gloom were frequent subjects or elements of their meditative poems, which were often actually set in graveyards. Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" is the most famous example.In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of HastingsIn the 14th century, the two most important writers are Chaucer and Langland.Today Chaucer is acclaimed not only as “the father of English Poetry” but also as “the father of English fiction”. His masterpiece is The Canterbury TalesThe fifteenth century has been described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English balladsIn the 15th century, there is only one important prose writer whose name is Thomas Malory He wrote an important work called Morte D’Arthur.“the Canterbury Tales” contain in fact a general Prologue and only 24 tales, of which two are left unfinished.The Prologue provides a framewor k for the tales in “the Canterbury Tales” , and it comprises a group of vivid pictures of various medieval figures.“the Canterbury Tales” is Chaucer’s greatest work and written for the greater part in heroic couplets.the name of the “jolly innkeeper” in “ the Canterbury Tales” is Harry Baily, who proposes that each pilgrim of the 32 should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back.“the Canterbury Tales” opens with a general Prologue where we are told of a company of polgrims that gathered at Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London.The Pilgrims in “the Canterbury Tales” are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at a place named Canterbury.Chaucer’s work “The Canterbury Tales” gives us a picture of th e condition of English life of his day, such as its work and play, its deeds and dreams , its fun and sympathy.The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism.Thom as More wrote his famous prose work “Utopia”.In Elizabeth Period, Francis Bacon wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which made him one of the best essayists in English literature.Edmund Spencer is often referred to as “the poet’s poet”.Spencer is generally regarded as the greatest nondramatic poet of the Elizabethan Age. His fame is chiefly based on his masterpiece “The Faerie Queene”.“When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” is the beginning line of a sonnet written by William Shakespeare.In the Elizabethan Age, William Shakespeare the greatest playwright of England.In Elizabethan Period, Francis Bacon wrote many excellent essays, such as “Of Studies”. Edmund Spencer wrote the masterpiece “The Faerie Queene”.“Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, and “Macbeth”are generally regarded as Shakespeare’s four great tragedies.Christopher Marlowe was the most gifted of the university wits. He Produced in all six plays and several poems.“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is one of William Shakespeare’s best known sonnets.“The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus” is one of Christopher Marlowe’s best plays.“Of Youth and Age” is one of the essays written by Francis Bacon.In 1642, civil war broke out in England, the royalists were defeated by the parliament army led by Oliver Cromwell. In 1649, Charles I was sentenced to death, and England was declared to be a commonwealth.The revolution period is also called the Puritan age, because the English revolution was carried out under a religious cloak.The Revolution Period produced one of the most important poets in English literature, whose name is John Milton.John Milton is the greatest writer of the seventeenth century, and one of the giants of English literature.In Revolution Period John Milton towers over his age as William Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan Age and as Chaucer towers over the Medieval period.During the civil war and the commonwealth, there were two leaders in England, Cromwell , the man of action, and John Milton, the man of thought.In 1637 Milton wrote the finest pastoral elegy in English, Lycidas, to memorize the tragic death of a Cambridge friend.Milton wrote his masterpiece Paradise Lost during his blindness.In the field of prose writing of the Puritan Age,John Bunyan occupied the most important place.The Pilgrim’s Progress has been one of the most popular pieces of Christian writing produced during the Puritan Age.John Bunyan wrote his masterpiece The Pilgrim’s P rogress during his second imprisonment.The Pilgrim’s Progress gives a vivid and satirical description of Vanity Fair which is the symbol of London at the time of Restoration.Dryden wrote many works on literary criticism, and has been regarded as the earliest literary critic of real importance in the history of English literature. The famous piece is “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy”. He has been called Father of English prose.“All for Love” is Dryden’s tragedy based on the story of Antony and Cleopatra under the influence of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Antony and Cleopatra”.The literature of the middle and later periods of the 17th century cultimated in the poetry of John Milton and in the prose writing of John Bunyan , and also in the plays and literary criticism of John Dryden.。

时期文学背景文学特点代表作家代表作品古英语6世纪末到7世纪末，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；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一些抒情诗、方言诗、谜语和宗教诗、宗教记述文、布道词比德《英国人民宗教史》《盎格鲁-撒克逊编年史》《贝奥武甫》《朱迪斯》中古英语11世纪诺曼人入侵，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民谣《高文骑士与绿衣骑士》绿林英雄罗宾汉14世纪后半叶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。

口头韵体诗朗兰德乔叟（被称为"英国诗歌之父"）《农夫彼尔斯的幻想》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。

《坎特伯雷故事集》（首创诗歌双韵体，即每两行压韵的五步抑扬格）15世纪马洛礼散文小说《亚瑟王之死》文艺复兴16世纪中叶至17世纪初，伊丽莎白女王时代，英国开始文艺复兴运动。

英国文学得到了空前的发展,在诗歌,散文和戏剧方面尤其兴盛.英文的《圣经钦定本》作成于1611年,不仅具有重大的宗教意义,也是一部伟大的文学作品,并且对英国的语言文化产生了深远的影响.它的纯朴,平易,明晰的散文风格奠定了英国散文的传统. 诗歌方面,新的诗体形式如十四行诗,无韵体诗被介绍到英国.社会讽刺诗剧以善于表达活跃躁动的思绪和蕴含哲理而独树一帜思想深刻,文笔简洁,富有警句格言托马斯·莫尔西德尼斯宾塞莎士比亚本·琼森多恩（玄学派诗人）FrancisBacon《乌托邦》十四行诗《仙后》《随笔》戏剧代表文艺复兴时期英国文学的最高成就。

马洛莎士比亚17世纪17世纪是英国社会剧烈动荡的时期之一，由于君主专制和资产阶级之间的矛盾，爆发了1642年的内战并导致了1688年的“光荣革命”。

与政治斗争和资产阶级革命思想紧密相连的是宗教斗争和清教徒思想，因此这一时期的文学和艺术多展示革命思想的发展与成长，并带有浓厚的清教主义倾向都取材于《圣经》。

L‘Allegro欢乐的人;Il Penseroso沉思的人;Comus科马斯;Lycidas列西达斯;Areopagitica论出版自由;Pro Populo Anglicano Defense为英国人民声辩; Pro Populo Anglicano Defense Secunda再为英国人民声辩;Paradise Lost失乐园;Paradise Regained复乐园;Samson Agonistes力士参孙
长篇小说：The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews,and of His Friend Mr Abraham Adams约瑟·安德鲁传;The Life of Mr Jonathan Wild the Great大伟人江奈生·魏尔德传;The History of Tom Jones,a Foundling汤姆·琼斯;Amelia阿美利亚
Christopher Marlowe克里斯托夫。马洛
Tamburlaine铁木耳大帝Dr.Faustus浮士德的悲剧The Jew of Malta马耳他的犹太人The Passionate Shepherd多情的牧羊人致情人
William Shakespeare莎士比亚1564-1616
The Tempest暴风风雨;The Two Gentlemen of Veronaz维罗纳二绅士;The Mercy Wives of Windsor温莎的风流妇人;Measure for Measure恶有恶报;The Comedy of Errors错中错;Much Ado about Nothing无事自扰;Love’s Labour’s Lost空爱一场;A Midsummer Night’s Dream仲夏夜之梦;The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人;As You Like It如愿;The Taming of the Shrew驯悍记;All’s Well That Ends Well皆大欢喜;Twelfth Night第十二夜;The Winter’s Tale冬天的故事;The Lifeand Death of King John/Richard the Second/Henry the Fifth/Richard the Third约翰王/理查二世/亨利五世/理查三世;The First/Second Part of King Henry the Fourth亨利四世（上、下）;The First/Second/Third Part of King Henry the Sixth亨利六世（上、中、下）;The Life of King Henry the Eighth亨利八世；Troilus and Cressida脱爱勒斯与克莱西达;The Tragedy of Coriolanus考利欧雷诺斯;Titus Andronicus泰特斯·安庄尼克斯;Romeo and Julet罗密欧与朱丽叶；Timon of Athens雅典的泰门;The Life and Death of Julius Caesar;朱利阿斯·凯撒；The Tragedy of Macbeth麦克白;The Tragedy of Hamlet哈姆雷特/王子复仇记;King Lear李尔王;Othello奥塞罗;Antony and Cleopatra安东尼与克利欧佩特拉;Cymbeline辛白林;Pericles波里克利斯;Venus and Adonis维诺斯·阿都尼斯;Lucrece露克利斯;The Sonnets十四行诗