《英國(guó)文學(xué)簡(jiǎn)史》重點(diǎn)筆記(完整版)

1、英國(guó)文學(xué)簡(jiǎn)史完全版A Con cise History of British LiteratureChapter 1 En glish Literature of An glo-Sax on Periodln troducti onI. The historical backgro und(1)Before the Germanic invasion(2)During the Germanic invasiona. immigrati on;b. Christia ni ty;c. heptarchy.d. social classes structure: hide-hu ndred; eo

2、ldermen(lord)-tha ne - middleclass (freemen) - lower class (slave or bondmen: theoW ;e. social organization: clan or tribes.f. military Orga ni zati on;g. Church function: spirit, civil service, education;h. economy: coins, trade, slavery;i. feasts and festival: Hallowee n, Easter; j. legal system.2

3、. The Overview of the culture(1)The mixture of pagan and Christian spirit.(2)Literature: a. poetry: two types; b. prose: two figures.II. Beowulf.1. A gen eral in troducti on.2. The content.3. The literary features.(1)the use of alliterati on(2)the use of metaphors and un derstateme nts(3)the mixture

4、 of pagan and Christian elementsIII. The Old En glish Prose1. What is prose?2. figures(1) The Venerable Bede(2) Alfred the GreatChapter 2 En glish Literature of the Late Medieval Ages l.ln troducti on1. The Historical Backgro und.(1)The year 1066: Norman Con quest.(2)The social situations soon after

5、 the conquest.A. Norma n n obles and serfs;B. restorati on of the church.(3)The 11th ce ntury.A. the crusade and kni ghts.B. dominance of Fre nch and Lat in;(4)The 12th ce ntury.A. the cen tralized gover nment;B. kings and the church (Henry II and Thomas);(5)The 13th ce ntury.A. The lege nd of Robin

6、 Hood;B. Magna Carta (1215);C. the begi nning of the Parliame ntD. En glish and Lati n: official la nguages (the end)(6)The 14th cen tury.a. the House of Lords and the House of Commonsconflict between theParliame nt and Kin gs;b. the rise of tow ns.c. the cha nge of Church.d. the role of wome n.e. t

7、he Hun dred Years Waistarti ng.f. the developme nt of the trade: London.g. the Black Death.h. the Peasants Revo1381.i. The tran slation of Bible by Wycliff.(7)The 15th ce ntury.a. The Peasants Revolt (1453)b. The War of Roses betwee n Lan casters and Y orks.c. the prin ti ng-press William Caxt on.d.

8、 the starting of Tudor Monarchy (1485)2. The Overview of Literature.(1)the stories from the Celtic lands of Wales and Brittangreat myths of theMiddle Ages.(2)Geoffrye of Monm outh Historia Regum Brita nni ae King Authur.(3)Wace Le Roman de Brut.(4)The roma nee.(5)the sec ond half of the 14th een tur

9、y: Lan gla nd, Gaw in poet, Chaucer.II. Sir Gawin and Green Knight.1. a gen eral in troducti on.2. the plot.III. William Lan gla nd.1. Life2. Piers the Plowma nIV. Chaucer1. Life2. Literary Career: three periods(1)French period(2)Italian period(3)master period3. The Can terbury TalesA. The Framework

10、;B. The Gen eral Prologue;C. The Tale Proper.4. His Con tributio n.(1)He in troduced from France the rhymed sta nza of various types.(2)He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English Ianguage.(3)The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucerdid much in making

11、the dialect of London the standard for the moder n En glishspeech.V. Popular Ballads.VI. Thomas Malory and En glish ProseVII. The begi nning of En glish Drama.1. Miracle Plays.Miracle play or mystery play is a form of medieval drama that came fromdramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Ch

12、urch. It developed from the10th to the 16th cen tury, reachi ng its height in the 15th cen tury. The simple lyriccharacter of the early texts was enlarged by the addition of dialogue and dramaticaction. Eventually the performance was moved to the churchyard and themarketplace.2. Morality Plays.A mor

13、ality play is a play enforcing a moral truth or less on by means of the speechand acti on of characters which are pers oni fied abstracti ons -figures represe nting vices and virtues, qualities of the huma n mi nd, or abstract con cepti ons ingen eral.3. I nterlude.The interlude, which grew out of t

14、he morality, was intended, as its name implies,to be used more as a filler than as the main part of an entertainment. As its best itwas short, witty, simple in plot, suited for the divers ion of guests at a banq uet, orfor the relaxati on of the audie nee betwee n the divisi ons of a serious play. I

15、t wasesse ntially an in doors performa nee, and gen erally of an aristocratic n ature.Chapter 3 English Literature in the Renaissanee I.A Historical BackgroundII.The Overview of the Literature (1485-1660)Printing press readershipgrowth of middle class trade-education forlaypeople-centralization of p

16、ower-intellectual life-exploration-new impetus anddirecti on of literature.Humanism-study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed educati on.Literary style-modeled on the ancients.The effect of humanism-the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sen sibleattitude of its classicall

17、y educated adhere nts.1. poetryThe first tendency by Sidney and Spenser: ornate, florid, highly figured style.The second tendency by Donne: metaphysical stylecomplexity and ingenu ity.The third tendency by Joh nson: reacti on-Classically pure and restrai nedstyle.The fourth tendency by Milt on: cen

18、tral Christia n and Biblical traditi on.2. Dramaa. the n ative traditi on and classical examples.b. the drama stands highest in popular estimation: Marlowe -Shakespeare -Jonson.3. Prosea. tran slati on of Bible;b. More;c. Bac on.II.E nglish poetry.1. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard (courtly makers

19、)(1)Wyatt: in troduc ing sonn ets.(2)Howard: introducing sonnets and writing the first blank verse.2. Sir Philip Sidneypoet, critic, prose writer(1)Life:a. En glish gen tlema n;b. brillia nt and fasc in at ing pers on ality;c. courtier.(2)worksa. Arcadia: pastoral roma nee;b. Astrophel and Stella (

20、108 ): sonnet seque nee to Pen elopeDvereux plat onic devoti on.Petrareha n con ceits and origi nalfeeli ngs-movi ngtocreativenes building of a narrative story; theme-love originality-act of writ in g.c. Defense of Poesy: an apology for imaginative literature beginning of literarycriticism.3. Edm un

21、d Spe nser(1 ) life: Cambridge - Sidneys friend -“Areopagus” - Ireland -Westmi nster Abbey.(2) worksa. The Shepherds Cale ndar: the budd ing of En glish poetry in Ren aissa nee.b. Amoretti and Epithalam ion: sonnet seque neec. Faerie Quee ne:l The general en-A romantic and allegorical epic steps to

22、virtue.l 12 books and 12 virtues: Holi ness, tempera nee, justice and courtesy.l Two-level funetion: part of the story and part of allegory (symbolic mea ning)l Many allusi ons to classical writers.l Themes: purita ni sm, n ati on alism, huma nism and Ren aissa neeNeoclassicism a Christia n huma ni

23、st.(3)Spen seria n Stanza.III. E nglish Prose1. Thomas More(1)Life: “Renaissancmar” , scholar, statesman, theorist, prose writer,diplomat, patr on of artsa. lear ned Greek at Can terbury College, Oxford;b. studies law at Lincoln Inn;c. Lord Chan cellor;d. beheaded.(2)Utopia: the first En glish scie

24、nce ficti on.Writte n in Lat in, two parts, the sec ond place of no where.A philosophical mariner (Raphael Hythloday) tells his voyages in which hediscovers a Ian d-Utopia.a. The part one is organized as dialogue with mariner depicting his philosophy.b. The part two is a description of the island ki

25、ngdom where gold and silverare worn by crim in al, religious freedom is total and no one owns any thi ng.c. the n ature of the book: attack ing the chief political and social evils of his time.d. the book and the Republic: an attempt to describe the Republic in a new way,but it possesses an modern c

26、haracter and the resemblance is in externals.e. it played a key role in the Humanist awakening of the 16th century whichmoved away from the Medieval otherworldliness towards Renaissancesecularism.f. the Utopia(3)the sig nifica nee.a. it was the first champi on of n atio nal ideas and n ati on al la

27、nguages; itcreated a national prose, equally adapted to handling scientific and artisticmaterial.b. a elega nt Lati n scholar and the father of En glish prose: he composed worksin En glish, tran slated from Lati n in to En glish biography, wrote History ofRichard III.2. Fran cis Bac on: writer, phil

28、osopher and statesma n(1)life: Cambridge - humanism in Paris -knighted - Lord Chancellor bribery - focusing on philosophy and literature.(2)philosophical ideas: advancement of scienee people:servants andinterpreters of nature method: a child before nature facts and observations:experimental.(3)“Essa

29、ys” : 57.a. he was a master of nu merous and varied styles.b. his method is to weigh and bala nee maters, in dicat ing the ideal course of action and the practical one, pointing out the adva ntages and disadva ntages ofeach, but leaving the reader to make the final decisions. (argumentsIV. E nglish

30、Drama1. A gen eral survey.(1)Everyma n marks the begi nning of moder n drama.(2)two in flue nces.a. the classics: classical in form and English in content;b. n ative or popular drama.(3)the Un iversity Wits.2. Christopher Marlowe: greatest playwright before Shakespeareand most giftedof the Wits.(1)L

31、ife: first interested in classical poetry then in drama.(2)Major worksa. Tamburla ine;b. The Jew of Malta;c. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.(3)The sig nifica nee of his plays.V. William Shakespeare1. Life(1)1564, Stratford-o n-Avo n;(2)Grammar School;(3)Quee n visit to Castle;(4)marriage to

32、Anne Hathaway;(5)London, the Globe Theatre: small part and proprietor;(6)the 1st Folio, Quarto;(7)Retired, son Hamn et; H. 1616.2. Dramatic career3. Major plays-me n-ce ntered.(1)Romeo and Juliet- tragic love and fate(2)The Mercha nt of Ven ice.Good over evil.An ti-Semitism.(3)He nry IV.Nati onal un

33、i ty.Falstaff.(4)Julius CaesarRepublicanism vs. dictatorship.(5)HamletRevenge Good/evil.(6)OthelloDiabolic characterjealousygap betwee n appeara nee and reality.(7)King LearFilial in gratitude(8)MacbethAmbiti on vs. fate.(9)Antony and Cleopatra.Passi on vs. reas on(10)The TempestReconciliation; real

34、ity and illusion.3. Non-dramatic poetry(1)Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece.(2)Sonn ets:a. theme: fair, true, ki nd.b. two major parts: a handsome young man of noble birth; a lady in darkcomplexi on.c. the form: three quatrains and a couplet.d. the rhyme scheme: abab, cdcd, efef, gg.VI. Be n Jon

35、son1. life: poet, dramatist, a Latin and Greek scholar, the(Sons“l(fā)iterary kingof Ben)2. c on tributi on:(1)the idea of “ humour.(2)an advocate of classical drama and a forerunner of classicism inEn glish literature.3. Major plays(1) Every one in His Humour “ humour” ; three un ities.(2) Volp one the

36、 FoxChapter 4 English Literature of the 17th Century I.A Historical BackgroundII. The Overview of the Literature （1640-1688）1. The revolution period（ 1） The metaphysical poets;（ 2） The Cavalier poets.（ 3） Milton: the literary and philosophical heritage of the Renaissancemerged with Protestant politi

37、cal and moral conviction2. The restoration period.（ 1）The restoration of Charles II ushered in a literature characterized byreason, moderation, good taste, deft management, and simplicit（y.school ofBen Jonson）（ 2） The ideals of impartial investigation and scientific experimentationpromoted by the ne

38、wly founded Royal Society of London for ImprovingNatural Knowledge （1662） were influential in the development of clear andsimple prose as an instrument of rational communication.（ 3 ） The great philosophical and political treatises of the time emphasizerationalism.（ 4） The restoration drama.（ 5） The

39、 Age of Dryden.III. John Milton1. Life: educated at Cambridge visiting the continentinvolved into therevolution persecutedwriting epics.2. Literary career.（ 1） The 1st period was up to 1641, during which time he is to be seenchiefly as a son of the humanists and Elizabethans, although his Puritanism

40、is not absent. LAllegre and IL Pens eroso （1632） are his early masterpieces,in which we find Milton a true offspring of the Renaissance,a scholar ofexquisite taste and rare culture. Next came Comus, a masque. The greatestof early creations was Lycidas, a pastoral elegy on the death of a collegemate,

41、 Edward King.（ 2） The second period is from 1641 to 1654, when the Puritan was in suchcomplete ascendancythat he wrote almost no poetry. In 1641, he began along period of pamphleteering for the puritan cause. For some 15 years, thePuritan in him alone ruled his writing. He sacrificed his poetic ambi

42、tion to thecall of the liberty for which Puritans were fighting.（ 3）The third period is from 1655 to 1671, when humanist and Puritan havebeen fused into an exalted entity. This period is the greatest in his literary life,epics and some famous sonnets. The three long poems are the fruit of thelong co

43、ntest within Milton of Renaissancetradition and his Puritan faith. Theyform the greatest accomplishments of any English poet exceptShakespeare.In Milton alone, it would seem, Puritanism could not extinguishthe lover of beauty. In these works we find humanism and Puritanism mergedin magnificence.3. M

44、ajor Works（ 1） Paradise Losta. the plot.b. characters.c. theme: justify the ways of God to man.（ 2） Paradise Regained.（ 3） Samson Agonistes.4. Features of Miltons works.（1） Milton is one of the very few truly great English writers who is also aprominent figure in politics, and who is both a great po

45、et and an importantprose writer. The two most essential things to be remembered about him arehis Puritanism and his republicanism.（ 2） Milton wrote many different types of poetry. He is especially a greatmaster of blank verse. He learned much from Shakespeare and first usedblank verse in non-dramati

46、c works.（ 3） Milton is a great stylist. He is famous for his grand style noted for itsdignity and polish, which is the result of his life-long classical and biblicalstudy.（ 4） Milton has always been admired for his sublimity of thought andmajesty of expression.IV. John Bunyan1. life:1） puritan age;2

47、） poor family;3） parliamentary army;4） Baptist society, preacher;5） prison, writing the book.2. The Pilgrim Progress（ 1） The allegory in dream form.（ 2） the plot.（ 3） the theme.V. Metaphysical Poets and Cavalier Poets.1. Metaphysical PoetsThe term “ metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to designate

48、the worksof the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.Pressured by the harsh, uncomfortable and curious age, the metaphysicalpoets sought to shatter myths and replace them with new philosophies, newsciences, new words and new poetry. They tried to break away from theconven

49、tional fashion of Elizabethan love poetry, and favoured in poetry for amore colloquial language and tone, a tightness of expression and thesingle-minded working out of a theme or argument.2. Cavalier PoetsThe other group prevailing in this period was that of Cavalier poets. Theywere often courtiers

50、who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves“ sons ” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polishedand elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verseswere short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness ofheart and of morals. C

51、avalier poems have the limpidity of the Elizabethanlyric without its imaginative flights. They are lighter and neater but less freshthan the Elizabethans.VI. John Dryden.1. Life:（ 1） the representative of classicism in the Restoration.（ 2） poet, dramatist, critic, prose writer, satirist.（ 3） changea

52、ble in attitude.（ 4） Literary careerfour decades.（ 5） Poet Laureate2. His influences.（1）He established the heroic couplet as the fashion for satiric, didactic, anddescriptive poetry.（ 2） He developed a direct and concise prose style.（ 3） He developed the art of literary criticism in his essays and i

53、n thenumerous prefaces to his poems.Chapter 5 English Literature of the 18th Century I.Introduction1. The Historical Background.2. The literary overview.1） The Enlightenment.（ 2） The rise of English novels.When the literary historian seeks to assign to each age its favourite form ofliterature, he fi

54、nds no difficulty in dealing with our own time. As the MiddleAges delighted in long romantic narrative poems, the Elizabethans in drama,the Englishman of the reigns of Anne and the early Georges in didactic andsatirical verse, so the public of our day is enamored of the novel. Almost alltypes of lit

55、erary production continue to appear, but whether we judge fromthe lists of publishers, the statistics of public libraries, or general conversation,we find abundant evidence of the enormous preponderanceof this kind ofliterary entertainment in popular favour.（ 3 ） Neo-classicism: a revival in the sev

56、enteenth and eighteenth centuriesof classical standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. JohnDryden and Alexander Pope were major exponents of the neo-classicalschool.（ 4） Satiric literature.（ 5） SentimentalismII. Neo-classicism. （ a general description）1. Alexander Pope（1）Life:a. Catho

57、lic family;b.ill health;c.taught himself by reading and translating;d.friend of Addison, Steele and Swift.（2）three groups of poems:e.An Essay on Criticism （manifesto of neo-classicism）;f. The Rape of Lock;g.Translation of two epics.（3）His contribution:h.the heroic coupletfinish, elegance, wit, point

58、edness;i.satire.（4） weakness: lack of imagination.2. Addison and Steele（1） Richard Steele: poet, playwright, essayist, publisher of newspaper.（2） Joseph Addison: studies at Oxford, secretary of state, created a literaryperiodical“ S（pewctiathtoSr tee”le, 1711）（3） Spectator Club.（4） The significance

59、of their essays.a. Their writi ngs in “The Tatler ”, and “The Spectator ” provide a new codeof social morality for the rising bourgeoisie.b. They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century.c. In their hands, the English essay completely established itself as a literarygenr

60、e. Using it as a form of character sketching and story telling, they ushered inthe dawn of the modern novel.3. Samuel Johnsonpoet, critic, essayist, lexicographer, editor. （1）Life:a.studies at Oxford;b.made a living by writing and translating;c.the great cham of literature.（ 2） works: poem （ The Van