英国文学
1. 对节选作品进行判断——题目&作者
Geoffrey Chaucer——“The Canterbury Tales”
William Shakespeare——“Sonnet 18”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Julius Caesar”, “Hamlet”
Francis Bacon——“Of Great Place”, “Of Study”
John Milton——“To Mr. Cyriack Skinner Upon His Blindness”, “Paradise Lost”
Samuel Johnson——“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”
Henry Fielding——“The History of Tome Jones, A Foundling”
2. 名词解释（人物or 作家风格）
It is a national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and
understatements.
1) The use of alliteration
2) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants
3) The use of vivid poetic diction and parallel expressions for a single idea
Epic 史诗:
It is an extended narrative poem with a heroic or superman protagonist engaged in an action of great significance in a vast setting (often including the underworld and engaging the gods)
Romance 传奇:
1) The basic material of medieval romance is knightly activity and adventure; we might best define medieval romance as a story of adventure--fictitious, frequently marvelous or supernatural--in verse or prose.
2) A long composition describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character was the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons who was very devoted to the king or to the church.
3) One who wanted to be a knight should serve patiently until he was admitted to the knighthood with solemn ceremony and the swearing of oaths.
Some literary terms:
1) Heroic couplet 英雄双韵体: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines.
2) Iamb 抑扬格: a poetic foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one.
3) Pentameter 五音步: a line of verse containing five feet.
4) Meter 韵律: any regular pattern of rhythm or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
5) Foot 步行: a unit of meter.
6) Rhyme 韵律: the repetition of sounds at the ends of words is called rhyme. When words rhyme at the end of lines of poetry it is called end rhyme.
Sonnets 十四行诗:
1) A sonnet is a short song in the original meaning of then word. Later it became a poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with various rhyming schemes. It was first written by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304—1374) who wrote sonnets to a lady named Laura.
2) The Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet has two divisions: The first 8 lines (rhyming abba abba) are the octave, and the last six (rhyming cd cd cd, or a variant) are the sestet. The second kind of sonnet, the English (or Shakespearean) sonnet, is usually arranged into 3 quatrains and a couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet is usually the conclusion.
Essay 散文:
It is a relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Tow kinds of essay: informal and formal.
Soliloquy 独白:
It is a dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone on stage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights use soliloquies as a convenient way to inform the audience about a character’s motivations and state of mind.
Blank verse 无韵诗:
It is the verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton.
Geoffrey Chaucer 乔叟: (a transitional figure between Middle Ages and Renaissance)
1) was born in London in or about the year 1340. He is said to have studied at Oxford and Cambridge. The poet died on the 25th of October in 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
2) is
3) is one of the greatest narrative poets of England
4) Humorist and messenger of Humanism
5) He produced the first book of poetry purposely written in the English language. Set a precedent and poets from Shakespeare to Dryden and Keats to Eliot owe him debts of gratitude.
Chaucer’s language 乔叟的语言风格: His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.
Career as a writer 乔叟的作家生涯:
1) the first period (1360—1372)
under the influence of French literature
2) the second period (1372—1386)
under the influence of Italian literature
3) the third period (the last 15 years of his life)
1) Chaucer’s
2) The whole poem is a collection of stories strung together with a simple plan.
3) The general prologue is considered the best part of the whole work. “The Prologue” provides a framework for the tales. It contains a group of vivid sketches of typical medieval figures. All classes of the English feudal society, except the royalty and the poorest peasant, are represented by these 30 pilgrims.
The significance of
1) It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer's time
2) The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics.
3) Chaucer's humour: Humour is a characteristic feature of the English literature.
4) Chaucer's contribution to the English language: he proved that the English language is a beautiful language and can be easily handled to express different moods. In do doing Chaucer greatly increased the prestige声望of the English language.
5) Heroic Couplet——Poetry: meter/rhyme; image; diction (elegance, grace); rhetoric devices
Social significance of the poem《坎特伯雷故事集》的社会影响:
1)
2) As a forerunner of humanism, he praised man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the evils of the time, as the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of judge and so on. With especially formidable force Chaucer attacks the corruption of the church.
(The prologue and most of the tales are written in heroic couplet英雄双韵体, i.e., a pair of rhyming iambic pentameter五步抑扬格lines.)
A double view双重视角:
1. Nature love: a time of rebirth in nature
2. Christianity love: Easter and Redemption
Contrast: physical vitality vs. spiritual sickness
Parallelism: renewal power of nature vs. restorative power of divinity
About
1) Pilgrimage朝圣之行 as a framing device for tales
2) conventional springtime opening
3) 29 pilgrims香客,朝圣者 +1 poet +1 host
4) From London (Tabbard Inn) to Canterbury (St. Thomas Beckett's tomb)
Pilgrims朝圣者:
1) very popular to go on pilgrimage
2) Pilgrims often cant to go to Rome or Jerusalem耶路撒冷
3) Canterbury Cathedral: shrine to Thomas Beckett
4) The reasons they go to Canterbury are: hope of heavenly reward; penance忏悔
5) People went in groups for safety
Pilgrim descriptions:
1) show social rank
2) show moral and spiritual condition
Cultural background: The English Renaissance (1550—1642)文艺复兴
核心：it's ideal was Humanism (humanity)
Renaissance: French word for
Definition:文艺复兴（名词解释）
It is a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts:
(1) to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe,
(2) to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie,
(3) to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
Historical Background 历史背景:
4) After long years of foreign and domestic wars, England enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558—1630)
5) The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English navy in 1588 greatly strengthened the power of the monarch and accelerated the awakening of national consciousness.
The Enclosure Movement 圈地运动:
1) was indispensable to the enclosure movement.
2) As the demand for wood increased, many peasants were compelled to leave their land.
3) Two opposite classes came into being, the capitalist class and the labouring class.
Humanism 人文主义: a struggle between capitalism & feudalism
1) A new intellectual movement that started in Italy
2) Studied classical cultures, writings and philosophies of Greek and Roman
3) Focused on secular (non-religious) themes
4) Concerned about business, politics and leisure time
5) Loss of respect for church and feudal lords, looked else where for answer
6) Believe the importance of education
7) The Divine Right of Kings (reformation宗教改革)
8) The rising up capitalism
With the spreading of the Greek and Roman culture there appeared a number of humanist scholars 1) Against human nature to sacrifice the happiness of this life for an after life. Man should be given full freedom to enrich their intellectual and emotional life.
2) In religion, they demanded the reformation of the church.
3) In art and literature, instead of singing praise to God, they sang in praise of man and of the pursuit of happiness in this life.
4) Humanism shattered粉碎the shackles of spiritual bondage of man's mind by the Roman Catholic Church and opened his eyes to
William Shakespeare 莎士比亚:
1) William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known.
2) He was man of the late Renaissance who gave the fullest expression to humanist ideals.
3) With his 37/38/39 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poems, he has established his giant position in world literature. His works have been translated into every major language in the world.
4) He has been given the highest praises by various scholars and critics in the world over.
5) His contemporary poet and dramatist Ben Jonson dedicated a poem in praise of him: “… he was not of an age, but for all time!”
Shakespeare's writing career may be roughly divided into 4 stages 莎士比亚的写作生涯:
1) Years of his apprenticeship (1592—1594)——this is a period of experimentation. It marked by imitation of existing plays, by the spirit of youthfulness and rich imagination, by exaggerated language and by the frequent use of rhymed couplets.
During this period he wrote his early history plays or histories and a group of comedies——
2) A period of rapid growth and development (1595—1598)——show more careful and artistic work, better plot, and a marked increase in the knowledge of human nature.
3) A period of gloom and depression (1601—1608)——a period of tragedies
4) A period of restored serenity (1608—1612)——a period of calm after storm
Shakespeare's Achievements 莎士比亚的成就:
1) Shakespeare represented the trend of history in giving voice to the desires and aspirations of the people. His plays include the whole transitional period of England from medieval time to modern time.
2) Shakespeare's humanism: more important than his historical sense of his time, Shakespeare in his plays reflect the spirit of his age. The sudden awakening of national glory was inseparable with the sudden discovery of the glory that man found in himself. This humanist outlook prevails in his comedies as well as in his late tragedies. The more he knew about human nature, the more he was depressed at the ugliness and baseness of human nature.
3) Shakespeare's characters are
4) Shakespeare's originality: Shakespeare drew most of his materials from sources that were known to his audience. But his plays are original because he instilled into the old materials a new spirit that gives new life to his plays.
5) Shakespeare as a great poet: apart from his sonnets and long poems, his drama are poetry. They are rich in images, conceit, metaphors and symbols. His style varies with the different moods he expressed.
6) Shakespeare as master of the English language: many of his quotations and phrases have been absorbed into the English language.
1) The greatness of the play lies in the fact that in it Shakespeare expressed his praise of the noble quality of Prince Hamlet as a representative of humanist thinkers and his disillusionment醒悟 with the corrupt and degenerated堕落 society in which he lived.
2) Hamlet’s melancholy and procrastination are also revealed in the famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. Here Hamlet is pondering on the question of life and death. He is thinking of committing suicide, that is, to end his own life by a sudden act of “bravery”. But he hesitates, for he doubts whether death can give him rest and peace. Besides, he is not sure whether the country “from whose bourn/ no traveler returns” would be better than this one. He gives the reasons why he wants to commit suicide. Apart from his personal revenge, he cannot bear the social injustice and grievances. He is conscious of his own weakness of thinking too much which makes him dilatory, allowing many opportunities to slip away.
3) That is conscience and over-considerations. He wants to revenge, but doesn’t know how. He wants to kill his uncle, but finds it too risky. He lives in despair and wants to commit suicide. However, he knows if he dies, nobody will comfort his father’s ghost. He is in face of great dilemma.
Francis Bacon (1561—1626) 弗朗西斯·培根
1) a representative of the English Renaissance, is a well-known philosopher, scientist and essayist.
2) Bacon’s works establish and popularize an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often caused the Baconian method.
3) Father of English essay
Bacon’s works & style 培根的作品&风格:
Directness/ Terseness/ Forcefulness
The literary work: “Essays” (1625, 58 pieces)
1) His “Essays” is the first example of the genre in English literature, which has been recognized as an important landmark in the development of English prose.
2) His essays are famous for their brevity, compactness, and powerfulness. And the neatness, the preciseness, the gravity and the weightiness are the essential qualities of his writings.
3) Balance and opposition are the most common strategies he was to achieve both the appearance of balances and the concealment of his own opinions under the cloak of the opposing alternatives.
4) Unlike other authors who were writing self-analyzing autobiographies and meditations, Bacon was writing to inform, generally young man of his own station/ class——how to be more efficient, introducing and using the essay into the English language.
5) His style is very plain, and he tends to start his essays with a Latin quotation or classical anecdote.
“Of Studies”《论读书》:
“Of Studies” is the most popular of Bacon’s 58 essays. It analyses what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human character. With forceful and persuasive, compact and precise statement, “Of Studies” reveals to us Bacon’s mature attitude towards learning.
Cultural background 文化背景:
1) The 17th century was one of the most turbulent periods in English history. It was a period when absolute monarchy impeded the further development of capitalism in England and the bourgeoisie could no longer bear the control of the landed nobility. The contradictions between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.
2) The English revolution took place in the middle of 17th century. Among the causes of this revolution was the growth of capitalism, the break-up of serfdom and Puritan movement.
3) In short, this period was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values.
4) There were two leaders in the English Revolution. Cromwell was the man of action and Milton the man of thought. In English literature John Milton ranks with Shakespeare and Chaucer.
John Milton: (1608——1674) 约翰·弥尔顿
1) Milton was born in a Puritan family (a Puritan and bourgeois), a great part of his life being connected with the English Revolution. Milton took the side of Parliament in the Civil War and wrote pamphlets supporting the king’s execution. During the protectorate (摄政时期) he served as Latin secretary to Cromwell, composing many state documents in that language.
2) When Charles II came to the throne in 1660 (in the period of Restoration王朝复辟), Milton’s position was endangered. He was heavily fined. Three things helped save his life. He was a famous poet, he had been totally blind since 1652, and his friends used their influence. By astonishing powers of concentration he composed in his mind and then dictated.
3) During his retirement from public life, he produced his masterpieces: the epic “Paradise Lost”, its sequel, “Paradise Regained”; and the poetic tragedy “Samson Agonistes”.
“Paradise Lost”《失乐园》: is long epic poem divided into 12 books.
1) Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost, as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man.” (original purpose)
2) The theme of the poem deals with the Christian story of “the fall of men”: man’s disobedience and the loss thereupon of Paradise.
3) Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost, as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man.” (original purpose)
4) In heaven, Satan led a revolt against God. Defeated, he and his followers were cast into Hell. However, Satan refused to accept his failure, vowing that all was not lost and that he would have revenge for his downfall.
5) The poem goes on to tell how Satan took revenge by tempting Adam and Eve, human creatures created by God, to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge against God’s instructions. For their disobedience Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise to the Earth. They were sorry for what they had done and prayed to God.
6) In the last book they were given the hope for redemption. In the end, hand in hand, they walked away from Paradise and the gates of Eden were closed behind them. In this epic poem Satan is the most successfully portrayed character. He was evil, rebellious, courageous, heroic and tragic.
7) Satan, though defeated, voices his hatred for God who is tyrannical in the eyes of the rebellious angel. And through the love between Adam and Eve, Milton expressed the humanist pursuit for happiness, that is, the spirit of Renaissance.
Milton’s Style 弥尔顿的风格:
1) The blank verse (the unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter), is used throughout the epic and is characterized by its employment of long and involved sentences, which run on many lines with a variety of pauses, and achieving sometimes an oratorical and sometimes an elaborately logical effect. This richness of poetical style has frequently been called “Milton style”.
2) Milton’s style is also commonly said to be Latinate. That is, instead of using the common English sentence pattern of subject-verb-object order, Milton uses more elaborate patterns drawn from Latin.
3) He is very fond of using inversion.
4) Another characteristic of his style is the use of allusions to other works, especially the classic works.
Samuel Johnson (1709——1784) 赛缪尔·约翰逊:
1) Johnson was the greatest English man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth.
2) He spoke in many respects for his age or at least for an age that was coming to an end.
3) He was conservative in his world outlook and was against any kind of reform or innovation.
4) He upheld tradition and authority and was himself an authority in his later years.
5) He made his fame by his gigantic work which took him 8 years to complete. It was “A Dictionary of the English Language”.
6) Johnson himself wrote all the articles himself and showed his talent as an essayist and a moralist.
7) His magnificent letter written to Lord Chesterfield marked the end of the system of patronage.
“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”《致吉斯特菲尔德爵爷书》: The letter is written in a classical and formal way
With various sentence structures
The tone is irony, and a lot of allusions are in the letter.
Henry Fielding 亨利·菲尔丁:
1) Henry Fielding, playwright, novelist and district law magistrate, came from an aristocratic background. He was born to a upper-class family.
2) He is the founder of the English Realistic novel, also called “father of the English novel”, for his contribution to the establishment of the form modern novel
3) He set up the theory of realism in literary creation. He wrote specifically “comic epic in prose”, the first to give the modern novel its structure and style
4) He adopted “the third-person narration”. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of the common life as it is.
“The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling”《弃婴托姆·琼斯的故事》:
1) It is regarded as Fielding’s masterpiece, with the fame of being the best constructed novel in English literature.
2) The three skillfully organized parts also go well with Fielding’s country-versus-city motif. To Fielding, the countryside represents the basic goodness of the human race, whereas the city stands for evil and sin.
3) Tom Jones is also open to allegorical readings. On one allegorical level, Tom’s story shows a quest for authority in the shape of a father.
3. 论述题：（时代，艺术风格，产生背景；作品的论述）
What’s the function of the General Prologue to “The Canterbury Tales?”
1) the magnificent 18 lines sentence that opens the General Prologue is a superb expression of double view of the Canterbury pilgrimage
2) the first 11 lines are a chant of welcome to the spring with its harmonious marriage between heaven and earth which mellows vegetations, pricks fowls and stirs the heart of man with a renewing power of nature
3) thus, the pilgrimage is treated as an event in the calendar of nature, an aspect of the general springtime surge of human energy which wakens man’s love of nature
4) but spring also the season of Easter and is allegorically regarded as the time of the Redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with its connotations of religious rebirth which wakens man’s love of God (divine love).therefore, the pilgrimage is also treated as an event in the calendar of divinity, an aspect of religious piety which draws pilgrims to holy places.
How to analyze the complicated character of Hamlet?
1) He is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and superstitions. He has an unbounded love for the world rather than for heaven. He cherishes a profound reverence for man and a firm belief in man’s power over destiny.
2) He loves good and hates evils, afraid of meeting injustice
3) His intellectual genius is outstanding. He is a close observer of man and manners. He easily sees through people.
4) His quick perception drives him to penetrate below the surface of things and questions what others take of granted.
5) He is a scholar, soldier, and a statesman, infinite in faculty. His image reflects the versatility of the man of the Renaissance
6) He has already see the problems, but it is beyond his ability to right the wrong.
Satan’s image
1) Satan is the real hero of the poem.
2) He is firmer than the rest of the angels.
3) He has an invincible heart.
4) Satan remains superior in nobility and welcomes his defeat and his torments as a glory, a liberty and a joy;
5) Satan is the spirit questioning the authority of God.
6) Milton makes Satan as his own mouthpiece.
英国文学
1. 对节选作品进行判断——题目&作者
Geoffrey Chaucer——“The Canterbury Tales”
William Shakespeare——“Sonnet 18”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “The Merchant of Venice”, “Julius Caesar”, “Hamlet”
Francis Bacon——“Of Great Place”, “Of Study”
John Milton——“To Mr. Cyriack Skinner Upon His Blindness”, “Paradise Lost”
Samuel Johnson——“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”
Henry Fielding——“The History of Tome Jones, A Foundling”
2. 名词解释（人物or 作家风格）
It is a national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and
understatements.
1) The use of alliteration
2) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants
3) The use of vivid poetic diction and parallel expressions for a single idea
Epic 史诗:
It is an extended narrative poem with a heroic or superman protagonist engaged in an action of great significance in a vast setting (often including the underworld and engaging the gods)
Romance 传奇:
1) The basic material of medieval romance is knightly activity and adventure; we might best define medieval romance as a story of adventure--fictitious, frequently marvelous or supernatural--in verse or prose.
2) A long composition describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character was the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons who was very devoted to the king or to the church.
3) One who wanted to be a knight should serve patiently until he was admitted to the knighthood with solemn ceremony and the swearing of oaths.
Some literary terms:
1) Heroic couplet 英雄双韵体: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines.
2) Iamb 抑扬格: a poetic foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by an accented one.
3) Pentameter 五音步: a line of verse containing five feet.
4) Meter 韵律: any regular pattern of rhythm or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.
5) Foot 步行: a unit of meter.
6) Rhyme 韵律: the repetition of sounds at the ends of words is called rhyme. When words rhyme at the end of lines of poetry it is called end rhyme.
Sonnets 十四行诗:
1) A sonnet is a short song in the original meaning of then word. Later it became a poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with various rhyming schemes. It was first written by the Italian poet Petrarch (1304—1374) who wrote sonnets to a lady named Laura.
2) The Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet has two divisions: The first 8 lines (rhyming abba abba) are the octave, and the last six (rhyming cd cd cd, or a variant) are the sestet. The second kind of sonnet, the English (or Shakespearean) sonnet, is usually arranged into 3 quatrains and a couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg. The couplet is usually the conclusion.
Essay 散文:
It is a relatively short literary composition in prose, in which a writer discusses a topic, usually restricted in scope, or tries to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view. Tow kinds of essay: informal and formal.
Soliloquy 独白:
It is a dramatic convention by means of which a character, alone on stage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. Playwrights use soliloquies as a convenient way to inform the audience about a character’s motivations and state of mind.
Blank verse 无韵诗:
It is the verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton.
Geoffrey Chaucer 乔叟: (a transitional figure between Middle Ages and Renaissance)
1) was born in London in or about the year 1340. He is said to have studied at Oxford and Cambridge. The poet died on the 25th of October in 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
2) is
3) is one of the greatest narrative poets of England
4) Humorist and messenger of Humanism
5) He produced the first book of poetry purposely written in the English language. Set a precedent and poets from Shakespeare to Dryden and Keats to Eliot owe him debts of gratitude.
Chaucer’s language 乔叟的语言风格: His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.
Career as a writer 乔叟的作家生涯:
1) the first period (1360—1372)
under the influence of French literature
2) the second period (1372—1386)
under the influence of Italian literature
3) the third period (the last 15 years of his life)
1) Chaucer’s
2) The whole poem is a collection of stories strung together with a simple plan.
3) The general prologue is considered the best part of the whole work. “The Prologue” provides a framework for the tales. It contains a group of vivid sketches of typical medieval figures. All classes of the English feudal society, except the royalty and the poorest peasant, are represented by these 30 pilgrims.
The significance of
1) It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer's time
2) The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics.
3) Chaucer's humour: Humour is a characteristic feature of the English literature.
4) Chaucer's contribution to the English language: he proved that the English language is a beautiful language and can be easily handled to express different moods. In do doing Chaucer greatly increased the prestige声望of the English language.
5) Heroic Couplet——Poetry: meter/rhyme; image; diction (elegance, grace); rhetoric devices
Social significance of the poem《坎特伯雷故事集》的社会影响:
1)
2) As a forerunner of humanism, he praised man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the evils of the time, as the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of judge and so on. With especially formidable force Chaucer attacks the corruption of the church.
(The prologue and most of the tales are written in heroic couplet英雄双韵体, i.e., a pair of rhyming iambic pentameter五步抑扬格lines.)
A double view双重视角:
1. Nature love: a time of rebirth in nature
2. Christianity love: Easter and Redemption
Contrast: physical vitality vs. spiritual sickness
Parallelism: renewal power of nature vs. restorative power of divinity
About
1) Pilgrimage朝圣之行 as a framing device for tales
2) conventional springtime opening
3) 29 pilgrims香客,朝圣者 +1 poet +1 host
4) From London (Tabbard Inn) to Canterbury (St. Thomas Beckett's tomb)
Pilgrims朝圣者:
1) very popular to go on pilgrimage
2) Pilgrims often cant to go to Rome or Jerusalem耶路撒冷
3) Canterbury Cathedral: shrine to Thomas Beckett
4) The reasons they go to Canterbury are: hope of heavenly reward; penance忏悔
5) People went in groups for safety
Pilgrim descriptions:
1) show social rank
2) show moral and spiritual condition
Cultural background: The English Renaissance (1550—1642)文艺复兴
核心：it's ideal was Humanism (humanity)
Renaissance: French word for
Definition:文艺复兴（名词解释）
It is a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts:
(1) to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe,
(2) to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie,
(3) to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
Historical Background 历史背景:
4) After long years of foreign and domestic wars, England enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558—1630)
5) The defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English navy in 1588 greatly strengthened the power of the monarch and accelerated the awakening of national consciousness.
The Enclosure Movement 圈地运动:
1) was indispensable to the enclosure movement.
2) As the demand for wood increased, many peasants were compelled to leave their land.
3) Two opposite classes came into being, the capitalist class and the labouring class.
Humanism 人文主义: a struggle between capitalism & feudalism
1) A new intellectual movement that started in Italy
2) Studied classical cultures, writings and philosophies of Greek and Roman
3) Focused on secular (non-religious) themes
4) Concerned about business, politics and leisure time
5) Loss of respect for church and feudal lords, looked else where for answer
6) Believe the importance of education
7) The Divine Right of Kings (reformation宗教改革)
8) The rising up capitalism
With the spreading of the Greek and Roman culture there appeared a number of humanist scholars 1) Against human nature to sacrifice the happiness of this life for an after life. Man should be given full freedom to enrich their intellectual and emotional life.
2) In religion, they demanded the reformation of the church.
3) In art and literature, instead of singing praise to God, they sang in praise of man and of the pursuit of happiness in this life.
4) Humanism shattered粉碎the shackles of spiritual bondage of man's mind by the Roman Catholic Church and opened his eyes to
William Shakespeare 莎士比亚:
1) William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known.
2) He was man of the late Renaissance who gave the fullest expression to humanist ideals.
3) With his 37/38/39 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poems, he has established his giant position in world literature. His works have been translated into every major language in the world.
4) He has been given the highest praises by various scholars and critics in the world over.
5) His contemporary poet and dramatist Ben Jonson dedicated a poem in praise of him: “… he was not of an age, but for all time!”
Shakespeare's writing career may be roughly divided into 4 stages 莎士比亚的写作生涯:
1) Years of his apprenticeship (1592—1594)——this is a period of experimentation. It marked by imitation of existing plays, by the spirit of youthfulness and rich imagination, by exaggerated language and by the frequent use of rhymed couplets.
During this period he wrote his early history plays or histories and a group of comedies——
2) A period of rapid growth and development (1595—1598)——show more careful and artistic work, better plot, and a marked increase in the knowledge of human nature.
3) A period of gloom and depression (1601—1608)——a period of tragedies
4) A period of restored serenity (1608—1612)——a period of calm after storm
Shakespeare's Achievements 莎士比亚的成就:
1) Shakespeare represented the trend of history in giving voice to the desires and aspirations of the people. His plays include the whole transitional period of England from medieval time to modern time.
2) Shakespeare's humanism: more important than his historical sense of his time, Shakespeare in his plays reflect the spirit of his age. The sudden awakening of national glory was inseparable with the sudden discovery of the glory that man found in himself. This humanist outlook prevails in his comedies as well as in his late tragedies. The more he knew about human nature, the more he was depressed at the ugliness and baseness of human nature.
3) Shakespeare's characters are
4) Shakespeare's originality: Shakespeare drew most of his materials from sources that were known to his audience. But his plays are original because he instilled into the old materials a new spirit that gives new life to his plays.
5) Shakespeare as a great poet: apart from his sonnets and long poems, his drama are poetry. They are rich in images, conceit, metaphors and symbols. His style varies with the different moods he expressed.
6) Shakespeare as master of the English language: many of his quotations and phrases have been absorbed into the English language.
1) The greatness of the play lies in the fact that in it Shakespeare expressed his praise of the noble quality of Prince Hamlet as a representative of humanist thinkers and his disillusionment醒悟 with the corrupt and degenerated堕落 society in which he lived.
2) Hamlet’s melancholy and procrastination are also revealed in the famous “To be, or not to be” soliloquy. Here Hamlet is pondering on the question of life and death. He is thinking of committing suicide, that is, to end his own life by a sudden act of “bravery”. But he hesitates, for he doubts whether death can give him rest and peace. Besides, he is not sure whether the country “from whose bourn/ no traveler returns” would be better than this one. He gives the reasons why he wants to commit suicide. Apart from his personal revenge, he cannot bear the social injustice and grievances. He is conscious of his own weakness of thinking too much which makes him dilatory, allowing many opportunities to slip away.
3) That is conscience and over-considerations. He wants to revenge, but doesn’t know how. He wants to kill his uncle, but finds it too risky. He lives in despair and wants to commit suicide. However, he knows if he dies, nobody will comfort his father’s ghost. He is in face of great dilemma.
Francis Bacon (1561—1626) 弗朗西斯·培根
1) a representative of the English Renaissance, is a well-known philosopher, scientist and essayist.
2) Bacon’s works establish and popularize an inductive methodology for scientific inquiry, often caused the Baconian method.
3) Father of English essay
Bacon’s works & style 培根的作品&风格:
Directness/ Terseness/ Forcefulness
The literary work: “Essays” (1625, 58 pieces)
1) His “Essays” is the first example of the genre in English literature, which has been recognized as an important landmark in the development of English prose.
2) His essays are famous for their brevity, compactness, and powerfulness. And the neatness, the preciseness, the gravity and the weightiness are the essential qualities of his writings.
3) Balance and opposition are the most common strategies he was to achieve both the appearance of balances and the concealment of his own opinions under the cloak of the opposing alternatives.
4) Unlike other authors who were writing self-analyzing autobiographies and meditations, Bacon was writing to inform, generally young man of his own station/ class——how to be more efficient, introducing and using the essay into the English language.
5) His style is very plain, and he tends to start his essays with a Latin quotation or classical anecdote.
“Of Studies”《论读书》:
“Of Studies” is the most popular of Bacon’s 58 essays. It analyses what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human character. With forceful and persuasive, compact and precise statement, “Of Studies” reveals to us Bacon’s mature attitude towards learning.
Cultural background 文化背景:
1) The 17th century was one of the most turbulent periods in English history. It was a period when absolute monarchy impeded the further development of capitalism in England and the bourgeoisie could no longer bear the control of the landed nobility. The contradictions between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.
2) The English revolution took place in the middle of 17th century. Among the causes of this revolution was the growth of capitalism, the break-up of serfdom and Puritan movement.
3) In short, this period was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values.
4) There were two leaders in the English Revolution. Cromwell was the man of action and Milton the man of thought. In English literature John Milton ranks with Shakespeare and Chaucer.
John Milton: (1608——1674) 约翰·弥尔顿
1) Milton was born in a Puritan family (a Puritan and bourgeois), a great part of his life being connected with the English Revolution. Milton took the side of Parliament in the Civil War and wrote pamphlets supporting the king’s execution. During the protectorate (摄政时期) he served as Latin secretary to Cromwell, composing many state documents in that language.
2) When Charles II came to the throne in 1660 (in the period of Restoration王朝复辟), Milton’s position was endangered. He was heavily fined. Three things helped save his life. He was a famous poet, he had been totally blind since 1652, and his friends used their influence. By astonishing powers of concentration he composed in his mind and then dictated.
3) During his retirement from public life, he produced his masterpieces: the epic “Paradise Lost”, its sequel, “Paradise Regained”; and the poetic tragedy “Samson Agonistes”.
“Paradise Lost”《失乐园》: is long epic poem divided into 12 books.
1) Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost, as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man.” (original purpose)
2) The theme of the poem deals with the Christian story of “the fall of men”: man’s disobedience and the loss thereupon of Paradise.
3) Milton’s purpose for writing Paradise Lost, as he puts it very clearly at the beginning of the poem, is to “assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man.” (original purpose)
4) In heaven, Satan led a revolt against God. Defeated, he and his followers were cast into Hell. However, Satan refused to accept his failure, vowing that all was not lost and that he would have revenge for his downfall.
5) The poem goes on to tell how Satan took revenge by tempting Adam and Eve, human creatures created by God, to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge against God’s instructions. For their disobedience Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise to the Earth. They were sorry for what they had done and prayed to God.
6) In the last book they were given the hope for redemption. In the end, hand in hand, they walked away from Paradise and the gates of Eden were closed behind them. In this epic poem Satan is the most successfully portrayed character. He was evil, rebellious, courageous, heroic and tragic.
7) Satan, though defeated, voices his hatred for God who is tyrannical in the eyes of the rebellious angel. And through the love between Adam and Eve, Milton expressed the humanist pursuit for happiness, that is, the spirit of Renaissance.
Milton’s Style 弥尔顿的风格:
1) The blank verse (the unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter), is used throughout the epic and is characterized by its employment of long and involved sentences, which run on many lines with a variety of pauses, and achieving sometimes an oratorical and sometimes an elaborately logical effect. This richness of poetical style has frequently been called “Milton style”.
2) Milton’s style is also commonly said to be Latinate. That is, instead of using the common English sentence pattern of subject-verb-object order, Milton uses more elaborate patterns drawn from Latin.
3) He is very fond of using inversion.
4) Another characteristic of his style is the use of allusions to other works, especially the classic works.
Samuel Johnson (1709——1784) 赛缪尔·约翰逊:
1) Johnson was the greatest English man of letters between Pope and Wordsworth.
2) He spoke in many respects for his age or at least for an age that was coming to an end.
3) He was conservative in his world outlook and was against any kind of reform or innovation.
4) He upheld tradition and authority and was himself an authority in his later years.
5) He made his fame by his gigantic work which took him 8 years to complete. It was “A Dictionary of the English Language”.
6) Johnson himself wrote all the articles himself and showed his talent as an essayist and a moralist.
7) His magnificent letter written to Lord Chesterfield marked the end of the system of patronage.
“Letter to the Right Honourable The Earl of Chesterfield”《致吉斯特菲尔德爵爷书》: The letter is written in a classical and formal way
With various sentence structures
The tone is irony, and a lot of allusions are in the letter.
Henry Fielding 亨利·菲尔丁:
1) Henry Fielding, playwright, novelist and district law magistrate, came from an aristocratic background. He was born to a upper-class family.
2) He is the founder of the English Realistic novel, also called “father of the English novel”, for his contribution to the establishment of the form modern novel
3) He set up the theory of realism in literary creation. He wrote specifically “comic epic in prose”, the first to give the modern novel its structure and style
4) He adopted “the third-person narration”. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of the common life as it is.
“The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling”《弃婴托姆·琼斯的故事》:
1) It is regarded as Fielding’s masterpiece, with the fame of being the best constructed novel in English literature.
2) The three skillfully organized parts also go well with Fielding’s country-versus-city motif. To Fielding, the countryside represents the basic goodness of the human race, whereas the city stands for evil and sin.
3) Tom Jones is also open to allegorical readings. On one allegorical level, Tom’s story shows a quest for authority in the shape of a father.
3. 论述题：（时代，艺术风格，产生背景；作品的论述）
What’s the function of the General Prologue to “The Canterbury Tales?”
1) the magnificent 18 lines sentence that opens the General Prologue is a superb expression of double view of the Canterbury pilgrimage
2) the first 11 lines are a chant of welcome to the spring with its harmonious marriage between heaven and earth which mellows vegetations, pricks fowls and stirs the heart of man with a renewing power of nature
3) thus, the pilgrimage is treated as an event in the calendar of nature, an aspect of the general springtime surge of human energy which wakens man’s love of nature
4) but spring also the season of Easter and is allegorically regarded as the time of the Redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with its connotations of religious rebirth which wakens man’s love of God (divine love).therefore, the pilgrimage is also treated as an event in the calendar of divinity, an aspect of religious piety which draws pilgrims to holy places.
How to analyze the complicated character of Hamlet?
1) He is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and superstitions. He has an unbounded love for the world rather than for heaven. He cherishes a profound reverence for man and a firm belief in man’s power over destiny.
2) He loves good and hates evils, afraid of meeting injustice
3) His intellectual genius is outstanding. He is a close observer of man and manners. He easily sees through people.
4) His quick perception drives him to penetrate below the surface of things and questions what others take of granted.
5) He is a scholar, soldier, and a statesman, infinite in faculty. His image reflects the versatility of the man of the Renaissance
6) He has already see the problems, but it is beyond his ability to right the wrong.
Satan’s image
1) Satan is the real hero of the poem.
2) He is firmer than the rest of the angels.
3) He has an invincible heart.
4) Satan remains superior in nobility and welcomes his defeat and his torments as a glory, a liberty and a joy;
5) Satan is the spirit questioning the authority of God.
6) Milton makes Satan as his own mouthpiece.