2024年3月11日发(作者：)

Part 1. Early and Medieval English Literature

Epic

Ballad

Folk literature

Beowulf 贝奥武甫(the national epic of the English people)

striking feature: alliteration头韵, metaphors暗喻 and understatements低调陈述.

The Robin Hood Ballads罗宾汉民谣

长诗：翻译法语The Romaunt of the Rose玫瑰传奇; 改编意大利Troilus and Criseyde特罗勒斯与克丽西德

小说：The Canterbury Tales坎特伯雷故事集(英国文学史上现实主义第一部杰作)one of the monumental works

in EL

TCT is more than a mere collection of true-to-life pictures. Taking the stands of rising bourgeoisie, Chaucer affirms

men and women’s right to pursue their happiness on earth and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the

church.

As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick of wit and love of life. His tales expose and

satirize the evils of the time, as the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge and so on. With

especially formidable force Chaucer attacks the corruption of the church.

Chaucer’s English, now called Middle English, is vivid and exact. He is a master of word-pictures.

Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry: uced from France the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic

meter (the heroic couplet). the first great poet who wrote in the English language. make the dialect of

London the standard for the modern English speech.

Geoffrey Chaucer

杰弗里·乔叟

1340-1400

The Messenger of

Humanism, the first

Realistic writer, the

founder of English

poetry and master of

English Language

他是最早有人文主义

思想的作家，现实主

义文学的奠基人

Part 2. The English Renaissance

Thomas More

托马斯·莫尔

The greatest of the

English humanists and

the one of the

forerunner of modern

socialist thought

From everyone according to his capacities, to everyone according to his need; separation of town and country; the

importance of labour for every member.

The Faerie Queene 仙后 dedicated to Queen Elizabeth

The Shepherd’s Calendar牧羊人日记mark the budding of the Renaissance flower in the northern island of England

Morden English. Spencer was the first master to make the language the natural music of his poetic effusions.

Founder of modern science in England: Advancement of Learning学术的进展; New Instrument新工具 Inductive

Method of reasoning

First English essayist: Essay subjects: love, truth, friendship, parents &children, beauty, studies, riches, youth &age,

garden, death…

Precision准确, clearness清晰, brevity简洁, force力度

Tamburlaine帖木耳(ambition); The Jew of Malta马耳他的犹太人(wealth);

Doctor Faustus浮士德博士(knowledge) humanist colour insatiable thirst for knowledge

剧作意义： the spirit of the rising bourgeoisie, its eager curiosity for knowledge, its towering pride, its

insatiable appetite for power. :praise individuality freed from the restraints of medieval dogmas and law,

and the convictions of the boundless possibility of human efforts in conquering the universe. heroes are

merely individualists. their individualistic ambition often brings ruin to the world and sometimes to themselves.

He reformed the English drama and perfected the language and verse of dramatic works. He first made blank verse

the principle instrument of English drama. His work paved the way for the plays of Shakespeare

Utopia乌托帮 Greek words “no place” ideal commonwealth conversation between More and voyager Hythloday

Book one: contemporary England labouring class poor, the rich greed and luxury, ruler eager for war

Book two: ideal commonwealth in some unknown ocean property in held in common, there is no poverty

Edmond Spenser

埃德蒙·斯宾塞

The Poet’s Poet

Francis Bacon

培根

1561-1626

The founder of English

materialist philosophy

Christopher

Marlowe

克里斯托夫·马洛

The most gifted of the

“university wits”

The greatest of the

pioneers of English

drama

1

William

Shakespeare

莎士比亚

1564-1616

is one of the

founders of realism in

world literature.

dramatic creation

often used the method

of adaptation.

long experience

with the stage and his

intimate knowledge of

dramatic art thus

acquired make him a

master hand for

playwriting.

was skilled in

many poetic forms: the

song, the sonnet, the

couplet, and the

dramatic blank verse.

was a great master

of the EL. Shakespeare

and the Authorized

Version of the English

Bible are the two great

treasuries of the EL.

The popularity of S is a

worldwide

phenomenon

The Comedy of Errors错误的喜剧; Hamlet哈姆雷特/王子复仇记;

The Taming of the Shrew驯悍记 Measure for Measure一报还一报/请君入瓮

Love’s Labour’s Lost爱的徒劳; Othello奥塞罗;

Romeo and Juliet罗密欧与朱丽叶tragi-comedy King Lear李尔王;

Macbeth麦克白;

A Midsummer Night’s Dream仲夏夜之梦; Antony and Cleopatra安东尼与克利欧佩特拉;

The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人 Timon of Athens雅典的泰门;

Much Ado about Nothing无事生非;

The Mercy Wives of Windsor温莎的风流娘们儿; Pericles佩里克尔斯

Julius Caesar朱利亚斯·凯撒； Cymbeline辛白林;

As You Like It皆大欢喜; The Winter’s Tale冬天的故事;

Twelfth Night第十二夜; The Tempest暴风雨;

The Sonnets十四行诗

⑴His drama relies not so much on characters as on witty speech and situation. His plays are poetical dramas. A

great number of important dialogues and soliloquies in his plays assume the form of poetry.

⑵This period is S’s sweet and joyful time, in which he succeeds in portraying a magnificent panorama of the

manifold pursuit of people in real life. There is a great lift in characterization. Heroines

⑶The third period is mainly the period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies”(give somber pictures of the

world) . The tragic note is aggravated.

⑷The fourth period is the period of romantic drama. HenryⅧ Global Theatre

The Great Comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream仲夏夜之梦;The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人;As You

Like It皆大欢喜;Twelfth Night第十二夜

The general spirit is optimism. Young people just freed from feudal fetters/youth love and ideal of

happiness/humanist ideal/fight against destiny/mould their own fate.

The Great Tragedies:

Hamlet哈姆雷特a man genius, highly accomplished and educated, a man of far-reaching perception and sparking

wit. st/free from medieval prejudices and superstitions/cherish a profound reverence for man/firm belief in

man’s power and destiny. of man. ectual genius is outstanding/a close observer of man and manners.

Melancholy: character/penetrating habit of mind/impossible ideal/personal wrong& fate of the country/active energy

Othello奥塞罗new man of the R/integrity, sincerity, loftiness of mind/falsehood truth/evil good/tragedy of

humanism

King Lear李尔王national unity and royal responsibility, divide up /insincere flattery/genuine love/betray

trust/condemn

Macbeth麦克白complicated contradictory/courageous clever/pray of ambition/tyrants oppressors/doom to defeat

Part 3. The English Bourgeois Revolution Period

Paradise Lost失乐园(greatest epic in English Literature); Paradise Regained复乐园; Samson Agonistes力士参孙

表面:to justify the way God to man/to advocate submission to the Almighty 实际:a revolt against God’s authority

John Milton

约翰·弥尔顿1608-

1674

Adam& Eve: Milton’s belief in the power of man/craving for knowledge

Satan: real hero of the poem/a conquered and banished giant/obeyed and admired by those who follow him down to

hell

Political in life and art; wrote greatest epic/influence is omnipresent; master of blank verse; stylist/grand style;

sublimity of thought and majesty of expression

John Bunyan

班扬

1628-1688

John Donne

The Pilgrim’s Progress天路历程(religious allegory)

1678出狱后

Vanity Fair名利场

Bunyan cherish deep hatred of both the king and his government. He saw and detested the injustice of laws, trials and

judges. His prose is admirable. It is popular speech ennobled by the solemn dignity and simplicity of the language of

Bible.

Songs and Sonnets Devotions upon emergent Occasions

2