英国文学期末
一.The contributions of Geoffrey Chaucer.
1.The first to present a comprehensive and realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all works of life in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales.
2.Introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to replace the Old English alliterative verse the first to use heroic couplet.
3.Contributed to the establishment of English as the literary language of England, based on London dialect. He raised the language to the higher literary level by writing with a polish and ease. 二.The feature of humanism.
1.It believed that man is the measure of all things, it stands for devotion to the humane values represented in classical literature.
2.Against the medieval feudal value and blind faith in after-life, the humanists believed in man's capability of self perfection and emphasized the importance of personal worth and the joy of the present life. 三.The character of Shylock.
1.Shylock's demand for a pound of flesh has made him one of literature's most memorable villains, but many readers and play gores have found him a powerful and sympathetic figure.Shakespeare makes him seem more human by showing that his hatred is born of the mistreatment he has suffered in a christian society.
2.At the same time, when the Merchant of Venice was created, anti-semitism prevailed in England.Traits of the stereotyped Jews:greedy, miserly, cruel, full of hatred and revenge, devoid of gentility and interests in music and poetry. 3.In
a
word,he
is
a
Jews
usurer,mean,
greedy,cunning,cruel,vengeful,merciless,a,sophist,but also a victim of racial discrimination and religious persecution. 四.Metaphysical conceit.
A conceit is a figure of speech which makes an unusual and sometimes elaborately sustained comparison between two dissimilar things.
五.Features of Neoclassicism.
1.Reason emphasized: it is inartistic to show unrestrained emotion in lit,reason,order,regularity are admired rather than fancy and imagination. 2.Form
is
stressed
rather
than
content:
craftsmanship,
balance,proportion,harmony,grace,poetic diction; \well expressed.\
3.Didactic and satirical: writer had the duty to educate as well as entertain people, satire being an effective means of correcting people's folly and weakness.
4.City life and man-made object preferred: city life gives a sense of order while rural wild life, natural landscape were coarse, chaotic and disorderly. 六.The character of Robinson Crusoe.
A real hero, a typical 18th century English middle class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against hostile natural environment and also against human fate.
七.Gulliver's Travels. 1.Four travels:
a. Lilliput (6-inch high people):An allegory of English politics in the early 18th century when the Whigs and Tories were fighting bitterly for the control of the country.Exposure of the corruption,political and religious strife and social vices. b.Brobdingnag,a mock utopia. The inhabitants of the country are gentle and peace,loving and ruled by a fair and merciful king; Gulliver,in contrast,seems petty,vindictive and cruel;The giants are superior the human beings both in wisdom and in humanity.
c.The kingdom of Laputa, a flying island and its colonies;the so called philosophers and scientists engrossed in abstract speculation and useless experiments;containing criticism of the malpractices and false illusions about science,philosophy,history and immortality in early 18th C.
d.The land of the Houyhnms,the horse are governed totally by reason and created a society perfectly ordered and peaceful the Yahoos are greedy,envious,cruel and
disgusting bruts.The Yahoos represent the worst traits in human nature,and the lowest level to which man might sink. 2.The significance of this book.
Gulliver's Travel is a biting satire,both humorous and critical,attacking British and European society through its description of imaginary countries.As a whole,the book is one of the most effective and devastating satires of all aspects in the English and European life......socially,politically,religiously, philosophical scientifically and morally.Caused critical controversy,often mistaken for a misanthropist. 八.The significance of Tom Jones.
The novel is admirable for the panoramic view of the 18th C English society;about 40 characters are portrayed from nearly all classes of society;the setting is wide-ranging and varied, shifting from the country to the city.The superb plot contruction; 18 books equally divided into 3 sections,clearly marked out by the change of scenes; classical effect of balance.
九.The features of Romanticism.
1.A strong reaction and protest against the bondage of rules and conventions;favored innovations in subject and form.
2.Turned the nature,particularly the rural,wild landscape, for its poetic imagery and subject matter.
3.Admired passion and imagination;regarded passion, imagination and originality as something crucial for true poetry.
4.Interested in the ancient, the exotic,the uncivilized way of life;turned the the primitive literature for inspiration and models.
5.Emphasis upon the individuality of people as against the neoclassicists’ stress on social virtues.
十.Wordsworth's Theory.
In the preface the the second edition of lyrical Ballads he explained his poetic theory.It is regarded as the declaration of Romanticism. 1.Good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.
2.Common life as subject,scenes and events of everyday life,joys and sorrows of the
common people most suitable for poetry.
3.Simple language:the fresh ,living everyday speech is most suitable for poetry. 4.Return the nature,nature as a teacher,the stepping stone between God and Man. 十一.What's Byronic Hero?
1.The Byronic Hero is an idealized but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of Lord Byron.
2.This Byronic Hero would shoulder the burden of righting all the wrongs in the world and fight alone against any type of tyranny.
十二.What's the author's opinion about marriage in Pride and Prejudice? 1.We must have good judgment if we want to form good relationships in life. 2.Our first impression are.usually wrong.Maturity is achieved through the loss of illusions.
3.She regarded love and marriage as the typical theme of her novel,her ideal marriage have three elements:true love ,personal merits and money. 十三.Features of Dickens' work.
1.His works offer a most complete and realistic picture of the English society of his age.
2.He believed in the moral self-perfection of class contradictions.There is a tendency for a reconciliation of class contradictions. 3.Almost all his novels have happy endings.
4.He drew a lot from the experiences of his childhood. 5.As a humorist, his novel are full of humor and laughter. 十四.Theme of the Vanity Fair.
Selfishness and corruption of the upper classes;Showing a society which judges people on money and appearance and ignores the true virtues. 十五.The character of Jane Eyre. 1.Jane
is
intelligent,well
educated,industrious,compassion:ate,and
morally
upright,with an independent spirit.
2.A woman of high principle,religious faith self-respect and moral strength. 3.Desire for independence,self-identification and self-fulfilment.
4.For this Charlotte is considered a forerunner of feminism and Jane Eyre a feminist novel.
十六．有特殊地位的作家
1.Geoffrey Chaucer:Father of English Literature. 2.William Shakespeare:The master of language. 3.John Donne: Father of the Metaphysical poetry. 4.John Milton：The greatest poet of 17th C.
5.Three poet laureate:William Wordsworth ; Alfred Lord Tennyson ; Southey 6.Daniel Defoe: Father of English novel.
7.Charles Dickens: The greatest representative of critical realism. 8.James Joyce: Father of stream of consciousness novel. 9.Henry Fielding: Father of English realistic novel. 10.William Blake: The forerunner of Romanticism. 11.Lake poets:William Wordsworth; Coleridge; Southey 十七．各个时期的文学潮流
1.The Anglo-Saxon period and The Anglo-Norman period: epic and romance. 2.The renaissance:humanism.
3.The period of revolution and restoration: metaphysical poets.
4.The age of Enligtenment: neoclassicism; Gothic novel ; sentimentalism ; Pre-romantic poetry ; drama ; chivalry.
5.The romantic period: lake poets ; Byronic hero ; ode
6.The victorian age: critical realism; romantically and realistically; novel