简明英国文学史
A Brief History of English Literature
Part I Old and Middle English Periods (450-1066)
Chapter 1
Old English Period and Beowulf
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Britons, a branch of Celts, came to the Isles in BC400 to BC300, at the early stage of the Iron Age
Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire defeated the Celts and ruled there from BC55 to AD 407
The Roman Empire declined, the Teutonic or Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes moved to live in the British Isles in about AD450
They drove the Celts to Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the English language has gradually changed, Old Anglo-Saxon. 8 to 11 Century, Danes from Scandinavia came to the Isles Norman Conquest 1066, it influenced the evolution of the English language, life style and culture.
Religion Christianity
Historical situation
Part II English Renaissance and Shakespeare
(1485-1616)
Chapter 3
The English Renaissance Literature
Historical situation
from feudal society to capitalism;
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industry and commerce; ―sheep devouring men‖
Tudor Reign: Religious Reformation,
King Henry VIII (1509-1547), Protestantism
Queen Elizabeh (1558-1603)
moderate policies to keep balance between the rising middle class and the feudal lords, the Protestants and the Catholics.
a powerful country, set up English colonies overseas.
Humanism and the Renaissance in England
Renaissance: revival of arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome after the long years of neglect in the medieval time In England
a strong interest in ancient Greek and Rome art and science;
Humanism: concerned about the welfare of human beings and believed that human happiness in this life was more important that what people were supposed to.
religious reformation of the church ;
praised man and man’s pursuit of happiness.
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Chief Literary Achievement of the Period 1. translating classical Italian and French works;
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2. poetry
― a nest of singing birds;‖
sonnet became the most popular poetic form; Thomas Wyatt
3. Drama and Theatre Performance
Marlowe; Ben Jonson and Shakespeare London , the centre of drama performance
II. Ten Renaissance Writers
Thomas More：Utopia ? Edmund Spenser：The Faerie Queene ? Philip Sidney ? University Wits:
John Lyly: Euphues -- Euphuism
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Thomas Nashe, Robert Greene
Francis Bacon essays
? Christopher Marlowe
blank verse: the major vehicle of expression in drama ? Ben Jonson drama; prose work
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Chapter 4
William Shakespeare
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Stratford-on-Avon, 1564
? Literary career and productions 37 plays
154 sonnets
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The life
Shakespeare’s major works
History plays
get material from the English history and from the history of ancient Rome
Julius Caesar Henry IV, Part I and Part II Richard II Henry V Henry VI, Part I , Part II , Part III
Comedies
A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream; ?
As You Like It; The Twelfth Night; The Merchant of Venice
Tragedies Hamlet; ?
King Lear Macbeth Othello
Tragic-comedies The Winter’s Tale ?
The Tempest Sonnets
Sonnet 73 ? Sonnet 18 ? Sonnet 130
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My Mistress’ Eyes
My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun Coral is far more red than her lips’ red,
If snow be white, why then her breasts arte dun, If hairs be wires, black wires grow upon her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks,
And in some perfumes is there more delight, Than in the breath that from my mistress’ reeks.
I love to hear her speak: yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound, I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare, As any she belied with false compare.
Part III
The Seventeenth Century (1616-1688)
Chapter 5
The Bourgeois Revolution and Milton
1. History of the 17th century: a.King Charles I--Long Parliament
b.the civil war (1642-1649):
army of the Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell;
Bourgeois Revolution of England (Puritan Revolution); Puritans;
King Charles II—James II—
―glorious Revolution‖（光荣革命） constitutional monarchy(君主立宪制）
2. Chief Literary Achievements
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fountain heads of the Western Civilisation: The bible, Greek and Roman mythology and
The Bible ( The Old Testament and the New Testament)
philosophy;
Hebrew—Greek—Latin
English version: ―The King James Bible‖ (47 scholars, 7 years)
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Poetry
a.―Metaphysical Poets‖（玄学派）—John Donne, Andrew Marvell, Herbert
b.Cavalier Poets (骑士诗人）
c. Epics（史诗） by John Milton
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Prose
political pamphlets and essays;
non-political matters
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Drama(Restoration period)
comedies combined with the French taste with witty language;
light, often coarse themes;
emphasis on the wit of the characters they are criticised as decadent.
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Dryden and Bunyan Dryden: man of letters
Bunyan: The Pilgrim’s Progress II. John Milton
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Paradise Lost （失乐园） ? Paradise Regained （复乐园） George