一． Francis Bacon & Ben Johnson
1．Francis Bacon的简介
①Francis Bacon（1561－1626） was the founder of English materialist philosophy（唯物主义哲学）。 He was born into the family of Sir Nicholas Bacon， keeper of the Privy Seal（御玺） to Queen Elizabeth. The boy early won the favor of the Queen. He went to Cambridge at twelve and after graduating at sixteen， took up law. He soon became one of the most successful lawyers of the time. At twenty-three he became a member of the House of Commons（下议院） and his judgment and eloquence（口才） made him famous. When James I came to England， Bacon obtained one important office after another until he became lord Chancellor（大法官） and was made a peer （nobleman） in 1618. He was an admirable judge， but in the course of rising he had made enemies who charged him with bribery （受贿）。 He was convicted （判罪） deprived （免去） of his office， fined and banished （流放） from London in 1621. Five years later， he died in disgrace （耻辱）。
Francis Bacon， lawyer， statesman， philosopher and master of English tongue， is famous not only for his philosophical works， but also for his essays.In 1597 he published a collection of ten essays， which were afterwards increased to fifty-eight， including the well-known one “On Reading”， whose title is actually “Of Studies”。 These essays cover a wide variety of subjects， such as love， truth， friendship， parents and children， beauty， studies， youth and age and many others. They have won popularity for his clearness， brevity （简短） and force of expression. Many of his sentences have become wise old sayings—“Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark，” “Reading makes a full man； conference a ready（敏捷的） man， and writing an exact man”。 “Some books are to be tasted， others to be swallowed， and some few to be chewed and digested.” This is a very famous saying from “Of Studies”。 No advice is better than this. It tells us how to read different kinds of books.
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2. Ben Johnson的简介
二、Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) and__ Sheridan
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⑴（历史背景）18世纪初的英国，新古典主义成为时尚。新古典主义推崇理性，强调明
晰、对称、节制、优雅，追求艺术形式的完美与和谐。亚历山大·蒲柏（alexander pope, 1688-1744）是新古典主义诗歌的代表，他模仿罗马诗人，诗风精巧隽俏，内容以说教与讽刺为主，形式多用英雄双韵体，但缺乏深厚感情。
谢立丹创作《造谣学校》（1777）时不过26岁，却写出英国最优秀的喜剧之一。戏中有两条情节线索。一条线索写约瑟夫和查尔斯兄弟俩，他们就像是菲尔丁《汤姆·琼斯》中汤姆与布立非一样构成对比关系。约瑟夫是伪善者，极端利己却道貌岸然，查尔斯行为不检但心地善良，他们都追求彼得·提泽尔爵士的保护人玛丽亚。他们的叔父从国外归来，化装成高利贷者和穷亲戚，分别去试控兄弟俩，揭露了约瑟夫，查尔斯以他的慷慨和善良得到了叔父的财产、赢得心上人。另一条线索则是出身寒微、嫁给年老的爵土的提泽尔夫人，在道德败坏的“文明”风气影响下，染上贵族女子的一些恶习，险些失身给约瑟夫；在丈夫的感化下，她悔悟自己的行为，夫妇和好。作者对上流社会造谣中伤、伪善和淫逸放荡风气进行了揭露。以斯尼威尔夫人为首的社交界男女，搬弄是非，“一句话就能毁了一个人的名誉”。关于某小姐养的羊生了双胞胎的闲谈，次日就传成了某小姐生了一对私生婴儿，并被大肆渲染。提泽尔夫人差点让这些闲极无聊、无事生非的人们给毁掉。在上流社会高尚、雅致的表面背后是普遍的伪善和道德坠落。剧中没有令人生厌的道德说教和粗秽语言，对话讽刺尖刻又诙谐机智，妙趣横生。谢立丹还精心结构，两条线索协调统一，剧中充满出色的喜剧场面， 查尔斯拍卖家庭肖像的场面和约瑟夫暴露真相的屏风场景最为有名。
⑵（内容简介）
《造谣学校》主要布局是写两个性格不同的弟兄，弟弟查尔斯是一个挥霍成性的浪荡子，但是宅心忠厚真性善良；哥哥是表面上循规蹈矩，满口仁义道德的文质彬彬的君子，实则是贪婪伪善的小人。经过几度测验，终于露出了本来面目，显示了无所逃遁的真形，其间高潮迭起，趣味横生，舞台的效果甚大。
长舌妇是很普遍的一个类型，专好谈论人家的私事，嫉人有、笑人无，对于有名望有财富有幸福生活的人们，便格外的喜欢蜚短流长，总要“横挑鼻子竖挑眼”的找出一点点可以訾议的事情来加以诽谤嘲笑，非如此则不快意，有时候根本是空穴来风，出于捏造。
《造谣学校》是谢立丹的名篇。被世人成为风尚喜剧。剧中，作者把兄弟两描画成鲜明的对比。
谢立丹呵斥英国上层社会的虚荣，贪婪和虚伪。
此外，这一剧本在舞台上也取得了不错的成绩，并被视为仅次于莎士比亚的巨作~
⑶（作者介绍）(1751-1816) ：最为著名的喜剧作家。他代表了18世纪英国戏剧艺术
的最高成就。谢立丹出生于爱尔兰的都柏林，祖父是教师，也是斯威夫特(Jonashan Swift)的知心朋友。父亲是著名的演员和剧院经理，后来又把全家迁到英格兰，成为英语演讲艺术的权威。母亲更是多才多艺，既是剧作家，又是小说家，作品受塞缪尔理查逊影响很深。谢立丹幼年在都柏林的文法学校读书，爱尔兰世代消遣的方法之一就是编写喜剧，有句俗话说：想要当喜剧家，诞生在爱尔兰就足够了。该传统加上家庭熏陶，使谢立丹产生了对喜剧的兴趣。谢立丹晚景不佳，一场大火烧了刚修缮完的剧院，他在对面的咖啡馆要了杯葡萄酒：“一位绅士难道不能在自家的炉火旁静静地品尝一杯葡萄酒吗。”从此退出经营，竞选中也因财务问题而失败。1813年，又因负债而被拘禁。1816年，谢立丹因脑病去世，终年65岁。拜伦写了著名的《吊谢立丹》，葬礼十分隆重，葬于威斯敏斯特教堂的“诗人之角。”
The son of Thomas Sheridan, the Irish actor and theater manager, Richard Brinsley Sheridan began writing plays as a youngster in Bath. He went on to become one of the most successful playwrights of the later eighteenth century, manager of the Drury Lane Theater, and also a politician and orator of some note in the House of Commons. Along with his friends David Garrick (seeVol. 3) and Oliver Goldsmith, Sheridan was a member of the Literary Club of Samuel Johnson, having been proposed for membership by Johnson himself. Like Goldsmith, Sheridan also attacks \The School for Scandal (1777), Sheridan revives the Restoration comedy of manners with its portrait of the beau monde and its deflation of hypocrisy. The play is indebted to William Congreve as well as to Moliere (see Vol. 2), and the picture of society is based on Bath and London. In The Rivals (1775), Sheridan amuses himself with the language games of Mrs. Malaprop and her \her simile \banalities and truisms is best seen in The Critic (1779), a burlesque of sentimental and inflated plays as well as self-important criticism. The play ridicules \modern dramatic Composition.\Sheridan's sparking dialogue, lively scenes, and masterful dramatic construction have proved to be enduringly popular. （PPT）Richard Brinsley Sheridan - 豆丁网 http://www.docin.com/p-389342126.html
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三、Laurence Sterne. 的简介
奥利弗·哥德史密斯（Oliver Goldsmith, 1730 - 1774)是十八世纪著名的英国剧作家。他生于一个爱尔兰家庭，早年毕业于都柏林圣三一学院(Trinity College)及于爱丁堡就读医科，不过他并不是一个成功的医生。1756年，哥德史密斯定居伦敦，并展开其创作事业。 不论是诗歌、小说、文章还是剧本，葛史密的写作格风格均是以嘻笑怒骂的形式，藉以讽刺时弊。他最著名的两出喜剧是《善性之人》(The Good-Natuser Man, 1768)及 《屈身求爱》(She