Part One: English Literature
③The hero is usually the knight, who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions. There are often mysteries and fantasies in romance. ④Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance.
Characterization is standardized, While the structure is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward.
⑤The importance of the romance itself can be seen as a means of showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of the world.
2. Heroic couplet:
Heroic couplet is a rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter. It is Chaucer who used it for the first time in English in his work The Legend of Good Woman.
3. The theme of Beowulf:
The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of the nature myths and heroic legends.
4. The Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales:
The Wife of Bath is depicted as the new bourgeois wife asserting her independence. Chaucer develops his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.
5. Chaucer‘s achievement:
①He presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his age and created a whole gallery of vivid characters in his works, especially in The Canterbury Tales.
②He anticipated a new ear, the Renaissance, to come under the influence of the Italian writers.
③He developed his characterization to a higher level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.
An Introduction to Old and Medieval
English Literature
I Understanding and application: (理解应用)
1. England‘s inhabitants are Celts. And it is conquered by Romans, Anglo Saxons and Normans. The Anglo-Saxons brought the Germanic language and culture to England, while Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization, including Greek culture, Rome law and the Christian religion. It is the cultural influence of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.
2. The old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England. 3. The old English poetry that has survived can be divided into two groups: The religious group and the secular one
4. Beowulf: a typical example of Old English poetry is regarded as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends. 5. After the Norman‘s conquest, three languages co-existed in England. French is the official language that is used by king and the Norman lords. Latin is the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities. Old English was spoken only by the common English people.
6. In the second half of 14th century, English literature started to flourish with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others
II Recite: (识记再现)
1. Romance:
①It uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period.
②It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved.
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④He greatly contributed to the maturing of English poetry. Today, Chaucer‘s reputation has been securely established as one of the best English poets for his wisdom, humor and humanity.
6. ―The Father of English poetry‖:
Originally, Old English poems are mainly alliterative verses with few variations.
①Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace it.
②In The Romaunt of the Rose (玫瑰传奇), he first introduced to the English the octosyllabic couplet (八音节对偶句).
③In The Legend of Good Women, he used for the first time in English heroic couplet.
④And in his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, he employed heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature.
⑤His art made him one of the greatest poets in English; John Dryden called him ―the father of English poetry‖.
【例题】The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely ______________. (0704)
A. William Langland’s Piers Plowman B. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales C. John Gower’s Confession Amantis D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 【答案】B
【解析】(P4.para.2)
本题考查的是中世纪时期几位诗人作品的创作主题和创作范围。A答案是《农夫皮尔斯》及其作者威廉·兰格伦他在其作品中描述了他那个时期的宗教与社会问题。 C《爱人的告白》，D《高文爵士和他的绿衣骑士》都是约翰·高厄的作品，属于时最精美的骑士文学作品;然而只有乔叟，在英国文学史上第一次向我们展示了表现当时英国社会的一幅综合性、现实主义的画卷,在他的代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》中塑造了一系列来自社会各
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阶层的生动形象的人物。
Chapter
1: The Renaissance
Period
1. The Renaissance:
The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance, which means \ or \ is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as:
①The re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture ②The new discoveries in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion.
③The Renaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
【例题】The Renaissance is actually a movement stimulated
by
a
series
of
historical
events
EXCEPT_________.(0804)
A. the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture
B. the vast expansion of British colonies in North America
C. the new discoveries in geography and astrology D. the religious reformation and the economic expansion 【答案】B
【解析】(P7. para1)
文艺复兴是欧洲中世纪和现代社会的分水岭，它的发生有着深刻的社会历史根源，当时的社会发展刺激了文艺复兴的发生，如地理天文大发现，席卷欧洲的宗教改革以及对古希腊，古罗马文化的发掘等。
2. Humanism:
Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.
3. The Renaissance in England:
①The first-- the beginning (1485-1558) --- imitation and assimilation
Poetry: Wyatt & Surrey
The former introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England, while the latter brought in blank verse.
②The second -- (the peak) the Elizabeth Age (1558-1603) ---The Elizabethan drama
Poetry: Spenser & Marlowe
Spenserian stanza: Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iambic hexameter, rhyming ababbcbcc.
The Renaissance hero: A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ides of human dignity and capacity.
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Different from the tragic hero in medieval plays, who seeks the way to heaven through salvation and god's will, he is
against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. With the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the hero interprets the true Renaissance spirit. Both Tamburlaine and Faustus are typical in possessing such a spirit.
The Elizabethan drama:
It is the real mainstream of English Renaissance. It could be dated back to the Middle Ages.
English material was put into the regular form of the Latin comedies of Plautus and Terence. Tragedies were in the style of Seneca
The most famous dramatists in the Renaissance England are: Marlowe, Shakespeare & Ben Jackson
③The third– further development (1603---1660)
Poetry: John Donne & John Milton
Metaphysical poetry: The term \commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.
Drama: Ben Jackson Essay: Francis Bacon
He is the first important English essayist, is known for his essays which greatly influenced the development of this literary form.
He is also the founder of modern science in England. His writings paved the way for the use of scientific method
Drama: Marlowe & Shakespeare
The typical authors during this period
Ⅰ. William Shakespeare
1. The bibliography
William Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known.
Viewpoints on politics: necessity of mighty and just sovereign, and the condemn to the anti-nature and anti-humanism of the feudal wars—anti-feudalism
Viewpoints on religion: against the religious persecution and racial discrimination, against the social inequality and the corrupting influence of the gold and money---anti-Catholicism
Viewpoint on literature: literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality---humanism
3. The major contributions
①38 plays (historical plays, tragedies and comedies) ②2 narrative poems: Venus, The Rape of Lucrece ③154 sonnets
4. four stages for his play-creation ①The first stage: his dramatic career is one of the apprenticeships
five historical plays: Henry IV, part I, II, and III; Richard III; and Titus Andronicus（泰特斯, 提图斯）.
four Comedies, including: The Comedy of Errors; The Two Gentlemen of Verona（维罗纳）; The Taming of the Shrew（泼妇的驯服）, and Love’s Labor’s Lost
②The second stage, his style became highly individualized,
Five historical: Richard II, King John, Henry IV, part I, II, Henry V
Six comedies: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, As You like(皆大欢喜), Twelfth Night, and the Merry Wives of Windsor（温莎公爵的快乐情妇）
Two tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar
③The Third stage is the peak of his creation, included his greatest tragedies and his so-called dark comedies:
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Seven tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra（克利奥帕特拉）, Troilus and
2. Viewpoints Cressida（特洛伊罗斯和克雷西达）, Coriolanus（科里奥兰纳斯）
Two comedies: All‘s Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure
④The last period of Shakespeare‘s includes his principal romantic tragicomedies:
Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter‘s Tale, and The Tempest
Two final plays: Henry III, and The Two Noble Kinsmen
5. About his dramas
①historical plays
Shakespeare‘s history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity. The three history plays in the reign of Henry VI are the beginning of Shakespeare‘s epic treatment of English history.
②Romantic Comedies
In his romantic comedies, Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play. They are The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You like, Twelfth Night, but the most important one is The Merchant of Venice.
③Tragedies
The successful romantic tragedy is Romeo and Juliet, which eulogizes the faithfulness of love and the spirit of pursuing happiness.
Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies are Hamlet,--the first of greatest tragedies, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth(麦克白.)
They have some characteristics in common
William Shakespeare’s four great tragedies are Hamlet, Othello, King Lear and Macbeth.
They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human
life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation.
Each hero has his weakness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othello's inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; and Macbeth's lust for power stirs up his ambition leads him to incessant crimes.
④Romantic tragicomedies
The Tempest is a typical example of his pessimistic view towards human life and society in his late year 6. About his sonnets
①Lyric: A poem, usually a short one, which expresses a speaker‘s personal thoughts or feelings. The elegy, ode, and sonnet are all forms of the lyric
②The theme: most of the sonnets concerns with the flying of the time, and the youth, beauty, belief and the love are also gone.
7. Shakespeare‘s writing characteristics
The progressive significance of the theme--humanism The successful character portrayal—women‘s characters
The masterhand in constructing the plot The ingenuity of his poetry The mastery of his language
8. About selected reading
①about sonnet 18
Sonnet 18 is one of the most beautiful sonnets written by Shakespeare, in which he has a profound meditation on the destructive power of time and the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves.
Typical lines:
Shall I compare thee to a summer‘s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: The theme: Immortality, Beauty and love ②about The Merchant of Venice Major characters:
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Bassanio: -- a young Venetian court Portia, accepted Antonio: --a merchant of Venice, all money invented in
ships, at sea, return not on time Shylock:--the Jewish usurer (放高利贷者)
Portia:-- standing for the great beauty, wit and loyalty
Main plot:
Bassanio, a young Venetian, would like to travel to Belmont to woo the beautiful and wealthy heiress Portia. He approaches his friend Antonio, a merchant, for three thousand ducats needed to subsidize his traveling expenditures as a suitor for three months. As all of Antonio's ships and merchandise are busy at sea, Antonio approaches the Jewish moneylender Shylock for a loan, and the reward of breaking the returning oath is a pound of fresh from Antonio‘s body.
Court happening: unsuccessful persuading, no more and no less than one pound of flesh, spilling no drop of blood
The analysis to the personalities: Antonio: --faithful to friend, Shylock:--greedy, brutal and inhuman Portia:-- beautiful, witty and loyal
Theme: traditional theme of the play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of the great beauty, wit and loyalty, and to expose the greed and brutality of the Jew.
Typical lines:
\comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.\
\3.)
\me not for my complexion, the shadow’d livery of the burnish’d sun.\
\\③about Hamlet The Major characters: