英國文學選讀復習要點

1、A Brief RevisionGeoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer is the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer’s language, now called Middle English,

2、 is vivid and exact. Geoffrey Chaucer is the first great poet who wrote in the English language. Chaucer must be ranked among the most learned and accomplished of English poets. The Canterbury Tales is his masterpiece

3、and one of the monumental works in English literature. The Book of the Duchess was composed by Chaucer probably as a memorial poem for the Duchess of Lancaster, who died of the plague. The Canterbury Tales The Canterbu

4、ry Tales should be an immense work of 124 stories but only 24 were written. Incomplete as they are, The Canterbury Tales covers practically all the major types of medieval literature. The Canterbury Tales was written i

5、n heroic couplet. General tone: happy, easy, lively, humorous.Terms: Rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the ends of words is called rhyme. When words rhyme at the end of lines of poetry it is called end rhyme. Heroic c

6、ouplet: Iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs. It is called heroic because in England, especially in the 18th century, it was much used for heroic (epic) poems. Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry, consisting of an

7、 unrhymed line with five iambs or feet, felt by many to be the most powerful of all metrical forms in English poetry. Renaissance Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. The Renaissan

8、ce marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture, architecture, and literature. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence, is a historical

9、period in which the European humanist thinkers and 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, and t

10、o recover the purity of the early church from the Roman Catholic Church. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. By emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, The Renaissance hu

11、manist thinkers 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 perform wonders. Renaissance in England The 16th century in England

12、 was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishment of the foundations of capitalism. Because of the War of Roses within the country and its weak and unimportant position in world trade, Renaissa

13、nce came later in England than other European countries. But when it did come, it was to produce some towering figures in the English, and — world literary heritage — William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Sir Thomas Mo

14、re, Francis Bacon and a number of humanist scholars.William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the world has ever known. He was man of the late Renaissance who gave the fu

15、llest expression to humanist ideals. With his 37/38/39 plays, 154 sonnets and 2 long poems, he has established his giant position in world literature. His works have been translated into every major language in the wor

16、ld. He has been given the highest praises by various scholars and critics in the world over. His contemporary poet and dramatist Ben Jonson dedicated a poem in praise of him: “… he was not of an age, but could no longe

17、r bear the control of the landed nobility. The contradictions between the feudal system and the bourgeoisie had reached its peak and resulted in a revolutionary outburst.The English revolution took place in the middle o

18、f 17th century. Among the causes of this revolution was the growth of capitalism, the break-up of serfdom and Puritan movement. In 1642, the Civil War broke out between the king and the Parliament. With the support of

19、the people and the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, the English bourgeoisie won the victory. In 1649 Charles I was captured and beheaded. England became a commonwealth under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell. After his

20、death, monarchy was again restored by King Charles II in 1660. It was called a period of the Restoration There were two leaders in the English Revolution. Cromwell was the man of action and Milton the man of thought. J

21、ohn Milton In English literature John Milton ranks with Shakespeare and Chaucer. During his retirement from public life, he produced his masterpieces: the epic Paradise Lost, its sequel, Paradise Regained; and the poet

22、ic tragedy Samson Agonistes. Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is long epic poem divided into 12 books. The theme is the fall of men: man’s disobedience and the loss thereupon of Paradise. In this epic poem Satan is the most

23、successfully portrayed character. He was evil, rebellious, courageous, heroic and tragic. Milton’s style Milton is difficult to read, because of his involved style with frequent inversion (probably owing to the influen

24、ce of Latin syntax) and very complicated sentence structures. His sentences are often long, sometimes running into a dozen, or even more lines. To express his sublimity of thought, he wrote in a style that is unsurpass

25、ed in its sonority, eloquence, majesty and grandeur.Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe is considered one of the greatest fiction writers of 18th-century England. Defoe was a very good story-teller. His sentences are sometimes sh

26、ort, crisp and plain, and sometimes long and rambling, while leave on the reader an impression of casual narration. His language is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular. There is nothing artificial in his lan

27、guage: it is common English at its best. Robinson Crusoe The story of Robinson Crusoe is well-known throughout the world. It tells of how Robinson Crusoe, an English mariner, having shipwrecked on an island, managed t

28、o struggle for live for 28 years there and rescued a black man, whom he named Friday, from the cannibals (person who eats human flesh). Later, Robinson got hold of a ship and sailed home. The book’s “realistic” touch

29、and ingenuity (originality) aroused great interest from the readers both in England and abroad. Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man, with a great capacity for work, inexh

30、austible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile natural environment. He is the very prototype of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist.Jonathan Swift Jon

31、athan Swift is a master satirist. Gulliver’s Travels Gulliver’s Travels is his best work, a social and political prose satire, in the form of a book of travels. It is partly burlesque of travelers’ tales, and partly rea