英美文学复习材料Geoffrey ChaucerFather/founder of English PoetryMajor works:•The Romaunt of the Rose 《玫瑰传奇》•The Parliament of Fowls《百鸟议会》•Troilus and Criseyde《特鲁伊罗斯和克里塞德》•The Legend of Good Women《好女人传》•The Canterbury Tales 《坎特伯雷故事集》The Canterbury Tales•The story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury.• A rich, tapestry (织锦)of medieval social life combining elements of all classes, fromnobles to workers, from priests and nuns to drunkards and thieves.London dialect•The General Prologue consists of character sketches of each member of the group thatis going to CanterburyThe Canterbury Tales•Some of the characters•The Knight :the first story teller•The Prioress女修道院副院长•The Merchant•The Wife of Bath巴斯妇: the first female figure in British literature•Poor PriestWilliam Shakespeare (1564-1616)Renaissance•Meaning: rebirth or revival•Time: began in the 14th century, end in the 17th century. •Place: began in Italy, later spread to France, Spain and England.• A keen interest in the Greek and Latin culture; the art and science of ancient Greeceand Rome were being born again after long years of neglect. •Essence: humanismWilliam ShakespeareWorks•37 plays• 2 long narrative poems•154 sonnetsWilliam ShakespeareDrama:•Tragedies- Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet •Comedies-As You Like It, The Merchants of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, AMidsummer Night’s Dream，The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night •Histories-Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Henry VIII, Richard III,•Romances/tragicomedie s: Cymbeline, The TempestRomeo and Juliet•Characters: The Montagues/ The Capulets•Plot•Theme•Act II, Scene II•The balcony scene•One of the romantic peaks of the play.•In this scene, Romeo has employed three comparisons to express his admiration for Juliet: the sun, twinkling stars, a bright angelWilliam Shakespeare :SonnetA sonnet is a lyric invariably of fourteen lines, usually in iambic pentameter五音步抑扬格, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme韵律 .•Three types of sonnet1) Petrarchan sonnet (彼特拉克体/意大利十四行诗)2) Spenserian Sonnet（斯宾塞体十四行诗）3) Shakespearian Sonnet（莎士比亚/英国体十四行诗Shakespearian Sonnet• 3 quatrains + a couplet•abab cdcd efef gg•Sonnet 18•―Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?‖•Theme: A nice summer day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last forever.Thus Shakespeare expresses his faith in the permanence of poetry, of art and love. •Sonnet 29•Theme: The power of love can overcome all the difficulties and obstacles in one’slifetime.RomanticismBegins with the publication of Lyrical Ballads (1798) and ends with the death of SirWalter Scott(1832).•Pre-romantic poets: William Blake, Robert Burns•Active romantic poets: George Gordon Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats •Passive romantic poets/Lake Poets: William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey.Robert BurnsFarmer poet/national poet of Scotland•Write in Scottish dialect•Themes of poetry are life of the common Scotch, love, friendship, etc.•―A Red, Red Rose‖: four stanzas; a ballad form; love; figures of speech•―Auld Lang Syne‖: friendship, parting-songWilliam Wordsworth•Poet Laureate 桂冠诗人•Collaborate with Coleridge on Lyrical Ballads: a declaration of romanticism •Define Poetry as ―the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion recollected in tranquility‖.• A worshipper of nature•―I Wandered Lonely as Cloud‖: four six-line stanzas; iambic tetrameter; rhyme scheme: ababcc; theme: the harmony between things in nature and the harmony between nature and the poet himself/ Nature' s beauty uplifts the human spirit.•―Composed Upon Westminster Bridge‖: a Petrarchan sonnet; abbaabba cdcdcd ;describing London in an early morning; figures of speech: simile, metaphor, personificationPercy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)•one of the leading romantic poets•loved people and hated the oppressors and exploiters•His wife: Mary Shelley Frankenstein 《弗兰肯斯坦》•Major works:•The Necessity of Atheism 《无神论的必要性》•Queen Mab 《仙后麦布》•Prometheus Unbound 《解放了的普罗米修斯》•Ode to the West Wind 《西风颂》•Ode to a Skylark 《云雀颂》• A Defense of Poetry 《诗辩》•The Masque of Anarchy 《暴政的行列》Ode to the West Wind•Ode: a long lyric poem that is serious in subject, elevated in style, and elaborate in its structure.Is is written to praise and glorify somebody or to eulogize something.•Form: 1.Every stanza is a sonnet; five stanzas of iambic pentamenter.• 2. Every stanza consists of 4 terza rima（三行诗隔句押韵法）+ couplet. •Structure: stanza 1-3: activities of the west wind on the earth, in the sky and on the sea.Stanza 4-5: the poet’s wish to be free like the wind.Ode to the West Wind•Theme: 1. Revolutionary spirit; 2. Wish to destroy the old and build up a new world. •The art of language:• 1. The use of alliteration, capitalization, end rhyme, etc.• 2. many figures of speech: simile/metaphor/personification/allusion/symbolTo—•One word is too often profaned•For me to profane it,•One feeling too falsely distain'd•For thee to distain it;•One hope is too like despair•For prudence to smother,•Love lyric; repetition/parallel; understatement（含蓄陈述）Jane Austen (1775-1817)•The first important English woman novelist•Writing style:•Theme: mostly about love and marriage•Language: simple, humorous, witty, ironic•Plot: straightforward, little action•Characters: like real living persons•Dialogues: true to life•She called her work ―a fine engraving made upon a little piece of ivory only two inches square‖ (―两寸牙雕”)• A very narrow literary field•But within her own field, she is unrivaled: vivid portrait of her major characters and realisticand colorful pictures of the life and manners of the upper middle class in rural England of her timeJane Austen•Major works:•Northanger Abbey《诺桑觉寺》(1818)•Sense and Sensibility 《理智与情感》(1811)•Pride and Prejudice 《傲慢与偏见》(1813)•Mansfield Park《曼斯菲尔德庄园》(1814)•Emma 《艾玛》(1816)•Persuasion 《劝导》(1818)Pride and Prejudice•―It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.‖•Main characters/plot/theme•Dialogues•Character analysis: Mr. and Mrs. Bennet; Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy; Jane and Mr. Bingley •Pride/prejudiceCharles Dickens (1812 –1870)•Victorian novelist•Representative writer of critical realism•critical realism:• 1. Objectivity :truly reflected the life of theCapitalist Society• 2. Criticalness: deeply exposed and criticized Feudal aristocracy and the capitalists；advocated humanism &pursue the truth• 3. Typicality :Use typical characters in a certain environment.Charles Dickens•Major works:•《匹克威克外传》（The Pickwick Papers）•《雾都孤儿》（Oliver Twist）•《老古玩店》（The Old Curiosity Shop）•《美国纪行》（American Notes）•《圣诞颂歌》（A Christmas Carol）•《董贝父子》（Dombey and Son）•《大卫·科波菲尔》（David Copperfield）•《荒凉山庄》（Bleak House）•《艰难时世》（Hard Times）•《双城记》（A Tale of Two Cities）•《我们共同的朋友》（Our Mutual Friend）A Tale of Two Cities•Two cities: Paris and London•Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution•Three groups of people:•The feudal aristocrat：Marquis（侯爵）Evremond封建贵族•The revolutionary masses：Ms Defarge 革命群众•Ideal persons: Doctor Manette; Lucy Manette; Charles Darney; Sydney Carton 理想化人物A Tale of Two Cities•It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, iit was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way。