The Renaissance PeriodReference: 1) 16th century, Thomas More, “sheep devoured men”羊吃人的时代2) At the beginning of the 16th century, absolute monarchy was formed in England. King Henry VIII broke off with the Pope, dissolved all the monasteries修道院and abbeys大修道院in the country, confiscated没收their lands and proclaimed himself head of the Church of England.3) The absolute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.4) Beginning of the 16th century, Thomas More, a outstanding humanist杰出的人文主义者, wrote Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the people’s suffering and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.5) In the 1st half of the 16th century, there appeared lyrical poems抒情诗by Thomas Wyatt怀亚特. Wyatt was the first to introduce the sonnet into English literature. In the 2nd half of the 16th century lyrical poetry became widespread in England. Famous lyrical and epic poets of the time were Philip Sidney菲利普•锡德尼, Thomas Campion托马斯•坎皮恩and Edmund Spenser埃德蒙•斯宾塞(<The Faerie Queene>仙后)6) Various types of novels were developed in the 16th century. John Lyly约翰•黎里and Thomas Lodge托马斯•洛奇were authors of novels dealing with the court life and gallantry.(宫廷生活和侠士风流)John Lyly→Euphues: The Antatomy of Wit艳词(首创euphuism绮丽体这一修辞手段) Thomas Deloney托马斯•德洛尼&Thomas Nashe托马斯•纳什→developed the realistic tendencies发展了小说中的现实主义风格(devoted to the everyday life of craftsmen, merchants and other representatives of the lower classes)7) Drama→the greatest of the pioneers of English drama was Christopher Marlowe克里斯托弗•马洛. He made blank verse the principle vehicle of expression in drama.(把无韵诗作为英语戏剧主要表达方式His work→The Jew of Malta; The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus)8) A period of drama and poetry. The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance.9) Three historical events of the Renaissance—rebirth or revival:①new discoveries in geography and astrology(占星术)②the religious reformation and economic expansion③rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek cultureDefinition of important literary terms:Renaissance:the activity, spirit, or time of the great revival of art, literature, and learning in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world.William Shakespeare 1564~1616 P61Works: Stage1→1590 The Second Part of King Henry VIThe Third Part of King Henry VI1591 The First Part of King Henry VI1592 The Life and Death of King Richard IIIThe Comedy of Errors1593 Titus Andronicus泰特斯•安德鲁尼克斯(复仇悲剧)The Taming of the Shrew训悍记1594 The Two Gentlemen of Verona维罗纳两绅士Lover’s Labour Lost爱的徒劳Romeo and Juliet1595 The Life and Death of King Richard IIA Midsummer Night’s Dream 仲夏夜之梦1596 The Life and Death og King JohnThe Merchant of Venice维纳斯商人1597 The First Part of King Henry IVThe Second Part of King Henry IV1598 Much Ado About Nothing无事生非The Merry Wives of Windsor温莎的风流娘儿们The Life of King Henry V1599 The Life and Death of Julius Caesar尤里乌斯•凯撒As You Like It 皆大欢喜(Figure: Rosalind)1600 Twelfth Night, or What You Will第十二夜Stage2→1601 The Tragedy of Hamlet, Price of Denmark(复仇悲剧)√1602 Troilus and Cressida 特罗伊斯与克瑞西达(黑暗喜剧)All’s Well That Ends Well 终成眷属(黑暗喜剧)1603 Measure for Measure 一报还一报(黑暗喜剧)Othello, the Moore of Venice 奥赛罗(Figure: Desdemona)1605 King Lear李尔王(Figure: Cordelia)The Tragedy of Macbeth 麦克白1606 Antony and Cleopatra 安东尼和克利奥佩特拉1607 The Tragedy of Coriolanus 克利奥拉鲁斯Timon of Athens 雅典的泰门1608 Pericles, Prince of Tyre 佩里克里斯Stage3→(均为传奇剧)1609 Cymbeline, King of Britain 辛白林1610 The Winter’s Tale 冬天的故事The Tempest 暴风雨The Life and Death of Henry VIII( Comedy:—Tragedy:—)Four Comedies: <As You Like It>皆大欢喜<Twelfth Night>第十二夜<A Midsummer Night‟S Dream>仲夏夜之梦<Merchant Of Venice>威尼斯商人Four Tragedies:<Hamlet>哈姆莱特<Othello>奥赛罗<King Lear>李尔王<Macbeth>麦克白Shakespeare Sonnet: 154 <The Sonnets> (ababcdcdefefgg) 18(shall I compare thee)、29(when in disgrace)、106(when in the chronicle of wasted time)Shakespeare’s 2 narrative poems: Venus and Adonis维纳斯与阿多尼斯Lucrece露克里丝受辱记Figures and things mentioned: <In Hamlet> Horatio (Hamlet’s friend)霍拉旭Elsinore Castle埃利塞纳城堡Claudius (Hamlet’s uncle)克劳迪斯Gertrude (Hamlet’s mother)乔特鲁德Rosencrantz(Hamlet’s friend)罗森克兰茨Guildenstern(Hamlet’s friend)吉尔登斯坦Ophelia(Hamlet’s girlfriend)奥菲利亚Polonius (girlfriend’s father)波洛琉斯Laertes(girlfriend’s brother)雷欧提斯<In The Merchant of Venice>Bassanio 巴萨尼奥Antonio(Bassanio’s Friend)安东尼奥Portia鲍西娅Shylock (the wealthy Jew)Jessica(Shylock’s daughter, who ran off with Bassanio’s friend Lorenzo罗兰佐)Gratiano (Bassanio’s friend, fell in love with Portia’s waiting-woman Nerissa尼莉莎) Definition of important literary terms:1)Renaissance: Renaissance marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world. Itfirst started in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. The word“Renaissance” means rebirth or revival. In essence, it is a historical period in which theEuropean humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe and introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to lift the restriction in all areas placed by the Roman Catholic Churchauthorities. Two features of renaissance: It is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature.People learned to admire the Greek and Latin works as models of literary form. It is the keen interest in the activities of humanity.2)Sonnet: 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter.The rhymescheme in the Italian form as typified in the sonnets of Petrarch(彼得拉克)is abbaabbacdecde. The Petrarchian sonnet has two divisions: the first is of eight lines (the octave), and the second is of six lines (the sestet). The rhyme scheme of the English, or Shakespearean sonnet is abab cdcd efef gg. The change of rhyme in the English sonnet is coincidental(一致) with a change of theme in the poem.3)Spenserian Stanza: Spenser invented a new verse form for his poem. The verse form hasbeen called "Spenserian Stanza" since his day. Each stanza has nine lines, each of the first eight lines is in iambic pentameter form, and the ninth line is an iambic hexameter(六步抑扬格) line. The rhythm scheme is abab bcbc c.4) Humanism: it refers to the main literary trend and is the keynote of English Renaissance.Humanists took interest in human life and human activities and gave expression to the new feeling of admiration for human beauty, human achievement. They think that man has a potential for culture which distinguishes him from lower orders of beings, and which he should strive constantly to fulfill.FrancisBacon弗兰西斯•培根1561~1626 P103(哲学家、散文家;在论述探究知识的著作中提出了“知识就是力量”这一著名论断;近代唯物主义哲学的奠基人和近代实验科学的先驱。