英美文学资料总结（完整版）1
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English and America literatures

Introduction of English literature

1.  England’s inhabitants is 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.

2.  the old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England.

3.  Old English literature has survived divided into two groups.

Religious group :       Genesis A

Genesis B     based on biblical themes the Old Testament

Exodus

                            The Dream of the Rood
The secular one:          The Wanderer

                            Deor                   

                            The seafarer

                            The wife’s complaint

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.

After the Norman’ s conquest, three languages co-existed in England. French if 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.

In the second half of 14th century, Geroffery Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others

Recite:

1.       Romance: which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period. It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved. The hero is usually the knight, who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions. There is often mysteries and fantasies in romance. Romantic 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. The 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.       Define the period of Old English literature and medieval literature:

The period of Old English literature begins with the Anglo-Saxons settlement in England at about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest of England . The Medieval Period in English literature start at 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest, and ends at about the 15th century, is almost a barren one in literary creation. While in the later period, starting from the second half of the 14th century, English literature flourishes with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others,

4.       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.

5.       What does the character the wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales represent? And how does the author develop his characterization?

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.

6.       Chaucer is called “the father of English poetry” and has made great contributions to English poetry and English literature. Please discuss Chaucer’s literary achievement and why he is called ”the father of English poetry”

Chaucer’s achievement:

1.       he presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his age and created a whole gallery of vivid characters in his works, especially in The Canterbury Tales. 2. He anticipated a new ear, the Renaissance, to come under the influence of the Italian writers. 3. He developed his characterization to a higher level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions. 4. he 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.

2.       why he is called “the father of English poetry”:

originally, Old English poems are mainly alliterative verses with few variations. Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace it. In The Romaunt of the Rose, he first introduced to the English the octosyllabic couplet. In The Legend of Good Women, he used for the first time in English heroic couplet. And 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 . His art made him one of the greatest poets in English, John Dryden called him “the father of English poetry”.

Chapter I  The Renaissance Period
1.       Renaissance: it is marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid 17th centuries. It first started from Italy and then spread all over Europe. The renaissance, which means “rebirth” or “revival”, is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence, is a historical 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 to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.

2.       the background of the England

The England is unrest, and is a volcanic period of English history. The war-like nobles seized the power of England and turned it into self-destruction. The frightful reign of Richard III marked the end of civil wars, until the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) that the Renaissance really began to show its effect in England

3.       Humanism: it is the essence of the Renaissance. Humanism is a system of beliefs upheld by writers and artists of the Renaissance period in their fighting against medieval asceticism. It states that man is godly, that man is able to find truth, goodness and beauty, and that man is in control of the present life rather than being controlled by God. Briefly, humanism puts man at the center of their beliefs and takes man to be the measure of every thing while the former asceticism puts God at the center of their beliefs and takes personal salvation to be the most important thing on the earth for man.

4.       Religious reformation: it is Martin Luther, a German Protestant, who initiated the Reformation. Luther believed that every true Christian was his own priest and was entitled to interpret the Bible for himself.

Henry VIII was regarded as the faithful son of the Catholic, his wife cut the ties with Rome

Edward VI  the reform of the church’s doctrine and teaching was carried out

Mary     there was a violent swing to Catholicism.

Elizabeth’s reign   Protestantism has been firmly established .

The religious reformation was actually a reflection of the class struggle waged by the new rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology.

5.       blank verse: is the unrhymed iambic pentameter line, It was Surrey who first brought it in and Marlowe who perfected it with his “mighty line”

6.       metaphysical poetry: The term “metaphysical poetry” is 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 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. Modern poets like T.S. Eliot have been mostly affected by the metaphysical influence.

7.       The Renaissance her is Marlowe’s creation, Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe’s humanistic ideal of human dignity and capacity. 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.

8.       give a great incentive to something

9.       William Caxton, who introduced printing into England. Including  The Canterbury Tables and Malory’s Morte Darthur

10.   it’s the mainstream of the sth

11.   it could be dated back to the ……

12.   interludes and morality plays thriving in the medieval period

13.   but the development of the drama into a sophisticated art form

14.   they made a vivid depiction of the sharp conflicts between feudalism and the rising bourgeoisie in a transitional period.

15.   Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the first important English essayist, is best known for his essays which greatly influenced the development of this literary form. He was also the founder of modern science in England. His writings paved the way for the use of scientific method. Thus, he is undoubtedly one of the representatives of the English Renaissance.

16.   the main writers

A.      Edmund Spenser(1552-1599)  received education first at Merchant Taylor’s School and then at Pembroke College, Cambridge. The Shepheardes Canlender , Epithalamion—the most beautiful wedding hymns for their marriage. Spenser’s masterpiece is The Faerie Queene, to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. The Redcrosse knight in Book I and Sir Guyon in Book II

The five main qualities of Spenser’s poetry are: a. a perfect melody; b. a rare sense of beauty; c. a splendid imagination; d. a lofty moral purity and seriousness; e. a dedicated idealism. In addition to the above, Spenser uses strange forms of speech and obsolete words in order to increase the rustic effect. It is Spenser’s idealism, his love of beauty, and his exquisite melody that make him know as “the poets” poet.

B.      Christopher Marlowe : (1564-1593) a son of a Canterbury shoemaker. First to the King’s School, then Cambridge. As a man of letters. Play Tamburlaine,  Dr Faustus,  is gifted of the “University Wits”, The Jew of Malta, Edward II, non-dramatic poetry includes Hero and Leander, “the Passionate Shepherd to His Love” and a verse translation of Ovid’s Amores,  pioneer of English drama

Tamburlaine is a play about an an ambitious and pitiless Tartar conqueror in the fourteenth century who rose from a shepherd to an overpowering king. By flouting the given order and trampling on despairing princes, Tamburlaine displayed a high-aspiring mind that was self-created and carried by love and dreams beyond the limits of moral existence. His victories were a triumph of immense natural energy and of ruthlessness over equally cruel but weak and decadent civilizations. By depicting a great hero with high ambition and sheer brutal force in conquering one enemy after another. Being a cruel conqueror, finds consummate happiness in subduing other kingdoms. No enemy, except Death, can defeat him, his death ends in glory although he finally admits his limitations of achievements, and even his limitations as a human being.