PART FIVE
The
18th Century
The
Age of Enlightenment in
England
1.
The Literary Terms
Enlightenment---The 18th century England is known as the Age
of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment was a
progressive intellectual movement throughout Western Europe in the
18th century. It was an expression of struggle of the
then progressive class of bourgeoisie against feudalism. The
enlighteners fought against class inequality, stagnation,
prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to
place all branches of science at the service of mankind by
connecting them with the actual deeds and acquirements of the
people. They thought the chief means for bettering the society was
“enlightenment” or “education” for the people.
Classicism---A
movement or tendency in art, literature, philosophy, or music that
reflects the qualities (principles) of ancient Greek and Roman
literature. Classicism emphasizes the traditional and the
universal, and places value on reason, restraint, sense of form,
clarity, simplicity, balance and order. Classicism, with its
concern for reason and universal theme, is traditionally opposed to
Romanticism, which is concerned with emotions and personal
thoughts.
Neo-classicism---1). People emphasize reason rather than emotion, form
rather than content. And they followed the rules of Roman
writers.2). As reason was stressed, most of the writings of the age
were didactic and satirical. 3). As elegance, correctness,
appropriateness and restraint were preferred, the poet found closed
couplet the only possible verse form for serious work, instead of
blank verse. They obeyed the three unities in writing plays. 4).
The humbler aspect of life are neglected and it shows no love of
nature, landscape, or country things and people. It is almost a
“town” poetry, interested in the “society” in great cities.
5)
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was the representative poet of
neo-classicism. His Essay on Criticism was a manifesto of English
neo-classicism. In the middle decades of the 18th
century Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), lexicographer, critic and poet,
became the leader of the classic school in English poetry and
prose.
Sentimentalism---Sentimentalism and sensibility are two terms frequently
used in reference to some literary works of the 18th
century. It was a direct reaction against the cold, hard
commercialism and rationalism which had dominated people’s life in
the last decades of the 17th century. The writers were
indulged in emotion and sentiment, which were used as a sort of
relief for the grief and heart-aches felt toward the world’s
wrongs, and as a kind of mild protest against the social injustice.
They followed this tradition to criticize the cruelty of the
capitalist relations and the social injustices brought about by the
bourgeois revolutions and the Industrial Revolution. They thought
the bourgeois society was founded on the principle of reason, so
they began to react against anything rational and to advocate that
sentiment should take the place of reason.
Gothic Novel---The term “Gothic Novel” is derived from the frequent
setting of the tales in the ruined, moss-covered castles of the
Middle Ages, but it has been extended to any novel which exploits
the possibilities of mystery and terror in gloomy, rocky
landscapes, decaying houses, with dark dungeons, secret massages,
instruments of torture, ghostly music or voice, ghostly
visitations, the persecution of a beautiful maiden by a villain.
The mysterious element plays an enormous role in the Gothic novel;
it is so replete with bloodcurdling scenes and unnatural feelings
that it is justly called “a novel of horrors”.
Realism---The attempt in literature and art to represent life as
it really is, without sentimentalizing or idealizing it. Realistic
writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of the ordinary
people. Sometimes this has led to an emphasis on sordid
details.
Satire---A
kind of writing that holds up to ridicule or contempt the
weaknesses and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or
humanity in general. The aim of satirists is to set a moral
standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader to
see their point of view through the force of laughter. The most
famous satirical work in English literature is Swift’s “Gulliver’s
Travels”.
Irony---A contrast or an incongruity
between what is stated and what is really meant, or between what is
expected to happen and what actually happens. Irony takes a number
of special forms: 1) Verbal irony, in which a writer or speaker
says one thing and means something entirely different. There is a
contrast between what is literally said and what is actually meant.
2) Dramatic irony, in which a reader or an audience perceives
something that a character in the story or play doesn’t know. 3)
Irony of situation, in which a set of circumstances turns out to be
the reverse of what is expected or is appropriate.
Daniel Defoe
1.
The Significance of “Robinson Crusoe”
1). “The Adventure of
Robinson Crusoe” is an expression of the bourgeois qualities of
individualism and private enterprise. Robinson Crusoe is a new
man---a man sure of himself and sure of being able to establish
himself anywhere in the world. He is a man of new age, in which
doubt and uncertainty are replaced by hope and confidence. The
realistic account of the successful struggle of Robinson,
single-handed against the endless forces of nature, forms the best
of the novel. Robinson is a real hero, his best qualities of his
character are that of his marvelous capacity for work, his
boundless energy and persistence in overcoming obstacles. He
struggles hard against nature and makes him fulfill his
will.
2). In describing
Robinson’s life on the island, Defoe glorifies human labor. Labor
saves Robinson from despair, and is a source of pride and
happiness. He toils for the sake of subsistence, and the fruits of
his labor are his own.
3). Robinson is the
enterpriser of his age. He is ready to command nature, his enemy,
and to found his colony beyond the sea. He is a
merchant-adventurer, interested in material profit. So Robinson’s
every voyage is connected with some commercial
enterprise.
4). Robinson is the
colonist, the empire builder. “The Adventure of Robinson Crusoe” is
an embodiment of the spirit of individual enterprise and colonial
expansion of the rising bourgeoisie.
5). Defoe’s bourgeois
outlook shows itself in the fact that he doesn't condemn
Negro-slavery in his book. Though Robinson labors for his own
existence, yet as soon as a native makes his appearance on the
island, Robinson performs the role of a master. “Master” is the
first word Friday learns from Robinson. Here lies colonialism in
germ.
2.
The Features of Defoe’s Novels
1). Defoe is
remembered chiefly for his novels. The central idea of his novels
is that man is good and noble by nature but may succumb to an evil
social environment. The writer wants to make it clear that society
is the source of various crimes and vices.
2). Defoe’s intention
is that the readers should regard his novels as true stories. For
that reason, he deliberately avoids all art, all fine writing, so
that the reader should concentrate only on a series of possible
events.
3). Defoe’s novels
all take the form of memoirs or historical narratives. Everything
in them gives the impression of reality.
Jonathan Swift
1.
Analysis of “Gulliver’s Travels”
“Gulliver’s Travels” is Swift’s
masterpiece, contained 4 parts, called a travel book. But it is
different from “Robinson Crusoe”, which shows the rising bourgeois
adventure, looked for better chance. “Gulliver’s Travels”
represented very cynic, despondent. So Swift was highly respected
and loved by the English people.
1). The First Voyage to
Lilliput
In the first part Gulliver described his
shipwreck in Lilliput where the tallest people were only six inches
high. The emperor believed himself to be the delight and terror of
the universe. To Gulliver, such a belief appeared quite stupid,
because he was 12 times as tall as the emperor. Gulliver described
the two parties in the country, which are distinguished by the use
of high and low heels, which are called the High-heels and the
Low-heels. By describing the two parties in Lilliput Swift actually
satirizes the Tories and Whigs in England. There are many disputes
between the two parties. Those who support the High-heels would
wear high-heel shoes. Those who support the Low-heels wear low-heel
shoes. And the princes would rather wear one high-heel and one
low-heel shoes in order to flatter both parties. And there are two
opposing religious sects, the Big Endians and the Little Endians,
who fight bitterly about which end of an egg it is better to break.
So the religious disputes were laughed at in an argument which end
of egg is better to break. “Should eggs be broken at the big end or
the little end?” And finally it led to the broke out of the Civil
War of the country. Also by describing the two religious sects in
Lilliput, Gulliver satirizes the Catholic Church and the Anglican
Church in England.
2) The Voyage to Brobdingnag
Gulliver now found himself a dwarf among
those who are 60 feet in height. In this part, by describing
Gulliver’s experiences in such a race of giants, Swift wants to
laugh at the strutting and bowing of the English lords and
ladies.
3) The Voyage to the Flying
Island
The third part is a satire on philosophers
and projectors of the country. They were dwelling in the air. What
they invented is used not for the benefit of the people, but
against them. And in this part, Swift also attacked the cruel
system of exploitation and the rule of the English government
towards the people of Ireland.
4). The Voyage to the Houyhnhnms, Meeting
Yahoos
In the last part, Swift’s satire is of the
bitterest. Gulliver now was in a country where horses were
possessed of reason, and were the governing class, while yahoos,
though in the shape of man, were brutes with such vices as stealing
and lying. When Gulliver tells the horses the warfare among the
English lords, this account gives no pride but only causes disgust
from the horses. Gulliver praises the life and virtues of the
horses while he disgusted the yahoos, whose relations reminded him
of those existing in English society to such a degree that he
shuddered at the thought of returning to England. So it is said
that when he returned home, his family filled him with such disgust
that he fainted when his wife kissed him.
So Swift hated all kinds of
oppression---political, economical and religious. But he cherished
a great love for the people. His “Gulliver’s Travels” gives an
unparalleled satirical depiction of the vices of his
day.
2. Swift’s Writing Features
1) Swift is one of
the greatest masters of the realist writers. His realism is quite
different from Defoe’s. Defoe’s stories are based on the reality of
human life, while all of Swift’s plots come from imagination, which
is the chief means he uses in his satires. Swift is a master of
satirist, and his irony is deadly. But his satire is marked by
outward gravity and an apparent earnestness. This makes his satire
all the more powerful, as shown in his “A Modest Proposal”. He not
only criticized the evils of the English bourgeoisie, but those of
other bourgeois countries.
2) Swift expressed
democratic ideas in his works. This has a strong influence on later
writers, such as Sheridan, Fielding, Byron and even Bernard
Shaw.
3) Swift is one of
the greatest masters of English prose. His languages are simple,
clear and vigorous. He said “Proper words in proper place, makes
the true definition of a style”. There are no ornaments in his
writings. He seems to have no difficulty in finding words to
express the impression which he wishes to convey. In simple, direct
and precise prose, Swift is almost unsurpassed in English
literature. It is a great education in English to read Swift’s
prose.
William Blake
1.
Some
Brief Introduction to “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of
Experience”
In the “Songs of Innocence”, Blake
declares, he is writing “happy songs/every child may joy to hear.”
So he uses a language which even little babies can learn by heart.
He succeeds in depicting the happy condition of a child before he
knows anything about the pains of existence. The poet expresses his
delight in the sun, the hills, the streams, the insects and the
flowers, in the innocence of the child and of the lamb. Here
everything seems to be in pious harmony.
In the “Songs of Experience”, which is a
much mature work, we can find entirely different themes for it is a
collection of poems and songs in which the atmosphere is no longer
sunny but sad and gloomy. Evil is found everywhere in this world.
The poet drew pictures of neediness and distress and showed the
sufferings of the miserable.
The contrast between “Songs of Innocence”
and “Songs of Experience” is of great significance. It marks a
progress in the poet’s outlook on life. In the earlier collection
there seem to be no sorrows. To the poet’s eyes, the first glimpse
of the world was a picture of light, harmony, peace and love. But
in the later years, experiences had brought a full sense of the
power of evil, and of the great miseries and pain of the people’s
life. His symbol changes from “Lamb” of innocence to the “Tiger” of
experience.
2.
Blake’s Position in English Literature
Blake is a symbolist
and sometimes called a mystic because some of his poems are obscure
and can be interpreted only symbolically.
The whole temper of
Blake’s genius is essentially opposed to the classical tradition of
that age. He identifies classicism with formalism. As he said, the
writers of the classical school “knew enough of artifice, but
little of art.” His lyric poetry displays the characteristics of
the romantic spirit, according to which natural sentiment and
individual originality are essential to literary
creation.
During 1788-1793 he
mixed with such radicals as Thomas Paine, William Godwin, and
hailed the French Revolution. His revolutionary passion came near
to that of Shelley. There is strong likeness between Shelley and
Blake especially in the imagery and symbolism as well as the
underlying spirit of Shelley’s revolutionary epics such as “The
Revolt of Islam” and “Prometheus Unbound”. For this reason, Blake
is called a Pre-romanticist or forerunner of the Romantic poetry of
the 19th century.
Robert Burns
1.
Summary of Burns’s Poetry
1) Burns is
remembered mainly for his songs written in the Scottish dialect on
a variety of subjects. These songs speak straight from the heart of
a plowman to express in simplest words the common feelings of
millions of working people.
One of his famous
songs is “A Man’s a Man for That” which sings of the manhood and
dignity of the poor and downtrodden people.
2) Numerous are
Burns’s songs of love and friendship, which describe the poet’s own
emotion with such vividness and simplicity that they appeal
directly to the reader’s heart. Meanwhile, these songs carry with
them a new spirit of romanticism, such as “A Red, Red Rose” “Auld
Lang Syne”.
3) “Bruce at
Bannockburn” is a typical song of patriotism. Robert Bruce, the
national hero of Scotland, symbolized for Burns the unconquered
spirit of his people. Burns once paid a visit to Bannockburn, where
Bruce fought for his country’s independence, and then he wrote his
glorious poem.
4) Burns was an
outspoken supporter of the French Revolution, under the influence
of which he wrote a number of poems on the theme of revolution,
such as “The Tree of Liberty” and “A Revolutionary Lyric”. In these
poems, Burns called on the people to rise in arms for a happy life
in future.
5) In poems like “The
Slave’s Lament”, Burns expresses his sympathy for the miseries of
the Negro slaves transported from their Africa motherland to
America.
6) Burns also
achieved success in the field of satire. The sting of his satire
was often directed at the hypocrisy of the ruling classes. “The
Toadeater” is a piece of bitter satire.
7) Poems like “Tam
O’Shanter” and “The Jolly Beggars” are characterized by humor and
lightheartedness. They show another aspect of the poet’s character,
i.e. optimism in spite of poverty and misery in life.
8) Burns has such a
compassionate understanding of human misery that it extends even to
a mouse. The 48-line “To a Mouse” is a masterpiece.
2.
Features of Burns’s Poetry
1) Burns is one of
the greatest song writers in the world. He is the national poet of
Scotland. Most of his poems and songs were written in Scotch
dialect. It is here we have the best, the truest and fullest
revelation of the poet’s mind and heart.
2) Burns was a
plowman. He came from the people and wrote for the people. He was
the people’s poet.
3) Burns had a deep
knowledge and an excellent mastery of the old Scotch song
tradition. His peasant origin and environment helped him on
capturing the happy, simplicity, humor, directness and optimism,
which are characteristics of all old Scotch songs. He learned a lot
from it . This was the main factor of his great success.
4) As a poet of the
peasants, Burns has a special superiority over other poets. It is
exactly in the rural theme that Burns is entirely in his elements.
He was a peasant. He was himself in his own rural theme. He did not
need to set himself to search for themes. He was surrounded by
them. They almost force themselves on his attention. Here lies the
root of Burns’s great success as a poet of the peasants.
Homework
I. Answer the following
questions.
1. What is the
characteristic of the Enlightenment in England?
2. What is
Sentimentalism?
3. Make a comment on the
image of Robison
Crusoe.
4. What are the features
of Defoe’s novels?
5. What is the
significance of Robinson
Crusoe?
6．Make a brief analysis of Gulliver’s travels.
7. What are Swift’s style
and literary features?
8. What is Blake’s
position in English literature?
9. Make a general comment
on Burns and his poems?
10.What are the features of Burns’s
poetry?
11 Recite Blake’s Tiger and Burns’ My Heart’s on Highlands, Auld Lang
Syne and A Red, Red Rose.
II. Define the literary terms listed
below.
1.
Enlightenment 2.
Classicism 3.
Sentimentalism 4. Gothic
Novel
5.Satire
6.
Irony 7.
Realism
III. Find the relevant match from column B
for each item in column A.
(1)
A
B
1. The Deserted
Village
a. Thomas Gray
2. The
Village
b. George Crabbe
3. Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard c.
Goldsmith
4. The Chimney
Sweeper
d. William Blake
5. A Red, Red
Rose
e. Robert Burns
6. A Sentimental
Journey
f. Daniel Defoe
7. Gulliver’s
Travels
g. Jonathan Swift
8. The School for
Scandal
i. John Bunyan
9. Tom
Jones
j. Laurence
Sterne
10. Robinson
Crusoe
k. Richard B. Sheridan
11. The Pilgrim’s
Progress
l. Fielding
(2)
A
B
1.
Renaissance
a. Christopher Marlowe
2.
Enlightenment
b. humanism
3. William
Shakespeare
c. Stratford-on-Avon
4.
Hamlet
d. Comedy
5. The Merchant of
Venice
e. Of Studies
6. Henry
V
f. Utopia
7. Francis
Bacon
g.
historical Play
8. Thomas
More
h. tragedy
9. The Faerie
Queene
i. reason
10. University
Wit
j. Spenser
(3)
A
B
1. Robert
Burns
a. a leader of Puritan Revolution
2. Jonathan
Swift
b. a historical novel
3. Child
Harold
c. The father of English poetry
4.
Southey
d. an Active Romanticism
5.
Chaucer
e. a lake poet
6.
Walter
Scott
f. A Byronic hero
7.
Cromwell
g. a University Wit
8. John
Lyly
h. a great satirist
9.
Shelley
i. a peasant poet
(4)
A
B
1. The Merchant of
Venice
a. Ophelia
2. As You Like
It
b. Friday
3. Pilgrim’s
Progress
c. Christian
4. Paradise
Lost
d. Portia
5. Tom
Jones
e. Rosalind
6. Robinson
Crusoe
f.
Satan
7. Don
Juan
g. Haidee
8. Pride and
Prejudice
h. Elizabeth Bennet
9.
Hamlet
i. Desdemona
10.
Othello
j. Cordelia
11. King
Lear
k. Sophia
Test
I. Complete the following statements with
a proper word or phrases.
1. The Revolution of
1688 banished the last of the _______kings.
2. No sooner were the
people in control of the government than they divided into hostile
parties; __________and _____________.
3. On the extreme of
Toryism was a third part of zealots, called the_______, who aimed
to bring the Stuarts back to the throne.
4. Another feature of
the age was the rapid development of ______life.
5. The enlighteners
repudiate the false religious doctrines about the _______of human
nature, and prove that man is born _____and______, and of he
becomes deprived, it is only due to the influence of ________social
environment.
6. It is simply for
convenience, therefore, that we study eighteenth-century writings
in three main divisions: the reign of so-called_________, the
revival of ________poetry, and the beginning of the modern
_______
7. The essays and
stories of Addison and Steele were devoted not only to_______, but
also to ________and _________..
8. Pope was a man of
extraordinary ____and extensive______, and his contemporaries
considered him as the highest _______in matters of literary
art.
9. The image of an
enterprising Englishman of the 18th century was created by Daniel
Defoe in his famous novel____________.
10. Fielding’s work
unfolds a special ________of life in all sections of English
society.
11. Along with the
depiction of morals and manners and social mode of life the writers
of the Enlightenment began to display an interest in the
________life of an individual.
12. In his world-famous
novel__________ Jonathan Swift typified the bourgeois world, drew
ruthless pictures of the depraved aristocracy and satirically
portrayed the whole of the English State system.
13. False virtues and
actual vices of aristocratic society are derided in the plays of
Richard B. Sheridan, particularly in his famous
comedy___________.
14. The philosophy of
the enlighteners, though______ and ________in its essence, did not
exclude senses, or sentiments, as a means of perception and
learning.
15. In________’s
novel------ The Vicar of Wakefield------ the________ of the
aristocrats and corruption of the town life are contrasted to an
_____of quiet family happiness.
16. The most outstanding
figure of English sentimentalism was__________.
17. The__________ plays
an enormous role in the Gothic novel; it is so replete with
bloodcurdling scenes and unnatural feelings that it is justly
called “ a novel of_______.”
18. The___________ was a
progressive intellectual movement throughout western Europe in the
18th century.
19. There appeared two
groups of English enlighteners, one is the moderate group, the
other is the_________.
20. The main literary stream of 18th
century was_______. What the writers described were mainly social
realities.
21. _______writing made a big advance in
the 18th century. The main characters in the novels were no longer
kings and nobles but the common people.
22. __________is
undoubtedly the greatest poet Scotland has ever produced. His
“Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” is of great
significance.
23. _______was the most
remarkable satirist in the 18th century who criticized the new
bourgeois-aristocratic society of his age without mercy.
24. __________found its
representative writers in the field of poetry, such as Thomas Gray,
but it manifested itself chiefly in the novels of Laurence Sterne
and Oliver Goldsmith.
25. In the 18th century,
___________found its expression chiefly in poetry. The most
important representative poets are William Blake and Robert
Burns.
26. The enlighteners
believed that reason should be the only basis of one’s thinking and
action. That is why the eighteenth century in England has been
called the Age of______.
27. In writing plays,
the writers used _______instead of blank verse. They observed the
three unties of time, place and ______.
28. The exciting tale of
Robinson Crusoe is largely _______story, rather than the story of
___________.
29. In “The Shortest Way
with the Dissenters”, in a vein of grim______, Defoe advocated
hanging all dissenting ministers, and sending all member of the
free churches into exile.
30. The full name of
Robinson Crusoe is ____________________________________________.
31. The story of Robinson Crusoe itself is real enough to have come
straight from a sailor’s_______.
32. Robinson names
_______to commemorate the day of the savage’s rescue.
33. The 18th century
produced the first English novelists, who fall into two groups, one
is the sentimental novelists, the other is the _______
novelists.
34. Swift was born of
English parents in______.
35. The 18th century in
English literature is an age of_______.
36. In the first part of
Gulliver’s Travels, the hero Gulliver is cast upon the shore of the
island of_________.
37. _________ranks among
the greatest satirist of England, and of the world. A Modest
Proposal is one of his satirical works.
38. Steele conceived the
idea of starting a paper which should contain news, gossip, stories
of everyday life, and jokes on all sorts of people. He called
it________.
39. To Addison is
doubtless due in large measure the maintenance of this______
censorship which was carried on in The Spectator.
40. _________was the
greatest novelist of the 18th century.
41. Fielding’s first
novel, Joseph Andrews, was inspired by the success of Richardson’s
novel_________.
42. In his works
Fielding strongly criticized __________in the contemporary
England.
43. Fielding hates that
hypocrisy which tries to conceal itself under a mask
of________.
44. The writer of The
History of Tom Jones, a foundling is_________.
45. Sheridan’s famous
comedy, ___________was written in his 24 year.
46. Sheridan’s famous
comedy___________, written in 1777, is considered his
masterpiece.
47. Of all the romantic
poets of the 18th century, Blake is the most ________and the
most________.
48. For greater part of
Blake’s life he was the poet of inspiration alone, following no
man’s____, and obeying no voice but that which he heard in his own
mystic_____.
49. After three years at
Felpham Blake moved back to London, determined to follow his
“_________” though it meant a life of isolation, misunderstanding,
and poverty.
50. The outstanding
theme of ____________is the all pervading presence of divine and
sympathy, even in trouble and sorrow.
51. In 1790, Blake
engraved his principle prose work, ________________in which, with
vigorous satire and telling apologue, he takes up his revolutionary
position.
52. _________________are
in marked contrast with The Songs of Innocence. The brightness of
the earlier work gives place to a sense of ________and mystery, and
of the power of_____.
53. The Greatest
of_______ poets, Robert Burns, was born in a peasant’s clay-built
cottage, a mile and a half south of Ayr.
54. In 1786, when he was
27 years old, he resolved to abandon the struggle and seek position
in the far-off island of_______.
55. Burns’ poetry is
bone of the bone and flesh of the flesh of the ________common
people.
56. The author of The
Tiger is______.
57. 200 years ago, in
London, the _________were the social centers where men met and
heard the news and talked of books and politics and lighter
things.
II. From a, b, c, d, e, choose the
appropriate answer or answers to make each statement
correct.
1.
______ was a progressive intellectual movement throughout western
Europe in the 18th century.
a. The
Renaissance b. The
Enlightenment c. The Religious
Reformation
d. The Chartist Movement
2. Most of the English
writers in the 18th century were enlighteners. They fell into two
groups, one is _______, and the other is ______.
a. the
moderate group; the radical group
b. the passive Romantic poets; the active
Romantic poets
c. the Metaphysical poets; the Cavalier
poets d. the lakers; the
sentimentalists
3. Which of the
following writers belong to the moderate group pf
enlighteners?
a.
Alexander Pope b. Daniel Defoe
c. Joseph Addison d. Richard
Steele
e. Samuel Richardson
f. Jonathan Swift
4. The representative
writers of the radical enlighteners are
a.
Swift b. Fielding c.
Smollett d. Sheridan e.
Goldsmith
f. Joseph
Addison g. Richard Steele
5. Who are not the representative writers
of the moderate enlighteners?
a. Swift
b. Defoe c.
Richardson d. Fielding e.
Pope
6. Who are not the representative writers
of the radical enlighteners?
a. Defoe
b. Pope c. Addison
d. Fielding e. Swift
7. The 18th century was an age of prose. A
group of excellent prose writers, such as _______ were
produced.
a. Addison
b. Steele c.
Swift d. Fielding
8. In the 18th century, satire was much
used in writing, English literature of this age produced some
excellent satirists, such as _____.
a. Pope
b. Swift c. Fielding
d. Defoe e. Blake
9. The main literature stream of the 18th
century was _____. What the writers described in their works were
mainly social realities.
a.
naturalism b. romanticism c.
classicism d. realism
e. sentimentalism
10. In the 18th century English
literature, the representative poets of pre-romanticism
were___.
a. Alexander
Pope b. William Blake c. Robert
Burns d. Jonathan Swift
11. In the 18th century English
literature, the representative poets of realism were___.
a.
Richardson b. Fielding c.
Smollett d. Goldsmith
12. The 18th century witnessed that in
England there appeared two political parties, _____, which were
satirized by Swift in his Gulliver’s Travels.
a. The Whigs and the
Tories b. The senate and the House of
Representatives
c. The upper House and
lower House
d. the House of Lords
and the House of Common
13. _________ found its representative
writers in the field if poetry, such as Gray, but it manifested
itself chiefly in the novel of Sterne and Goldsmith.
a.
Pre-romanticism b. Romanticism
c. Sentimentalism d.
Naturalism
14. In the middle decades of the 18th
century, _____ became the leader of the classic school in English
poetry and prose.
a.
Pope b. Samuel Johnson c.
Robert Burns d. William Blake
15. Which two periodicals were Steele and
Addison’s chief contribution to English literature?
a. The Tatler and The
Spectator b. The Rambler and The
Spectator
c. The Tatler and The
Review d. The Spectator and The
Review
16. _____ compiled the “The Dictionary of
the English Language” which became the foundation of all the
subsequent English dictionary.
a. Ben
Johnson b. Samuel Johnson c.
Alexander Pope d. John Dryden’
17. Choose the representative poets of the
18th century pre-romanticism and the forerunners of
romanticism.
a. Thomas
Gray b. Edward Young c. James
Macpherson d. William Blake e.
Burns
18. Sentimentalism in the 18th century
English literature found its fine expression in poetry and novels.
Which poems or novels belong to sentimentalism?
a. Elegy Written in a
Country Churchyard b. Tristram
Shandy c. A Sentimental Journey
d. The Vicar of
Wakefield e. A Modest Proposal
f. A Tale of A Tub g. A Red, Red Rose
19. The realist novelists of the 18th
century include _______.
a.
Defoe b. Swift c. Fielding
d. Smollett e. Blake
20. Choose the works written by
Swift.
a. The Battle of
Books b. A Tale of a Tub c. A
Modest Proposal
d. The Drapier’s Letters
e. The Rape of the Lock f. The
Vicar of Wakefield
21. Choose the works which are not written
by Swift.
a. The Two Dogs
b. The Tree of Liberty c.
Robinson Crusoe d. Gulliver’s Travels
e. A Modest
Proposal
22. Henry Fielding was a versatile man. He
was _____.
a. a novelist
b. a dramatist c. an essayist
d. a political pamphleteer e. a political
economist
23. Choose the four long novels written by
Henry Fielding.
a. Joseph
Andrews b. The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the
Great
c. The History of Tom
Jones, the Foundling d. Amelia
e. Pamela
24. ______ is a satirical novel, in which
the author Fielding exposes the English bourgeois aristocratic
society and mocks at its political system.
a. A Modest
Proposal b. Gulliver’s Travels
c. Volpone D. Jonathan Wild the Great
25. In the field of prose fiction of the
18th century, sentimentalism had its fine expression. Choose the
three sentimentalist novelists from the following.
a. Jonathan
Swift b. Daniel Defoe c. Samuel
Richardson d. Oliver Goldsmith
e. Laurence
Sterne
26. Sterne’s fame rests chiefly on two
novels. Choose the two novels from the following.
a. A Sentimental Journey
b. Tristram Shandy c. The Vicar
of Wakefield
d. Joseph Andrews
e. Vanity Fair
27. Oliver Goldsmith was a versatile
writer. Today he is chiefly remembered for his four main works.
Which are they?
a. his only novel The
Vicar of Wakefield b. his long poem The Deserted
Village
c. his comedy She Stoops
to Conquer d. his collection of essays The
Citizen of the World
e. his epistolary novel
Pamela
28. Among the following which are
Sheridan’s comedies?
a. The Rivals
b. The School for Scandal c.
She Stoops to Conquer
d.
Volpone e. Everyman in His Humour
29. Who was the greatest dramatist in the
18th century?
a. Goldsmith
b. Sheridan c.
Sterne d. Fielding
30. Which play is regarded as the most
English comedy since Shakespeare?
a. She Stoops to
Conquer b. The Rivals c. The
School for Scandal d. The Conscious Lovers
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