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1、English and America literaturesIntroduction of English literature1.Englands inhabitants is Celts.And it is conquered by Romans,AngloSaxons and Normans.The Anglo-Saxons brought the Germanic language and culture toEngland,while Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization,including Greek culture,Rom
2、e law and the Christian religion.2.the old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066,the year of theNorman conquest of England.3.Old English literature has survived divided into two groups.Religious group:Genesis AGenesis B based on biblical themes the Old TestamentExodusThe Dream of the Roo
3、dThe secular one:The WandererDeorThe seafarerThe wifes complaintBeowulf:a typical example of Old English poetry,is regarded as the national epic of theAnglo-Saxons.It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.After the Normans conquest,three languages co-existed in England.Fre
4、nch if theofficial language that is used by king and the Norman lords.Latin is the principaltongue of church affairs and in universities.Old English was spoken only by thecommon English people.In the second half of 14th century,Geroffery Chaucer,William Langland,John Gower,and othersRecite:1.Romance
5、:which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures orother heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period.It has developed thecharacteristic medieval motifs of the quest,the test,the meeting with the evil giant andthe encounter with the beautiful beloved.The hero is usu
6、ally the knight,who sets outon ajourney to accomplish some missions.There is often mysteries and fantasies inromance.Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance.Characterization isstandardized,While the structure is loose and episodic,the language is simple andstraightforward.The impor
7、tance of the romance itself can be seen as a means ofshowing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of theworld.2.heroic couplet:Heroic couplet is a rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter.It isChaucer who used it for the first time in English in his work The Legend of G
8、oodWoman.3.Define the period of Old English literature and medieval literature:The period of Old English literature begins with the Anglo-Saxons settlement in Englandat about 450 to 1066,the year of the Norman Conquest of England.The Medieval Periodin English literature start at 1066,the year of the
9、 Norman Conquest,and ends at aboutthe 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 theappearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer,William Langland,John Gower,andothers,4.The the
10、me of Beowulf:the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitivepeople wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under awise and mighty leader.The poem is an example of the mingling of the nature mythsand heroic legends.5.What does the character the wife of Bath in Th
11、e 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 characterswith both typical qualities and individual disp
12、ositions.6.Chaucer is called the father of English poetry and has made greatcontributions to English poetry and English literature.Please discuss Chaucers literaryachievement and why he is called the father of English poetryChaucers achievement:1.he presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his
13、 age and created a wholegallery of vivid characters in his works,especially in The Canterbury Tales.2.Heanticipated a new ear,the Renaissance,to come under the influence of the Italianwriters.3.He developed his characterization to a higher level by presenting characterswith both typical qualities an
14、d individual dispositions.4.he greatly contributed to thematuring of English poetry.Today,Chaucers reputation has been securely establishedas one of the best English poets for his wisdom,humor and humanity.2.why he is called thefather of English poetry:originally,Old English poems are mainly alliter
15、ative verses with few variations.Chaucerintroduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry toreplace it.In The Romaunt of the Rose,he first introduced to the English theoctosyllabic couplet.In The Legend of Good Women,he used for the first time inEnglish heroic couplet.And
16、in his masterpiece,The Canterbury Tales,he employedheroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of Englishliterature.His art made him one of the greatest poets in English,John Dryden calledhim the father of English poetry.Chapter I The Renaissance Period1.Renaissance:it
17、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 startedfrom Italy and then spread all over Europe.The renaissance,which means 1 1 rebirth orrevival,is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historic
18、al events,such as therediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture,the new discoveries in geography andastrology,the religious reformation and the economic expansion.The Renaissance,therefore,in essence,is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkersand scholars made attempts to get
19、rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe,to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie,and torecover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman CatholicChurch.2.the background of the EnglandThe England is unrest,and is a volcanic period
20、 of English history.The war-like noblesseized the power of England and turned it into self-destruction.The frightful reign ofRichard III marked the end of civil wars,until the reign of Henry VIII(1509-1547)that theRenaissance really began to show its effect in England3.Humanism:it is the essence of
21、the Renaissance.Humanism is a system ofbeliefs upheld by writers and artists of the Renaissance period in their fighting againstmedieval asceticism.It states that man is godly,that man is able to find truth,goodnessand beauty,and that man is in control of the present life rather than being controlle
22、d byGod.Briefly,humanism puts man at the center of their beliefs and takes man to be themeasure of every thing while the former asceticism puts God at the center of theirbeliefs and takes personal salvation to be the most important thing on the earth forman.4.Religious reformation:it is Martin Luthe
23、r,a German Protestant,who initiatedthe Reformation.Luther believed that every true Christian was his own priest and wasentitled to interpret the Bible for himself.Henry VIII was regarded as the faithful son of the Catholic,his wife cut the ties withRomeEdward VI the reform of the churchs doctrine an
24、d teaching was carried outMary there was a violent swing to Catholicism.Elizabeths reign Protestantism has been firmly established.The religious reformation was actually a reflection of the class struggle waged by thenew rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology.5.blank verse:is t
25、he unrhymed iambic pentameter line,It was Surrey who firstbrought it in and Marlowe who perfected it with his mighty line6.metaphysical poetry:The term metaphysical poetry is commonly used toname the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.With a rebellious spiri
26、t,the metaphysical poets tried to break away from theconventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry.The diction is simple and echoesthe words and cadences of common speech.The imagery is drawn from the actual life.The form is frequently that of an argument with the poets beloved,with God,or wit
27、hhimself.Modern poets like T.S.Eliot have been mostly affected by the metaphysicalinfluence.7.The Renaissance her is Marlowes creation,Such a hero is alwaysindividualistic and full of ambition,facing bravely the challenge from both gods andmen.He embodies Marlowes humanistic ideal of human dignity a
28、nd capacity.Differentfrom the tragic hero in medieval plays,who seeks the way to heaven through salvationand Gods will,he is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven onearth through his own efforts,With the endless aspiration for power,knowledge,andglory,the hero interprets the t
29、rue Renaissance spirit.Both Tamburlaine and Faustus aretypical in possessing such a spirit.8.give a great incentiveto something9.William Caxton,who introduced printing into England.Including TheCanterbury Tables and Malorys Morte Darthur10.its the mainstream of the sth11.it could be dated back to th
30、e.12.interludes and morality plays thriving in the medieval period13.but the development of the drama into a sophisticated art form14.they made a vivid depiction of the sharp conflicts between feudalism and therising bourgeoisie in a transitional period.15.Francis Bacon(1561-1626),the first importan
31、t English essayist,is best known forhis essays which greatly influenced the development of this literary form.He was alsothe founder of modern science in England.His writings paved the way for the use ofscientific method.Thus,he is undoubtedly one of the representatives of the EnglishRenaissance.16.
32、the main writersA.Edmund Spenser(1552-1599)received education first at Merchant TaylorsSchool and then at Pembroke College,Cambridge.The Shepheardes Canlender,Epithalamionthe most beautiful wedding hymns for their marriage.Spensersmasterpiece is The Faerie Queene,to fashion a gentleman or noble pers
33、on in virtuousand gentle discipline.The Redcrosse knight in Book/and Sir Guyon in Book IIThe five main qualities of Spensers poetry are:a.a perfect melody;b.a rare sense ofbeauty;c.a splendid imagination;d.a lofty moral purity and seriousness;e.a dedicatedidealism.In addition to the above,Spenser us
34、es strange forms of speech and obsoletewords in order to increase the rustic effect.It is Spensers 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 theKings School,then Cambridge.As a m
35、an of letters.Play Tamburlaine,DrFaustus,is gifted of the University Wits,The Jew of Malta,Edward II,non-dramaticpoetry includes Hero and Leander,1 1 the Passionate Shepherd to His Love and a versetranslation of Q/ids Amores,pioneer of English dramaTamburlaine is a play about an an ambitious and pit
36、iless Tartar conqueror in thefourteenth century who rose from a shepherd to an overpowering king.By flouting thegiven order and trampling on despairing princes,Tamburlaine displayed a high-aspiringmind that was self-created and carried by love and dreams beyond the limits of moralexistence.His victo
37、ries were a triumph of immense natural energy and of ruthlessnessover equally cruel but weak and decadent civilizations.By depicting a great hero withhigh ambition and sheer brutal force in conquering one enemy after another.Being acruel conqueror,finds consummate happiness in subduing other kingdom
38、s.No enemy,except Death,can defeat him,his death ends in glory although he finally admits hislimitations of achievements,and even his limitations as a human being.Dr.Faustus is a play based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for knowledgeand finally meeting his tragic end as a result of sel
39、ling his soul to the Devil.The playsdominant moral is human rather than religious.It celebrates the human passion forknowledge,power and happiness;it also reveals mans frustration in realizing the highaspirations in a hostile moral order.And the confinement to time is the cruelest fact ofmans condit
40、ion.Dr.Faustus is the greatest of Marlowes plays,in which the old German legend if freelyreshaped.Faustus is a great scholar bored of his present study on the academiccurriculum and turns to black magic.By conjuration he calls up Mephistophilis,theDevilss servant.Faustus makes a bond to sell his sou
41、l to the devil in return fortwenty-four years of life in which he may have the services of Mephistophilis to give himeverything he desires.With the help of devil,Faustus brings his magical art into fullplay and sees the Pope,Alexander the Great and even the beautiful Helen of Greece.Meanwhile Faustu
42、s has experienced much internal conflict,symbolized in theappearances of both Good Angel and Bad Angel.In the final scene,there remains onlythe terrifying soliloquy in which the anguish of the heros mind is poignantly expressed.The Passionate Shepherd to His Love:this short poem is considered to be
43、one of themost beautiful lyrics in English literature.It derives from the pastoral tradition,in whichthe shepherd enjoys and ideal country life,cherishing a pastoral and pure affection forhis love.Strong emotion is conveyed through the beauty of nature where lovers are notdisturbed by worldly concer
44、n.Come live with me and be my loveAnd we will all the pleasures proveThat valleys,groves,hills,and fieldsWoods,or steepy mountain yieldsAnd we will sit upon the rocks,Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks.By shallow rivers to whose fallsMelodious birds sing madrigals.And I will make thee beds of ro
45、ses,And a thousand fragrant posies,A cap of flowers,and a kirtle,Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;A gown made of the finest wool,Which from our pretty lambs we pull;Fair lined slippers for the cold,With buckles of the purest gold;A belt of straw and ivy buds,With coral clasps and amber studs,An
46、d if these pleasures may thee move,Come live with me,and be my love.The shepherds swains shall dance and singFor thy delight each May morning;If these delights thy mind may move,Then live with me and be my love.C.William Shakespeare(1564-1616)is one of the most remarkable playwrights and poets the w
47、orld has everknown.His works include38 plays,154sonnets and 2 long poems.Born in amerchants family.In London he write the playwrite:Lord Chamberlains Men which waslater renamed Kings Men.Robert Greene,one of the1 1 University Wits,declared him tobe an upstart crow.Two poems:Venus and Adfonis and The
48、 Rape of LucreceThree periods:One period:History plays:Henry VI,Parts I,II,and III,Richard III,Titus Andronicus;four comedies:The Comedy of Errors,The Two Gentlemen of Verona,The Taming of the shrew,andLoves Labours LostTwo periodSecond period:five histories:Richard II,King John,Henry IV,Parts I and
49、 II,Henry VSix comedies:A Midsummer Nights Dream,The Merchant of Venice,Much Ado AboutNothing,As you like it,Twelfth Night,and The Merry Wives of WindsorTwo tragedies:Romeo and Juliet,Julius Caesar.Third period:Tragedies:Hamlet,Othello,King Lear,Macbeth,Antony and Cleopatra,Troilus andCressida,and C
50、oriolanus.Two comedies:Alls Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure.Last period:Romantic tragicomedies:Pericles,Cymbeline,The Winters Tale and The TempestTwo plays:Henry VIII and The Two Noble KinsmenMain works:Merchant of Venice:he states the sophistication derives in part from the play between