英美文学选读纲要.doc

英美文学选读纲要(1-2章)

作者：如哲   出自：朗月行云 浏览/评论：1,383/2   日期：2009年3月5日 12:08
英国文学 Chapter I The Renaissance Period 一、学习目的和要求　　通过本章学习，了解文艺复兴运动和人文主义思潮产生的历史，文化背景，认识该时期文学创作的基本特征和基本主张，及其对同时代及后世英国文学乃至文化的影响；了解该时期重要作家的文学生涯，创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物刻画，语言风格，思想意义等；同时结合注释，读懂所选作品，了解其思想内容和写作特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。二、考核要求 (一) 文艺复兴时期概述 1.       识记：（1）文艺复兴时期的界定 it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries.

（2）历史文化背景 A场所：English schools and universities were established in place of the old monasteries.
B． 印刷术的引进：William Caxton introduced printing into England .
C． 翻译的时代的出现。With the introduction of printing, an age of translation came into being.
2.       领会: （1）文艺复兴运动的意义与影响（2）文艺复兴时期的文学特点 A.诗歌：
A). 早期特点：The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation.
B). 代表作家及作品:
a. Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender showed the pastoral convention
b. In "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love," Marlowe spoke that it would be very difficult for us to connect it with the voice in his tragedies.
c. Poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and carried on by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson.
B.戏剧：
A). 特点: The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance
B). 作家: The most famous dramatists are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben Johnson.
（3）人文主义的主张及对文学的影响　　3. 应用：文艺复兴，人文主义及玄学诗等名词的解释 Definitions of the Literary Terms:
　1. The Renaissance: The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" or "revival," is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & 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, & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.

　2. Humanism: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.
　　3. Spenserian stanza:
Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iambic hexameter, rhyming ababbcbcc. 　
　4. 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 as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery in drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.

　5. The Renaissance her A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ides 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.

（二） 该时期的重要作家 1.       一般识记：重要作家的文学生涯 2.       识记：重要作品及主要内容 3.       领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物塑造，语言风格，艺术手法，社会意义等。 4.       应用：（1）莎士比亚和邓恩诗歌的主题，意象　　　　　（2）喜剧《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物性格分析　　　　　（3）哈姆雷特的性格分析　　　　　（4）史诗《失乐园》的结构，人物性格，语言特点等的分析
I.                   Edmund Spenser
斯宾塞及其代表作
Edmund Spenser and The Faerie Queene.
A.创作意图: The principal intention is to present through a "historical poem" the example of a perfect gentleman
B.整体线索:The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as a whole.
C.寓意:The Redcrosse Knight in Book I stands for St. George, he also represents Holiness.
D.主题:The theme is not "Arms and the man," but something more romantic-"Fierce wares and faithfull loves."
E.作者文学地位:His exquisite melody that make him known as "the poets' poet."
1. 一般识记
　Brief Introduction to the Author
English poet，born in London, England, about 1552,and died in London, Jan 13, 1599.
2. 识记His Major Works
Spenser's most important work & masterpiece is The Faerie Queene, a great poem of its age. A complex moral, religious, & political allegory, it is also an epic that exalts Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ& the English nation. According to Spenser's own explanation, his principal intention is to present through a "historical poem" the example of a perfect gentleman: "to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous & gentle discipline." Its principal hero is the Arthur of medieval legend. The six books of the poem illustrate the nature of particular virtues, such as, temperance & justice. Other major works of Spenser are The Shepheardes Calender(1579), a poem consisting of 12 eclogues-corresponding to the 12 months of the year; Epithalamion (1595), a poem expressing the deep personal feelings occasioned by the poets second marriage; Amoretti (1595), a series of sonnets.
3. 领会His Influence
　1) Main qualities of Spenser's poetry
　　①a perfect melody
　　②a rare sense of beauty
　　③a splendid imagination
　　④a lofty moral purity & seriousness
　　⑤a dedicated idealism
　2) In his writing, Spenser drew on the conventions & thought of Classical, medieval, & Renaissance literature. However, he added to his fusion of these diverse elements much that was original, & his works inspired many later English poets. He created a new stanza, called the Spenserian stanza, which is well suited to narrative verse. His skills in writing melodious English verse & his combination of emotion, erudition, & spiritual vision have won him the admiration of generations of English poets. It is his idealism, his love of beauty, &his exquisite melody that make him known as "the poets' poet."
　4. 应用
　The Faerie Queene:
　1) It is a long, allegorical poem. In the poem, Spenser dramatized political, religious, & moral themes by personifying them, or making them characters.
　2)Plot: The story, which is set against a background of Arthur & medieval legend, deals with the adventures of six knights of the court of the fairy queen named Gloriana, who represents Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ of English.
　   The faerie Queen was left unfinished at Spenser's death. It was originally planned as a 12-book poem. But only 6 books were completed. The poem is particularly admired for the melodic beauty of its language & for its rich content of philosophical & mythological material presented in the form of vivid narratives.

II.                Christopher Marlowe

马洛及其代表作
Christopher Marlowe
A.作者创作分类:
a. The plays: (6 plays)Among them the most important are:
Tamburlaine, Parts I&II , Dr. Faustus, The Jew of Malta and Edward II.
b. The non-dramatic poetry:
Hero and Leander, "the Passionate Shepherd to His Love"
c. The verse translation:
Ovid's Amores.
B.代表作品:
a. Tamburlaine: Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power and authority.
b. Dr. Faustus: It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness.
C.文学艺术成就:
a.文体与风格Marlowe perfected the blank verse and brought vitality and grandeur into the blank verse with his "mighty lines." Hyperbole is his major figure of speech.
b.人物塑造 Marlowe's second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition.
1. 一般识记
　Brief Introduction
　English dramatist & poet,born in Canterbury, England, Feb, 6,1567, died in Deptford, England, May 30, 1593. Marlowe was the first great English Dramatist. He brought to the English stage a new concept of tragedy, one in which the drama centers around the struggles of a man overwhelmed by his passions & ambitions.

　2. 识记
　His Major Works
　His most famous tragedies are Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Tamburlaine & Edward Ⅱ. In his plays, Marlowe used blank verse, which he molded into a superb instrument for expressing intense emotions. After his development of blank verse it became the standard medium for English dramatic & epic poetry. His non-dramatic poetry includes Hero & Leander, "the Passionate shepherd to His love," & a verse translation of Ovid's Amores.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (about 1589), generally considered his best play, was based on a real Dr. Faustus, who was later associated with a medieval legend of a man selling his soul to the devil. The play's dominant moral is human rather than religious. It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power & happiness; it also reveals man's frustration in realizing the high aspirations in a hostile moral order. The last scene, in which Faustus confronts his doom, brilliantly renders the fear & agony of a condemned man. 　The Jew of Malta (about 1589) illustrates Marlowe's outstanding portrayal of character. Its hero, Barabas the Jew, served as the model for Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In about 1592. Marlowe wrote one of the first successful English historical dramas, Edward Ⅱ。 It is his most dramatically mature play & exhibits his mastery of characterization, stage craft & rhetoric.
　Tamburlaine is a play about an ambitious & pitiless Tartar conqueror in the fourteenth century who rose from a shepherd to an overpowering King. By depicting a great hero with high ambition & sheer brutal force in conquering one enemy after another, Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power & authority.

　3. 领会His Achievements & Influence
　Achievements: Marlowe's greatest achievement lies in that he 　perfected the blank verse & made it the principal medium of English drama.
　His second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama.
The theme of his works is the praise of the Renaissance spirit.
　His influence: A man of wide learning, Marlowe was one of the extra ordinary poets & playwrights of his time. "Marlowe's mighty line," as Ben Jonson called his blank verse, was one of the most important contributions to the art of English literature.
4. 应用Dr. Faustus
　The selection of ActⅠfrom Dr. Faustus is mainly about Faustus is showing his great ambition, that is, if he had many souls, he would give them all to the Devil so that he could control the world. In portraying Faustus, a more introspective & philosophical figure than Tamburlaine, Marlowe praises his soaring aspiration for knowledge while warning against the sin of pride since Faustus's downfall was caused by his despair in God & trust in Devil.
Ⅲ. William Shakespeare

莎士比亚
William Shakespeare
A.创作生涯及作品
a. Apprenticeship period.
b. Highly individualized period.
c. Greatest tragedies and dark comedies period.
d. Romantic tragicomedies period.
B. 作品主题
a. Shakespeare's history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity.
b. In his romantic comedies, Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play .
c. The tragedies: The play, though a tragedy, is permeated with optimistic spirit.
C. 四大悲剧
A). The common features:
Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation.
B). The realistic spirits:
Along with the portrayal of the weakness or bias of the hero, we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society, which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense.
D. 艺术成就
A). The characters:
a. Shakespeare's major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones.
b. By applying a psycho-analytical approach, Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters' inner mind.
c. Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs. Contrasts are frequently used to bring vividness to his characters.
B). Construction:
a. Shakespeare's plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. He borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.
b. He would shorten the time and intensify the story. There are usually several threads running through the play.
C). Language and style:
a. Irony is a good means of dramatic presentation. Disguise is also an important device to create dramatic irony, usually with woman disguised as man.
b. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. His influence on later writers is immeasurable. Almost all English writers after him have been influenced by him either in artistic point of view, in literary form or in language.
1. 一般识记Brief Introduction
William Shakespeare was the greatest writer of plays who ever lived. His friend & fellow playwright Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare was "not of an age but for all time." The 18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson described his work as "the mirror of life." The 19th-century English poet Samuel Taylor