最全面英国文学史知识点总结
英国文学史
I. Old English Literature & The Late Medieval Ages
Epic: long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero enacted in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated.
Artistic features:
1. Using alliteration
Definition of alliteration: a rhetorical device, meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant sound（头韵）
Some examples on P5
2. Using metaphor and understatement
Definition of understatement: expressing something in a controlled way Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideas
Geoffery Chaucer 杰弗里·乔叟1340~1400
(首创“双韵体”，英国文学史上首先用伦敦方言写作。约翰·德莱顿（John Dryden）称其为“英国诗歌之父”。代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》。)
The father of English poetry.
writing style: wisdom, humor, humanity.
①
first time to use ‘heroic couplet’(双韵体) by middle English
②
③
Medieval Ages’ popular Literary form: Romance(传奇故事)
Famous three：King Arthur
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Beowulf
II The Renaissance Period
A period of drama and poetry. The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance.
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.
Three historical events of the Renaissance – rebirth or revival:
1. new discoveries in geography and astrology
2. the religious reformation and economic expansion
3. rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture
The most famous dramatists:
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
Ben Johnson.
1. Edmund Spenser埃德蒙·斯宾塞1552~1599
（后人称之为“诗人的诗人”。）The poets’poet. The first to be buried in the Poet’s corner of Westerminster Abbey
①
T he theme is not “Arms and the man”, but something more romantic “Fierce wars and faithfull loves”.
Artistic features:
1. Using Spenserian Stanza
Definition of Spenserian Stanza:a stanza of nine lines ababbcbcc. Eight lines in iambic pentameter, and last line in iambic hexameter.
②
The theme is to lament over the loss of Rosalind.
③
2. Thomas? More托马斯?莫尔1478~1535
One of the greatest English humanists
①
3. Francis? Bacon弗兰西斯·培根1561~1626
（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。）
Philosopher, scientist, lay the foundation for modern science. The first English essayist.?
Writing style:brevity, compactness&powerfulness, well-arranging and enriching by Biblical allusions, metaphors and philosophy to man’s reason.
①
②
The theme of Of Studies: uses and benefits of study and different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies.
4. Ben Jonson
①
②
5. Christopher? Marlowe柯里斯托弗·马洛1564~1595
“University Wits”, the pioneer of English drama
（完善了无韵体诗。）
Blank verse: written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
①
②
③
6. William Shakespeare威廉·莎士比亚1564~1616?
① Historical plays: Henry VI ; Henry IV : Richard III ; Henry V ；Richard II；Henry VIII
②Four Comedies四大喜剧:
③Four Tragedies四大悲剧:
④Shakespeare Sonnet :
154
Three quatrain and one couplet, ababcdcdefefgg
A sonnet is a lyric consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter restricted to a definition rhyme scheme.
III The 17th Century
1. John Milton约翰·弥尔顿1608~1674
（诗人、政论家;失明后写《失乐园》、《复乐园》、《力士参孙》。）
①Epics:
②Dramatic poem: < Samson Agonistes>力士参孙
③
④
This sonnet is written in iambic pentameter rhymed in abba abba cde cde, typical of Italian sonnet.
Its theme is that people use their talent for God, and they serve him best sho can endure the suffering best.
2. John Bunyan约翰·班扬1628~1688
（代表作《天路历程》，宗教寓言，被誉为“具有永恒意义的百科全书”，是英国文学史上里程碑式著作。与但丁的《神曲》、奥古斯丁的《忏悔录》并列为世界三大宗教题材文学杰作。）
Puritan poet(清教徒派诗人)
①Religionary Allegory:
3. John Donne
the Metaphysical poet(玄学派诗人).
Metaphysical Poetry(玄学诗)：（用语）the diction is simple, the imagery is from the actual, (形式)the form is frequently an argument with the poet’s beloved, with god, or with himself.（主题：love, religious, thought）
Artistic features:
1. conceits or imagery奇思妙喻
2. syllogism三段论
① Meditations 沉思录
The Flea 虱子
② Songs And Sonnets
Holy Sonnets
③Valediction:
IV The 18th Century
A revival of interest in the old classical works, order, logic, restrained emotion(抑制情感) and accuracy
The Age of Enlightenment/Reason: the movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centries, a progressive intellectual movement, reason(rationality), equality&science(the 18th century)
小说崛起：
In the mid-century, the newly literary form, modern English novel rised(realistic novel现实主义小说)
Gothic novel(哥特式小说)：mystery, horror, castles(from middle part to the end of century)
1. Alexander? Pope亚历山大·蒲柏1688~1744
（18世纪英国最伟大的诗人，其诗多用“英雄双韵体”/ “ heroic couplets”。词句工整、精练、富有哲理性。）
One of the first to introduce rationalism to England.
①
Artistic features:
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/be11168946.html,ing “heroic couplets”
②
③
2. Samuel Johnson塞缪尔约翰逊1709~1784
①Dictionary =英语大词典
3. Jonathan Swift乔纳森·斯威夫特1667~1745
（十八世纪杰出的政论家和讽刺小说家a master satirist。）
①
Four parts:
Lilliput 小人国
Brobdingnag 大人国
Flying Island 飞岛
Houyhnhnm 马岛
②
③ 木桶的故事
④
4. Daniel Defoe丹尼尔·笛福1660~1731
小说家，新闻记者，小册子作者；十八世纪英国现实主义小说的奠基人。
He is the first writer study of the lower-class people,hislanguage is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular, and he is the founder of realistic novel.
①
It praise the fortitude of the human labor and the Puritan.
Robinson grew from a naive and artless youth into a shrewd and hardened man,tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life.
It is an adventure story, Robinson, narrates how he goes to sea, gets shipwrecked and marooned on a lonely island, struggles to live for 24-years there and finally gets relieved and returns to England.
②
③
④
5. Henry Fielding亨利·菲尔丁1707~1754
（英国小说家，戏剧家，被誉为“英国小说之父”。）
He is called “Father of English novel”. He was the first to write a “Comic epic in prose”(散文体史诗), and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style.
① novels:
② plays:
6. Oliver Goldsmith奥利弗·格尔德斯密斯1730~1774
① poems:
② novel:
7. Richard Brinsley Sheridan理查德·布林斯利·施莱登1751~1816
①
②
8. William Blake威廉·布莱克1757~1827
①
A happy and innocent world from children’s eye.
②
A word of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone from men eyes.
Include:
Lamb is a symbol of peace and purity
Tyger is a symbol of dread and oiolence
③
9. Robert Burns罗伯特·彭斯1759~1796
The greatest Scottish poet in the late 18th century.
Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect主要用苏格兰方言写的诗
①
② 一朵红红的玫瑰
③
④ 不管那一套
⑤
⑥
⑦
V The Romantic Period
The romantic period began in 1798 the publication of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s
Romanticism:It emphasize the specialqualitie of each individual’s mind.(人应该是独立自由的个体)
In it, emotion over reason, spontaneous emotion, a change from the outer world of social civilization to the
inner world of the human spirit, poetry should be free from all rules, imagination, nature, commonplace.
Two major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen (realistic) and Walter Scott (romantic).
“The Lake Poets”湖畔诗人，who lived in the lake district.
William Wordsworth; Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Robert Southey
1. William Wordsworth威廉·华兹华斯1770~1850
（与柯尔律治、骚塞同被称为“湖畔派”诗人。 The Lake Poets）
①
②
Theme:1.Nature embodies human beings in their diverse c ircumstance. It is nature that give him “strength and knowledge fullof peace”
2.It is bliss to recolled the beauty of nature in poet mind while he is in solitude.
Comment:The poet is very cheerful with recalling the beautiful sights. In the poem on the beauty of nature, the reader is presented a vivid picture of lively and lovely daffodils(水仙) and poet’s philosophical ideas and mystical thoughts.
③ Lines Composed A Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey
④ The Solitary Reaper孤独的割麦女
②
2. Samuel Taylor Coleridge塞缪尔·泰勒·科尔律治1772~1834
The Lake Poets
①
②
③
Artistic features: mysticism, demonism with strong imagination, a strange territory
④
⑤
⑥
3. George Gordon Byron乔治·戈登·拜伦1788~1824
（拜伦式英雄Byronic heroes孤傲、狂热、浪漫，却充满了反抗精神。内心充满了孤独与苦闷，却又蔑视群小。恰尔德·哈罗德是拜伦诗歌中第一个“拜伦式英雄”。）
“Byronic hero” is a proud, mysteri ous rebel figure of noble origin, against tyrannical rules or moral principles.
①
②
4. Persy Bysshe Shelley波西?比希?雪莱1792~1822
① Poetic Drama：
Theme: the drama celebraies man’s victory over tyranny and oppression
②
③ Lyrics:
Theme: The author express his eagerness to enjoy the boundless freedom from the reality. Compare the west wind to destroyer of the old who drives the last signs of life from the trees, and preserver of the new who scatter the seads shich sill come to life in the spring. This is a poem about renewal, about the wind blowing life back into dead things, implying not just an arc of life (which would end at death) but a cycle, which only starts again when something dies.
Comment: Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" is written in iambic pentameter. It contains five sonnet length stanzas, each with a closing couplet. The rhyming scheme form is aba bcb cdc ded ee. The tone is poignant. Many will agree that this poem is an invocation for an unseen force to take control and revive life.
Artistic features:
Using rerza rima(三行诗aba bcb cdc ded efe …)
5. John? Keats约翰?济慈1795~1821
(“美即是真，真即是美”是他的著名诗句。)
① Four great odes:
②
Theme: The theme of John Keats' poem, "To Autumn", is that change is both natural and beautiful. The poem praises the glories of the fall season by using almost every type of imagery to both charm and appeal to the reader.
Comment: The speaker in the poem acknowledges that time passes by, but also asserts that this change usually yields something new and better than what came before. Each of the poem's three stanzas represents the evolving of two different types of change. One type of change shown in the poem is the change of periods in a day.
6. Jane Austen简·奥斯丁1775~1817
She compared her works to a fine engraving upon a literary piece of ivory only inches squire.
①
【Elizabeth Bennet & Darcy】in the end false pride is humbled and prejudice dissolved
【Collins & Charlotte Lucas】see the reality of marriage as a necessary step if a woman is to avoid the wretchedness of aging spinsterhood
【Lydia & Wickham】shown the dangers of feckless relationships unsupported by money.
【Mr.&Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Lady Catherine de Burgh】comic characters
7. Walter? Scott沃尔特?斯科特1771~1832
(历史小说之父”)Father of history novels
①
②
VI The Victorian Period
Common sense and moral propreity, again became the predominant preoccupation. Critical realists were all
concerned about the fate of the common people and everyday events.
1. Charles Dickens查尔斯?狄更斯1812~1870
（批判现实主义小说家）critical realist writer
①
②
③
④ 圣诞颂歌
⑤
⑥
⑦
⑨
⑩
2. William Makepeace Thackeray威廉?麦克匹斯?萨克雷1811~1863
①
②
3. Charlotte Bronte夏洛蒂?勃朗特1816~1855
①
Jane Eyre, a plain little orphan, was sent to Lowood, a charity school. There she suffer a lot and 8 years later she left school and became a boverness at Thornfield Hall. There she falls in love with the master,Mr. Rochester.
It is noted for its sharp criticism of the existing society, e.g. charity institution such as Lowood School
It is a successful introduction to the first governess heoine in the English novel, whom represents those middle-class working women struggling for recognition of their basic rights and equality as a human being.
②
③
4. Emily Bronte艾米莉?勃朗特1818~1854
① < Wuthering? Heights>呼啸山庄
A story about two familie and an intruding stranger.
【TheEarnshaw Family】Mr. Earnshaw, his wife, the son Hindley, the daughter Catherine, Heathcliff
【The Linton Family】Mr.Linton, his wife, son Edgar, daughter Isabella
② < Old Stoic>
5. George Eliot乔治?艾略特1819~1880
①
② < Adam? Bede>亚当?比德
③ < Silas? Marner>织工马南
④ < Middlemarch>米德尔马契
6. Alfred Tennyson阿尔弗莱德?丁尼生1809~1892
（维多利亚时代最具代表性的伟大诗人）
Poet Laureate （桂冠诗人）
① < In Memoriam>悼念
To memorialize his friend
② < Break,? Break, Break>冲击、冲击、冲击
③ < Idylls of the King>国王叙事诗
7. Robert? Browning罗伯特?白朗宁1812~1889
① < My Last Dutchess>我已故的公爵夫人
② < Home Thoughts From Abroad>海外乡思
Elizabeth Barrett Browing:
①
8. Robert Louis Stevenson
①
9. Thomas? Hardy托马斯?哈代1840~1928
（小说多以农村生活为背景；自然主义小说家。Wessex novels; novels of character and environment）
⑴ Novels
① < Tess Of The D’Urbervilles>德伯家的苔丝
Theme:experience is as to intensity, and not as to duration
② < Jude The Obscure>无名的裘德
③ < Under The Greenwood Tree>绿荫下
④ < Far From? The Madding Crowd>远离尘嚣
⑤ < The Mayor Of Casterbridge>卡斯特桥市长
⑥ < The Return of the Native>还乡
⑵ Poems
Wessex Poems And Other Verses
Poems Of The Past And Present
The Dynasts 列国
VII 1900~1950 The 20th Century Playwrights
① Oscar Wilde
② George Bernard Shaw
1. Oscar Wilde奥斯卡?王尔德1856~1900
（The Aesthetic Movement: Art for Art’s Sake）
① 4 Comedies:
② Novel:
③ Fairy Stories:
2. George Bernard Shaw乔治?伯纳?萧1856~1950
(英国杰出的批判现实主义剧作家）critical realistic dramatist
⑴ Plays
① Plays Unpleasant
② Plays Pleasant
③Plays
Novelists (Realists)
1. Joseph Concrad
①
②
1.Why the book’s title is Heart of Darkness?
The story happened in Congo, the heart of Africa, and the color of people’s skin in there is black. Most important point about the title is to the evil in humans’ heart.
2.What is the symbolism of black and white
【Black / dark- 】death, evil, ignorance, mystery, savagery, uncivilized
Middle Ages, when science and knowledge was suppressed, as the Dark Ages.
According to Christianity, in the beginning of time all was dark and God created light.
According to Heart of Darkness, before the Romans came, England was dark. In the same way, Africa was considered to be in the “dark stage”.
【White / light】life, goodness, enlightenment, civilized, religion.
Yet, in Concrad, the usual pattern is reverse and darkness means truth(The truth within, therefore dark and obscure.), whiteness means falsehood. This contrast tells a political truth about colonialism in the Congo. The contrast also suggests a psychological truth about Marlow and the Europeans mind.
White also suggests any number of unpleasant moral truths. The trade in ivory is white and dirty.Kurtz the white man is totally corrupt
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/be11168946.html,ment
The book implies that civilizations are created by the laws and codes that encourage men to achieve higher standards. The law acts as a buffer to prevent men from reverting back to their darker tendencies.
Civilization, however, must be learned. London itself, in the book a symbol of enlightenment, was once "one of the darker places of the earth" before the Romans forced civilization upon the Britons.But civilized society does not get rid of primeval savage tendencies which lurk in the background.
This savagery is seen in Kurtz. Marlow meets Kurtz and he finds a man that has totally thrown off the restraint of civilization and has de-evolved into a primitive state.