篇一：英国文学史知识梳理
一、The Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066) The literature：Two divisions: pagan and Christian
The Song of Beowulf：the events which took place on the Continent at the beginning of the 6th Century，The poem tells of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, half man and half fiend, and Grendel's mother, who comes that evening to avenge Grendel's death. Fifty years later Beowulf, now king of his native land, fights a dragon who has devastated his people. Both Beowulf and the dragon are mortally wounded in the fight. The poem ends with Beowulf's funeral.
Theme：the primitive people’s struggle against hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader.
二、The Anglo-Norman Period(1066-1350) The Literature：The literature which they brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of love and adventure (Romance), in marked contrast with the strength and somberness(朴实无华)of Anglo-Saxon poetry (Epic).
Explanation of Sir Gawain and Green Knight：Two motifs（主题） 1.The test of faith, courage, purity2.The test of human weakness for self-preservation
三、Geoffrey Chaucer(1340?-1400）
Characteristics①His allegories and symbols are already tinged with realistic images②Chaucer’s poem is distinguished for its profound delineation of character and truthful description of human relations.
The Canterbury Tales：The Host (Harry Baily) proposes a storytelling contest to pass the time; each of the 30 pilgrims (including the poet) is to tell four tales on the round trip.
Major Work:1.The Legend of Good Women好女人的故事2.The House of Fame声誉殿堂
3.The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集4.Troilus and Cressida特洛伊勒斯和克莱西
5.The Parliament of Fowls百鸟会议
四、The Renaissance（16th Century） Two features：1.A thirsting curiosity for classical literature. 2.The keen interest in life and human activities.
1.William Shakespeare(1564-1616)
Three Periods of his Dramatic Career and its characteristics
(1) the years from 1590 to 1600,are characterized from a degree by formal and rather obvious construction and by stylized verse to highly individualized.
Comedies: 1)The Merchant of Vince, 威尼斯商人 2)A Midsummer Night’s Dream,仲夏夜之
梦 Twelfth Night,第十二夜 3)As You Like It.（皆大欢喜）4)The Comedy of Errors,
5)The Merry Wives of Window, the years from 1601 to 1608,the most profound of his works.
Tragedies:1)Hamlet哈姆雷特 2)King Lear李尔王 3) Macbeth麦克白 4) Othello奥赛罗
5)Romeo and Juliet罗密欧与朱丽叶 6) Timon of Athens.(雅典的泰门） the period from 1609-1612,principal romantic tragicomedies.
The Themes of Hamlet：new themes:1.the impossibility of certainty; 2.the complexity of action;3the mystery of death;4.its exploration into man’s inner world, into human psychology through a series of soliloquy（自言自语，独白） .
Traditional aspects of Themes ：1.Hesitation:2. Inherited Sin and Corruption(人生而有罪和堕落):3. Sons Seeking Revenge 4. Deception: Deception makes up a major motif in Hamlet. 5. Ambition6. Loyalty:7. Madness8.Empty Existence
Features of Shakespeare’s Drama ：1). one of the founders of realism in world lit. 2) Skilled in many poetic forms .3). A great master of the English language
Petrarchan sonnet :The octave is eight lines long, and typically follows a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA, or ABBACDDC.The sestet occupies the remaining six lines of the poem, and typically follows a rhyme scheme of CDCDCD, or CDECDE.
Shakespearean sonnet:ABAB CDCD EFEF GG The sonnet 18,16
The Spencerian Sonnet:ABAB BCBC CDCD EE On His Blindness
2.Francis Bacon(1561-1626)
Major works:1)Advancement of Learning学术的进展 2)New Instrument新工具 3)New Atlantis新大西岛; 4)Essays随笔(Of Truth; Of Friendship; Of Studies论学习; Of Wisdom for a Man’s Self)
五、The Period of Revolution & Restoration（17th Century)
Literary characteristics:Confusion; Absence of any fixed standard of literary criticism;
1.John Donne (1572-1631)Metaphysical poets
A Valediction: forbidding mourning
Theme:Real, complete love unites not only the bodies of a husband and wife but also their souls. Such spiritual love is transcendent, metaphysical, keeping the lovers together intellectually and spiritually even though the circumstances of everyday life may separate their bodies.
Imagery:The circle 1. Marriage ring 2. Path of the planets 3. Path described by a compass
The compass Planetary trepidation Earthquakes The gold Valuable, noble, difficult to destroy
Three kinds of poets.Puritan poet(清教徒派诗人), Cavalier poet(保皇派诗人),the Metaphysical poet(玄学派诗人).
Literary term: Metaphysical poetry(玄学派诗歌)
2.John Milton (1608-1674) An English Poet
1)Paradise Lost (masterpiece)《失乐园》 2)Paradise Regained《复乐园》3)Samson Agonistes 《力士参孙》4)Lycidas 《利西达斯》5) Areopagitica 《论出版自由 》6)On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity《基督诞生晨颂》 7)L’Allegro《快乐的人》 8)Of Reformation in England《论英国改革》9)Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce《离婚的戒律与学说》10)Penseroso《幽思的人》 11)Comus 《科玛斯》
Paradise Lost:It is about Satan’s rebellion against God and the expulsion(驱逐) of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.
Theme :The theme of the poem is a revolt against God’s authority
On His Blindness:theme:God judges humans on whether they labor for Him to the best of their ability.
六、The Age of Enlightenment in England（The 18th Century）
1.Daniel Defoe:The father of the English fiction(英国小说之父）
Major works:1)The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe 《鲁滨逊漂流记》2)Captain Singleton 《辛格顿船长》3)Moll Flanders 《摩尔·弗兰德斯》4)A Journal of the Plague Year 《大疫年日记》5) Roxana 《罗克萨娜》
THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE
Theme:the power of the average man to preserve life and to organize economy in the face of unpromising environment.
2.Jonathan Swift(1667-1745)One of the greatest masters of English prose;十八世纪杰出的政治家和讽刺小说家
Major Works：1)A Tale of a Tub 《一个木桶的故事》2)Battle of the Books 《书籍之战》
3)Journal to Stella 《给斯黛拉的信》4)The Drapier’s Letters《布商的信》5)A Modest Proposal 《一个温和的建议》
Gulliver’s Travels 《格列佛游记》 ：Lilliput 小人国Brobdingnag 大人国
Flying Island 飞岛国Houyhnhnm 马岛国
Swift style :simple, clear, vigorous language;direct and precise prose;a master satirist;deadly(非常有效的) irony;powerful satire.
3.Robert Burns(1759-1796):Scottish poet and writer of traditional Scottish folk songs.
1)A Red Red Rose一朵红红的玫瑰 2) Auld Longn Syne 往昔时光3)John Anderson,My Jo约翰爱德生，我的爱人4)A Man’s a Man for A That不管那一套 5) My Heart’s in the Highlands我的心在那高原上
七、The 19th Romantic
History Background:(1).Industrial Revolution and French Revolution had a strong influence in Britain literature.
(2)Fighting for “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity” also becomes British national spirit.
1.William Wordsworth(1770-1850)与Samuel Taylor Coleridge,Robert Southey 同被称为Lake Poets(湖畔诗人）
Characteristics:Wordsworth’s poetry is distinguished by purity and simplicity of his language which was spoken by the peasants who convey their feelings and emotions in simple and unelaborated（坦率的） expressions.
Major Work:Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey“丁登寺杂咏”
Wandered Lonely as a Cloud “我独自漫游像一朵浮云”The Prelude序曲
The Excursion 远足 Lyrical Balas 抒情歌谣集The Solitary Reaper” “孤独的收割者”
2.George Gordon Byron(1788-1824))he is one of the most excellent representatives of English Romanticism and one of the most influential poets of the time.
Major works:1) Hours of Idleness (1807)《闲暇时刻》
2) The English Bards and Scott Reviewers (1809)《英国诗人和苏格兰评论家》
3) Child Harold Pilgrimage (1st two cantos1812, the later cantos 1816-1818) 《恰尔德·哈罗德游记》written in Spenserian stanza.4) The Giaour 《异教徒》5) Lara (1814)《莱拉》
6) The Corsair (1814)《海盗》7) Don Juan (1819-1824)《唐璜》masterpiece8) The Vision of Judgment 《审判的幻景》 9)Cain 该隐10）She walks in Beauty 她走在美的光影里
The characteristic of his poems:Byron’s poems show energy and vigor, romantic daring (bold, brave) and powerful passion.
3.Persy Bysshe Shelly :one of the major English Romantic poets.
Major works:1) Zastrozzi, 《柴斯特罗齐》2) The Necessity of Atheism, 《无神论的必要性》
3) Queen Mab, 《仙后麦布》4) Prometheus Unbound,《解放了的普罗米修斯》
5) “The Odes to the West Wind”,“西风颂6) The Masque of Anarchy, 《暴政的行列》
7) A Defence of Poetry, 《诗之辩护》8) The Triumph of Life, 《革命的胜利行列》
4.John Keats“Beauty is truth, truth beauty”.
Major works:1)“O Solitude”,“孤寂”2)“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”,“初读查普曼译荷马史诗”3)Poems，《诗集》，his first book. 4)Endymion,《恩底弥翁》 his first long poem.5)Isabella,《伊莎贝拉》6)Hyperion,《许佩里翁》7)Lamia，《莱米 亚》.
The great odes: (1)On a Grecian Urn，“希腊古瓮颂”.(2)To Psyche，“心灵颂”.(3)On Melancholy，“哀感”.(4)To Autumn，“秋颂”.
The characteristic of his poetry, characterized by exact and closely-knit construction, sensual descriptions, and by force of imagination, gives transcendental values to the physical beauty of the world.
5.Jane Austin:one of the realistic novelists.
Major works:Northanger Abbey《诺桑觉寺》Sense and Sensibility《理智与情感》 Pride and Prejudice《傲慢与偏见》 Mansfield Park 《曼斯菲尔德花园》 .Emma《爱玛》Persuasion《劝告》
The characteristic of her novel:1）She drew vivid and realistic pictures of everyday life of the country society 2）main concern is about human beings in their personal relations, human beings with their families and neighbors3）Stories of love and marriage
Pride and Prejudice：
Main idea:The book mainly tells the love story between a rich, proud young man Darcy and the beautiful and intelligent Elizabeth Bennet. None of the daughters of the wealthy family can inherit the estate (property) of the family for it has been entailed (把遗产留给) upon the nearest male heir,
William Collins. Collins intends to marry and he decides to choose Elizabeth. But Elizabeth rejects his proposal. When another young man called Darcy proposes to Elizabeth, she has prejudice against him because she thinks that he has nothing but pride. After many twists and turns, misunderstanding disappears and they are happily united.
Theme:1)pride and prejudice2)love and marriage
八、The Victorian Age
The Mainly three kinds of literature and its characteristics
1)the Chartist literature 2)English Critical Realism 3)Victorian poetry
1.Charles Dickens
Major works: 1)Oliver Twist 《雾都孤儿》 2)The Pickwick Papers?匹克威克外传?
3)Great Expectations ?远大前程? 4)David Copperfield ?大卫·科波菲尔?
5)Bleak House ?荒凉山庄? 6)Hard Times ?艰难时世? 7）Little Dorrit ?小杜丽? 8）A Tale of Two Cities ?双城记? 9）Dombey and Son (1847-1848)?董贝父子?10）Our Mutual Friend ?我们的共同朋友?11）American Notes ?美国札记?
2.Charlotte Bronte:1)Anne Bronte(1820—1849) Agnes Grey,《安格尼斯·格雷》
The Tenant of the Wildfell Hall《王尔德费尔庄园的佃户》
Jane Eyre,《简爱》Themes :Love Versus Autonomy
2)Emily Bronte(1818—1848) Wuthering Heights,《呼啸山庄》The theme of the novel: a full human life (完美人生) in a capitalist society was impossible of attainment (达到).
They were all talented writers and all of them died young.
3.Alfred,Lord Tennyson
Major works:1).In Memoriam 《悼念》2). Poems, Chiefly Lyrical 《抒情诗集》3). Poems (two volumes) 《诗集》4). The Princess 《公主》5). Maud 《毛黛》6). The Idylls of the King 《国王叙事集》7. Poems by Two Brothers《哥俩集》
4.Robert Browning
Major works :1)“Home-Thoughts, from Abroad” 2)《异域乡思》“Meeting at Night”《深夜幽会》“Parting at Morning” 《清晨离别》
篇二：英国文学史复习资料(三年级专业生期末考试必备)[1] (1)
英国文学史资料British Writers and Works
I. Old English Literature & The Late Medieval Ages
<Beowulf>贝奥武夫:the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons
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.
e.g. Homer?s Iliad and Odyssey
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.
It is ____alone who, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive (综合的，广泛的)realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. ( A )
A. Geoffrey ChaucerB. Matin Luther C. William Langland D. John Gower
writing style: wisdom, humor, humanity.
① <The Canterbury Tales>坎特伯雷故事集：
first time to use ?heroic couplet?(双韵体) by middle English
②<Troilus and Criseyde>特罗伊拉斯和克莱希德
③ <The House of Fame>声誉之宫
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
12. Which of the following statements is not the reason for that Edmund Spenser is famous for “the poet?s poet”? ( B )
A. Spenser?s idealismB. his struggle for criteria
C. his love of beauty D. his exquisite melody
① <The Faerie Queene>仙后(for Queen Elizabeth)
The 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 Shepherds Calendar>牧人日历
The theme is to lament over the loss of Rosalind.
③ <Amoretti>爱情小唱?
2. Thomas? More托马斯?莫尔1478~1535
One of the greatest English humanists
①<Utopia>乌托邦?
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 eiching by Biblical allusions, metaphors and philosophy to man?s reason.
①<The Advancement of Learning>学术的推进
②<Essays>随笔(famous quotas: <Of studies>)?
The theme of Of Studies: uses and benefits of study and different ways
adopted by different people to pursue studies.
4. Ben Jonson
①<Comedy of Humours>
②<Volpone, or the fox>狐狸
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 uhymed iambic pentameter.
14. Marlowe gave new vigor to ____ with his “mighty lines” ( D )
A. the Petrarchan sonnet B. sestina
C. terza rima D. blank verse
①<The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus>浮士德博士的悲剧（根据德国民间故事书写成）
②<Tamburlaine>帖木耳大帝?
③<The Jew of Malta>马耳他的犹太人
6. William Shakespeare威廉?莎士比亚1564~1616?
① Historical plays: Hey VI ; Hey IV : Richard III ; Hey V ；Richard
II；Hey VIII
②Four Comedies: <As You Like It>皆大欢喜; <Twelfth Night>第十二夜;
<A Midsummer Night?S Dream>仲夏夜之梦; <Merchant Of
Venice>威尼斯商人
③Four Tragedies: <Hamlet>哈姆莱特; <Othello>奥赛罗; <King Lear>李
尔王; <Macbeth>麦克白
④Shakespeare Sonnet :154 <The Sonnets>
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: <Paradise Lost>失乐园?
<Paradise? Regained>复乐园
②Dramatic poem: < Samson Agonistes>力士参孙
③ <Areopagitica>论出版自由?
<The Defence of the English People>为英国人民声辩
④ <On His Blindness>我的失明
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:<The Pilgrim?s Progress>天路历程?
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:<Forbidding Mourning>
IV The 18th Century：Enlightenment同时为美国独立战争与法国大革命提供了框架，并且导致了资本主义和社会主义的兴起，与音乐史上的巴洛克时期以及艺术史上的新古典主义时期是同一时期。
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。）
As a representative of the Enlightenment， Pope was one of the first to introduce rationalism to England....
Eg. Among the representatives of the Enlightenment, who was one of the first to introduce rationalism to England? ( C )
A. John BunyanB. Daniel DefoeC. Alexander PopeD. Jonathan Swift
①<An Essay on Criticism>批评论?
Artistic features:
1.Using “heroic couplets”
② <The Rape of the Lock>卷发遇劫记
③ <Moral Essays>道德论
<Essay on Man>人论?
<The Dunciad>愚人记
2. Samuel? Johnson塞缪尔?约翰逊1709~1784
①Dictionary =<A Dictionary of English Language>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 <Gulliver?s Travels>格列佛游记(fictional work)
Four parts:
Lilliput 小人国Brobdingnag 大人国 Flying Island 飞岛Houyhnhnm 马岛
<A Modest Proposal>一个小小的建议?
② <The Battle of Books>书战
③ <A Tale of a Tub>木桶的故事?
④ <The Drapper?s Letters>一个麻布商的书信
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, his language is smooth, easy, colloquial and mostly vernacular, and he is the founder of realistic novel.
① <Robinson? Crusoe>鲁宾逊漂流记
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 <Moll Flanders>
③ <Colonel Jacque>
④ <Captain singleton>
5. Hey 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:
<The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling>弃婴汤姆?琼斯
<The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews>约瑟夫?安德鲁
<The Life of Mr Jonathan Wild, the Great>大诗人江奈生?威尔德
<Amelia>爱米利亚?
② plays:
<The Historical Register for 1736>一七三六年历史记事
<Don Quixote in England>堂吉柯德在英国?
6. Oliver Goldsmith奥利弗?格尔德斯密斯1730~1774
① poems:
<The Traveller>旅游人
<The Deserted Village>荒村
② novel:
<The Vicar of Wakefield>威克菲尔德牧师传?
篇三：英国文学史考试内容
3. Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language.
4. Chaucer composed a long narrative poem named Troilus and Gressie based on Boccaccio’s poem Filostrato.
6. The Canterbury Tales contains the general prologue and 24 hours, two of which left unfinished.
7. Chaucer employed the heroic couplet in writing his greatest work The Canterbury Tales.
1. What are the Chaucer’s contributions to English literature?
① Chaucer, for the first time in English literature, presents to the readers a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and describes a series of vivid characters from all walks of life in The Canterbury Tales.
② Chaucer introduces from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the old English alliterative verse. He is the first to use the rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, which is to be called the heroic couplet.
③ Chaucer affirms men’s and women’s right to pursue earthly happiness and opposed asceticism ( avoiding physical pleasures and comforts). He praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life and he exposes and satirizes the social vices, including the corruption of the Church.
④ Chaucer is the first great poet who wrote in the current English. His production of so much excellent poetry is an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. Chaucer uses London dialect in his writings and the contributes to making it the foundation for modern English speech.
2. What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?
The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, Its essential features are:
①. it lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.
② It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtues.
③. It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from ordinary life.
④. It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.
⑤. The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the church and the king.
4. What is the significance of The Canterbury Tales?
① In his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives us a faithful picture of the society of his time, ② Taking the standard of the rising bourgeoisie, he affirms men and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the Church. ③ As a forerunner of humanism, he praise man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time. They attack the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, and the corruption of the Church. The first to present a comprehensive and realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life.
4. Bacon’s style has three prominent qual
5. Hamlet, Othello, King’s four great tragedies.
6.
※1. Sonnet: A lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. There are two major patterns of rhyme in sonnets written in the English language: (1) The Italian or Petrarchan sonnet falls into two main parts: an octave rhyming abbaabba followed by a sestet rhyming cdecde or some variant, such as cdccdc. (2) The Earl of Surrey and other English experimenters in the 16th century also developed a stanza form called the English sonnet, or else the Shakespearean sonnet. This sonnet falls into three quatrains and a concluding couplet: abab cdcd efef gg. There was one notable variant, the Spenserian sonnet, in which Edmund Spenser linked each quatrain to the next by a continuing rhyme: abab bcbc cdcd ee.
2. English Renaissance:The Renaissance refers to the transitional period from the medieval to the modern world. It first started in Italy in the14th century. The Renaissance means rebirth or revival. It was stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classics, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation, and the economic expansion. Humanism is the essence of Renaissance. The English Renaissance did not begin until the reign of Hey VIII. It was regarded as England’s Golden Age, especially in literature. The real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama. This period produced such literary giants as Shakespeare, Spenser, Marlowe, Bacon, etc.
5. Give a brief analysis of Shylock, a character in Shakespeare’s play, The Merchant of Venice.
Shylock is a Jewish usurer, and he is a tragic-comic character in the play.
① He is comic because he finally becomes the one punished by his own evil deed. He is a typical merchant to be made fun of. He is avaricious. He accumulates as much wealth as he can and he even equates his lost daughter with his lost money. He is also cruel. In order to revenge, he would rather claim a pound of flesh from his enemy Antonio than get back his loan.
② On the other hand, Shylock is also a tragic figure. He is the victim of the society. He is a Jew. As a minor nationality, he is not treated equally by the society. The law is harsh to him. He has to make as much money as he can in order to protect himself. He is abused by Antonio, and therefore, he wants to get revenge. death of a Cambridge friend. by mysticism in content and fantastically in form.
Passage 1
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die
A. Identify the poet and the poem B. What does the phrase “one short sleep” mean?C. What idea do these two lines express?
It reveals Donne’s belief in life after death. Here death is compared to rest or sleep. Death is but
momentarily while happiness after death is eternal.
Passage 2..
“ To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconcilable to our grand For.”
By what means were Satan and his followers to wage this war against God? A. by planting a tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
B. by turning into poisonous snakes to threaten man’s life.
C. by removing God from his throne
D. by corrupting man and woman created by God
Passage 3.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee
A. Identify the poem and the poet. ______________________________
B. What does the word “this” refers to?
C. What idea does this stanza express?
the 18th century.
4. Of all the 18th century novelists, was the first to set out in theory and practice, to write specially a “” and the first to give the modern novel its structure and style. They observed the three unities of time, place and action.
9. The Talter and were Richard Steele and Joseph Addison’s chief contribution to English literature.
10. Pamela15. The more notable of the Gothic novels are by Horace Walpole and by Ann Radcliff. The mysterious element plays an enormous role in the Gothic novel; it is so replete with bloodcurdling scenes and unatural feelings that it is justly called 16. is the author of the first English dictionary by an Englishman-----Dictionary of the English language, which had become the foundation of all subsequent English dictionaries.
Passage one
“ The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”
Questions:
19. Identify the author and the title of the poem which this passage is taken.
20. What does the phrase “inevitable hour” mean?21. Write out the main idea of the passage in plain English.
The passage is about man’s inevitable death. No matter what family you are from, what power you have got, what beauty and wealth you have possessed, you should feel conceited or self-important. For sooner or later you will have to leave these material things behind; you cannot bring them all into the other world when you die. Since death awaits everyone and your glorious life leads you only to the grave, what is the use of fighting for all those material interests?
Passage 2
“Most mighty Emperor of Lilliput, delight and terror of he universe, whose dominions extend five thousand blustrugs (about twelve miles in circumference) to the extremities of the globe; Monarch of all monarchs; taller than the sons of men; whose feet press down to the center, and whose head strikes against the sun; at whose nod the princes of the earth shake their knees; pleasant as spring, comfortable as summer, fruitful as autumn, dreadful as winter.”
Questions:
22. Identify the work and the author 24. What does the author parody here?
By presenting the Lilliputian’s exaggerated compliments to their king, Swift parodies absurdly an arrogant style of the Englishmen(or the Europeans) in their speeches to their God or their monarchs.
25. Satire: Satire is generally considered as a literary form in which humor, exaggeration or ridicule is used to bring to the forefront an individual or societal vice, folly, abuse or shortcoming. Its purpose, ideally, although humorous and entertaining, is to shine a light on the subject and invoke change.
28. Comment on the features of the neoclassical literature.
①In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. ②According to the neoclassicists, all forms of literature were modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers and those of the contemporary French ones. ③Neoclassicists had some fixed laws and rules for almost every gee of literature. Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible. Poetry should be lyrical, epical, didactic, satire or dramatic, and each class should be guided by its own principles. Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets (iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); the three unities of time, space and action should be strictly observed; regularity in construction should be and adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented. Besides the elegant poetic structure and diction, the neoclassical poetry was also noted for its seriousness and earnestness in tone and constant didacticism.
④Mock epic, romance, satire and epigram were popular forms adopted by poets of the time.
1.As an age of romantic enthusiasm, the Romantic Age began in 17983. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage contains cantos, which is written in the stanza. It teems with all kinds of recognizable features of Romantic poetry.
5. Ode to a Nightingale6. Ode on a Grecian Urn shows the contrast between the of art and the _9. Walt Scott is considered as “the” which opens up to fiction the rich and lively realm of history.
11. The main idea running through the dramatic poem Prometheus Unbound is that of 12. The Romantic period is an age of poetry. The major Romantic poets such as Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats started a rebellion against the Neoclassical Passage One
Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere;
Destroyer and Preserver;hear, O hear!
14. What is the “Wild Spirit”
15. What does the “Wild Spirit” destroy and preserve? 16. The stanza used in this ode was developed by the poet from the interlaced three-line units of Shelley’s stanza consists of a set of four such tercets, closed by aPassage Two
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils
17. Identify the poem and the poet.
18. What is the recurrent central image in this poem?Daffodile
19. Explain in a few words “that inward eye/Which is the bliss of solitude?
The poet thinks that it is a bliss to recollect the beauty of nature in his mind while he is solitude.
《英国文学史复习资料整理》出自：百味书屋
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