发布时间 : 星期一 文章英国文学史及选读复习资料更新完毕开始阅读1a5b864633687e21af45a913
humorous. Readers can only smile in amusement. ? In heroic couplet.
Text study Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales / The Prioress
Pre-reading
You are going to read Chaucer’s description of a prioress, a nun who is the head of a religious order or a religious house (e.g. an abbey). Before reading Chaucer’s description, we could try to create a picture of a nun from our knowledge or imagination.
1. Imagine the facial expression of a nun, what words would you use to describe it? 2. A nun, especially a prioress, is usually remarkable for the following
characteristics (tick the words/expressions of your choice): a solemnity, charm, kindness
b serious/ pleasant/ easy-going/ sombre manners c full of sense / sensibility
3. If she carries a motto, which do you think is more likely to be her choice?
a All that glisters is not gold. b Glory belongs to the King.
c God helps those who help themselves.
d Love conquers all.
Discussion
1. What is image of the nun?
2. Is she favorably and admirably or satirically portrayed? How? 3. What figures of speech are used?
Language and Style
1. Select a detail which contains humour or irony. What makes it comic or ironic? 2. What do you notice about the rhyme at the end of the lines
Key information for Memory: 3 conquests
Beowulf (A-S national epic/Old English literature/native subject/alliteration) ―Sir Gawain and the Greenknight‖, anonymous William Langland‘s Piers the Plowman, religious Chaucer‘s Canterbury Tales
romance; heroic couplet; alliteration; epic; metric poem
Assignment:
Reference questions for Renaissance:
1. What is Renaissance? How and why did it come about?
2. What is the development of drama? What were the original forms and content and practice of drama?
3. Why did drama flourish in Elizabethan age? Who are the major playwrights of the time?
4. Who is Marlowe? What contributions did he make to English drama?
5. Who is Shakespeare? What famous and great plays (history, comedy, tragedy)? What features?
6. What did Jonson write about? Representative work?
7. Prepare the excerpt from Hamlet (p.31-32). What is it mainly about? What humanist idea can you find in the soliloquy?
8. What was the most important translation of the time?
Lecture 3-4 Renaissance English Literature
Historical background
? Hundred Years‘ War with France from 1337 to 1453
? War of Roses from 1455 to 1485 between the House of Lancaster and the House of York ? Henry VII founded the Tudor dynasty
? the enclosure movement, the commercial expansion and the war with Spain
? 16th century -- a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the
foundations of capitalism
England – an absolute monarchy
? Religious Reformation
-- end the rule of the Catholic Church -- king as both the head of Church and the head of state
? Protestantism --the official national religion Henry 8 ( a Tudor Monarch )
In religion, the far-reaching movement of Reformation began in England during Henry VIII‘s reign. He declared the break with the Roman Catholic Church and confiscated the property of the Church. Protestantism began to gain ground among the English people. King James Bible
In 1611, appeared in England. It was the work of many learned scholars headed by Bishop Lancelot Andrews, an eloquent orator with an exquisite ear for the cadences of language. King James Bible became the monument of English language and literature Genesis, or the Creation
? God made Adam and Eve and let them live in Garden of Eden.
? God warned Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit on the Tree of Knowledge. ? Adam and Eve were all naked. They lived a happy life. They had no feelings of shame. ? Satan, in the disguise of a serpent, sneaked into Garden of Eden. He succeeded in
inducing Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit.
? Eve gave Adam some fruit, and Adam accepted it gladly.
? They realized that they were nude, so they put on fig leaves to cover their body. ? God got very angry. They had violated God‘s will, so they were punished.
? Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden. They had to gain their bread by the
sweat of their brow.
? Adam and Eve‘s descendents must work hard for redemption, otherwise they would never
be allowed to go back to heaven.
Revelations
? ORIGINAL SIN
? With Adam and Eve‘s fall, we sin all. That‘s why we must work hard to make a
living.
? God‘s will is everything.
? Those who violate God‘s will must be punished, no matter what the underlying
reason is.
The Tower of Babel
? Long, long ago, all the world spoke the same language and used the same words.
? Tired of hard work, people decided to build a city and a high tower with its top in the
heavens.
? God feared that the people would challenge his authority.
? He said to his followers, ―Let us go down there and confuse their speech, so that they will
not understand what they say to one another.‖
? God made people speak different languages. People had to give up the plan of building
the tower because they could not understand each other. They were dispersed all over the world.
Queen Elizabeth – the summit of absolute monarchy
? Elizabethan age:
-- progress of bourgeois economy -- victory in the Spanish War -- commercial expansion abroad -- development of art and literature -- an unsettled time: peasants‘ uprisings Renaissance: The Definition
The rise of the bourgeoisie showed its influence in cultural life. The result is an intellectual movement known as the Renaissance, or the rebirth of literature. Renaissance sprang in Italy and spread to France, Germany, the Low Countries, and lastly to England. Two features are striking of this movement. One is the thirst for classical literature, the other is the rise of Humanism. Humanism
Humanism was the keynote of the Renaissance. People ceased to look upon themselves as living only for God and a future world. They began to admire human beauty and human achievement. Man is no longer the slave of the external world. He can mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks. Drama: Origin and Development (1) English drama
1.Origin: religious ceremony, church plays 2.Development
Religious period
mystery plays and miracle plays biblical stories and the stories of the saints; they were played at churches at first; Then with the increasing numbers of actors and plays, the players went to the market places. Miracle plays are the further development of mystery plays. The Second Shepherd‘s Play Moral period
morality plays: focused on the conflict between good and evil through allegorical characters. They were too abstract. So Vice, a lively figure approximated the modern clown, was introduced. (such as Everyman, Good Deeds, Death, Knowledge); Everyman Interludes
--- a short performance during the
the intervals to enliven the audience after a solemn scene
---end of the 15th century
---a transition to Elizabethan drama
? Classical-style comedy and tragedy was in the making in England. ? Three unities (unity of time, place and action by Aristotle) 3.Renaissance drama
? ---comedy and tragedy were ? established as types of drama ? ---development of theaters ? ---growth of acting culture 4.University wits
? ---John Lyly, Robert Greene, George peele, Christopher Marlow, Thomas Kyd, Thomas
Nashe, Thomas Lodge ---technical innovations
? Free Renaissance tragedy from classical restraints ? Develop a comedy tradition more close to life John Lyly: write for a refined, aristocratic audience
? Thomas Kyd: start the tradition of revenge tragedy 5.Christopher Marlow(1564-1593) ---most gifted ―university wit‖
---The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus
? Cause of the tragedy: blind faith in human intellect
? Theme: praise of individuality; conviction of the possibility of human efforts in
conquering the universe
---make blank verse the principal instrument of English drama 6. William Shakespeare
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. 1)Dramatic career:
---the first period: apprenticeship
---the second period: full of sunshine and laughter