英国文学史纲要总结

outline of the history of the english literature
5thcentury b.c. the earliest inhabitants of the british islands —celtics, one tribe of which, bretons, invaded the great britain and settled there for nearly 500 years.
55b.c. roman conquest by julius caesar brought the ancient romantic culture.
 the anglo-saxons—a branch of the germanic tribe expelled the celtics to the remote areas of the north and the west. their mother tongue was the prototype of the modern english. england means the dwellings of the anglos.
the latter half of the 7th century the first poet of the britain—caedman was born.
around 8th century the first well-preserved epic—beowulf emerged.
9th century king alfred’s reign greatly enhanced the development of the english culture.
1057 scottish king macbeth died. several hundreds years later, shakespeare created the famous tragedy with him as the protagonist.
1066 norman conquest. as a result, french replaced english as the official language and dominated the literary creation. the resumption of the english as the mainly used language was after the english and french centurial war 300 years later.
i. anglo-saxon period.
epic: “beowulf”—beowulf, a hero, killed grendel, a sea monster (thought to be the offspring of cain, first murderer in the genesis. its artistic forms, such as kenning and alliteration had a great influence upon the poets that followed.
layamon’s “brut” recorded the legends of king arthur and it was also an important sign of the resumption of the english language.

ii. medieval period.
a. geoffrey chaucer: “the canterbury tales”, a collection of short stories depicting realistically the panorama of 14th century england. his style of writing was fluent and humorous, and his thoughts even surpassed his contemporaries. his sharp perception of human nature is the basic cause of his permanent charm and popularity.
b. some major events in the 15th century contributing to the renaissance:
a. religious reform led by martin luther in germany and john calvin in france broke the dark clouds of the medieval europe and destroyed the manacles of religion on people’s thoughts and spirits.
b. the demise of the easter roman empire, as a result of the fall of the constantinople, forced many greek scholar flee to the italy with the remnant antiques. these artistic treasures of the ancient greece and roman acted a vital role in the renaissance of the culture represented by them.
c. typography promoted the study of the classic literature in italy and germany. the then english businessman william caxton brought this technique to england as he traded in europe, and it also greatly speeded up the english renaissance.
d. henry 8th was a tyrant but his divorce with wife ended up in the split of the anglican church with the roman catholic church and resulted in the religious reform of the anglicanism. he killed thomas moore, the author of utopia.                                                         (iambic pentameter
     a. thomas wyatt: introduced the sonnets from italy to england.  with no rhyme)
iii.  elizabethan period.    b. earl of surrey: reformed the feet of sonnets and introduced the blank verse. 
a. poetry initiated by 4men  c. philip sidney: the first work on the theory of classic literary criticism “the apologie for poetrie”(诗辩) and romance “arcadia”.
atheism 1st blank verse in drama     d. edmund spenser: called “the poet’s poet”, spenserian stanza, “the shepherd’s calendar”(牧人日记), “the faerie queene”（仙后）.
b. drama.      a. john lyly, “euphues”, “euphuism”(尤非依斯体), artificial and ornate.
university wits.  b. robert greene had a jealousy for shakespeare.              “tamburlaine the great” “edward ii”
c. christopher marlowe: most gifted of the university wits  “doctor faustus” “the jew of malta” 
d. shakespeare: master of drama. keen perception of life.
c. prose. francis bacon: the founder of modern science. “essays”, “new instrument”(novum organum), “advancement of learning”.
d. ben jonson: prolific dramatist, “ every man in his humor ”, “volpone”. poet laureate of james i.

iv. 17th century ( the glorious revolution, the restoration)
a. drama: bold depiction of the extravagant life of the nobles.
b. poetry: john dryden, metaphysical poet john donne, john milton
a. john dryden: poet laureate, founder of english literary criticism. following the standards of classicism, he established the heroic couplet as the principal english verse forms, clarified the english prose and made it precise, concise, and flexible, and raised the english literary criticism to a new level. poem, “absalom and achitophel”, prose, “an essay of dramatic poesy”.
b. metaphysical poetry and john donne. characterized by mysticism in content and fantasticality in form. called by samuel johnson. “ the flea”, “meditations”, imaginative, philosophical and meditative.
c. john milton: spokesman of the revolution. “paradise lost”, “paradise regained”, “samson agonistes”.
c.  john bunyan: “the pilgrim’s progress”, a religious allegory criticizing the social trend of the restoration period and also a disclosure of the evilness of every society, with a popular speech ennobled by the solemn dignity and simplicity of the language of the english bible. thackeray’s “vanity fair” named after a place mentioned in this book.

v. 18th century (age of reason and enlightenment)
a. theorist: john locke: a. “concerning human understanding”, emphasizing the importance of the sense as a means of gaining knowledge and the significance of reason in understanding the world.
b. men are born kind. they have the right to pursue happiness and the obligation to bring benefits to the society.
men are naturally equal and they can protect their right by social contract. nation is a kind of social contract.
b. poetry: two trends: classicism (major) and pre-romanticism (minor).
classicism    a. alexander pope: student of dryden. weak in body. advocated classicism and imitation of the     
inherited from   work of ancient greece and rome. proposed that poets should depict gracious and beautiful 
john dryden    things and have an elegant taste. “essay on criticism”, gave a detailed exposition of the principles of the classic poems. culmination in classicism and heroic couplet. “essay on man”, “the rape of the lock”, full of reason without the expression of emotion.
            b. william cowper: “the task”, forerunner of the natural poems. with romantic feelings.
c. george crabbe: employing the classic forms to depict the miserable rural life. “the village”.
pre-
romanticism a. edward young: “the complaints or night thoughts, on life, death, and immortality.”
paved      b. james thomson: “the seasons”, a pure love for nature.
the way     c. thomas gray: “an elegy written in a country churchyard”, sad in tone and refined in style.
for the      d. mcpherson: “the poems of ossian”
romantic    e. william blake: “the tiger”, “songs of innocence” and “songs of experiences”. mysticism, 
period      revolutionary passion. a strong likeness