英语国家社会与文化英语国家社会与文化

Unit 6 British LiteratureUnit 6 British Literature

Lead-in : When You are Old Lead-in : When You are Old When you are old and gray aWhen you are old and gray a

nd full of sleep nd full of sleep 当你老了，头发花白，睡意沉沉当你老了，头发花白，睡意沉沉 And nodding by the fire, take And nodding by the fire, take

down this book, down this book,  在炉边打着盹儿，取下这本书 在炉边打着盹儿，取下这本书 And slowly read, and dream oAnd slowly read, and dream o

f the soft look   f the soft look   慢慢的读着，你曾经的柔柔眼神慢慢的读着，你曾经的柔柔眼神 Your eyes had once, and of thYour eyes had once, and of th

eir shadows deep;  eir shadows deep;   浮现心底，眼影深深浮现心底，眼影深深 How many loved your momenHow many loved your momen

ts of glad grace,          5   ts of glad grace,          5    多少人爱你飞扬的青春岁月多少人爱你飞扬的青春岁月 And loved your beauty with lAnd loved your beauty with l

ove false or true;     ove false or true;      爱你的美丽，或真、或假爱你的美丽，或真、或假

But one man loved the pilgriBut one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,   m soul in you,  

只有一个人爱你圣洁的灵魂只有一个人爱你圣洁的灵魂 And loved the sorrows of youAnd loved the sorrows of you

r changing face.  r changing face.   爱你那饱经风霜哀戚的容颜 爱你那饱经风霜哀戚的容颜 And bending down beside thAnd bending down beside th

e glowing bars,   e glowing bars,    炽热的炉栅边，你弯下腰 炽热的炉栅边，你弯下腰 Murmur, a little sadly, how lovMurmur, a little sadly, how lov

e fled                        e fled                         低徊，叹惋爱的消逝低徊，叹惋爱的消逝 And paced upon the mountaiAnd paced upon the mountai

ns overhead, ns overhead,  越过群山越过群山 And hid his face amid a crowAnd hid his face amid a crow

d of stars.    d of stars.     他的面容隐没在繁星之中他的面容隐没在繁星之中

I. Early Writing

• 1. Theme: Christianity

• 2. Beowulf

• 3. Canterbury Tales

• A. Author

• B. Content

• C. Significance

• 4. The Legend of King Arthur

I 、 Early Writing

• 1 、 Early British literature concerned with Christianity

• Early British literature was concerned with Christianity: Anglo-Saxons produced beautifully illustrated versions of the bible: the most famous of these is the Book of Kells 凯尔斯书 , partly written on the Scottish island of Iona. Outside of the church, few people in this period were literate.

2 、 Beowulf

• It is a long poem of the 6th century Swedish warrior Beowulf and his conflict with a family of dragons. It is also one of the oldest of the early “old English” literary works.

• 注： Beowulf 贝奥武甫是盎格鲁 · 萨克逊时期的一首英雄史诗，古英语文学最高成就，同时标志着英语文学的开始。史诗分两部分：第一部分讲述瑞典青年王子贝奥武甫来到丹麦，帮助丹麦国王赫罗斯加杀死了 12 年来常来进行夜袭的巨妖格伦德尔和他的母亲；第二部分讲述了贝奥武甫继承王位，平安统治 50 年。后来，他的国土被一条喷火巨龙蹂躏，老当益壮的贝奥武甫与火龙交战，杀死火龙，自己也受了致命伤。

3 、 The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer 乔叟

• The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集 is the most important work in Middle English Literature. It’s made up of a series of stories told by 31 pilgrims to entertain each other on their way to the Christian Church at Canterbury in south-east England. It’s quite noticeable for its diversity, not only in the range of social status among the pilgrims, but also in style of the stories they tell.

4 、 The stories of King Arthur and his knights

• King Arthur and his knights• History of the Kings of Britain published in 1138

well established King Arthur in literary form. The book invented material to fill the broad gaps in the historical records. The stories of King Arthur’ court, his Knights and their famous table “round table” and the search for Holy Grail 金杯 were mainly based on a very few vague “fact”, The ruined castle at Tintagel in Cornwall mentioned in the legends of King Arthur is now a popular tourist destination.

II. The 15th and the 16th centuries

• 1. Elizabethan drama

• 2. Christopher Marlowe

• 3. William Shakespeare

• A. Tragedies

• B. Comedies

• C. history plays

II 、 Elizabethan Drama (during 15th and 16th)

• 1 、 The development of drama in the Renaissance

• It refers roughly to the drama produced during 15th and 16th centuries. The first professional theater was founded in London in 1576 and many famous playwrights appeared. Christopher Marlowe 马洛 , Ben Jonson 琼森 and William Shakespeare were among the best.

2 、 William Shakespeare

 • Romeo and Juliet•  William Shakespeare was an English dramatist

and poet in the Elizabethan age. He is generally regarded as the greatest playwright in English literature. His plays fall into 3 categories: tragedies such Hamlet comedies such as Merchant of Venice and historical plays like Charles II.

• Elizabethan drama, and Shakespeare in particular, is considered to be among the earliest work to display a “modern” perception of the worlds: full of moral doubt and political insecurities, where the right of those who wield行使 power to do so is put in question.

III. The 17th century

• 1. King James Bible• 2. Francis Bacon• The Novum Organum• The New Atlantis• Essays• 3. John Milton• A. Twin poems L’Allegro and II Penseroso• B. Areopagitica• C. Masterpeices: Paradise Lost, Samson Agonis

tes

IV. The 18th century

• 1. Features:

• Satire, making fun of people and things, expressed the spirit of the time.

• Novel came to its full growth in this century.

• 2. Jonathan Swift: Gulliver’s Travels

• 3. Robert Burns

• 4. Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe

V. The 19th century

• 1. Romanticism

• 2. Poetry

• A. William Wordsworth

• B. Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• C. John Keats

• D. George Gordon Byron

• E. Percy Bysshe Shelley

• 3. Novel

• A. Walter Scott

• B. Jane Austen

• C. Bronte sisters

• D. Elizabeth Gaskell

• E. Charles Dickens

• F. Robert Louis Stevenson

• G. Thomas Hardy

The Nineteenth Century Novel

• 1 、 Characteristics of the Romance writers in the 19th century

• The spirit of their woks places emphasis on nature, originality, the emotional and personal. The great poets of that time are Keats, Shelley and Wordsworth. Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters are among the famous Romantic novelists.

Keats 济慈

Wordsworth 华兹华斯

Jane Austen 简奥斯丁

2 、 The Brontes

• They were daughters of the vicar of a village church in Yorkshire. Though they were poor, they were educated and respectable. They all died young, but were remembered long after their death for their contribution to English literature. Charlotte was well-known for Jane Eyre and Emily was noted for her Wuthering Heights 呼啸山庄 . They had to use male pseudonyms 假名 in order to get their books published.

3 、 Charles Dickens

• He is now regarded as one of the greatest English writers. His works were characterized by vivid comic characterization and social criticism. He wrote many well-known novels, including Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield.

4. Sir Walter Scott 司各特• Walter Scott

• He was the most famous Scottish novelist and wrote many novels in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Some of the novels were concerned with Scottish history. Some remain popular today and several have been made into films.

5 、 Robert Louis Stevenson

• He is a famous British writer, he also wrote Scottish historical romance, and his most famous work was Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 吉基尔医生和海德先生 , a novel again concerned with the conflict between the rational and the emotional, sensual side of man’s nature.

VI. The 20th century

• 1. modernism

• 2. postmodernism

• 3. Joseph Conrad

• 4. Virginia Woolf

• 5. D.H.Lawrence

• 6. E.M. Foster

Twentieth Century Literature

• 1 、 Characteristics of the twentieth century literature

• The twentieth century literature can be broadly divided into 2 stylistic periods: Modernism, and Postmodernism. These periods roughly correspond to literature written before the Second World War and literature written after it. Both are characterized by a high degree of experimentation.

Modernism

• Modernism in literature began before the Second World War. Modernism in literature can be seen as a reaction against the 19th century form, which can be considered as assuming understanding between writer and reader. This approach to writing is called “realism”. However, modernist writers express the difficulty they see in understanding and communicating how the world works. Modernist writing seems disorganized and hard to understand. One of the most famous English Modernist writers is Virginia Woolf.

Virginia Woolf 维吉尼亚 伍尔夫• Virginia Woolf is regarded as a modernist writer

and one of the most famous writers of the century. Her works are concerned with the individual consciousness, especially female consciousness. Her novels have become important to feminists for the way they show women’s personalities to be limited by society. In her writing, she uses the technique called the stream of consciousness 意识流 . One of her best novels is Mrs. Dalloway 黛罗维夫人 .

• Joseph Conrad 约瑟夫 康德德• He is one of the most famous English Mod

ernist writers. Polish-born, Conrad was brought up in Poland and was in his twenties before he knew any English. After becoming a British subject, he wrote brilliant novels in his adopted tongue. His most well-known novel is The Heart of Darkness 黑暗的中心 .

D.H. Lawrence 劳伦斯• D.H. Lawrence was one of the most famous

modernist writers in English literature. His novels were critical of the modern world, especially of the modern industrial society. In his

writing, he gave up the conventions and forms that had been typical of the 18th century. One of the features of his writings was that his language was easy and sentences were short.

E.M. Foster 福斯特• E.M. Foster was one of the most famous

modernist novelist and poet in English literature. His works were critical of the modern world, and one of the features of his writings was that his language was easy and colloquial 口语的 .

Postmodernism

• Postmodernism generally refers to literature after the Second World War. It’s characterized by a high degree of experimentation. George Orwell’s 1984 begins “Postmodernism” in English literature. The horrors of the Second World War weakened ideas of human progress, and of meaning in life. One of the characteristics of Postmodernism is to give up the search for meaning in life. In the Postmodernism novel the French Lieutenant’s Woman, the reader is offered a choice of ending.

George Orwell 奥威尔• He wrote one of the most famous novels 1

984 in English, It is a powerful satire on the totalitarian 极权主义 tendency in the modern states. It is set in an extremely unpleasant England ruled absolutely by “Big Brother”. This depressing story is characteristic of the post-war years, and begins “Postmodernism”.

John Fowles•     He constantly demonstrated the fictional

ity of the readers’ writing, and invited them to put together different pieces freely. John Fowle’s works are often combining people’s psychology

with the social life. The French Lieutenant’s Woman 法国中尉的女人 is Fowles’ most successful novel.

Conclusion

• Modernism in literature began before the Second World War. Modernism in literature can be seen as a reaction against the 19th century form, which can be considered as assuming understanding between writer and reader. This approach to writing is called “realism”.

Assignment

• Give a summary about the English literature in the Renaissance period.

• What is the theme of “Hamlet”?