-*
Pre-Renaissance period
Beowulf : the first English national epic
I. The position of the Beowulf: the first English national epic II.The story: (to simply narrate it ) Beowulf←→ Grendel and his mother Beowulf←→ Fire dragon III. Its artistic features
1. It’s a 3183-line verse written in true epic style and in Old English;
2. the most evident feature: the use of alliteration; (refer to the history of literature By Liu Bingshan,)
3. to use compound-words to serve as metaphors;
4. the use of understatements: the impression and a color of humor. △5. the mixing of pagan elements with Christian colouring.
Geoffrey Chaucer
I. life :
1. He was born in a wine merchant family in 1340;
2. His early life as a page and his marriage acquainted him with knowledge about upper class;
3.he was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets Corner” . II. His Work: The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales The General Prologue ...
-*
The Prioress
There was also a Nun, a Prioress, Whose name was gentle and full of guilelessness. “By St. Loy!” was the worst oath she would say. She sang mass well, in a becoming way, Intoning through her nose the words divine, And she was known as Madam Eglantine. She spoke good French, as taught at Stratford-Bow For the Parisian French she did not know. She was schooled to eat so primly and so well That from her lips no morsel ever fell. She wet her fingers lightly in the dish Of sauce, for courtesy was her first wish. With every bite she did her skillful best To see that no drop fell upon her breast. She always wiped her upper lip so clean That in her cup was never to be seen
A hint of grease when she had drunk her share, She reached out for her meat with comely air. She was a great delight, and always tried To imitate court ways, and had her pride, Both amiable and gracious in her dealings. As for her charity and tender feelings, She melted at whatever was piteous.
She would weep if she but came upon a mouse Caught in a trap, if it were dead of bleeding. Some little dogs that took pleasure feeding On roasted meat or milk or good wheat bread She had, but how she wept to find one dead Or yelping from a blow that made it smart,
-*
And all was sympathy and loving heart. Neat was her wimple in its every plait, Her nose well formed, her eyes as gray as slate. Her mouth was very small and soft and red. She had so wide a brow I think her head Was nearly a span broad, for certainly She was not undergrown, as all could see. She wore her cloak with dignity and charm, And had her rosary about her arm, The small beads coral and the larger green, And from them hung a brooch of golden sheen, On it a large A and a crown above; Beneath, “all things are subject unto love.”
I. Questions for discussion:
1. What is the tone of the setting? How did the author achieve such setting of the tales?
2. Summarize the character of the Prioress in this Prologue.
3. To analyze Chaucer’s ways of characterization in this Prologue and the language style of the selected part.
II. To illustrate the terms.
Heroic couplet: A two-line section of a poem, which rhymes and has five feet each in iambic meter(also termed as iambic pentameter ), and which has a meaning complete within itself.
Example: The veins are bathed in li quor of such power As brings about the engen dering of the flower,
(抑抑扬)
-*
ATT: For the convenience of the interpretation for the foot, some words are detached.
Foot: A group of syllables forming a unit of verse, usually one foot contains at least one stressed word, or contains one stressed word and one or more than one unstressed words.
III. Social significance of The Canterbury Tales (also function as a simple analysis) 1. The Canterbury is not only a collection of stories strung by loose thread. (1) To affirm men and women’s right to pursue their happiness; (2) To oppose the dogma of asceticism;
(3) To praise man’s energy, intellect and love of life. 2. This work exposed the evil of time (1) the degeneration of the noble; (2) the heartless of judge; (3) the corruption of church
IV. Chaucer’s achievements in and contribution to English literature 1. He is one of the earliest literary talents who embody humanism. 2. Father of English poetry
(1) the first great poet who wrote in English language;
(2) introduced rhymed five accents in iambic meter to English poetry (heroic
couplet)
3. Founder of English realism
The prologue supplies a miniature of then English society (ways of narrating the stories and different social status of these pilgrims).
4. His excellent works contribute a lot to establish English as the literary language of the country. (set an example for the poets of later generation )
5. He made London dialect as the standard for the modern English speech.
-*
Renaissance Period
William Shakespeare
I. Life
1. born of trader family in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564, and his family got into financial troubles;
2. Fail to finish formal schooling for the reason of financial difficulties, he left for London.
II. Shakespeare the dramatist
His plays are poetical dramas, most of which are written in blank verse which was created one of the famous university wits, Christopher Marlow.
His career as a dramatist may be divided into three (or four) periods: (to be lectured later)
Hamlet
●The Monologue：
To be: to exist, to live, to passively accept, to suffer; Not to be: to die, to take action to fight against fate.
That is the question: this shows Hamlet confronted with both body and moral dilemma: whether to suffer passively or to take action to fight. ◆three reasons for his dilemma:
1.He receives Stoic philosophy: Forbearance is the noblest(顺从是最高的美德). Ciceronian philosophy: Duty is most important.
These two views of philosophy are quite contradictory for Hamlet. (to interpret in depth )
2.Religious reason: fear of after-life. (as obviously shown in this monologue: to die, to sleep)
3. Odepus complex (commonly called mother complex): this view was put forward by some critic, which conducted a psychological analysis based on the Freudian philosophy. (to simply narrate the origin of this complex.)
英国文学复习资料
