英国文学课后习题
答案 Unit 1 Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales: 1. How is the
setting of the tales described? With such a setting, could you predict the general tone of the tales that are to follow? The setting of the tale is that a group of saints lived in the same hotel determined to continue their journey as a group and they tell different stories on their way. The general tone of the tale is comedy. 2. In your own
words, summarize the character of the
Knight from the brief introduction in this excerpt. The knight is a good person, he is a sincere saint. He is going on his pilgrimage as he just comes back from his voyage. And at the same time, he is a brave soldier and made contributions to the wars. But he is very polite and wears simple cloth in his life. 3. Without
comparison with the translated version, are there words still recognizable to you in the original Middle English version? Although the words used in The Canterbury Tales are Middle
English, to a modern reader, they are not entirely unrecognizable. Some of the vocabularies are much similar to Modern English, therefore, in most cases, readers can guess and then interpret the meaning of these words, ., droghte is equivalent to drought, licour is equivalent to liquor and so on. Unit 2 William Shakespeare Hamlet： 1.
Why sleep is so frightening, according to Hamlet, since it can “end” the heartache and the thousand natural shocks”?Nobody can
predict what he will dream of after he falls asleep.
Death
means the end of life, you may go to an unknown world and you can’t
come
back. If he dies, Hamlet
can't
realize his will. Though “sleep” can end the heartache and
the
thousand
natural shocks, it is a state of mind. Hamlet didn’t know at all. He is frightened by the possible suffering in the long “dream”. He
can’t
predict what will happen in the sleep, may be good may be evil.
2. Why would people rather hear all the sufferings of the world instead choosing death to get rid of them, according to Hamlet? Death
is
so
mysterious that nobody
knows
what death will bring to
us. Maybe
bitter
sufferings, great pains, heartbreaking stories… 3.
What, after all, makes people lose their determination to take action? Please explain in relation to the so-called hesitation of Hamlet. 1) Conscience
and over-
considerations. 2) He wants to
revenge, but doesn’t know how; 3) He wants to
kill his uncle, but find it too risky; 4) He lives in
despair and wants to commit suicide, 5) However, he
knows if he dies, nobody will comfort his father’s ghost. He is in face of great dilemma.
Romeo and Juliet: 1. What does
Romeo compare Juliet to in the beginning passage of the selection?
Sun
2. What is Romeo
and Juliet’s attitude toward being a Montague or a Capulet? They would give up their names for love’s sake. 3. What does
Romeo mean when he says “Look thou but sweet, /And I am proof against their enmity”? Only if you are kind to me, their hatred cannot hurt me.
Sonnet 18: 1.
How does the poet answer the question he puts forth in the first line?
The poet opens with a question that is addressed to the beloved,
\I compare thee
to
a summer's
day?\
This question is comparing “thee” to the summer time of the year. It is during this time when the flowers are
blooming,
trees are full of leaves,
the
weather is warm, and it is generally considered as an enjoyable
time
during the year. The
following
eleven lines in the poem are also dedicated to
similar comparisons between the beloved and summer
days. The poet answers the question by saying that \art more lovely
and more temperate\than summer. At last, the poet starts to praise that the beloved is so great and awing that she is to live forever in this sonnet. 2.
What makes the poet think that “thou” can be more beautiful (fair) than summer and immortal? At
the
very beginning,
the
poet puts forth a question: “Shall I compare thee to a
summer’s
day?” Then he gives an answer, “Thou art more lovely and more temperate.” On the one hand, “Rough winds do
shake
the
darling buds of May,
and
summer’s lease hath all too short a date;” on the other
hand,
“Sometime too hot the heaven shines, and often is
his
gold
complexion dimmed.”
So
from the above two aspects the poet thinks that “thou” can be more
beautiful
than summer. In addition, “And every fair from fair
sometime
declines, by chance, or
nature’s
changing course untrimmed.” Compared with immortal, “But thy
eternal
summer shall not fade, nor lose
possession of that fair thou ow’st, nor shall death brag
thou
wand’rest in his shade, when in eternal lines to times thou
grow’st.” Therefore, the poet
draws
a conclusion: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, so long lives this, and this gives
life
to
thee.” In this poem, the poet makes “thou” more
beautiful
than summer and immortal because of his beautiful lines. So in this case, “thou” in the poem can be regarded as female
because
love can make beauty eternal. Or
“thou” can be referred to male, for friendship can make
beauty
everlasting. Even “thou” can be abstract “love” or
“beauty”
which
will
become eternal in the wonderful
poem.
The poet thinks that
every summer is going to fade and go away,
whereas
thou will always be beautiful and lovely.
Unit 3 Francis Bacon Of Marriage and Single Life: 1. Is marriage an
impediment or help to one’s career development?
英国文学问答题答案
