【正文】 her early metrical romances pave the way for Sir Gawin and the Green Knight. (3) Sir Gawin and the Green Knight is the best Arthurian romance, and The Pearl, Patience and Cleanness are also written by the same author.(4) The Arthurian romance is summed up in Thomas Malory’s Mort. d’Arthur written in prose.(5) The romance of King Arthur has its origin in Celtic legends and begins in Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain (in Latin prose). 1) Medieval Drama: a) Types: miracles, morality (mystery) and interludes. b) Miracles: (1) subject: story from the Bible or life and martyrdom of a saint. (2) Works: Noah, Second Shepherd’s Play, Brome’s Abraham and Isaac.(3)Full Development: 14th century c)Morality: the best morality, Everyman, at the end of the 15th century marked the moving of maturity in drama. d)Interludes: variety of short entertainments including secular farces of witty dialogues. The best interludes are Heywood’s The Four PP and Sir John the Priest.①Miracles denote only dramas based on saint’s lives.Mystery plays refer to those plays based on the Old and New Testaments. Thomas Malory and Prose in the 15th CenturyHis masterpiece: Le Morte d’Arthur is a kind of final summingup of the Arthurian legend built up from the 12th to the 15th century. It is the bais of most modern telling of the Arthurian story and was the inspiration for Tennyson’s Idylls of the King. The prose consists of 8 tales in 507 chapters in 21 books.Contribution: 1)Le Morte d’Arthur is an important landmark in the development of English prose from the late middle English to early modern English, which is characterized by a lucid and simple style. 2)Both the Arthurian legendary material it contains and its facile prose style have their wide and lasting influence upon English literature of the later centuries. Part Two The English Renaissance (1485—1660)Chapter I BackgroundI. Translation of Bible: The first plete English Bible was translated by John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, and his followers. (from Latin to English) Authorized Version of Bible: translated under the auspices of James I in 1611and so it was called the King James Bible. This version is simple and dignified in language.III. Peak of English Renaissance: the Elizabethan Age. We can find Edmund Spencer, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Francis Bacon and William Shakespeare. I. Renaissance in Europe1. It began in the 14th Italy. Italian influence can be traced in Chaucer’s poetry.2. Nature: Cultural and intellectual movement: It was marked by a reawakening of interest in learning, in the individual and in the world of nature. The revival of learning led scholars back to the culture of Greek and Rome. The rebirth of interest in the individual gave rise to a new creation of beauty, to a desire for selfexpression in various activities and to the creation of great works of art. II. Humanism1. Nature: a literary and philosophic(al) system of thought which attempted to place the affairs of mankind at the center of its concerns.2. Origin : in Italy. 3. Source: Based on a new reading of Greek and Roman literature, an affirmation of the importance of Platonic philosophy, and reinterpretation of the writings of Aristotle.4. Ideal: It took he life of man in the presence as a major interest5. Humanism was one of the most important factors giving rise to the Renaissance.6. Humanism is an attitude rather than a philosophy Main Traits of the Renaissance Literature 1. Its chief characteristic is the expression of secular values with man instead of God as the center of the universe:2. It emphasizes the dignity of man, affirms and eulogizes the value of man.3. It advocates the full expression of individualism and the fulfillment of one’s abilities, against the despotic rule of feudalism.4. It affirms the delight of earthly achievement as well as man’s desire for happiness and pleasure. IV. Two Striking Features1. Curiosity for classical literature 2. Interest in the activities of humanity.V. Special Points1. Dr Faustus by Marlowe is a typical example of Renaissance melancholy which doubts man’s own powers.. Renaissance spirit is best expressed through the works of Shakespeare. VI. Renaissance in England 1. Italian influence came to be important at the end of the 15th century. 2. It was not until the accession of Henry VIII to the throne in 1509 that notable Renaissance took place in England. stage (14851558) 2. Second stage (Elizabethan Age 15581603) stage (17th century including James I Period/ Jacobean Period, Charles I Period /Caroline Period and Puritan Revolution VIII. The Oxford Reformers (students and teachers at Oxford in the14century ): Grocyn, Linacre and Colet.2. Contribution: they helped to spread the light of a new science and new world outlook and laid the foundation for the rise of a new literature in England in the later decades of the 16th century.IX. Representative: Thomas More (1478 1535)1. Life: Humanist leader of early 16th century, a scholar , master of Latin, witty talker, music lover, great thinker, once Lord Chancellor. Beheaded on a false charge of treason. 2. Masterpiece: a. Utopia in 1516 (in Latin). b. Narrator: a traveler c. meaning : Nowhere Land from Greek. d. translated into English in 1551 e. structure: dream 3. Ideal: More was the first to see the relation between wealth and poverty, and to bring up the idea of munist society. He was one of the forerunners of modern socialist thought. X. Two Poets Before the Elizabethan Age Wyatt: a. the first to bring Italian. sonnet to England b.