【正文】 classical Greek and Latin literature, and accelerated by the development of printing. The Renaissance is monly held to mark the close of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern Western world. Humanism became the keynote of the English Renaissance. The Humanists emphasized the capability of the human mind and the achievements of human culture, in contrast to the medieval emphasis on God and contempt for the things of this world.人文主義思想1． 反對(duì)“以神為本”，提出以人為中心的世界觀。(Hundred Year’s War 13371453)和紅白玫瑰戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)（Wars of the Roses 14551485），Lancasterian Henry VII married with Edward IV’s daughter, 國(guó)力消耗，封建領(lǐng)主勢(shì)力削弱。 The 20th Century: Modernism現(xiàn)代主義191819451. Poetry: Imagism . Eliot’s The Waste Land, Symbolism 2. Stream of Consciousness: James Joyce, Virginia Wolfe, etc.3. Psychological Novelist: . Lawrence4. Dramatist: Bernard ShawI. Session Two The Medieval English Literature (C5thC15th) （I）Brief Introduction to The Medieval English Literature I. the Old English Period/AngloSaxon Period古英語(yǔ)時(shí)期: C5thC11thII. Middle English Period中古英語(yǔ)時(shí)期 1. AngloNorman Period: 10661340/1350 2. 13401400: Age of Chaucer 3. C15thI. AngloSaxon or Old English Period (4851066) 1. Background 1. Background Information(1). Origin of English PeopleCeltsRoman C5th—Norman 1066(2) ReligionThe AngloSaxons were heathen people. They believed in old mythology of Northern Europe. The days of the week are named after the Northern gods. The AngloSaxons were Christianized in the C7th. The introduction of Christianity exerted an important influence upon literature.2. Literature: Heroic Age 英雄時(shí)代/A verse literature in oral form(1) Pagan poetry: Beowulf: the most remarkable literary work in Old English, the oldest poem and the oldest surviving epic in the English language, portraying the life and adventures of the AngloSaxon people, based on the folk legends of the primitive northern tribes.Epic: A long narrative poem of great scale and grand style, typically a recounting of history or legend or of the deeds of a national hero. Alliteration/head rhyme or initial rhyme: the repetition of the initial consonants in a group of neighboring words. Landscapelover, lord of language.Understatements: understatement is a figure of speech that deliberately expresses ideas, etc too weakly. It is the opposite of hyperbole. Understatement is used to play down or minimize the importance of something. Examples: The face wasn’t a bad one. It had what they called charm. My daughter got a passing grade for History. But her score could be better. This gives an impression of reserve and at the time a tinge of ironical humor. This quality is often regarded as a permanent characteristic of the English.Kenning/metaphor比喻名稱、隱喻語(yǔ):濃縮的比喻，通常由兩個(gè)名詞組成的復(fù)合名詞 for example: Whalepath: Ocean sky’s candle: sun battleflasher: sword(2) Christian poetry: Caedmon, the first English known poet and Cynewulf(3) Prose appeared in the C8th represented by Venerable Bede（Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum英格蘭人教會(huì)史）, Alfred the Great(The AngloSaxon Chronicle 盎格魯撒克遜編年史), and Aelfric2. Literature: Romance is the prevailing literary form and prospered for about 300 years (12001500). It was a long position, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The most notable romance in the romances of matter of Britain is Sir Gawain and the Green KnightThe Features of Romance: （1）It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.(2) It shows the emphasis upon supreme devotion to a fair lady.(3) It analyzes characters in a typical, not in an individual manner.II. Literature2. Geoffrey Chaucer(1)The status of Chaucer: in the period of medieval English, literature found its best expression mainly in poetry. The most famous and the greatest poet of the time was Geoffrey Chaucer. He is often called the father of English poetry.(2)Life: Chaucer had a good knowledge of French, Latin and English. His rich life experience and his knowledge of the world equipped him socially and intellectually to be the founder of English poetry. After his death, he was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the Poets’ corner.(3) Three literary periods: a. the period of French Influence: The Romaunt of the Roseb. the period of Italian Influence: Troilus and Criseydec. the period of richest development: Canterbury Tales(4) His representative work: the Canterbury Talesa. the brief story of the bookb. the social significance of Canterbury Tales (5) His contribution: a. He enriched the poetic forms for the English poetry by introducing from France the rhymed stanzas of various forms to English poetry instead of the old AngloSaxon alliterative verse.Heroic Couplet is a rhymed pair of iambic pentameter lines. It was established by Chaucer as a major English verseform for narrative and other kinds of nondramatic poetry。秘密結(jié)婚?！段黠L(fēng)頌》West wind, If Winter es, can Spring be far behind?冬天來(lái)了，春天還會(huì)遠(yuǎn)嗎?2. Critical Realism: Dickens, Thackeray, Bronte Sisters etc.3. Victorian Poets: Tennyson, Mr. and Mrs. Browning, etc. Robert Browning 創(chuàng)立了戲劇獨(dú)白(dramatic monologue).同當(dāng)時(shí)著名的女詩(shī)人伊麗莎白布賴特有一段動(dòng)人的愛(ài)情故事。積極浪漫主義詩(shī)人 理想和激情的革命斗爭(zhēng)精神. 拜倫、雪萊和濟(jì)慈。一個(gè)是居高臨下的欣賞，一個(gè)是自得其樂(lè)。退隱山林華茲華斯、騷塞?；膷u文學(xué)Picaresque novel。3. Realism: Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe)。塞繆爾約翰遜編寫(xiě)了英語(yǔ)史上第一部詞典《英語(yǔ)詞典》(A dictionary of the English literature)。雜志期刊文學(xué)的興起推動(dòng)了散文的發(fā)展。One truth is clear, whatever is, is ，這是清楚的道理。Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress.四、The 18th Century: Age of Prose 1. The Enlightenment Movement：reason, education.2. Newclassicism（17001745）：The Augustan Age Pope：To err is human, to forgive ，難得的是寬恕。2. Literature: a. The golden age of the English poetryEdmund Spenserpoets’ poet/Sir Thomas Wyatt /Earl of Surrey/ Blank Verse(unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter)/ W. Shakespearepeak of English sonnetb. Drama: Christopher Marlowethe forerunner of the