英美文学选读笔记.docx

英美文学选读笔记.docx

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英美文学选读笔记

英美文学选读笔记+考题

Lecture1WilliamShakespeare

1.Introductionofthecourse

（1）ThiscourseiscalledSelectedReadingsinEnglishandAmericanLiterature,acompulsorycourseforyou.Itwillbefinishedin12weeks.Andineachweekwe'llmeeteachothertwotimes.

（2）Inthiscourse,youwillhavetoreadsomeoriginalworkstakenfromEnglishandAmericanclassics.Itmaybealittlebitdifficultforyou.However,it'salsoachanceforyoutoknowsomegreattreasuryinworldliteratureandI'llhelpyouunderstandthem.

（3）Comparingwiththeliteraryhistorycourses,thiscoursemainlyfocusesonoriginalproductions.Thecoursebookisaniceonewithclassicalworksanddetailednotes.

（4）Forthefinaltest,10%willbedecidedbyyourattendance,20%byyourhomeworkand70%bythetestpaper.Aboutthehomework,afterwefinisheachwriter,I'llgiveyouanamelistofrecommendedworkswrittenbythewriter.Inthewholesemester,youshouldchooseatleastonepieceofEnglishwriter'sworksandonepieceofAmericanwriter'sworksrecommendedbyme.Andthenyoushouldwriteasmallpaperonthepieceofworksyouchose.Thatmeansyoushouldturnintwopapersinthewholesemester.

（5）Averyimportantsuggestion:

previewtheproductionsbeforetheclass;otherwiseit'llbeverydifficultforyoutocatchmeintheclass.

2.WilliamShakespeare（1564-1616）

（1）HistoricalBackground

A.QueenElizabethI:

apowerfulEnglandwiththefastdevelopmentofcapitalism

B.Renaissance:

anintellectualmovementsprungfirstinItalyinthe14thcenturyandgraduallyspreadalloverEurope.Twofeaturesarestrikingofthismovement.Theoneisathirstingcuriosityfortheclassicalliterature.Anotheristhehumanism,whichmeansthenewfeelingofadmirationforhumanbeautyandhumanachievement.

C.ShakespearelivedinsuchaperiodandalsosuchaperiodmadehimthemostfamousandmostimportantEnglishwriter.

（2）Life

（Readparagraph1and2onpage1afterclass.Thesetwoparagraphsaretheintroductionofthegreatwriter'slife.）

A.Hiscompleteworksinclude37plays,2narrativepoemsand154sonnets.

B.Heismainlyfamousforhisgreatplays,especiallytheoutstanding"FourGreatTragedies".（"Hamlet","KingLear","Othello"and"Macbeth"）Heisalsotheauthorofsomeotherfamousplays,suchas"RomeoandJuliet",buttodaywe'lllearntheexcerptfromoneofhisgreatcomedies-"TheMerchantofVenice",whichwe'lltalkaboutalittlebitlater.

C.Shakespeare'ssonnetsarealsoverygood.We'llfirstintroduceSonnet18,themostfamoussonnetwrittenbyShakespeare.

（3）Sonnet18

A.Asonnetisalyricpoemconsistingofasinglestanzaoffourteeniambicpentameterlineslinkedbyanintricaterhymescheme.ItwasintroducedtoEnglandfromItalybySirThomasWyattandHenryHoward,EarlofSurrey.（ItisaverypopularpoemformandusedwidelyinEnglishliterature.IntheElizabethera,EdmundSpenserwasalsofamousforhissonnets.Andlater,JohnMilton,ByronandKeatsallcontributedexcellentsonnets.）

B.Thoughthesonnetisafixedform,buttherhymeschemeofthesonnetisnotfixed.（fewminutesforstudentstofindoutthispoem'srhymescheme.）

Answer:

ababcdcdefefgg.ThisisatypicalrhymeschemeusedbyShakespeareinallhissonnets.

C.Explainthepoemsentencebysentence.

temperate:

moderateormild;roughwinds:

strongwinds;darling:

lovely;lease:

租约;complexion:

appearance;dim:

darkenwithcloud;brag:

boast;

D.（discuss）Theme:

expressingthedeeplovetohisfriend

（4）TheMerchantofVenice

A.FamouscomedywrittenbyShakespeareinhisyouth

B.Setting:

Venice,theMiddleAge

C.Characters:

Bassanio,Antonio,Shylock,Portia（letstudentsdiscussthecharacters）

Portia:

Shakespeare'sidealwoman,beautiful,intelligent,cultured,gracious,independent,adaughterofRenaissance

Shylock:

mostsuccessfulcharacter,aJew,agreedyandmercilessusurerandalsoavictimofracialdiscriminationandreligiouspersecution（sympathy）

D.Plot:

ReadtheintroductionfromP3toP4.

E.（Discuss）Theme:

Mercywinsovermalice.

F.Theselectionisthemostfamoussceneofthewholeplayandalsotheclimaxoftheplay.（Askstudentstoreaditthoroughlyaftertheclass.）Intheclass,we'lllearnashortparttakenfromthescene.（P10toP11,thefamousstatementaboutmercymadebyPortia）

G.（thelastbutnotleast）formoftheplay:

versedramawritteninblankversemostly

blankverse:

unrhymediambicpentameter.SoonafterblankversewasintroducedbyHenryHoward,EarlofSurreyinhistranslationofVirgil'sworks,itbecamethestandardmeterforElizabethanandlaterpoeticdramasandsomepoets,suchasJohnMilton,alsoemployedthisformtowritetheirlongpoems.

（5）RecommendedReading

Sonnet29;Sonnet73;Sonnet116;Fourgreattragedies;RomeoandJuliet;AMidsummerNight'sDream

3.Homework

1.PreviewthenextchapteraboutJohnMilton.

2.Findouttheformandrhymeschemeofthepoem"ToCyriackSkinner"onP23.

Lecture2JohnMilton（160801674）

（ComparingwithWilliamShakespeare,fewpeoplereadhisgreatproductionstoday.However,heisalsoaclassicalwriterinEnglishLiterature.）

1.HistoricalBackground

（Discussion:

AnyimportanteventhappenedduringMilton'slifetimeinBritain）

EnglishBourgeoisRevolution

TheconflictsbetweenKing（JamesIandthenCharlesI）andtheParliament

Profoundconflicts:

theOldFeudalismandNewCapitalism

Inreligion:

TheAnglicanChurchandthePuritan

Theconsequenceofthosecontradictions:

theCivilWar（1642-1649）

TheKingwasexecutedin1649andmonarchywasabolished.

OliverCromwell'sdictatorship（1649-1660）

TheRestoration:

CharlesIIandthenJamesII

GloriousRevolution（1688）

2.Life

borninarichandculturedfamily-handsomeandhardworking-graduatedfromCambridgeUniversityandgotmasterdegree-sixyears'privatestudyandthemostknowledgeablepoetinBritain-writingpamphletsfortheCommonwealth-blindin1652-arrestedandfinedafterrestoration-producedthreegreatpoemsinplainlife

Mostimportantworks-threegreatpoems:

ParadiseLost（1667）;ParadiseRegained（1671）;SamsonAgonistes（1671）（poeticdrama）

Besidesthreegreatpoemsinhislateyears,healsowrotesomeexcellentsonnetsincludingtheonewe'lllearntoday.

3.ToCyriackSkinner

（Askthequestionsofhomework）（Answer:

Sonnet;abbaabbacdcdcd）

（1）Form:

Sonnet

（2）Rhymescheme:

abbaabbacdcdcd（differentwithWilliamShakespeare'ssonnets）

（3）Explainthepoemsentencebysentence

（4）（Discussion）Theme:

theauthor'spositiveattitudetowardshisblindness（anothersonnetonblindnessseemsmorediscouraged.）

4.ParadiseLost（《失乐园》）

（1）Milton'smasterpiece;greatestepicwrittenintheEnglishlanguage

*epic（史诗）:

itisalongversenarrativeonaserioussubject,toldinaformalandelevatedstyle,andcenteredonaheroicorquasi-divinefigureonwhoseactionsdependsthefateofatribe,anation,orthehumanrace.Noticethedifferencesbetweentraditionalepicsandliteraryepics.ParadiseLostisaliteraryepic.

（2）It'salongepicincluding12books.TheplotistakenfromtheOldTestamentofHolyBible.

*HolyBible对于理解西方文化最重要的经典,分为《旧约》（TheOldTestament）和《新约》（TheNewTestament）两部分,这两部分写于不同的时期,而且使用的文字不同,《旧约》主要用希伯莱语写成,《新约》则用希腊文写成.圣经最早曾被翻译成希腊文,然后是拉丁文,在欧洲各国通行.《圣经》英译始自8世纪,但各种版本都不算通行,直到MartinLuther宗教改革之后,1611年出现的AuthorizedVersion至今通行,对英国的语言和文学影响极大.推荐阅读英文版《圣经》节选或房龙《圣经的故事》中文版.

Plot:

（paragraphtwoonP24）revoltofSatanandsomeotherangels0theirdefeatandthrowingintotheHell0temptationofAdamandEve0expulsionofAdamandEve

（3）Theme:

"tojustifythewaysofGodtoman"（submissiontotheAlmighty）（Discussion:

Isthistherealthemeofthepoem）

Realtheme:

praisingtherebelliousspiritsagainstthedespot

（4）Characterization

God:

thedespot,selfish,cruelandunjust（KingofBritain）

Satan:

realhero,daretorevoltagainstthedespot,perseveringbutnotdiscouragedafterthefailure（RepublicansincludingMilton）

（MiltonisapiousChristian.Thisepicistheproductionoftheconflictsbetweenhisreligiousbeliefandpoliticalbelief.）

（5）（P26LearnashortexcerptfromParadiseLost）Form:

blankverse

（6）Explaintheexcerptsentencebysentence.

（7）（DoyouthinkJohnMilton'sworksdifficult）Miltonicstyle:

toexpressthesublimityofthought,sonority,eloquence,majestyandgrandeurstyle

（LatinwordsandLatinsentencestructure,inversion,archaism,longsentenceandmostlyformalwords,thusthestyleformedandhisEnglishratherdifficult）

5.RecommendedReading

JohnMilton'stwosonnets:

Onhisblindness;Onhisdeceasedwife

6.Homework

PreviewthenextchapterincludingthelifeofDanielDefoe,theintroductionofRobinsonCrusoeandtheexcerptChapterVIIIfromP33toP37.

Lecture3DanielDefoe（166001731）

（HeisaveryfamousnovelistaroundtheworldbecauseofhispopularnovelRobinsonCrusoe.）

1.HistoricalBackground

（1）Comparingwiththe17thcentury,the18thcenturyisaperiodforpeacefuldevelopment.

（2）Theconstitutionalmonarchyhasbeensetupbyparliamentin1688.AftertheGloriousRevolution,themonarchwasdeprivedofrulingpowerandinhisplaceParliamentbecametheactualleaderofthecountry.TheToryandtheWhig,astwomajorpartiesinEngland,competedwitheachotherinpolitics.（Discussion:

WhatdoyouknowabouttheWhigandtheTory）

*辉格党（Whig）和托利党（Tory）是17世纪末在英国出现的两个正在形成中的政党.1679年,当议会讨论詹姆士公爵（即后来的詹姆士二世）是否有权继承英国王位时,议员们展开了激烈争论.赞成的人被对方称为"托利",反对的人则被对方称为"辉格".渐渐地,双方各自都以此自称.后来,双方的观点都发生了变化,辉格党对君主不再持完全的否定态度,因为"光荣革命"后英国君主的权力已经受到种种限制;托利党也逐渐改变了坚决拥护专制君主制的立场,因为他们几次恢复旧王朝的企图都因遭到了大多数人的反对而失败.久而久之,国王发现,无论是辉格党还是托利党,当其中一个在议会中占多数时,就最好任命这个党的成员为内阁大臣,内阁就不会同议会闹矛盾.18世纪上半期,辉格党在政治上占优势,是议会多数党,故此,辉格党执政近半个世