Lecture1

Ⅱ. Recommended Novels for Reading (British)

18th-century

Gulliver’s Travels: Jonathan Swift; social satire/fantasy/; Part I, II, and IV interesting; language difficulty ***.

Robinson Crusoe: Daniel Defoe; an account of the process of the building of the British Empire in the 18th century; diary-like detailed description and narration; language difficulty **. 19th-century Great Expectations:

Charles Dickens; about moral corruption and loss of innocence and honesty in growing up; the Cinderella pattern in structure; language Dif ***; a bit too long. Jane Eyre:

Charlotte Bronte; a poor, plain governess struggling for self-dignity and personal happiness; language dif **. Wuthering Heights:

Emily Bronte; one of the best novels in the world; a presentation of the most primitive, natural, powerful, touching as well as the most destructive love human beings are capable of; language dif **. Silas Marner:

George Eliot; a religious fable about religion of humanity; language dif **; small.

Tess of D’Urbervilles:

Thomas Hardy; tragic fate of a ―pure‖ young peasant woman at the time of capitalist invasion into the country in the 19th-century England; language dif ***.

20th-century

Sons and Lovers: D.H. Lawrence; Oedipus Complex; the study of man-woman relations; language dif ***.

Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf; about the spiritual journey of Mrs Dalloway; typical stream of consciousness fiction; language dif ***, not long

The Fifth Child: Doris Lessing; about distortion or horror of human nature/ a human-born monster; Language dif **, small.

Ⅲ. Contents

Chapter One: Old English Literature Chapter Two: Middle English Literature Chapter Three: Geoffrey Chaucer Chapter Four: The Renaissance

Ⅳ.Development of Literature

Three stages of English language development:

i. Old English /Anglo-Saxon (OE. As the language up to 1066 is usu. called) ii. Middle English (about 1100-1500) iii. Modern English (about 1500-present)

Part One: Old and Medieval English Literature Historical background 3 conquests/invasions

--- Romans (4th to the 6th cen.):

politics of self-government, transportation system, cities, Latin language and Christianity (little remained)

--- English/Anglo-Saxon Conquest ( Angles, Saxons, Jutes)

A. Germanic tribes from the Mediterranean coast: Scandinavia, Denmark and Germany

B. the Pagans/heathens异教徒

C. enslaved the Celts and drove others to Wales, Scotland and Ireland

D. began feudalism; new social strata: serfs 农奴—freemen自由民—farmers农民--thanes乡士--earls爵爷—kings王爷

E. a medley of different races/ethnic groups; of multiple influences and

cultural and political orders

---Norman Conquest in 1066 by William,

Duke of Normandy from Northern France:

A. further established feudalism, and ended the slave system in 14th cen. B. powerful Popedom 教皇制 established

(1/3 of land, political right, wide moral degeneration of the clericals; penances or pardons 赦罪令

C. highly centralized royal power, but conceded in the 13th cen. with

establishment of parliament (1215 the Magna Carta/King John)

D. communication with the outside world: diplomatic relations,

development of trade and increasing strength for tradesmen and skilled professionals

E. influence from outside world in ideology

F. coexistence of 3 languages: Latin, the clerical and learned; French,

noblemen and royal court; A-S native English/ Celtic dialect (vernacular) for the common

[Not until the 13th century did English enter the world of official discourse

官方用语. 1258 Henry III issued a proclamation布告 in 3 languages, 14th cen., parliament and court allowed English.]

Chapter Five: The Revolution and Restoration Chapter Six:Enlightenment in England Chapter Seven: The Romantic Period Chapter Eight: The Victorian Age

Chapter Nine: Twentieth Century Literature

(The Dark Age: blind belief of Roman Catholicism and after-life and stagnant philosophical and artistic development)

Ⅴ. Literature (secular)

---the Old English (until A-S period) and Middle English (after 1066)

---tales passed on orally by gleemen or minstrels 吟唱诗人until Homer‘s Iliad and Odyssey

Old English Period : Beowulf, an Epic

A. the most important existent work; the national epic of Anglo-Saxons

B. written in 7-8 cen.

C. partly-historical and partly-legendary

D. not about England but their homeland in Denmark

E. epic form: a long verse narrative on the exploits of a national hero, Beowulf

F. the primitive people‘s heroic struggle against hostile forces of the natural world under a wise leader

G. pagan elements + Christian coloring: ―fate‖, ―God‘, ―Lord‖ H. alliteration and Germanic language Middle English Literature A. Romance 罗曼史

---Roman, French matters for subjects: Trojan War, Charlemagne, Roland and the

knights; chivalric;

---English romance: King Arthur and his round-table knights; ―Sir Gawain and the

Greenknight‖ (1360-1370), ―Le Morte d‘Arthur‖ by Sir Thomas Malory B. Religious writings and translations (from Hebrew to Latin):

Langland‘s ―Piers the Plowman‖ C. Poetic form:

alliterative poetry头韵诗 metrical poetry韵律诗

Lecture 2 Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)

Father of English poetry /literature

? 3 periods of creation:

French Romaunt of the Rose, translation

Italian (after Dante Divine Comedy, Petrarch and Boccaccio, Decameron; The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women, Troylus and Criseyde) British (1386-1400) The Canterbury Tales

? Contributions:

A. the first to present a comprehensive and realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales

B. introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to replace the Old English alliterative verse

C. the first to use the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter/heroic couplet

? Canterbury Tales:

The story: 29 pilgrims, and the poet on the way to Canterbury, stopped at an inn. At

the proposal of the host of the Tabard Inn each was to tell 4 stories on the way to and back from Cant. Host be the guide and judge, the best teller gets a free supper at the cost of all the rest upon their return to the inn. Should have been 120 stories, but only 24 completed and preserved, 2 incomplete, 2 unfinished.

Theme: influenced by the early Italian Renaissance, he affirms man’s right to

pursue earthly happiness and opposes asceticism 禁欲说; praises man‘s energy, intellect, and love of life; exposes and satirizes the social evils, esp. the religious abuses

structure: General prologue (occasion, characters) followed by stories; a separate

prologue between two stories

characterization: vivid portrayal of individualized 个性化characters of the society

and of all professions and social strata except the highest and the lowest

1. shows respect for the two landed gentry, the plowman and the parson;

2. satirizes all the religious people， except the parson，who are guilty of sins: Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, and Sloth

3. shows a growing sense of self-importance of the trades/ towns people,

reflecting the changing social status, esp. in towns and cities

Style: lively, vivid Middle-Age English, satire, humour, Heroic Couplet; of unequal

merits

the 3 famous tales:

A. the Wife of Bath‘s tale of an Arthurian knight B. the Oxford clerk‘s of a patient young lady

C. the Franklin小地主‘s about a wife‘s full submission to her husband

IV. Text study:

Comment:

? This is a satirical picture of a vain, pretentious nun. Though supposedly in a

religious capacity, she had many worldly weaknesses and was in no way a true Christian, let alone a devout clergy person.

? The portrait is pervaded by ironical depictions, and the tone is light-hearted and