英美文学演示课件ecture2.pptVIP

American Literature;The American Romanticism (I) ;I. What is Romanticism;Internal causes: American burgeoned into a political, economic and cultural independence. Democracy and political equality became the ideals of the new nation. Radical changes came about in the political life of the country. Parties began to squabble and scramble for power, and new system was in the making. The spread of industrialism, the sudden influx of immigration, and the pioneers pushing the frontier further west, all these produced something of an economic boon and, with it, a tremendous sense of optimism and hope among the people. ;Ever-increasing magazines played an important role in facilitating literary expansion in the country. External causes: Foreign influences added incentive to the growth of romanticism in America. The influence of Sir Walter Scott was particularly powerful and enduring.;III. Characteristics of American Romanticism (b);IV. The Representatives of the early American romanticism;A. Washington Irving (1783-1859 );Washington Irving was born in New York City on April 3, 1783 as the youngest of 11 children. His parents, Scottish-English immigrants, were great admirers of General George Washington, and named their son after their hero. Early in his life Irving developed a passion for books. He studied law privately but practiced only briefly. From 1804 to 1806 he travelled widely in Europe. After returning to the United States, Irving was admitted to the New York bar in 1806. He was a partner with his brothers in the family hardware business and representative of the business in England until it collapsed in 1818. During the war of 1812 Irving was a military aide to New York Governor Tompkins in the U.S. Army. Irvings career as a writer started in journals and newspapers. His success in social life and literature was shadowed by a personal tragedy because his engaged love died at the age of seventeen. So he never married or had children.;After the death of his