英美文学选读18th century novels.pptVIP

The 18th Century Novels Britain in 18th century 18th century Britain and today’s China Commercial society and the Industrial Revolution Spiritual and psychological problems Identity 17th fixed identity (The Great Chain of Being) 18th self-fashioning John Locke (1632-1704) The social contract theory On individual “The state of Nature has a law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one, and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions.” Government has no other end than the preservation of property.“ He is willing to join in Society with others for the mutual Preservation of their Lives, Liberties and Estates, which I call by the general Name, Property. The South-Sea Bubble The Rise of the Novel According to Jane Austen, novel is some work in which “the greatest powers of mind are displayed, the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humor are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language.” Novel as a New Genre Individualism, private history Realism, reflect basic socio-historical tendencies of the eighteenth century A turn from the collective spirit of the Middle Ages that heavily relied on allegory and symbolism Practical Causes of the Rise The rise of an educated middle class The spread of the printing press A modified economic basis which allowed authors to pursue writing as an independent profession Sub-Genres The picaresque novel is the life story of a good-natured rogue, a clever and amusing adventurer of low social class who makes his way by tricks and roguery rather than by honorable industry. Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Fanders (1722), Henry Fielding’s The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1749) Epistolary novel (Novel in lett