英美文学课件Part EightEighteen Century English Literature.pptVIP

Part Eight Francis Bacon I. The Introduction of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) 1) Francis Bacon, the youngest son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, keeper of the privy Seal to Queen Elizabeth, went to Cambridge University at 12. After graduation, he took up law and soon became successful. He became a member of the House of Commons at the age of 23. When James I came to the throne, Bacon became Lord Chancellor and was made a knight in 1618. In the course of his climbing to the top, however, he made enemies who brought about his final downfall. Part Eight Francis Bacon 2) Bacon was the founder of English materialist philosophy, as well as of modern science in England. He published The Advancement of Learning (1605) and Novum Organum (1620). Although he didn’t make any scientific discoveries, at which he aimed, yet the whole spirit of his work has strongly influenced science in the direction of accurate observation and of careful testing every theory by practical experiment. 3) Bacon was especially famous for his Essays, first published in 1597 and then in 1625. Bacon’s practical wisdon is shown throught his reflections and comments on rather abstract subjects in his 58 essays. Many of theessays have been included in the students’ bibliography. Part Eight Francis Bacon II Bacon’s Essays Bacon’s famous Essays is the kind of work which will interest all stuydents of English literature. It covers a wide variety of subjects suggested by the life of the men around him. Unexceptionally, his essays are about the subjects of “studies, beauty, goodness, love, friendship, superstition, travel, envy, death,anger, revenge, truth, praise, marriage, fortune, adversity” and so on. Part Eight Francis Bacon Concerning the best of these essays, there are as many opinions as there are reader, and what one getsout of them depends largely on his own experience, thought and intelligence. One cannot read his work without becoming conscious of two things: a per