英国文学史及作品选读 Chapter 7.pptVIP

Chapter Ⅶ The Eighteenth Century 1688-1798 1. Historical background: The Constitutional monarchy set up by parliament in 1688 was a compromise between the bourgeoisie and the aristocrats. The cultural life had undergone remarkable changes. Newton’s scientific discovery and the philosophy of John Locke affected people’s thinking of the world. Reason rather than superstition dominated. English literature was influenced by French enlighteners and ancient Roman writers. Neo-classicism was the leading literary trend in early 18th century. Enlightenment Originated in France: to use critical reason to free minds from prejudice, authority, oppression. In religion: secular; Deism: the universe is set in motion by a God as a self-regulating mechanism; everything was operated according to natural laws, which could be understood by the human mind. In art and literature: neo-classicism great respect for the classical artists. Harmony, proportion, balance and restraint In economic thought: state inference did violate to the law of nature; favored laissez-faire policies. 2． Three Stages of the 18th Century English Literature: (1) 1688---the end of the 1730s, neo-classicism in poetry of Alexander Pope, a new prose literature in the essays of Addison and Steele and in the first realistic fiction of Defoe and Swift. (2) 1740s-1750s, the realistic novels of Richardson, Fielding and Smollett, of whom the last two made rather fierce attacks on the existing social conditions but still maintained sufficient faith in the eventual triumph of virtue over vice and in the final attainment somehow of social justice. (3) The last decades, decline of the Enlightenment, the appearance of new literary tendencies of sentimentalism and pre-romanticism. 3. English Literature in Early 18th century: Alexander Pope Joseph Addison and Richard Steele Daniel Defoe Johathan Swift 3.1 Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Criticism Pope asserts that the chief require