英美文学选读文艺复兴文学1.pptVIP

CONTENT The Old English Period and Middle English Period (450-1500) 1.2 The Old English Period Old English: the epic Beowulf A folk legend brought to England by the Anglo-Saxons from their continental homes. 1.3 The Middle English Period With the Norman Conquest in 1066, Britain entered the Middle Ages (1066-1485). Middle English: The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) Geoffrey Chaucer (1340?-1400) ①The Romance( describing the life and adventures of a noble hero) Geoffrey Chaucer乔叟 ②the “father of English poetry”, →“The Canterbury Tales” is Chaucer’s masterpiece (stories narrated by Pilgrims) → he introduced rhymed couplet to English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. (Couplet: A stanza of two lines, usually rhyming. ) The Renaissance (1500-1660) Renaissance (1485—1660) → The Background: the society was in its transition from the feudalism to capitalism. → Revival or rebirth of classical arts, culture and philosophy after the dark ages of medieval → The key word for it is humanism, emphasized secular concerns , express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie. → Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe are all famous literary figures in this period  Renaissance is characterized by admiration of the Greek and Latin classic works. sonnet (十四行诗) drama The drama types are tragedy, comedy and farce (滑稽剧) . Utopia (socialism) The definition of Utopia is no place. Edmund Spenser(1552-1599) A poet’s poet The Faerie Queene Francis Bacon培根 (1561-1626) Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593) 2.2 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) William Shakespeare the greatest English poet and dramatist ①154 sonnets, ②37 plays, including 14 comedies, 12 tragedies, and 11 historical plays, ③2 long poems. But for such a great writer, we have very little definite knowledge about his life. Shakespeare’s Tragedies ?The Merchant of Venice to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia a heroine of great beauty, wit and loyalty, to expo