英国文学史及选读-棒!1.pptVIP

The Renaissance Period Historical background: (1) The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) and Tudor dynasty which was established by Henry VII in 1485. (2) Reformation: Protestantism became the official national religion. (3) The Enclosure movement: compelled peasants to become the hired laborers for the merchants. (4) Flourishing in the Elizabethan Age: The commercial expansion and the rise of bourgeoisie. (5) The war with Spain: in 1588, the Spanish Armada was defeated. England had sovereignty over the seas. Thomas Mores Utopia Utopia is Mores masterpiece, written in the form of a conversation between More and a returned sailor. The name Utopia comes from two Greek words meaning no place. The whole work is divided into two books. Book I of Utopia is a picture of contemporary social conditions of England. The author severely criticizes English society and exposes social evils. BookⅡoffers us a good picture of an ideal society called Utopia in some unknown ocean. In this society property is held in common and there is no poverty. Edmund Spenser (1552 -1599) 　　Spenser is often referred to as the poets poet. 　　Spenser’s fame in English literature is chiefly based upon his masterpiece: (The Faerie Queene). In 1579, he wrote (The Shepherd’s Calendar ) a pastoral poem in twelve books, one for each month of the year. Writing Features of “The Faerie Queene” 　a. The long poem is written in the form of allegory. It has sweet melody and its lines are very musical. 　b. Spenser invented a new verse form for this poem. The verse form has been called Spenserian Stanza since his day. Each stanza has nine lines, each of the first eight lines is in iambic pentameter form, and the ninth line is an iambic hexameter line. The rhythm scheme is abab bcbc c. 　　 Any discussion of Shakespeares life is bound to be loaded with superlatives. In the course of a quarter century, Shakespeare wrote some thirty-eight plays. Taken individually, several of them are among the worlds finest