英美文学选读笔记精挑细选版.docVIP

英美文学选读笔记简单版 　　The Renaissance Definitions of the Literary Terms： 　　1. The Renaissance： The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally， it refers to the period between the 14th 17th centuries. It first started in Italy， with the flowering of painting， sculpture literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance， which means rebirth or revival， is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events， such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman Greek culture， the new discoveries in geography astrology， the religious reformation the economic expansion. The Renaissance， therefore， in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe， to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie， to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. 　　2. Humanism： 　　Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious， intellectual side， for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning， humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment， but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections， and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question， explore， and enjoy. Thus， by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life， they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life， but had the ability to p