英国文学选读知识总结.docVIP

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) 乔叟He was born in 1343 in London. He died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, thus founding the “Poets Corner”.The father of English Poetry and one of the greatest narrative poets of England.“The Canterbury Tales” (1387-1400) It is Chaucer’s masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature. Chaucer’s Contribution to English Literature Chaucer is regarded as the founder of English poetry and has been called “the founder of English realism.” He is the first great poet who wrote in the English language. He introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the “heroic couplet” (英雄双韵体) to English poetry.His masterpiece “The Canterbury Tales” is one of the monumental works in English literature 公爵夫人之书，百鸟议会，声誉之堂，特罗勒思和克里西德 Structure of a poem: A poem can be broken down into three parts: (1) Stanza (节) : a group of lines set off from the other lines in a poem. It is the poetic equivalent of a paragraph in prose. In traditional poems, the stanza usually contains a unit of thought.(2) The line (行) : a single line of poetry (3) The foot (音步) : a syllable or a group of 2 or 3 syllables. To scan a line of poetry one counts the number of feet in a line. For a beginner, the easiest thing to do is to count the number of stresses. Typically a foot will contain a stressed and an unstressed syllable. William Shakespeare (1564-1616) playwright, poet, actor. Shakespeare and Aeschylus are the two greatest dramatic geniuses the world has ever known.—Carl Marks. The Great Tragedies: 《哈姆雷特》(Hamlet,1601 ) 《奥赛罗》(Othello, 1604) 《李尔王》(King Lear, 1605) 《麦克白》(Macbeth, 1606) The Great Comedies威尼斯商人》(The Merchant of Venice, 1596) 《仲夏夜之梦》(A Midsummer Nights Dream,1596) 《第十二夜》(Twelfth Night, 1600)?《皆大欢喜》(As You Like It, 1601) Shakespeare’s career as a dramatist may be divided into four major phases.: The First Period(1590-1594) This period is the period of his apprenticeship in play-writing. Works: Henry VI The Comedy of Err