An Outline of British Literary History
Early and Medieval English Literature
1. Beowulf, epic in old Briton
2. Romance
3. Ballads
4. Geoffrey Chaucer, the founder of English poetry, “The Canterbury Tales”
The English Renaissance (16th—first half of 17th)
1. Characteristic of Renaissance: 1) a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature; 2) keen interest in the activities of humanity (humanism)
2. Thomas More, the greatest of the English humanists, “Utopia”
3. Poets in this period: (The sonnet, an exact form of poetry in 14 lines of iambic pentameter intricately rhymed, was introduced to England from Italy by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard)
① Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86), love sonnets: “Astrophel and Stella”
② Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), “Discovery of Guiana”
③ Edmund Spenser (1552-99), “The Shepherd’s Calendar” (a pastoral poem in 12 books); “The Faerie Queene” (his masterpiece dedicated to Queen Elizabeth). He is the first master to make Modern English the natural music of his poetic effusions.
④ John Lyly (1554-1606), a romance writer for the gentle reader, “Euphues”
4. Prose Writer: Francis Bacon (1561-1626), “Essays” (58 ones). It covers a wide variety of subjects, such as love, truth, friendship, parents and children, beauty, studies, riches, youth and age, garden, death, and many others. They have won popularity for their precision, clearness, brevity and force.
5. Drama (the highest glory of English Renaissance)
① university wits: Lyly, Peele, Marlowe, Greene, Lodge and Nash. They made rapid progress in dramatic technique because they had a close contact with the actors and audience.
② Christopher Marlowe (1564-93): 1) Tamburlaine; 2) The Jew of Malta; 3) Doctor Faustus
③ Ben Jonson (1572-1637): 1) Every man in His Humor; 2) Volpone, or the Fox”; 3) The Alchemist;
④ William Shakespeare
Four Tragedies: 1) Hamlet 2) Othello 3) King Lear 4) Macbeth
Celebrated comedies: 1) The Merchant of Venice 2) The Taming of the Shrew 3) A Midsummer Night’s Dream 4) All’s Well That Ends Well other celebrated ones: 1) Titus Andronicus 2) Romeo and Juliet 3) Henry V 4) Twelfth Night 5) Julius Caesar 6) Timon of Athens 7) The Tempest 8) Antony and Cleopatra
The Neoclassical Period
1. John Milton (1608-1674): 1) Paradise Lost 2) Paradise Regained 3) Samson Agonistes
2. John Bunyan (1628-1688): The Pilgrim’s Progress
3. Metaphysical Poets (mysticism in content and fantasticality in form): 1) John Donne (1572-1631), the founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry. 2) George Herbert (1593-1633), “the saint of the Metaphysical school”, sings the glory of God 3) Andrew Maevell, a Puritan
4. John Dryen (1631-1700): 1) All for Love (a tragedy) 2) An Essay of dramatic Poesy (It established his position as the leading critic of the day.)
5. Richard Steele (1672-1729), a representative of the Enlightenment in English literature, the founder of “The Tatler” (a newspaper)
6. Joseph Addison (1672-1719), another representative of the Enlightenment in English literature, the founder of “The Spectator” (a daily paper)
7. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the most important poet and classicist in the first half of the 18th century. 1) Essay on Criticism (didactic poem in heroic couplets) 2) The Rape of the Lock 3) Pope’s Homer (his translation of “Illiad” and half of “Odyssey” in heroic couplets)
8. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Gulliver’s Travels
9. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731): 1) Robinson Crusoe 2) Captain Singleton 3) Moll Flanders 4) Colonel Jacque
10. Samuel Richardson (1680-1761): Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded
11. Henry Fielding (1707-1754): 1) Tom Jones 2) Joseph Andrews
12. Tobias Smollett (1721-1771): Roderick Random
13. Laurence Sterne (1713-1768): 1) Tristram Shandy 2) A Sentimental Journey
14. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), a playwright: The School for Scandal
15. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), a lexicographer critic and poet: Dictionary
16. Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774): The Vicar of Wakefield
17. Edward Gibbon, historian: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
热点推荐