英美文学史考试资料整理

大学英语,英美文学史老师资料整理

1.English Renaissance 文艺复兴时期

Period: The period of this time is from 1500 to 1660.

Features: It indicated a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval

obscurantism. A great number of the works of classical authors were translated into English during the 16th

century.

Greatest writers: Thomas More and his Utopia; Francis Bacon; William Shakespeare

2. English Romanticism 浪漫主义时期

Period: The period of this time is from 1798 to 1832. It was greatly influenced by the Industrial Revolution and the

French Revolution. Romanticism began with the publication of Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads in collaboration

with S.T.Coleridge.

Features: Subjectivity; Imagination; Love of nature; Freedom of creation

Subjects: Nature; Love; Things remote and unfamiliar; Liberty

Greatest poets: William Wordsworth; George Gordon; John Keats；

3.English Realism 现实主义时期

Period: The period of this time is from 1870 to 1914. It is also called The Victorian Age (1932-1868). The rise of critical

realism was in the 19th century in a form of fiction.

Features: It exposes the civilized world, the spiritual world of bourgeoisie. One feature of realism is characterization. Greatest novelists: Charles Dickens; Thackeray; Bronte Sisters；

4.English Modernism 现代主义时期

Period: The period of this time is from 1914 to 1965. It witnessed two World Wars.

Features: It is consciously rejecting of old habits of thoughts and familiar literary form. It strives to reflect center

political, social changes, its danger, anxieties with the rapid growth in technology and psychology. The third

feature is dehumanization.

Greatest poets: Galsworthy; William Butler Yeats

1. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400): He is the “Father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England. His creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the 14th century. His work traced out a path to the literature of English Renaissance. He is drawn to everything that is earthly, tangible and human. Chaucer’s poem marks a new step in the author’s progress to maturity and is distinguished for its profound delineation of character and truthful description of human relations. His representative works are The Legend of Good Women; The House of Fame and The Canterbury Tales.

2. William Shakespeare (1564-1616): He is the greatest of all English authors in English Romanticism. The works of William Shakespeare are a great landmark in the history of world literature for he was one of the first founders of realism. His literary work may be divided into three major periods. And his works were very cherished by people. His representative works are four comedies, such as The Merchant of Venice; four tragedies, such as Hamlet, which is considered to be the summit of Shakespeare’s art; and other works such as Romeo and Juliet.

3. John Milton (1608-1674): He is a great English poet during the time of 17th century, the period of revolution and restoration. His representative works are Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; and On His Blindness.

4. William Wordsworth (1770-1850): He is a great poet in the period of the Romantic Period, and he is also one of the Lake

poets. The publication of his Lyrical Ballads, in collaboration with S.T.Coleridge, is a symbol of the beginning of the Romanticism. In his poem, he aimed at simplicity and purity of the language, fighting against the conventional forms of the 18th century poetry. The poet was a passionate lover of nature and his descriptions of lakes and rivers, of meadows and woods, of skies and clouds are exquisite. His representative works are The Prelude, The Excursion and Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey.