英美文学资料2

2.The develop of the Renaissance (文艺复兴的发展)

Renaissance did not really begin to show its effect until the reign of Henry Ⅷ (1509-1547) owing to England’s separation from the Continent and its domestic unrest. The century and a half after Chaucer’s death was the most unstable period of English history. The nobles waged wars against each other and caused self-destruction. Encouraged by HenryⅧ ,the Oxford reformers ,scholars and humanists introduced classical literature to England. Education was revitalized and literature became more popular. This was England’s Golden Age in literature. There appeared many English literary giants such as Shakespeare, Spenser, Jonson, Sidney, Marlowe, Bacon and Donne, Attitudes and feelings characteristic of the 14th and 15th centuries persisted in the English Renaissance period.

（直到亨利八世让英国远离欧洲大陆和国内的动荡不安，文艺复兴的春风才吹进英国。乔叟去世后的一个半世纪是英国历史最动荡不安的时期，贵族掌控者战争导致了自我毁灭。在亨利八世的鼓励下，牛津改革者、学者和人文主义者将古典文学带到了英国，教育在英国得到了新生，文学开始流行。这个时期是英国的黄金时代，同时出现了莎士比亚、斯宾塞、约翰逊、锡德尼、马洛、培根及邓恩等一大批文学巨匠。带有十四、十五世纪特点的创作态度和情感依然存在于文艺复兴时期。）

3.The role of the humanism play in Renaissance(人文主义在文艺复兴时期所充当的角色)

Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a reverence for the Greek and Roman civilization based on the conception that man is the measure of all things

Through this new learning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works. Contrary to the subordination lf individuals to the feudal rules and the sacrifice of earthly life for a future life in the medieval society, 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 for perfection. 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 life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Oxford and Cambridge became the center of English Renaissance. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists。

(人文主义是文艺复兴的精神所在。人文主义源于努力恢复对古希腊罗马文化的尊崇，以概念以“人”为中心为基础。通过研究，人文主义者不仅看到了光彩夺目和具有启蒙性质的艺术，还在那些作品中寻求到了人的价值。在中世纪的社会重，个人完全隶属于封建统治，人文主义者们从古代文化遗产中找到了充足的证据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是光荣的生命，人自己可以不断发展，至善至美。人文主义通过强调人类的尊严、强调现世生活的重要性，而且还有能力完善自我，创造奇迹。牛津大学和剑桥大学成为文艺复兴时期的中心，托马斯·漠尔、克里斯托夫·马洛、威廉·莎士比亚都是英国人文主义的杰出代表。)

4.The Protestantism established in England (在英国建立的新教)

The religious reformation of Protestantism was initiated by Martin Luther(1483-1546), a German Protestant, Luther believed that every true Christian was his own priest and was entitled to interpret the Bible for himself. The Protestant movement was seen as a means to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption and superstition of the middle Ages. Henry Ⅷ cut ties with the Roman Catholic Church ,and the common English people welcomed and supported Henry’s decision of breaking away from Rome. Through the approval of the Parliament, Henry Ⅷ declared himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534. The Bible in English instead of Latin so that people could understand 。Edward Ⅵ, Henry’s son carried the reform further, yet there was a violent swing back to Catholicism after Mary took the throne. By the middle of Elizabeth’s reign, Protestantism had been firmly established. The religious reformation was actually a reflection of the class struggle waged by the new rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology.

（宗教改革是由德国新教徒马丁·路德发起的。路德认为每个真正的基督教徒都是他自己的牧师，都有权力为自己诠释《圣经》。新教运动被看作是脱离中世纪的与迷信，恢复早期教会的纯洁性的手段。亨利八世切断了与罗马天主教堂的关系，普通的英国人民欢迎并支持亨利与罗马教会决裂。亨利八世在1534年作为英国教会的最高头领而宣布。《圣经》由英语替代了拉丁语使每个人都能看得懂。亨利的儿子爱德华六世使改革得到了更深的实行。而到了玛丽执政后，又出现了大幅度退回天主教的思潮。。到了伊丽莎白女王一世统治中期，新教终于北稳固的确立，这场宗教改革其实是新兴资产阶级与封建统治阶级及其思想体系斗争的反映。）

5.What are the important cultural developments that paved the way for the appearance of the great Elizabethan writers?（为伊丽莎时代出现而铺垫的文化发展是什麽？）

In the time of the Tudors, English schools and universities were established to teach classical learning and humanistic ideas. William Caxton first introduced printing into England, making great contribution to spreading literature throughout the country .With the introduction of printing , an age of literary translation came into being .Many continental literary workd both ancient and modern were translated and printed in English .All these made everything ready for the appearance of the great Elizabethan writers.

（都铎王朝时期，英国学校和大学建立传播古典文化和人文主义思想，威廉·卡克斯顿是第一个将印刷术引进到英国的人，并将此种文化传播到全国，随着印刷术的引进，接踵而来的是一个翻译的时代，大批欧洲大陆的文学作品，不论是古代的还是当代的，都被翻译并印刷成英文。所有这些都为伊丽莎白时代的伟大作家的出现做好了准备）

6.The major literary genres develop in the English Renaissance （英国文艺复兴时期主要的文学体裁）

The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation. Petrarch and his successors established the language of love poetry of the Renaissance and greatly influenced the English writers. Wyatt introduced the Petrarchan sonnet into England, Surrey brought in the blank verse, Sidney followed with the sestina and terza rima and with various experiments in classic meters, and Marlowe. gave new vigor to the blank verse with his “mighty lines.” Poetry was to be a concentrated exercise of the mind, of craftsmanship, and of learning, In the early stage of the Renaissance, poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and they were carried on especially by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. But the poetry by John Donne, George Herbert and others like them represented a sharp break from the poetry by their predecessors and most of their contemporaries.

The real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama. It drew influences from the medieval interludes and morality plays as well as the Greek and Roman classics. The lively ,vivid native English content was well fused with the classical forms of tragedies and comedies, making English drama mature and artistic .The most famous dramatists in the Renaissance England are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben Jonson.

They imitated the romances of Italy and Spain, embracing the mysteries of German legend, and combining the fictions of poetic fancy with the facts of daily life ,and therefore made a vivid depiction of the sharp conflicts between feudalism and the rising bourgeoisie in a transitional period .The English drams of this period was characterized with humors of the moment, abstractions of philosophical speculation , and intense vitality. With Shakespeare as the master, this extraordinary drama left a monument of the Renaissance unrivaled for tis pure creative power by any other product of that epoch..

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The essay was another main literary form in the English Renaissance. Francis Bacon was the best known essayist of this period. He was also the founder of modern science in England. His writings paved the way for the use of scientific method. He is often considered as the most representative figure of the English Renaissance.

（英国文艺复兴时期只是一个模仿与同化的阶段。彼特拉克和它的后继者们确立了描述爱情的语言，并影响着英国的作家。托马斯·怀亚特将彼的拉克的十四行诗引进到英格兰。萨里引进了无韵体，锡得尼又带来了六节诗与三行诗节隔句押运法。马洛将无韵体运用到他那吞山河的雄伟诗句中，诗歌是集思想、技艺与学识为一体的综合艺术。在文艺复兴时期，诗歌与诗剧是最杰出的艺术形式，尤其是莎士比亚与本·琼士继承了这种形式。但是约翰·邓恩、乔治·赫伯特及其前辈及同时代作家的艺术风格上的决裂。

英国文艺复兴时期的主流是伊丽莎白的戏剧。中世纪的幕间短剧和道德剧与希腊罗马古典戏剧一样影响着英国。生动活泼的英国本土的故事题材古典悲剧与戏剧的形式使得其成熟而兴盛。文艺复兴时期英国最著名的戏剧家有克里斯托夫·马洛、威廉·莎士比亚、本·琼生。

他们的作品出类拔萃，非同凡响。他们仿效意大利和西班牙的骑士抒情诗，吸收了德国其实传奇的神秘色彩，并且将诗歌联想中的虚构成分与生活中的真实事情结合起来，从而创作出许多反映过渡时期封建主义与新兴资产阶级尖锐冲突的伟大作品。与此同时，以莎士比亚为代表的戏剧既有当时的幽默，又有高深的哲学意味，而却充满了活力，成为文艺复兴的纪念碑，单就创作力而言，当时没有其他任何一种艺术形式能够匹敌。

散文使英国文艺复兴时期另外一种主要的文学形式。弗兰西斯·培根是那个时代最著名的散文家。他还是英国现代科学的奠基人，他的作品为科学技术的 广泛应用铺平了道路，他也是英国文艺复兴时期当之无愧的代表人物。）

7. blank verse （无韵体）

blank verse is the unrhymed iambic pentameter line, It was Surrey who first brought it in and Marlowe who perfected it with his “mighty line”

8. metaphysical poetry (玄学诗)

The term “metaphysical poetry” is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s beloved, with God, or with himself. Modern poets like T.S. Eliot have been mostly affected by the metaphysical influence.

一、Edmund Spenser 埃德蒙·斯宾塞 (1552-1599)

1.Edmund Spenser’s masterpiece (埃德蒙·斯宾塞的代表作)

a. The Faerie Queene 《仙后》

b. Epithalamion 《新婚喜歌》

2.The main characteristics of The Faerie Queene (《仙后》的主要人物)

The Faerie Queene is Spenser’s masterpiece. The principle intention is to present through a “historical poem ”the example of a perfect gentleman:“to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline ”。In the poem, Spenser focuses on12 virtues of the private gentleman, and plans 12 books, each one with a different hero distinguished for one of the private virtues. The hero of the heroes is Arthur. He possesses all of these virtues and plays a role in each of the 12 major adventures. The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as a whole. The Faerie Queene is another character contributing to the unity of the work. From her court and at her bidding, each of the heroes sets out on his particular adventure. The Faerie Queene is full of adventures and marvels, dragons, witches, enchanted trees, giants, jousting knights, and castles. It is also an allegory possess the virtues in the course of their adventures. This literacy epic poem has a romantic theme –“Fierce warres and faithful loves.”Its scenery is not classical but romantic with plains, forests, caves, castles, magical trees and springs, as well as dwarfs, giants, lions, pilgrims and magicians. There are the good people who undergo the trials and tribulations and the bad creatures who represent various vices, evils and temptations. Houses, castles and animals also stand for abstract virtues or vices.

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（《仙后》是斯宾塞的代表作。主要的创作意图是通过“历史诗”描画出一个典型的完美绅士：“塑造遵守道德规戒绅士或贵族”。在诗歌中，斯宾塞提出了绅士应该遵循的12条道德的清规，并将全诗设计成12卷本，每一卷中都有一位不同的主人公，以遵循其中的一条道德清规而著名，英雄中的英雄是亚瑟，它拥有12中美德，并且它要分别参加所有的12次历险，而每个不同的主人公也在各自的历险中出现。亚瑟一次又一次出现在诗中，成为全诗中的整体线索。仙后是另一位贯穿始终的线索人物，所有的英雄按照她的旨意，从她的宫殿出发，踏上各自的历险征程。《仙后》中充满了惊险情节以及奇异景家、龙、女巫、施了魔法的树、巨人、角斗的骑士及城堡，在他们的冒险中也有一定的寓意。这部史诗具有它浪漫的主题“ 残酷的战争和忠贞的爱情”诗中的场景不是古典而是浪漫的，出现了平原、森林、山洞、城堡、魔树和泉水等景观，还出现了小矮人、巨人、狮子、朝圣者、和魔法师。他们都像现实世界中的人一样承受着各种艰苦与磨难。宫殿、天体、和动物都代表着不同的抽象美德或邪恶。）

3.The chief qualities of Spencer’s poetry (埃德蒙·斯宾塞诗歌的主要优点)

Spencer’s poetry can be summed up as having the following characteristics: 1) a perfect melody; 2)a rare sense of beauty; 3) a splendid imagination; 4) a lofty moral purity and seriousness; 5) a dedicated idealism..In addition to the above, Spenser uses strange forms of speech and obsolete words in order to increase the rustic effect. It is Spenser’s idealism, his love of beauty, and his exquisite melody that make him know as “the poets” poet.

（斯宾塞诗歌的特点可以总结为以下几点：1）完美的韵律2）玄妙的美感3）灿烂壮观的想象4）崇高的道德纯洁性与严肃性5）一种献身的理想主义。除此之外，他还多次使用到一种诡异的语言及废弃的词汇，以增加作品的质朴性。正是斯宾塞的理想主义，对美的热爱和精美优雅的诗文韵律使他成为“诗人中的诗人”。

4 .In Canto Ⅰ,Book Ⅰ, Knight sets out on his adventures. Here Knight symbolizing the Anglican Church, is the protector of the Virgin Una who stands for truth or the true religion.