英國(guó)文學(xué)史名詞解釋2

1、名詞解釋Old En glish : the Ian guage of An gio and Saxon people duri ng 5and 11 th cen turyEpic : A long narrative poem celebrating the great deeds of one or more legendary heroes. In a grand ceremonious style .The hero, usually p rotected by or even desce nded from gods, p erforms sup erhuma n expl oit

2、s in battle or in marvelous voyages, ofte n sav ing or founding a n ati on.Roma nee : the most popu lar literary form in the Middle Ages in Europe; A tale (in verse or p rose) that deals with kni ghtly adve ntures or other heroic deeds or supern atural or amorous subjects, and usually emp hasizes th

3、e chivalric love.Ballad : A folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in a direct and dramatic manner some popular story usually derived form a tragic in cide nt in local history or lege nd. Ballad are no rmally compo sed in quatra ins with alter nat ing four-stress and three- stress lines ,the s

4、ec ond and fourth lines rhy ming.CoupI et (雙行體)a p air of rhy ming verse lines of the same len gth. Chauser established the use of coup let in his Can terburyTales, using rhymed iambic pen tameters later known as heroic coupletThe Renaissanee refers to the period between the 14th and 17th centuries

5、. The rebirth of literature, art, and learning that progressively transformed European culture from the mid-14 th century in Italy to the mid-17 th century in England, strongly in flue need by the rediscovery of classical Greek and Lat in literature. The Ren aissa nee is com monly held to mark the c

6、lose of the middle Ages, and the beg inning of the moder n wester n world. The term no rmally refer to the comb ined in tellectual and artistic transformation of the 15 th 16th centuries, including the emergency of humanism, protestant individualism, Copernican astr onomy, and the discovery of Ameri

7、caHumanism: it stands for devotion to human values represent in classical literature. it is the keynote or the dominate ideology duri ng the Ren aissa neeSonnet: A lyric of fourteen lines usually in iambic pentameter. 1. Shakespearean sonnet Also called English sonnet orElizabetha n Sonn et. It is s

8、tructured of 3 quatra ins and a final coup let with the rhyme scheme: abab cdcd efef gg 2. Petrarcha nSonnet: Also called Italia n sonnet. It contains an octave with the rhyme p atter n abba abba and a sestet of various rhyme Patter ns such as cdecde or cdcdcd.3. Spenserian sonnet comprising 3 quatr

9、ains and a coupIet in iambic pentameter with the rhyme scheme abab bcbc cdcd eeOde is a dig ni fied and elaborately structured lyric poem of some len gth, p raisi ng and glorify ing an in dividual, commemorat ing an event or describ ing n ature in tellectually rather tha n emoti on ally.seriously on

10、 a sole mn subject.Elegy Formal lyric poem lamenting the death of a friend or a public figure, or reflectingPastoral : a highly conventional mode of writing that celebrates the innocent life of shepherds or shepherdesses in poems, plays, and p rose roma nee.Tragedies were concerned with the harsh ne

11、ss and apparent injustice of life. They in volved the trials and even tful death of a hero who was an important person and whose death led to the downfall of others. a. the central characters are always people of importance, like kings, queens, prince, general, nobles. b. a tragic hero often a flawe

12、d good man; often the hero happin ess was due to a weak ness in his character, by some great error in his p art.c. supern atural beings are ofte n in volved in the conflict of human beings, like gods, spirits, witches, ghosts. d. sadness is mixed with horror, murder, treachery, and blood-shedd ing.C

13、atharsis or Cathartic effect of tragedies: Tragedies give an outlet for such emotio ns as greed, hatred, lust, fear and pi ty. The audie nee feel relieved or pu rged whe n they leave the theatre.Comedy deals with ordinary people in everyday situati on s, it deals with ordinary people in a humble sty

14、le, usually begi nning with misfort une and ending with joy. The purpose of comedy is chiefly to en terta in people, but some have moral and corrective purpo ses, to ridicule and satirize huma n weak nesses.Comedy of humor according to the comedy of humor, each of characters in the play has some dom

15、inating passion or peculiar quality such as jealousy, greedy and comedy of humor mai niy satires these humors dem on strated the characters in the p lay. BenJonson has bee n chiefly known for his comedy of humorsSoliloquy is the act of talki ng to on eself, whether sile ntly or aloud. In drama it de

16、no tes the conven ti on by which a character, alone on the stage, utters his or her thoughts aloud. P laywrights have used this device as a convenient way to convey information about a character motives'and state of mind, or for purpose of exposition, and sometimes in order to guide the judgme n

17、ts and respon ses of the audie nee.Allegory : is a fictional narrative or artistic expression that conveys a symbolic meaning parallel to but distinct from and more imp orta nt tha n the literary mea ning.Dramatic irony in volves the reader (or audie nee) knowing someth ing about what's happenin

18、g in the pl ot, about which the character(s) have no kno wledge. Dramatic irony can be used in comedies and tragedies, and it works to en gage the reader, as one is draw n into what is happening. The audie nee may symp athize with the character, who does not know the true situati on. Or, the reader

19、may see the character as bli nd or ignoran t (as with Oedi pu s). The clues may be rather obvious, but the character may be un willi ng to recog nize the truth.The term “ meta physical in dicates a com mon po etic style, use of figurative Ian guage, and way of orga nizing the meditative pro cess or

20、the po etic argume nt. This term is now app lied to a group of 17th cen tury po ets who, whether or not directly in flue need by Done, emp loy similar po etic p rocedures and imagery, both in secular po etry( Clevela nd, Marvell, Cowley) and in religious p oetry(Herbert, Vaugha n, Crashaw, and Trahe

21、r ne). The term was coined by Joh n Dryde n (1693): "He affects the meta physicsMetaphysical Con ceitIn gen eral, the meta physical con ceit will use some sort of shock ing or unu sual comp aris on as the basis for the meta phor. When it works, a meta physical con ceit has a startli ng approp r

22、iate ness that makes us look at someth ing in an en tirely new way. Draws upon a wide range of kno wledge, mainly using highly in tellectual an alogies; its comp aris ons are elaborately rati on alizedHeroic drama: A kind of tragedy or tragicomedy that came into vogue with the Restorati on of the En

23、 glish mon archy in 1660.In flue need by French classical tragedy and its dramatic un ities (time, p lace, action), it aimed at epic (heroic) gran deur, usuallyby means of bombast, exotic setti ngs and lavish seen ery. The n oble hero would typ ically be caught in a con flict betwee n loveand p atri

24、otic duty, lead ing to emoti onal scenes p rese nted in a manner close to op era. The lead ing En glish exponent of heroicdrama was Joh n Dryde n: hid the conq uest of Gran ada (1670-1) and Aure ng-Zebe (1675) were both written in heroic coupi ets.the En lighte nment moveme ntA gen eral term app lie

25、d to the moveme nt of the in tellectual liberati on that deve loped in Wester n Europe from the late 17thcentury to the late 18th century( the age of reason)。Neo-classicism:the literary principle accord ing to which the writi ng and criticism of po etry and drama were to be guided by rules andp rece

26、de nts derived from the best ancient Greek and Roma n authors .In a more gen eral sen se, in con trast with Roma nticism, theterm has also bee n used to describe the characteristic world-view or value system of the age of reas on, denoting a p refere nee forrati on ality, clarity, restra int, order

27、and decorum, and for gen eral truths rather tha n p articular in sights. The cen tral assu mp ti on ofn eo-classicism was that the an cie nt authors had already atta ined p erfect ion; the moder n author's chief task was to imitate them.Accord in gly, the app roved genes of classical literature

28、-e pic, tragedy, comedy, elegy, ode, epi stle, eclogue, epi gram, fable, andsatire- were adop ted as the favored forms in this p eriod.Mock- epic, a poem using the lofty style and the conventions of epic poetry to describe trivial or undignified series of events:thus a kind of satire that mocks the

29、subject by treati ng it in an inapprop riately gran diose manner, usually at some len gth. Theoutsta nding exa mple is Alexa nder Popes “ The Rape of the Lock"Novel is a highly stylized p rose acco unt of ficti onal reality in the form of story with profun dity for the purp ose of cha nging the

30、readers ' mind by the aid of the reader's active involvement while providing entertainment and superior truth of life.Sen time ntalism : is a literal moveme nt in the middle of the 18th cen tury in En gla nd which concen trates on the distressed of thepoor unfortun ate and virtuous people an

31、d dem on strates that effusive emoti on was evide nee of kindn ess and good ness. It revealsgrief, pains and tears. It came into being as a result of a better disc ontent on the part of certa in en lighte ners in social reality.Elegy The term was usually used in classical times for love po etry writ

32、te n with a sp ecific meter, and in the Ren aissa nee it keptthis sense with some variati on. However, si nee the 17th cen tury it has come to mea n a formal poem of lame nt and con solatio nconcerning a p articular person's death, or reflecti on on death in gen eral. Milto n's "Lycia&#

33、39;tc»al(1638) iselegy, in which the sp eaker and the person mourned are she pherds. A less formal and len gthy form of elegy is the dirge, whichis usually sung.The Graveyard School -refers to a group of C18 poets whose writings frequently touched on themes of death, mortality,religi on, and me

34、la ncholy. Often elegiac in tone (and title) their p oems make freque nt use of fun ereal or gloomy imagery; theywere ofte n very Christia n writers who used the imagery of ni ght, death, and gloom in sp iritual contempi ati ons of huma nnd e'scsaapdavdenstunraersraated in comic ormortality and

35、our relation to the divine.binsonPicaresque novel a humor novel in which the plot consist of a young knave satiric scenes. It is usually in nature and realistic in its presentation of the all around aspects of society,eg, DefoeCruseGothic novel emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious and desolate .this

36、 novel is filled with scenes of terror and gloom in the medical setting.Burns stanza or Burns MeterA six-line * stanza rhyming aaabbb, the first three lines and the fifth having four * stresses, and the fourth and sixth having two stresses.Ottawa rimaA form of verse * stanza consisting of eight line

37、s rhyming abababcc, usually employed for * narrative verse but sometimes used in * lyric poems.Rhyme royalA * stanza form consisting of seven 5-stress lines (iambic pentameters)rhyming ababbcc, first used by Chaucer and thus also known as the Chaucerian stanza.Romanticism ，it is the modern term appl

38、ied to the profound shift in western attitude to art and human creativity that dominated much of 19th century. Its chief emphasis was on freedom or individual self-expression, sincerity, spontaneity.Lake poets, wordsworth,Coleridge and Southey have often been mentioned as the lake poets, because the

39、y lived in the lake district in the northwest part of England.the three traversed the same path in politics and in poetry, beginning as radicals and closing as conservatives.詩(shī)歌鑒賞Thomas Gray ) Elegy Written in a Country Church Y ard 墓園挽歌1. Theme: reflections on death, the sorrows of life, and the mys

40、teries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy.2. The sure control of language, imagery, rhythm, as well as his subtle moderation of style and tone give the poem a unique charm of its own.3. The well-conceived structure and the metrical beauty of the poem won Gray the fame as one of th

41、e master poets of the 18th century, and the poem has been considered as one of the best short poems in English literature.Form4. Form: a. Iambic pentameter quatrains with alternative rhymes b. No enjambment: Often lines are miniature clauses with balanced subject and predicate, such as line 1: "

42、;The curfew" (subject) and "tolls the knell of parting day" (predicate).c. Alliteration ties successive lines together: "herd wind" and "homeward" (l. 2-3), "droning flight" and "distant folds" (l. 7-8),and "man tl'd tow'r" and

43、 "mo ping owl" (I. 9-10).d. Parallel syn tactic con struct ion across line and sta nza boun daries三 The Merchant of V eniceTheme: praising true friendship, true love, exposing social evils: greed, malice, racial prejudice, money worship, injustice.An alysis of major characters:Shylock : Me

44、an, greedy, cunning, cruel, ven geful, and merciless; a sop hist, but also a victim of racial discrim in ati on andreligious p ersecuti on. An obstacle and an ep itome of selfish ness, he serves both fun cti ons. A Jew of p ride and dee p religiousin st in cts; suffered more tha n sufferi ng; loud p

45、 rotest aga inst Antonio's arrogant treatment.Portia: beautiful, cultured, lear ned, witty, courageous, and p rude nt. She is a new woma n of the Ren aissa nee, who not onlyfrees herself from the usual feudal fetters for wome n but even outsh ines many men in many waysHamletThe character of Haml

46、et Hamlet as a typ ical tragic hero:Good qualities: n oble-min ded, brave, in tellige nt, lear ned, with astrong sense of justice, loved and resp ected by his peopi e.Weak nesses: rash, i mpu Isive, in decisive, sometimes can be cruel,harsh and coarse.His tragic flaw is lack of emoti onal bala nee;

47、either acts rashly, without thinking, or does nndfirmly eno ugh. His in decisive ness, his in ability to act whe n action is n eeded, is one of the major causes for his dow nfall.The Rivals (Richard Brinsley Sheridan )1. It is a satire on the sen time ntal and p seudo-roma ntic fan cies of many youn

48、g wome n of the day, who fell victim to thesen time ntal no vels and to the illusi on of harm ony betwee n roma ntic dreams and the real bourgeois world of p ractical moneyconcerns.2. Here we find Sherida n follow ing the traditi on of Ben Jonson's comedy of humors, with the exaggeration of a si

49、each of the characters for the purpose of satire.3. As a whole, it was a p urified and moraliz ing p lay, or a con trasti ng study of two brothers and rivals, one a man of principleand the other a hyp ocrite, and it showed the n eoclassical outlook of Sherida n.The School of Scandal1. It is a shar p

50、 satire on the moral dege neracy of the aristocratic-bourgeois society in 18th-ce ntury En gla nd, on the vicioussca ndal-m on geri ng among the idle rich, and above all on the immorality and hypo crisy behi nd the mask of up right livi ng andhigh-so unding moral principles.2. The dialogue in the p

51、lay is brillia ntly witty throughout. The plot is not loosely hung together, but is carefully worked out andshows the p laywright's perfect mastery of stagecraft in his expertly manipulation of disguise and mistaken identity and dtiamairony.Sherida n vivified the En glish drama of his day, for w

52、hich he has bee n p raised as the greatest En glish p laywright of the 18thcen tury.Conclusion1. Sheridan vivified the English drama of his day, for which he has been praised as the greatest English playwright of the 18thcentury.2. In fact, his two plays serve as important links between the masterpi

53、eces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Show, as trueclassics in English comedy.Analysis of Paradise LostTheme and CharacterizationThe theme of the poem is a revolt against God's authority.What do the main characters reseGmobdle: ?s1e.lfish despot,cruel,unjust2. Adam and Eve embody Milton'

54、s belief inpothwers of man craving (longing) for knowledge 3. Gods angefoolish, resembling the court of an absolute monarch.4. Satan is a rebel against tyranny and Satan and his followers resemble a republican ParliamentThe Image of Satan1. Satan is the real hero of the poem.2. He is firmer than the

55、 rest of the angels.3. He has an invincible heart.4. Satan remains superior in nobility and welcomes his defeat and his torments as a glory, a liberty and a joy;5. Satan is the spirit questioning the authority of God.6. Milton makes Satan as his own mouthpiece.7.However, Satan ' s image as a glo

56、rreiobuesl is short-lived. He becomes more and more vicious, treacherous and debased, andfinally is transformed into a crawling snake consuming dust and ashes. Milton's attitude also changed fromcondemnation. Satan spirit: defiance of authority and capable of evil doing.The Image of Adam and eve

57、1.They are responsible for man's losing paradise and immortality, but not portrayed as failures and wretches.2. their dignity, innocence and beauty are stressed and they show the best qualities of humanity such as love, compassions,temperance and devotion. Adam falls by consciously choosing huma

58、n love, rather than obeying God. In the fall of man Adamdiscovered his full humanity. They leave with the knowledge that faith in the redeemer (Christ) can lead them back to paradise.Milton is a great stylist. His poetry is of grand style. He has made a life-long study of classical and Biblical literature. Hispoetry is noted for sublimity of thought and majesty of expression. But he was the