英美文学纲要.doc

《英美文学》辅导纲要 一、英国文学部分 Chapter One English Literature before Renaissance 主要内容： Beowulf Sir Gawain and the Green Knights William Langland: Piers the Plowman Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales Ballads Sir Thomas Malory: Le Morte d’Arthur 重点掌握： Beowulf is a national epic of England. The one who propose the story-telling in the Canterbury tales is the boss. His visit to Italy played an important part in Chaucer’s writing. Le Mort D’ Arthur deals with the following story except fight against Roman invasion. Geoffrey Chaucer，the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340. Sir Gawain and Green Knight employs the form of romance. The story of Sir Gawain and Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. Apart from original poems, Chaucer translated various works of French authors; among them is the famous The Romance of the Rose. Chaucer is called the founder of English realism because he portrays all the classes of English feudal society except nobles and serfs. The characters in the Canterbury Tales can be divided into the following groups: rural dwellers, church members, tradesmen. The followings are Chaucer’s contribution to English literature: Chaucer introduced from France and Italy the rhymed stanzas of various forms to English poetry; Chaucer is called the father of English poetry and the first poet who wrote in current English language; Chaucer did much in making a language of the people. Generally speaking, Chaucer’s works fall into three main groups corresponding roughly to the three periods of his adult life: The period of French influence; the period of Italian influence; the period of his maturity. Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer was the first to be buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey. Piers the Plowman is similar in form to the work written by Langland. Le More D’ Arthur is an important landmark in the development of Eng