英国文学导读.doc

Chapter One The Medieval Period中世纪时期 Middle Age: the 5th century AD-the end of the 15th centuries Medieval Period: the 11th – 15th (saw the rise of Catholicism) Middle Age: the Anglo-Saxon period (446AD-1066) and the first centuries after the Norman Conquest (taking place in 1066) The Anglo-Saxon (Germany) developed Old English. Beowulf, the first great English literary work and the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. Middle English Literature: the medieval romance(中世纪的传奇故事), ballad(歌谣，叙事歌谣). (Chained by religious considerations with stress laid on the Christian doctrines as well as personal salvation) (Reached its height with the creation of Geoffrey Chaucer, the greatest writer during the Medieval Period) Geoffrey Chaucer: the poet’s poet; the father of English poetry, the first realistic writer in English literary history, a messenger of humanism, He affirmed man’s right to earthly happiness, for example prioress(女修道院副院长) in The Canterbury Tales(坎特伯雷故事集). Chapter Two The Elizabethan Age 伊丽莎白时代 Renaissance(文艺复兴): the 14th-17th centuries, the discovering and reading of ancient Greek and Roman classic led to the flowering of painting, sculpture, architecture, and so on; first started in Florence and Venice(威尼斯), Italy; typified by the universal genius(全才) of Leonardo Da Vinci; lift restriction in all areas placed by the Roman Catholic Church; get rid of ignorance and superstition. Shows the acceptance by Christians of the pagan无宗教的，异教的 classical culture; marked a transition from the Medieval Period to the modern age in European history. Renaissance in England: began with the accession of the House of Tudor to the throne都铎家族的继位 in the 1485. In the 14th and 15th centuries a long war went on and off between England and France and it was followed at home by the War of the House which ended with the victory of Henry Tudor who later became Henry VII. Henry VIII (1509-1547), his son succeeded him and is remembered for initiating开始 the Religious Reformation in England