浪漫主义时期-现代主义时期的英国文学.doc

PAGE 1 - 浪漫主义时期-现代主义时期的英国文学 Romanticism in England (1798-1832) 1. Romanticism A literary movement, which took place in Britain and throughout Europe roughly between 1770 and 1848. Politically it was inspired by the revolutions in America and France and popular wars of independence in some countries. Socially it supported progressive causes, though when these were frustrated it often produced a bitter, gloomy, and despairing outlook. Intellectually it marked a violent reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment and Classicism. Emotionally it expressed an extreme assertion of the self.(emphasis on personal thoughts and feelings, often triggered by observation of nature) 2. Romanticism in England Prevailed during the period of 1798-1832 2 generations: the 1st generation include Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey (the Lake Poets) and the 2nd generation include Byron, Shelley and Keats, who wrote swiftly, travelled widely (Greece, Switzerland, Italy), and died prematurely. Though each of the Romantic poets had their own special qualities, they all had things in common. The Romantic Period is an age of poetry and the only great novelist is Walter Scott. 3. Artistic features: a belief in the innate goodness of man in his natural state; individualism; reverence for nature; exaltation of emotion, sensation, and physical passion; and a revolt against political authority and social convention. The Romantic period is an age of poetry Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth Coleridge were the major representatives of this movement. They explored new theories innovated new techniques in poetry writing. They saw poetry as a healing energy： they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls the society. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also stress the con