自考英美文学选读1（00604）汉语言文学专业应用必背单元Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period2Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period6Chapter3 The Romantic Period9Chapter 4 The Victorian Period14Chapter 5 The Modern Period18Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period1. 文艺复兴的主要作家及其作品1) Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene2) Christopher Marlowe: Dr Faustus Tamburlaine3) William Shakespeare: Henry IV; The Merchant of Venice; Hamlet; Othello; King Lear; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet.4) John Donne: The Songs and Sonnets; The Sun Rising; Death, Be Not Proud5) John Milton: Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson Agonisttes2. 文艺复兴The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church form the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.3. 人文主义Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Thus, 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 the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.4. 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 as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, 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 poets beloved, with God, or with himself.5. 莎士比亚的诗歌的主题、意向Shakespeare, as a humanist of the time, is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money. In his plays, he does not hesitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the civil wars, but he did not go all the way against the feudal rule. Shakespeare is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money.Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality.A. Shakespeares views on literature:Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality. Shakespeare also states that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can reach immortality.B. The characteristics of Shakespeares characters:Shakespeares major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.C. The characteristics of Shakespeares plot:Shakespeares plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.D. The characteristics of Shakespeares language:It is necessary to study the subtlest of his instruments the language. Shakespeare can write skillfully in different poetic form, like the sonnet, the blank verse, and the rhymed couplet. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. His coinage of new words and distortion of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader.3. 莎士比亚的四大悲剧：Shakespeares greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole action. Each hero has his weakness of nature. With the concentration on the tragic hero, we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society, which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense. Hamlet the melancholic scholar; Othellos inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power; and Macbeths lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.4. 邓恩诗歌的主题、意向