1、英国文学史及作品选读课件Chapter 8The Age of Romanticism2022-12-162By the close of the eighteenth century,the world had witnessed several major political 1.the American and French revolutions,2.exceptional social upheavals,3.prominent changes in philosophical thought.1.Historical background2022-12-163A Review of
2、 British LiteratureFrench Revolution:-The time spirit described by Charles Dickens:(A Tale of Two Cities)2022-12-164 It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of wisdom,it was the age foolishness,it was the epoch of belief,it was the epoch of incredulity,it was the season of
3、Light,it was the season of Darkness,it was the spring of hope,it was the winter of despair,we had everything before us,we had nothing before us,we were all going direct to Heaven,we were all going direct the other way 2022-12-16518th century19th centuryValued order and reasonEmphasized intuition as
4、a proper guide to truthViewed the world as a great machine with all its parts operating harmoniouslyThe world was a living organism that was always growingThe city housed the centers of art and literature and set the standards of good taste for the rationalistic mind A rural setting as a place where
5、 people could discover their inner self.Believed that truth could be attained by tapping into the core of our humanity or our transcendental natures.Empirical and rationalistic methodologies2022-12-1662.Romanticism:In a historical sense,Romanticism was a movement in philosophy,political theory,and t
6、he arts that developed in France and Germany in the latter half of the eighteenth century and flourished in England through to the first three decades in the nineteenth century.The most prominent historical event associated with Romanticism was the French Revolution(1789-1799),which for many presage
7、d the end of aristocratic rule and hereditary social divisions in Europe.2022-12-1672.1 Origins of RomanticismThe tone of Romanticism was shaped by the emotionalism of Rousseau,and the exotic legends and mythology found in Oriental and Homeric literatures and 17th-cent.travel writers.2022-12-1682.2
8、Rene Wellek:“The Concept of Romanticism in Literary History”(1963):Romanticism is often associated with the primacy of imagination,the worship of nature,and the use of natural imagery and symbolism in myth making.2022-12-1692.3 Common characteristics of the second generation of British Romantics Byr
9、on,Shelley,and Keats:They wrote swiftly,traveled widely,and died prematurely.They had a new intuition for the power of the wild landscape,and the spiritual correspondence between Man and Nature,2022-12-16103.William Wordsworth 3.1 “Preface to Lyrical Ballads”:It is Lyrical Ballads that ushers in the
10、 Romantic age in English literature.Not only does Wordsworth suggest a radical change in subject matter,but he also dramatically shifts focus concerning poetrys“proper language.”Unlike Pope and his predecessors,Wordsworth chooses“language really used by peopleeveryday speech.Wordsworth redefines poe
11、try itself:“For all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”Wordsworth highlighted poetrys emotional quality.Imagination,not reason or disciplined thought,becomes its core.2022-12-16113.2 William Wordsworth:“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”(1807)1.Background of this poem;2.The poe
12、ts mood is inspired by the natural scene,but he also seems to exploit the natural landscape in retrospect to alter his mood.In this way,nature serves as a means of self-expression,but what is expressed often betokens self-absorption.2022-12-16124.Samuel Taylor Coleridge(1772-1834):Poet,critic,and ph
13、ilosopher of Romanticism.“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”At Wordsworth s suggestion,Coleridge composed“The rime of the Ancient Mariner”,which recounts a nightmare sea-voyage with powerful metaphysical overtones.Rime-rhyme:rhymed poetry or verse.诗或韵文Theme:Exhortation to humanitarianism to animals.Th
14、e poem introduces the reader to a supernatural realm,but it manages to create a sense of reality.2022-12-16135.George Gordon Byron:Don Juan (“The Isles of Greece”)After Don Juan,legendary 14th-century Spanish nobleman and libertineDon Juan:A libertine;a profligate.A man who is an obsessive seducer o
15、f women.Completed in 1819,published in 1821allusion:an indirect or inexplicit reference by one text to another text,to a historical occurrence,or to myths and legends.Allusions in“The Isles of Greece”:persons,places,battles.Byron and China:“The Isles of Greece”is full of Revolutionary zeal,democrati
16、c ideal.2022-12-16146.P.B.Shelley:(17921822)his intellectual courage and originality;his hatred of oppression and injustice.Shelley:“Song to the Men of England”(1819)The poet calls the exploiters“ungrateful drones”who drain the sweat and drink the blood of“laboring people”“the Bees of England”,and h
17、e illustrates with concrete examples the relationship of economic exploitation between the ruling class and the working people.He called on the producers of wealth to resist oppression and exploitation.2022-12-16157.John Keats(1795-1821):“To Autumn”:Image:A word,phrase,or a figure of speech,a simile or a metaphor that addresses the senses,suggesting mental pictures of sights,sounds,smells,tastes,feelings or actions.Images offer sensory impressions to the reader and also convey emotions and moods through their verbal pictures.
