Giáo trình Văn học Anh

Old English literature Historical background: Anglo-Saxon, the earliest form of English, fromabout A.D.. Old English literature 2 dominant literary forms: Poetry: poems without rhyme epi

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY OF BRITISH

LITERATURE

3 main periods

1 Old English literature

2 Middle English literature

3 Modern English literature

Old English literature

Historical background:

Anglo-Saxon, the earliest form of English, fromabout A.D 600 to about 1100

about A.D 600 to about 1100

Christianity was brought to England -> Religion inPoetry and Prose

Old English literature

2 dominant literary forms:

Poetry: poems without rhyme (epic alliterative lines), descriptions of God(taken from the Bible)- Caedmon’s Hymn

poetry-(taken from the Bible)- Caedmon’s Hymn

and Boewulf

Prose: early history of the country – Saxon Chronicle

Anglo-Old English literature

Famous works:

Beowulf: the earliest greatestreatest NationalNational epic

22 partsparts:: ““ thethe herohero asas aa youngyoung man”man” andand ““the

the herohero asas anan agedaged king”king”

aboutabout thethe conflictconflict betweenbetween thethe goodgood andandthe

the evilevil (the(the goodgood alwaysalways defeatsdefeats thethe evilevil ))

Middle English literature

Historical background:

From about 1100 to about 1500

Peasants’ Revolt and Wars of Roses began ->descriptions of the poor in the war

(their sorrows and pilgrimages) in Poetry

Middle English literature

Genres: Many dialects (corresponding to the region, history, culture & background of individual writers)

2 dominant literary forms : ( Long romances of chivalry served the noble & the lyrical ballads/ alliterative poetry served the ordinary).

Middle English literature

The beginning of drama , mainly related to religion:

- Miracle/ Mystery plays ( based on stories of Saints

Middle English literature

Famous author:

Geoffrey Chaucer: The first great English the father of English poetry

poet-Famous works:

The Canterbury Tales:

- Epic story: first realistic and humorous works inEnglish Literature

- the panorama of the 14th century Englishsociety

Modern English literature

* The Elizabethan period (1500-1603) + 1660) - Early modern literature : Literature of

(1603-renaissance – William Shakespeare

* The 17th century period (1660-1798): Literature

* The 17th century period (1660-1798): Literature

of restoration – Robert Burns

* The 18th century period (1798-1832): Literature

of Romanticism – William Wordsworth

Modern English literature

• The Victorian period (1832-1901): Literature of

Criticism – Charles Dickens

• The 20th century period: Literature of

Modernism – Graham Greene, Doris Lessing

The Renaissance (1485-1660)

Historical background :

From about 1485 to about 1660

- War of Roses ends -> political stability

- Printing Press appears-> English as stable language

- Farm-based -> international trade

The Renaissance (1485-1660)

• 3 literary forms:

- Drama (most important) (supported by royalty:

plays wi secular plots, “interlude”, professionalplays wi Euphuism pattern)

plays wi Euphuism pattern)

- Poetry (lyric, sonnet, narrative poetry,metaphysical poetry)

- Prose (translation works, beginning of Enovels)

• Major authors and works:

1 Christopher Marlowe: first great English andmost important Elizabethan dramatist-

foundation for Shakespeare

Plays: Tamburlaine the Great, Edward II, theTragical History of Doctor Fautus

2 William Shakespeare: the greatest of all

dramatists

Plays (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet), sonnets

3 Edmund Spenser: famous for allegoricalromance “the Faerie Queen”

4 Sir Philip Sidney: sonnet “Astrophel and Stella”(first sonnet interspersed with songs), proseromance “the Arcadia” (interspered with manypoems and songs)

5 John Lyly: establish a new pattern forsophisticated English prose “Euphuism”→

influence on Shakespeare’s romantic comedies

- Theme: Literature of wit (civilization and social relationship).

3 Major authors:

- John Dryden: dominant author, had influences

on many great writers of the 18th century(Absalom and Achitophel- Bible story to attackpoliticians, The Conquest of Granada – one ofhis best heroic plays)

- Alexander Pope: leader of neoclassicalliterature (An Essay on Man, A Tale of Tub)

- Daniel Defoe: creator of modern novel(Robinson Crusoe)

The Romanticism

(1798-1832)

* 2 major literary forms : parallel growth

- Poetry: lyrical ballads

- Prose: personal essays, autobiographies, introduction of terror stories/novels

* Writing styles :

- The romanticism: Emotion than reason

2 trends in poetry - The conservative and theprogressive;

Horror novels as the main genre of literary

Horror novels as the main genre of literaryexpression

- Theme: disillusionment, love of nature, desirefor personal freedom, good nature of humanbeings, idealization of patriarchal feudal past

*Major authors and works:

1 William Blake: A poetic genius, famous with

symbolism (Songs of Innocence andExperience)

2 William Wordsworth: a founder of Romanticism

(The lyrical ballads)

3 George Gordon: romantic but influenced by

the classical form of Pope (Childe Harold’sPilgrimage and Don Juan)

4 Jane Austen: first important woman English

novelist (Sense and sensibility, pride andPrejudice, Emma )

The Criticism (1832-1901)

• 3 literary forms:

- Prose: novel becomes popular for first time; mass produced for the first time (“coming of age”; political novels; detective novels -

Sherlock Holmes; serialized novels)

- Poetry: easier to understand - dramatic

monologues

- Drama: comedies of manner

* Writing styles :

- The Critical socialism : trend to criticize thesociety and social evils

The development of fancy writing: new genres

of science fiction, detective stories, ghoststories, utopian writing

- Theme: love of humanity & nature, sympathyfor the misery, satire of the upper class’ pride &their hypocrisy & snobbishness, selfishness &wickedness

*Major authors and works:

1 Charles Dickens: sense of humor, keen

observation and human sympathy (OliverTwist, David Copperfield)

2 Thomas Hardy: Pictures of human beings

struggling against fate (Jude the Obscure)

3 Oscar Wilde: the author of theatrical

comedies, a brilliantly provocative critic (TheTruth of Masks)

The modernism (1901- present)

• Literary forms: all genres represented

- fictional/confessional diaries (50% of contemporary fiction is written in the first person)

- narratives: both fiction and nonfiction

* Writing styles :

- The Modernism: psychological andanthropological works

- Theme: connections between people, exploring

- Theme: connections between people, exploringinterpretations of the past, open-mindednessand courage that comes from being anoutsider, escaping those ways of living thatblind and dull the human spirit

SELECTED WORKS

SONNET 18

by William Shakespeare

Shakespearean Sonnet

An 14 line stanza written in iambicpentameter, that employs the rhyme schemeabab, cdcd, efef, gg, and can be divided intothree quatrains and a couplet

Task: Label rhyme scheme, 3 quatrains and the couplet of the SONNET

Task : Mark the iambic pentameter for the SONNET, and then in groups take turn to read it out loud.

Video Clip of the Sonnet

The "paraphrased" sonnet

OOOOH Baby I think I shall compare you to a

And sometimes summer doesn't last very long

Sometimes it's too hot

And everything gorgeous loses its looks

By getting hit by a truck Or just because everyone and everything gets old and ugly and shabby

BUT (and here's the turn) you're going to keep your looks for ever

Your beauty will last forever

I'm going to make sure that you never lose your good looks

And that nasty old Death can never brag about

owning you

Because I shall write this poem about you

As long as men can breathe (are you breathing?)

As long as men can see (are you looking at this

poem?)

Then this poem lives, and it gives life and memory to your beauty.

Poem analysis

• Work in groups, discuss and answer the 4 questions in your book

- Find out figures of speech in the SONNET 18

- Translate the SONNET 18 into Vietnamese (if possible)

Sample: Vietnamese Verse Version

Có phải em mùa hạ trong tôi

Rất dịu dàng và cũng chừng nóng bỏng

Cơn gió mát đung đưa nhành lộc mới

Và mùa hạ cũng thoảng sắc hương bay

Nhưng vẫn đó ánh nắng của thiên đường

Dẫu có lúc khuất bóng mây mờ nhạt

Có lúc tàn theo năm tháng thoi đưa

Đâu phải bởi tạo hóa quá vô tình

Mà em đó không nhạt nhòa tâm tưởng

Không mùa hạ huy hoàng trong giây phút

Nét vĩnh hằng làm lui gót bóng đêm

Em vẫn đó như dòng thơ bất tử

Khi nào còn hơi thở của thế gian

Thì còn đó những giai điệu cho em

(Nguyễn Thị Lệ Quyên- Class 49TA)

Vietnamese Verse Version

Gặp phận rủi, thêm người đời khi dễ

Cảnh bơ vơ, and than khóc cô đơn,

Trời điếc chẳng nghe, thừa thôi khóc thế,

Nhìn lại mình, anh phận oán thân hờn.

Anh muốn được như người nhiều hy vọng

Nào nghệ thuật cao, trí tuệ mênh mông

Nào lắm bạn thân, ôi anh đâu thỏa

Được những điều anh khao khát tột cùng.

Quả là anh chẳng đáng chi! Nhưng bỗng

Nhớ đến em; anh chợt giống sơn ca

Giữa sớm mai từ đất buồn thức dậy

Lên cổng thiên đường vui hát thánh ca.

Vì nhớ em trao hạnh phúc ngọt tình,

Đổi lấy ngôi vua anh cũng khinh!

(Nguyen Sung)

Movie (The Quiet American)