1、English Literature Chapters 78,Key Points in Chapter 7,Movement toward Romanticism James Thomson Edward Young George Crabbe William Cowper,William Blake Introduction Works Robert Burns Introduction Works,Movement toward Romanticism,Extremes tend to provoke a reaction. With Pope and then Samuel Johns
2、on at the helm, the 18th century raged forward with the heroic couplet and almost outlawed other forms. However, from the very outset, some dissenting voices existed and tried to make themselves heard. There was also the sly but steady assertion of emotion in the age of reason. With Robert Burns and
3、 William Blake coming forth eventually on the scene, the stage were well set for a new generation of poets, the Romantics.,James Thomson (1700-1748),He is remembered now mostly for his The Seasons. The Castle of Indolence with its medieval allegorical kind of story, is read occasionally as well. The
4、 Seasons is a long poem of over 5,500 lines, composed in blank verse instead of the tyrannical heroic couplet.,Edward Young (1683-1765),He is now known solely for his long poem of some ten thousand lines, Complaint, or Night Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality, popularly known as Night Thoughts
5、. The work helped to move poetry forward toward the age of Romanticism: for one thing, it was written in blank verse, not in the fashionable heroic couplet; then the poem is an adequate expression of emotions. Night Thoughts is noted for its psychological probings and its mixing of personal sentimen
6、ts with religious deliberations.,William Cowper (1731-1800),His personal life was turbulent and depressing. He was high-strung and suicidal. His blank verse proved to be the best of his time. His major works include the Onley Hymns and The Task, for which he is known and read today.,William Blake (1
7、757-1827),Introduction Blake was an important landmark in between two literary periods, pointing directly to that of Romanticism. There were two factors in his life that helped to orient his thematic thrust. One was his native sensitivity that enabled him to see visions and develop a kind of mystici
8、sm. The other was his contact with some radical people. The two major thematic strands that make up the basic fabric of his poetry include his concern with social events and his mysticism. Blake was basically a visionary,William Blake (1757-1827),Works Songs of Innocence “Infant Joy” “The Blossom” “
9、The Lamb” “The Divine Image”,Songs of Experience “Infant Sorrow” “The Sick Rose” “The Tiger” “The Human Abstract”,Robert Burns (1759-1796),Introduction Born into a poor Scottish farmers family. He experienced dire poverty and had close contact with common life and common people. He is critical of Ca
10、lvinism and its hypocrisy and rigid morality. Burns wrote in the Scottish dialect, English, and a medley of the two.,Robert Burns (1759-1796),Works “A Red Red Rose” “Tam OShanter” “For A That an A That”,A Red Red Rose,O my Luves like a red, red rose Thats newly sprung in June; O my Luves like the me
11、lodie Thats sweetly playd in tune. As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I: And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a the seas gang dry:,Till a the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi the sun: I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o life shall run. And fare thee
12、 well, my only Luve And fare thee well, a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho it were ten thousand mile.,Key Points in Chapter 8,18th Century Fiction Jonathan Swift Works Gullivers Travels Daniel Defoe Introduction Robinson Crusoe Samuel Richardson,Henry Fielding Aesthetic Theories Works Laur
13、ence Sterne Tobias Smollett,18th Century Fiction,18th century was one in which the novel as a genre prospered not only in the practice, but also in the theory of the craft. The writers developed the realistic method of presentation and brought story-telling infinitely closer to the real life as live
14、d by the real people.,Jonathan Swift(1667-1745),Works The Battle of the Books Tale of a Tub The Irish Drapiers Letters A Modest Proposal It is one of the most caustic satires ever written in literary history Gullivers Travels,Jonathan Swift (1667-1745),Gullivers Travels This is a savage satire in th
15、e form of a fabulous travelogue The book consists of four parts, each recording one voyage to one outlandish “remote” place. Part I: “A Voyage to Lilliput” Part II: “A Voyage to Brobdingnag” Part III: “A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibari, Glubbdubdrib, Luggnagg, and Japan” Part IV: “A Voyage to the Countr
16、y of the Houyhnhunms”,Daniel Defoe (1660-1731),Introduction His views on the novel focus on two things of significance to the emerging genre (novel): its realism and its moral aesthetic. His protagonists are common people with real common names and speak as “I”, telling their own stories in the firs
17、t-person narrative, addressing the readers directly without any mediation, just so as to increase the realistic effect of immediacy and involvement.,Daniel Defoe (1660-1731),Robinson Crusoe It is the work for which Defoe is remembered by all. The popular Robinson Crusoe story as people normally know
18、 it is in fact the narrative focus of the first part. It is first and foremost a middle class book, offering justification for the class forthcoming rise to pre-dominance in national life. The book is a typical Puritan tale. Robinson Crusoe is frequently seen simply as a true-to-life, no more and no
19、 less, specimen of the ordinary humankind. Bodying forth the sum total of the perseverance and indomitableness of human spirit. It is this quality in the character that remains eternally charming and great.,Samuel Richardson (1689-1751),Pamela, Or Virtue Rewarded marks the beginning of conversationa
20、l manner of narration. Richard has been seen as the beginning in one of these psychological realism in the history of the English novel.,Henry Fielding (1707-1754),Aesthetic Theories His was the first attempt ever to define the novel as a prose epic (“Prosaic-comic-epic Writing” as he calls it) that
21、 is not inferior to an epic poem. Fielding sees the novel as a vehicle for moral inculcation, a mirror and an imitation of nature and life. Though imitating life, art is, to him, not life. Fielding deems it necessary for a writer to have four basic qualitiesnative gift, adequate learning, rich exper
22、ience with life and a kind heart.,Henry Fielding (1707-1754),Works Joseph Andrews It has been seen as the first realistic novel in English fiction. Its focus is on the presentation of English life as being lived then, so that it ends up as a novel of manners. Tom Jones It is Fieldings masterpiece Ma
23、jor characters: Squire Allworthy, Tom Jones, Jenny Jones, Patridge, Bridget, Master Blifil, the Westerns, Sophia,Laurence Sterne (1713-1768),He was an iconoclast. Dickens felt deeply impressed by his fictions major features such as their themes of grotesque goodness, sweet humility, sensitive humani
24、ty, their boisterous humor, and idiosyncratic discursiveness. His best know work is The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Tristram Shandy, with its subtle and sensible dips into the deeps of memory, has been seem by some as the first true psychological novel in English literary history. Stern is remembered for his originality and his daring to break new ground.,Tobias Smollett (1721-1771),His best novel is The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker. Smollett was one of the most original writers of his time. He is now read chiefly for his wit and his satire.,
