1、Lecture 3 An Introduction to Literature of Renaissance England ,Renaissance Period (late 15th cen.-mid 17th cen.),Targets: Kings & historical events Renaissance & and its essence Types of Literature & writers,In form: rebirth of the ancient Greek and Roman culture In fact: the culture of bourgeosie
2、against culture of Catholic church and feudal culture,About the Tudors before Queen Elizabeth Henry VII (1485-1509) Henry VIII (1509-1547 ) Edward VI (1547-1553) Mary (1552-1558) Elizabeth (1558-1603),Renaissance Period (late 15th cen.-mid 17th cen.),to conclude: historical events are as follows: He
3、nry VIII: beginning of Protestantism( religious reformation) Bloody Mary: the return of the Catholicism(enclosure movement) Elizabeth: return of the Protestantism Nicolaus Copernicus: heliocentric theory vs geocentric theory Galilei : forerunner of experimental science:,Part I: Historical Overview,
4、The Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) Supremacy on the sea An age of expansion, economic development& cultural prosperity. The thriving theatre,Queen Elizabeth I ( 1533-1603 ),To conclude for the historical overview,1. A social transition fm the medieval to the modern2. A series of historical eve
5、nts the rediscovery & reintroduction of ancient Roman & Greek culture the new discoveries in astrology the religious reformation & economic expansion,The Renaissance Rebirth or Revival,Renaissance: humanism ; Elizabethan drama Humanism (man is the center of universe): a) dignity of human beings; b)
6、importance of present life; c) right of enjoying life (vs austerity and asceticism),Renaissance Literature in England:p671) Lyrical poetry: Wyatt, Sidney, Spenser, 2) Prose-writing: More, BaconThomas More: Utopia3) Various types of novels: Lyly, Nashe, Lodge, Deloney“University Wits”: a)coming from
7、Oxford and Cambridgeb) Robert Greene, John Lyly, Thomas Nashe, Thomasc) Lodge, Christopher Marlow, their works, uneven in quality, are important contributions to English drama. 4) Drama: Marlowe, Shakespeare, Johnson ,Christapher Marlowe:The Tamburlaine Great: ambitious emperor for infinite power an
8、d authorityDr. Faustus: based on the German legend; selling soul for knowledge; tragic endingThe Passinate Shepherd to His Love: a lyric,William Shakespeare (1564-1616),Part 2: Willia Shakespeare (1564-1616),Major Plays 1609-1612, principle romantic tragicomedies.,Hamlet Embodiment of Shakespeare,Ha
9、mlet projected Shakespeares vision of political chaos in 17th-century England. Without order and loyalty everything can be ruined. (Something is rotten in the state of Denmark; The time is out of joint.) Moral corruption is also a serious concern in the play. The loss of fidelity and true love is an
10、other sign of moral decline. (“Frailty, thy name is woman.”),Quotes from Hamlet “ To be, or not to be: that is the question“. - (Act III, Scene I). “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so“. - (Act II, Scene II). “What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite i
11、n faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! “. - (Act II, Scene II).,Hamlet The story (P72-P76) The Character of Hamlet a humanist who is free from medieval prejudices and super
12、stitions; democratic tendency based on his humanist thought ; a close observer of men and mannersHe is a scholar, soldier and statesman. His image reflects the versatility of the men of the Renaissance.,Part 2: William Shakespeare (1564-1616),Study of the dramatic monologue or Soliloquies in Hamlet“
13、 To be or not to be ” has become a universal question puzzling every intellectual mind. “ In the perplexed figure of Hamlet, just because of our sense that his mind lacks definite boundaries, we find ourselves.”,活下去还是不活：这是个问题（）,活下去还是不活，这是个问题： 要做到高贵，究竟该忍气吞声 来容受狂暴的命运矢石交攻呢， 还是该挺身反抗无边的苦恼， 扫它个干净？死，就是睡眠 就
14、这样；而如果睡眠就等于了结了 心痛以及千百种身体要担受的 皮肉之痛，那该是天大的好事， 正求之不得啊！死，就是睡眠； 睡眠也许要做梦，这就麻烦了！,活下去还是不活：这是个问题（2）,我们一旦摆脱了尘世的牵缠 在死的睡眠里还会做些什么梦， 一想到就不能不踌躇。这一点顾虑 正好使灾难变成了长期的折磨。 谁甘心忍受人世的鞭挞和嘲弄， 忍受失恋的痛苦、法庭的拖延、 衙门的横暴、做埋头苦干的大才 受作威作福的小人一脚踢出去， 如果他只消自己来使一下尖刀 就可以得到解脱啊？谁甘心挑担子，,活下去还是不活：这是个问题（3）,拖着疲累的生命，呻吟，流汗， 要不是怕一死就去了没有人回来的 那个从未发现的国土，怕
15、那边 还不知会怎样，因此意志动摇了， 因此就宁愿忍受目前的灾殃， 而不愿投奔另一些未知的苦难？ 这样子，顾虑使我们都成了懦夫， 也就这样了，决断决行的本色 蒙上了惨白的一层思虑的病容； 本可以轰轰烈烈的大作大为， 由于这一点想不通，就出了别扭， 失去了行动的名分。（卞之琳 译）,PPT FROM:,J PASSWORD: judyzhu,Happy National Holiday See you next month,Hamlet (1601),Hamlet and Ophelia,Part 2: William Shakespeare (1564-1616),Dramatic monolo
16、gue: A type of poem in which a character, at some specific critical moment, addresses an identifiable but silent audience, thereby unintentionally revealing his or her essential temperament and personality. Classical examples are Robert Brownings “ My Last Duchess”(1842) and “ Soliloquy of the Spani
17、sh Cloister” (1842),The Merchant of Venice (1596),Theme of The Merchant of Venice,Portias triumph over Shylock symbolizes the triumph of:Reason over Irrationality; Generosity over Vengeance; Intelligence over Malice.,Portia in The Merchant of Venice,“But the full sum of me, is sum of nothing; which,
18、 to term in gross, is an unlessond girl, unschooled, unpractisd, Happy in this, she is not yet so old But she may learn; happier than this, She is not bred so dull but she can learn; Happiest of all, is that her gentle spirit Commits itself to yours to be directed As from her lord, her governor, her
19、 king.”-Act III,Shylock in The Merchant of Venice,“He hath disgracd me, and hindred me half a million, laughd at my losses, mockd at my gains, scornd my nation, thwarted my bargains, coold my friends, heated mine enemies; and whats his reason? I am a Jew. -Act III,Shylock in The Merchant of Venice,H
20、ath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions; fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same disease, heald by the same means, warmd and colld by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not blood? If
21、 you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? ”-Act III,Romeo and Juliet (1594),Romeo-,O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright! It seems she hangs upon the check of night As a rich jewel in an Ethiops ear Beauty too rich for use, fo
22、r earth too dear! So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, As yonder lady oer her fellows shows. The measure done, Ill watch her place of stand, And touching hers, make blessed my rude hand. Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I neer saw true beauty till this night.- Act I,Romeo an
23、d Juliet (1594),Romeo,O, speak again, bright angel, for thou art As glorious to this night, being oer my head, As is a winged messenger of heaven Unto the white-upturned wondring eyes Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him, When he bestrides the lazy puffing clouds, And sails upon the bosom of the
24、 air. (Act II)“It is the east, and Juliet is the sun“ . - (Act II, Scene II).,Juliet My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite. (Act II)“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?“- (Act II, Scene II). “Good Night, Good nigh
25、t! Parting is suchsweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.“ - (Act II, Scene II).“Whats in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet“. - (Act II, Scene II).,After-class Assignment,- Recite Sonnet 18 or 29 or106 -Have you ever been a “Hamlet” in your
26、 life? Write a paper on : “ To be or not to be , that is a question.” -Try to translate F. Bacons : P126 - Read John Donnes introduction & his poetry fm P132-137,What is a sonnet?,A sonnet = A type of poem; A sonnet = A lyric poem; A sonnet = A lyric poem of fourteen lines; A sonnet = Such a poem wi
27、th a strict rhyme scheme; A sonnet = A poem in iambic pentameter.,Quiz,Sonnet was originally written in English, which spread afterwards to the European countries. Shakespeare was the poet who not only created the greatest sonnets in English, but also who first introduced the poetic form to England.
28、 Shakespeares 154 sonnets are all addressed to his mystic lover, just as Petrarchs to his beloved “Laura.”,Sonnets in England,Sonnets were introduced to England first in the sixteenth cent. by Sir Thomas Wyatt and his younger contemporary Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547); The English / Shake
29、spearean Sonnet was first developed by Henry Howard and other English experimenters, with Shakespeare as its greatest practitioner;The form reached its peak during the reign of Elizabeth ;,Sonnets by Shakespeare,Shakespeares sonnets written in about 1589 and published in 1609.They (154) divided into
30、 two groups, with Sonnet 126 as the one separating them.The first addressed to a young noble man of great beauty; the other to a Dark Lady.,Part 2: William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Shakespearean sonnet1. 14 lines = 3 quatrains +1 couplet 2. Rhyme Scheme: abab cdcd efef gg3. Theme:- immortality of ar
31、t/poetry; - the value of genuine friendship; - moral conflicts ;- psychological uncertainties,Thee, Thou, Thy & Thine,Thou: you Thee: you Thy or Thine: your,Some more examples:,Hath=has; Doth=does; Dost=do; Canst=can; Beest=be;Hast=have; Art=are; Swellst=swell; Findst=find; Wilt=will; Wouldst=would;
32、 Mightst=might; Whilst=while,Sonnet 18 Shall I compare thee to a summers day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summers lease hath all too short a date: Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimmed; And ev
33、ery fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or natures changing course untrimmed; But thy eternal summer shall not fade Nor lose possession of that fair thou owst; Nor shall Death brag thou wanderst in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou growst: So long as men can breathe or eyes can s
34、ee, So long lives this and this gives life to thee.,Quatrain,Quatrain,Quatrain,Couplet,Sonnet 18,能不能让我来把你比作夏日？ 你可是更加可爱，更加温婉； 狂风会吹落五月里开的好花儿， 夏季租出的日子又未免太短暂： 有时候苍天的巨眼照得太灼热， 他那金彩的脸色也会被遮暗； 每一样美总会离开美而凋落， 被时机或者自然的代谢所摧残； 但是你永久的夏天决不会凋枯， 你永远不会失去你美的形相： 死神夸白着你在他影子里踯躅， 你将在不朽的诗中与时间同长；只要人类在呼吸，眼睛看得见，我这诗就活着，使你的生命绵延。
35、,Part 2: William Shakespeare (1564-1616),Features of Shakespeares writing He is one of the founders of realism in world literature. His dramatic creation often used the method of adaptation. His long experience with the stage and his intimate knowledge of dramatic art thus acquired make him a master
36、-hand for play-writing. He was skilled in many poetic forms: the song, the sonnet, the couplet, and the dramatic blank verse. He was a great master of the English language.,Part 2: William Shakespeare (1564-1616),Conclusion A universal language “I do not remember that any book or person or event in
37、my life ever made so great an impression upon me as the plays of Shakespeare.” (Goethe) “He is not for an age, but for all time.”(Ben Jonson),Principle Sonnet Forms,Form Athe Italian / Patriarchal style 14 lines,Form B the English / Shakespearean style 14 lines,Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374),Italian
38、 poet and humanistCanzoniere (317): his collection of Italian lyrics dedicated to his beloved LauraEstablishment of the sonnet as the major form in European poetryTheme: the hopes and pains of an adoring male loverIntroduced and translated by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey in the early sixteent
39、h cent.,Id sing of Love in such a novel fashion that from her cruel side I would draw by force a thousand sighs a day, kindling again in her cold mind a thousand high desires;Id see her lovely face transform quite often her eyes grow wet and more compassionate, like one who feels regret, when its to
40、o late, for causing someones suffering by mistake;And Id see scarlet roses in the snows, tossed by the breeze, discover ivory that turns to marble those who see it near them;All this Id do because I do not mind my discontentment in this one short life, but glory rather in my later fame.,Sonnet 131,P
41、etrarch Translated by David Young,Stanza One,Stanza Two,Stanza Three,Stanza Four,Quatrain,Quatrain,Octave,Sestet,Id sing of Love in such a novel fashion that from her cruel side I would draw by force a thousand sighs a day, kindling again in her cold mind a thousand high desires;Id see her lovely fa
42、ce transform quite often her eyes grow wet and more compassionate, like one who feels regret, when its too late, for causing someones suffering by mistake;And Id see scarlet roses in the snows, tossed by the breeze, discover ivory that turns to marble those who see it near them;All this Id do becaus
43、e I do not mind my discontentment in this one short life, but glory rather in my later fame.,Sonnet 131,Petrarch Translated by David Young,Stanza One,Stanza Two,Stanza Three,Stanza Four,Quatrain,Quatrain,Octave,Sestet,Foot,A basic unit of measurement in English verse;Foot = A stressed syllable + uns
44、tressed syllable(s)No. of feet (within a verse line) = No. of Accented syllables,* Foot / feet = *meter One foot: monometer Five feet: pentameter Two feet: dimeter Six feet: hexameter Three feet: trimeter Seven feet: heptameter Four feet: tetrameter Eight feet: octameter,mono- = one, single penta- =
45、 five di- = two, twice hexa- = six tri- = three hepta- = seven tetra- = four octa- = eight,Types of foot,Iambic foot (n. “iamb”): o O Trochaic foot (“trochee”): O oThere they / are, my / fif ty / men and / womenAnapestic foot (n. “anapest”): o o O Dactylic foot (“dactyl”): O o oEve, with her / bas k
46、et, was/Deep in the / bells and grass./,Expectations FOR SS:,Acquire the definition of the relative literary terms, such as tragedy, comedy, tragicomedy, dramatic monologue ,sonnet, essay, blank verse, stanza and etc. Give your comments on the stage Shakespeares place & influence on English literature,After-class Assignment,- Recite Sonnet 18 or 29 or106 -Have you ever been a “Hamlet” in your life? Write a paper on : “ To be or not to be , that is a question.” -Try to translate F. Bacons : P126 - Read John Donnes introduction & his poetry fm P132-137,Happy National Holiday See you next month,
