Part 1 The Anglo—Saxon Period（449-1066）秧格鲁-撒克逊时期
1.    Historical Background
Celts           400B.C.  Romans         50B.C.
Anglo—Saxons  450A.D   Norman Invasion 1066A.D.
Roman empire从albion撤军，teutonic tribes(包括angles, Saxons,jutes)（条顿人or日耳曼人）陆续登陆此地
2. Literature 1,pagan异教徒文学 2 christian基督徒文学  alliterative verse头韵诗
Epic: Beowulf贝奥武甫（Denmark背景）（the hall heorot鹿庁，grendel:a monster half-human）
1) Oral origin, recited in court, handed down in generations until finally it was recorded by certain poet.上下部分由pagan写，插入由christian写
2) a mixture of history and legend.，england’s national epic民国史诗
Part II  The Anglo-Norman Period(1066-1350)秧格鲁-诺曼时期
1.    Historical Background
Roman conquest,接着是english conquest，最后是norman conquest。
The Norman Conquest in 1066
Duke William of Normandy claimed himself William I, King of England.（the battle of hastings希斯廷战役）
Kings—Barons男爵—Knights, a feudal system of hierarchy统治集团 was formed
2.    The language
Upper classes: French, Latin     The common people: Old English
Three languages co-existed in England. French became the official language used by the king and the Norman lords; Latin became the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities; and Old English was spoken only by the common English people.
3.The literature
Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the Middle Ages. It is about the life and adventures undertaken by a knight.
It reflected the spirit of chivalry骑士制度. The content of romance: love, chivalry and religion. It involves fighting, adventures.
Subject matter:
Geoffrey’s History杰弗里《史记》，riming chronicles押韵编年史，metricalverse格律诗体，doggerel verse打油诗体
1)    the Matter of France eg. Charlemagne and his peers查理曼大帝和他的骑士
2)    Matter of Greece and Rome eg Akexabder亚历山大大帝
3)    Matter of Britain tales having for their heroes Arthur and his knights of the Round Table
3.    main literature
Sir Gawain and the green knight.高文爵士和绿衣骑士（arthur，gawain,green knight, morgain the fay-woman妖精摩根, the green girdle绿腰带）
Part III  Geoffrey Chaucer (1340—1400)杰弗里.乔叟时期
1.    Historical Background
He was living at the same time as the writer of Sir Gawain.
In 1350 AD,  100 Years' War between England and France.
The English won, they controlled large French territory领土. The Henry VI lost it all. He is father of English poetry
War of the Roses    1455-1485 AD
2.    What's middle ages like?
1). The medieval society:  hierarchy 等级制度social system.
2). Another important thing in the medieval society is Christianity基督God-centered thinking, mind ideology思想体系
3.    Life and work of Chaucer
Chaucer lived between (1340-1400). His life is closely connected with the King and the royal family. Chaucer is working in a royal family as a page小侍臣. He married the sister of Gaunt's wife. He became a government official.He is very much exposed to the influence of Italy of the culture. E. G. Dante但丁, Patriarch,主教 Boccaccio-the Decameron薄伽丘著《十日谈》,Chaucer chose the metrical form which laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse.乔叟第一次在英国用韵脚韵律诗形式来创作诗歌，开创了英国文学以重音-音节为基础的格律诗先河。首创heroic couplet英雄双行体。
His career can be divided into several periods
1. French 1360-1370     translate French poetry
2. Italian 1372-1386
3.    English  The Canterbury tales
4.    The Canterbury tales
He got his stories from various sources, Greek authors, Roman authors, Italian, French, but there is no doubt about Chaucer's originality. He retells the stories in his own way. The stories are told by a group of people on their way to and back from Canterbury. Pilgrims 朝圣者tell stories to pass the time. The journey is used as a kind of device to unite the various tales    Nun修女:Her enthusiasm for grace, trying to become someone that she is not, she cannot possibly be. --Pretentiousness, pretending伪装too much
Chaucer has different attitude to different characters
第一句：as soon as april pierces to the root, the drought of march, and bathes each bud and shoot
The significance of his writing
1)    it gives a comprehensive广泛的 picture of Chaucer’s time
2)    the dramatic structure
3)    Chaucer’s humor
4)    Chaucer’s contribution to the English language. Ever since the Norman Conquest the French language was the language at the court and the upper classes, and Latin was the language of the learned and the church. Chaucer used the native language English and proved that the English language is a beautiful language. He increased the prestige 威信of the English language.
5.    Popular ballads大众民谣
A ballad is a narrative叙述 poem that tells a story. It is about particular incidents, usually dramatic. Ballets tell stories-about tragic悲剧的 incidents. They are written in a special musical pattern, ballad meter-four meters, couplets（相连并押韵的两行诗）—
two line in a unit or quatrain 四行诗__ ababcdcd
Characteristics:
1)    The beginning is often abrupt突然地. No introduction of the characters and the background of the tale
2)    There are strong dramatic elements. A ballad deals with a single episode插曲
3)    the story is often told through dialogue and action
4)    the theme is often tragic悲剧的
5)    The ballad meter is used. It contains four-line stanza节，段
在英国把民谣当文学形式研究的第一人是托马斯.帕西主教Bishop Thomas Percy,他将民谣收录到《英诗辑古》Reliques of Ancient English Poetry中。
Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale罗宾汉和阿林代尔  Get Up and Bar the Door.起来去关门  Sir Patrick Spens派屈克。斯宾塞爵士
Part IV   The Renaissance文艺复兴时期
1.    Historical Background
1)    The reign of Queen Elizabeth  (1558_1603)
England enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity
2)    The defeat of the Spanish Armada舰队 by the English navy in 1588. After the battle, England gradually became a mighty naval海军的power.
3)    Humanism人文主义
Renaissance: it is a French word that means “rebirth”复活 in English. In the 15th and 16th century, scholars in western European countries had a keen interest in the Greek and Latin culture. That is the art and science of ancient Greece and Rome were being born again after long years of neglect.忽略
 Humanism:
 The welfare幸福 of human being is very important. It emphases the worth of life in this world, and the dignity of human being.
4）主要作者介绍
Thomas More : Utopia托马斯。莫尔：乌托邦
Thomas Wyatt:怀亚特：把sonnet十四行诗引入英国第一人
Edmund Spenser: the Fairy Queen埃德蒙。斯宾塞：仙后
John Lyly: Eupheus约翰。黎里：艳词，首创euphuism绚丽体
Christopher Marlowe:克里斯托弗。马洛：把blank verse无韵诗作为英语戏剧主要表达方式的开创者
English drama是英国文艺复兴的主流
2.    The writers
William Shakespeare  (1564—1616)
1) His life and work
  –1592, arrived in London doing very mean jobs, then he joined Lord chamberlain’s国王侍从 company, became very famous.
He became a shareholder股东 in the Globe and bought a big house in his hometown. He bought a coat of arms for his father。出生地：Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire   -2 poems, 37 plays, 154 sonnets
His plays-1,Histories and comedies  2.Tragedies  3.Romances
The importance of his writing( more can be added)
1)    Shakespeare represented the tread脚步 of history in giving voice to the desires and aspirations of the people.( peace)
2)    Shakespeare’s humanism. His plays reflected the spirit of his age.
3He was a great poet
4）    He was a master of the English language.
5）    His first original play written in about 1590 was King Henry VI
6）    Hmalet,哈姆雷特 Othello,奥赛罗 King Lear,李尔王and the Tragedy of Macbeth麦克白 are regarded as Shakespeare’s four great tragedies.
Hamblet:讲的是丹麦故事，反映的是英国的事情
主要人物：Claudius克劳迪斯，死去国王的弟弟，Queen Gertrude乔特鲁得：王子的母亲，Polonius波洛琉斯：爱说闲话的官员，Ophelia奥菲利亚：官员的女儿，Laertes雷欧提斯：官员的儿子
The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人
主要人物：Bassanio巴萨尼奥，Antonio安东尼奥，Shylock夏洛克:a wealthy Jew犹太人，Portia鲍西亚：Bassanio’s girlfriend, Jessica杰西卡：shylock’s daughter, Lorenzo罗兰佐：Bassanio’s friend and Jessica’s boyfriend,
Nerissa尼莉莎：Portia’s waiting-woman侍女 ，Gratiano:葛莱西安诺：Bassanio’s another friend and Nerissa’s boyfriend
地点：Belmont贝尔蒙特
Sonnet 18:
The first eight lines: shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?thou art more lovely and more temperat….