3. 领会：His achievement in English novel
Fielding has been regarded by some as "Father of the English Novel," for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel. Of all the eighteenth-century novelists he was the first to set out, both in theory & practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose," the first to give the modern novel its structure & style. Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary form (a series of letters), as in Richardson's Pamela, or the picaresque form (adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the principal character, as in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but Fielding adopted " the third-person narration," in which the author becomes the "all-knowing God." He "thinks the thought" of all his characters, so he is able-to present not only their external behaviors but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is.
4. 领会：Characteristics of his language
His language is easy, unlabored & familiar, but extremely vivid & vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic & rhythm, & his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending. His works are also noted for lively, dramatic dialogues & other theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidence & unexpectedness.
5.应用：Selected Reading
An Excerpt from chapter VIII, Book Four of Tom Jones.
Tom Jones, generally considered Fielding's masterpiece, brings its author the name of the "Pose Homer." The panoramic view it provides of the 18th century English country & city life with different places & about 40 characters is unsurpassed. The language is one of clarity & suppleness. And last of all, the plot construction is excellent. Its 18 books of epic form are divided into 3 sections, 6 books each, clearly marked out by the change of scenes: in the country, on the high way & in London. By this, Fielding has indeed achieved his goal of writing a "comic epic in prose."

VI. Samuel Johnson
1. 一般识记：His life & literary career
Samuel Johnson, English writer, critic, & lexicographer, born in Richfield, England, Sept. 18.1709, and died in London. England, Dec, 13,1784.
Samuel Johnson, commonly called Dr. Johnson, was one of the greatest figures of 18th-century English literature. He was an energetic & versatile writer. He had a hand in all the different branches of literary activities. He was a poet, dramatist, prose romancer, biographer, essayist, critic, lexicographer & publicist.

2. 识记：His major works
His major works include poems: "London"(1738), & "The vanity of Human Wishes"(1749); a romance: The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia (1759); a tragedy: Irene (1749); several hundred essays which appeared in the two periodicals under his editorship-The Rambler & The Idler; & literary criticism as found in the preface to his edition of Shakespeare & in his comments on 52 poet in Lives of the Poets (1779-1781). As a lexicographer, Johnson distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary by an Englishman-A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), a gigantic task which Johnson undertook single-handedly & finished in over seven years.
3. 领会：His neoclassical literary outlook &style
Samuel Johnson was the last great neoclassicist enlightener in the late 18th century. He was very much concerned with the theme of the vanity bear this theme. He tried to warn men against this folly & hoped to care then of it through his writings. In literary creation & criticism, be was rather conservative, openly showing his dislike for some newly rising form of literature &his appreciation for those writings which carried a lot of moralizing & his appreciation for those writings which carried a lot of moralizing & philosophizing. He held that a writer must adhere to universal truth & experience, i.e. Nature; he must please, but he must also instruct; he must not offend against religion or promote immorality; & he must let himself be guided by old principles. Like Pope, he was particularly fond of moralizing & didacticism.
Samuel Johnson's language is characteristically general, often Latinate & polysyllabic. His sentences are long & well structured with parallel words & phrases. However, no matter how complex his sentences are, his idea is always clearly expressed; & though he tends to use "learned words," they are always accurately used Reading his works gives the reader the impression that he is talking with a very learned man.
4. 领会：His contribution to English language-A Dictionary of the English Language
In 1746, a group of booksellers commissioned Johnson to prepare a dictionary. Published in 1755, A dictionary of the English Language was the first real attempt at a systematic & interestingly written survey of English usage & the first dictionary to quote from poets & other writers to illustrate definitions. On the whole, the work showed great scholarship, although it contained humor & reflected a number of Johnson's prejudices.
5. 应用：Selected Reading
To the Right Honorable the Earl of chesterfield
The letter is written in a refined & very polite language, with a bitter undertone of defiance & anger. The seemingly peaceful retrospection, reasoning & questioning express, to the best satiric effect, the author's strong indignation at the lord's fame-fishing & his firm resolution not to be reconciled to the hypocritical lord. It expresses explicitly the author's assertion of his independence, signifying the opening of a new era in the development of literature.

VII. Richard Brinsley Sheridan
1. 一般识记: His dramatic career
Richard B. Sheridan, British dramatist & statesman, born in Dublin, Ireland, Oct. 30, 1751, and died in London, England, July 7, 1816.
Sheridan is ranked among the important comic playwrights of the English drama. His masterpiece. The School for Scandal (1777) is considered one of the finest English comedies of manners. A satire on gossip, hypocrisy, & the corrupting influence of fashionable city life, it is also admired for its ingenious plot construction & witty dissection of character. Sheridan's other outstanding comedy. The Rivals (1775), is famous for the character Mrs. Malaprop, whose misuse of words has made her one of the great comic creation of the English theater. Both plays, in their attack on false sentimentalism & moralizing, represent a rebirth of the type of polished, sophisticated comedy written during the Restoration(1660-1700)
2识记The theme of his plays
Morality is the constant theme of Richard B. Sheridan's plays. He is much concerned with the current moral issues & lashes harshly at the social vices of the day.
3领会: His writing techniques
Sheridan's greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability &inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man. Though his dramatic techniques are largely conventional. They are exploited to the best advantage. His plots are well organized, his characters, either major or miner. Are all sharply drawn, & his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity & dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues & neat &decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.
4领会：His major works
His plays, especially The Rivals & The School for scandal, are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare & those of Bernard Shaw, & as true classics in English comedy. In The Rivals, a comedy of manners, he is satirizing the traditional practice of the parents to arrange marriages for their children without considering the latter's opinion. The school for Scandal is a sharp satire on the moral degeneracy of the aristocratic-bourgeois society in the 18th century England, on the vicious scandal-mongering among the idle rich, on the reckless life of extravagance & love intrigues in the high society, and above all, on the immorality & hypocrisy behind the mask of honorable living & high-sounding moral principles.
Besides The Rivals & The School for Scandal, Sheridan's other works include: St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming Lieutenant (1775), a two act farce; The Duenna(1775), a comic opera; The Critic(1779), a burlesque & a satire on sentimental drama; & Pizarro (1799), a tragedy adapted from a German play.
5应用：Select reading
An Excerpt from Act 4, Scene III of The School for Scandal
1) Brief Introductions
The School for Scandal is mainly a story about 2 brothers, the hypocritical Joseph Surface & the good-natured, imprudent, spendthrift Charles Surface.
2) Theme
The School for Scandal is one of the great classics in English drama. It is a sharp satire on the moral degeneracy of the aristocratic-bourgeois society in the 18th-century England, on the vicious scandal mongering among the idle rich, on the reckless life of extravagance & love intrigues in the high society & above all, on the immorality & hypocrisy behind the mask of honorable living & high-sounding moral principles. And in terms of theatrical art, it shows the playwright at his best. No wonder, the play has been regarded as the best comedy since Shakespeare.

VIII. Thomas Gray
1. 一般识记：His life
Thomas Gray (1716-1771), son of a London exchange broker, was born in Cornhill, London on Dec. 26, 1716. He was first educated at Eton. In 1734 he went to Cambridge University & left it in 1738 without taking a degree. In 1768 he was made professor of History & Modern Languages at Cambridge. He died at Cambridge, England, on July 30, 1771.
2. 识记: His major works
In contrast to those professional writers, Gray's literary output was small. His masterpiece, "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" was published in 1751. The poem once & for all established his fame as the leader of the sentimental poetry of the day, especially "the Graveyard School." His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past & present.
In addition to his elegiac masterpiece, Gray is known for his odes, including "Ode on the Spring"(1742), "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College"(1747), "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat" (1748), "Hymn to Adversity"(1742), & two translations from old Norse: The Descent of Odin(1761) & The Fatal Sisters(1761).
3. 领会His style
A conscientious artist of the first rate, Gray wrote slowly & carefully, painstakingly seeking perfection of form & phrase. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated & allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait of a highly artificial diction & a distorted word order.
4. 应用：Selected Reading
"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard"
1) Theme: It is a meditation on human mortality, the tragic dignity it gives to all mankind, & the stability & serenity of rustic life. The Elegy lies in Gray's perfect expression of what all men feel about life & death. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life & the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the ordinary people with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor & the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor & bring havoc on them.
2)Language
The poem abounds in images & arouses sentiment in the bosom of every reader. Though the use of artificial poetic diction & distorted word order make understanding of the poem somewhat difficult, the artistic polish-the sure control of language, imagery, rhythm, & his subtle moderation of style & tone-gives the poem a unique charm of its own. The poem has been ranked among the best of the 18th century English poetry.



Chapter III The Romantic Period

一 本章的学习目的和要求
通过本章的学习，了解浪漫主义文学的产生的历史，文化背景，认识该时期文学创作的基本特征，基本主张，及其对时代及后世英国文学用至文化的影响；了解该时期重要作家的文学生涯，创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物刻画，语言风格，思想意义等； 同时结合注释，读懂所选作品，了解其思想内容和写作特色，培养理解和欣赏文学作品的能力。
二 本章考核知识点及考核要求
（一） 考核知识点
1 浪漫主义时期概述
1） 浪漫主义时期英国社会的政治，经济，文化背景
2） 浪漫主义文学创作的基本主张
3） 英国浪漫主义文学的特色
4） 浪漫主义文学对同时代及后世英国文学的影响
2 浪漫主义时期主要作家的文学创作思想及其代表作品的主题结构，人物塑造，语言风格，艺术手法及社会意义等。
威廉•布莱克；威廉•华兹华斯；塞•特•科勒律治；乔治•戈登•拜伦；珀•比•雪莱；约翰•济兹；简•奥斯汀
（二） 考核要求
1 浪漫主义时期概述
1）识记：a.浪漫主义时期的界定
b.历史文化背景
2) 领会：a.浪漫主义思潮的意义与影响。
b.浪漫主义文学创作的基本主张及对后世文学的影响。、
3) 应用：a.名词解释：浪漫主义
b.浪漫主义时期文学特点的分析
2 该时期的重要作家
1） 识记：浪漫主义时期的重要作家，代表作品及其主要内容。
2） 领会：重要作家的创作思想，艺术特色及其代表作品的主题结构，人物塑造，语言风格，社会意义等。
3） 应用：a.浪漫派诗歌（所选作品）的主题，意象分析
b.小说《傲慢与偏见》的主题和主要人物的性格分析。
一 概述
1. 一般识记
English Romanticism
English Romanticism, as a historical phase of literature, is generally said to have began in 1798 with the publication of Wordsworth & Coleridge's Lyrical Ballads & to have ended in 1832 with Sir Walter Scott's death & the passage of the first Reform Bill in the Parliament.
2. 识记 Historical & Cultural background
During this period, England had experienced profound economic & social change. The biggest social change in English history was the transfer of large masses of the population from the countryside to the towns. As a result of the Enclosures & the agricultural mechanization, the peasants were driven of their land; some emigrated to the colonies; some sank to the level of farm laborers & many others drifted to the industrial towns where there was a growing demand for labor. But the new industrial towns were no better than jungles, where the law was "the survival of the fittest." The cruel economic exploitation caused large-scale workers' disturbances in England.
3 领会
（1） Influences of the Romantic Movement
Romanticism constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit. In essence it designates a literary & philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life & all experience. It also places the individual at the center of art, making literature most valuable as an expression of this or her unique feelings & particular attitudes & valuing its accuracy in portraying the individual's experiences.
(2) The Romantic views about literature
a. The Romantic period is an age of poetry. Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley & Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution.
b. The Romantic period is also a great age of prose. The two major novelists of the Romantic period are Jane Austen & Walter Scott.
c. Besides poetry & prose, there are quite a number of writers who have fried their hand at poetic dramas in this period.
4 应用
(1) Literary Terms
a. The Romantic Movement
It expressed a more or less negative attitude towards the existing social & political conditions that came with industrialization & the growing importance of the bourgeoisie. The Romantics felt that the existing society denied people their essential human needs, so they demonstrated a strong reaction against the dominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers & philosophers. Where their predecessors saw man as a social animal, the Romantics saw him essentially as an individual in the solitary state & emphasized the special qualities of each individual's mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer.
b. The Gothic novel
It is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in the late 18th century & was one phase of the Romantic movement, its principal elements are violence, horror & the supernatural, which strongly appeal to the reader's emotion. With its descriptions of the dark, irrational side of human nature, the Gothic form has exerted a great influence over the writer of the Romantic period. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe & Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley are typical Gothic romance.
(2) Characteristics of Romantic literature in English history.
The Romantic period is an age of poetry Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley & Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth & Coleridge were the major representatives of this movement. They explored new theories & innovated new techniques in poetry writing. They saw poetry as a healing energy: they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls & the society. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also stress the concept of spontaneity & inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject matter. Wordsworth is the closest to nature.
To escape from a world that had became excessively rational, as well as excessively materialistic & ugly, the Romantics would turn to other times & places, where the qualities they valued could be convincingly depicted. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic, defending the great poets & dramatists of their own national heritage against the advocates of classical rules who tended to glorify Rome & rational Italian & French neoclassical art as superior to the native traditions. To the Romantics, poetry should be free from all rules. They would turn to the humble people & their everyday life for subjects, Romantic writers are always seeking for the Absolute, the Ideal through the transcendence of the actual. They have also made bold experiments in poetic language, versification & design, & constructed a variety of forms on original principles of structure & style.
二 该时期的重要作家　
I. William Blake
1.一般识记： His life
English poet, artist, & philosopher, born in London England, Nov 28, 1757, and died in London, Aug 12,1827. Blake made distinguished contributions to both Literature & art. He ranks with great poets in the English language & may be considered the earliest of the major English Romantic poets. His poems range from lyrics of childlike simplicity to mystical or prophetic works of great complexity. As an artist he is best known for his engravings, which are among the masterpieces of graphic art.