Chapter I The Renaissance Period
一、学习目的和要求
通过本章学习，了解文艺复兴运动和人文主义思潮产生的历史，文化背景，认识该时期文学创作的基本特征和基本主张，及其对同时代及后世英国文学乃至文化的影响；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、考核要求
(一) 文艺复兴时期概述
1. 识记：（1）文艺复兴时期的界定 （2）历史文化背景
2. 领会: （1）文艺复兴运动的意义与影响
（2）文艺复兴时期的文学特点 （3）人文主义的主张及对文学的影响
3. 应用：文艺复兴，人文主义及玄学诗等名词的解释
Brief Introduction to the Renaissance Period
I. 应用
Definitions of the Literary Terms:
1. The Renaissance: The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance, which means "rebirth" or "revival," is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography & astrology, the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.
2. Humanism: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Through the new learning, humanists not only saw the arts of splendor and enlightenment, but the human values represented in the works. Renaissance humanists found in the classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfections, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders. Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English humanists.
3. Spenserian stanza:
Spenserian stanza was invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter & the last line in iambic hexameter, rhyming ababbcbcc.
4. Metaphysical poetry: The term "metaphysical poetry" is commonly used to name the work of the 17th century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit, the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery in drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.
5. The Renaissance hero: A Renaissance hero refers to one created by Christopher Marlowe in his drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from both gods and men. He embodies Marlowe's humanistic ides of human dignity and capacity. Different from the tragic hero in medieval plays, who seeks the way to heaven through salvation and god's will, he is against conventional morality and contrives to obtain heaven on earth through his own efforts. With the endless aspiration for power, knowledge, and glory, the hero interprets the true Renaissance spirit. Both Tamburlaine and Faustus are typical in possessing such a spirit.
（二） 该时期的重要作家
1.一般识记：重要作家的文学生涯
2.识记：重要作品及主要内容
3.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，艺术手法，社会意义等。
4.应用：（1）莎士比亚和邓恩诗歌的主题，意象
（2）喜剧《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物性格分析
（3）哈姆雷特的性格分析
（4）史诗《失乐园》的结构，人物性格，语言特点等的分析
I. Edmund Spenser 
1. 一般识记
Brief Introduction to the Author
English poet，born in London, England, about 1552,and died in London, Jan 13, 1599.
2. 识记His Major Works
Spenser's most important work & masterpiece is The Faerie Queene, a great poem of its age. A complex moral, religious, & political allegory, it is also an epic that exalts Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ& the English nation. According to Spenser's own explanation, his principal intention is to present through a "historical poem" the example of a perfect gentleman: "to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous & gentle discipline." Its principal hero is the Arthur of medieval legend. The six books of the poem illustrate the nature of particular virtues, such as, temperance & justice. Other major works of Spenser are The Shepheardes Calender(1579), a poem consisting of 12 eclogues-corresponding to the 12 months of the year; Epithalamion (1595), a poem expressing the deep personal feelings occasioned by the poets second marriage; Amoretti (1595), a series of sonnets.
3. 领会His Influence
1) Main qualities of Spenser's poetry
①a perfect melody
②a rare sense of beauty
③a splendid imagination
④a lofty moral purity & seriousness
⑤a dedicated idealism
2) In his writing, Spenser drew on the conventions & thought of Classical, medieval, & Renaissance literature. However, he added to his fusion of these diverse elements much that was original, & his works inspired many later English poets. He created a new stanza, called the Spenserian stanza, which is well suited to narrative verse. His skills in writing melodious English verse & his combination of emotion, erudition, & spiritual vision have won him the admiration of generations of English poets. It is his idealism, his love of beauty, &his exquisite melody that make him known as "the poets' poet."
4. 应用
The Faerie Queene:
1) It is a long, allegorical poem. In the poem, Spenser dramatized political, religious, & moral themes by personifying them, or making them characters.
2)Plot: The story, which is set against a background of Arthur & medieval legend, deals with the adventures of six knights of the court of the fairy queen named Gloriana, who represents Queen Elizabeth Ⅰ of English.
The faerie Queen was left unfinished at Spenser's death. It was originally planned as a 12-book poem. But only 6 books were completed. The poem is particularly admired for the melodic beauty of its language & for its rich content of philosophical & mythological material presented in the form of vivid narratives.
II. Christopher Marlowe 
1. 一般识记
Brief Introduction
English dramatist & poet,born in Canterbury, England, Feb, 6,1567, died in Deptford, England, May 30, 1593. Marlowe was the first great English Dramatist. He brought to the English stage a new concept of tragedy, one in which the drama centers around the struggles of a man overwhelmed by his passions & ambitions.
2. 识记
His Major Works
His most famous tragedies are Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Tamburlaine & Edward Ⅱ. In his plays, Marlowe used blank verse, which he molded into a superb instrument for expressing intense emotions. After his development of blank verse it became the standard medium for English dramatic & epic poetry. His non-dramatic poetry includes Hero & Leander, "the Passionate shepherd to His love," & a verse translation of Ovid's Amores.
Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (about 1589), generally considered his best play, was based on a real Dr. Faustus, who was later associated with a medieval legend of a man selling his soul to the devil. The play's dominant moral is human rather than religious. It celebrates the human passion for knowledge, power & happiness; it also reveals man's frustration in realizing the high aspirations in a hostile moral order. The last scene, in which Faustus confronts his doom, brilliantly renders the fear & agony of a condemned man.
The Jew of Malta (about 1589) illustrates Marlowe's outstanding portrayal of character. Its hero, Barabas the Jew, served as the model for Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. In about 1592. Marlowe wrote one of the first successful English historical dramas, Edward Ⅱ。 It is his most dramatically mature play & exhibits his mastery of characterization, stage craft & rhetoric.
Tamburlaine is a play about an ambitious & pitiless Tartar conqueror in the fourteenth century who rose from a shepherd to an overpowering King. By depicting a great hero with high ambition & sheer brutal force in conquering one enemy after another, Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power & authority.
3. 领会His Achievements & Influence
Achievements: Marlowe's greatest achievement lies in that he perfected the blank verse & made it the principal medium of English drama.
His second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama.
The theme of his works is the praise of the Renaissance spirit.
His influence: A man of wide learning, Marlowe was one of the extra ordinary poets & playwrights of his time. "Marlowe's mighty line," as Ben Jonson called his blank verse, was one of the most important contributions to the art of English literature.
4. 应用Dr. Faustus
The selection of ActⅠfrom Dr. Faustus is mainly about Faustus is showing his great ambition, that is, if he had many souls, he would give them all to the Devil so that he could control the world. In portraying Faustus, a more introspective & philosophical figure than Tamburlaine, Marlowe praises his soaring aspiration for knowledge while warning against the sin of pride since Faustus's downfall was caused by his despair in God & trust in Devil.
Ⅲ. William Shakespeare
1. 一般识记Brief Introduction
William Shakespeare was the greatest writer of plays who ever lived. His friend & fellow playwright Ben Jonson said that Shakespeare was "not of an age but for all time." The 18th-century English essayist Samuel Johnson described his work as "the mirror of life." The 19th-century English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge spoke of "myriad-minded Shakespeare." The 20th-century English dramatist George Bernard Shaw stressed his "enormous power over language."
2. 识记His Life & Career
The exact date of Shakespeare's birth is not known, but his baptism was recorded on April 26, 1564, in the parish register of Holy Trinity Church at Stratford-on-Avon. Since it was customary to baptize infants within two or three days of birth, April 23 is regarded as a reasonable birth date. It is also the date on which he died in 1616. Generally, his dramatic career is divided into 4 periods.
The First Period (1590-1594)-five historical plays & four comedies:
Henry Ⅵ, part Ⅰ (1590) Henry Ⅵ, part Ⅱ (1590) Henry Ⅵ, part Ⅲ (1591)
Richard Ⅲ (1592) Titus Andronicus (1593) The Comedy of Errors (1592)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594) The Taming of the Shrew (1593)
Love's Labor's Lost (1594)
The Second Period (1595-1600)-five historical plays, six comedies & two tragedies:
Richard Ⅱ (1595) King John (1596) Henry Ⅳ, Part Ⅰ & Part Ⅱ(1597)
Henry V (1598) A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)
The Merchant of Venice (1596) Much Ado About Nothing (1598)
As You Like It (1599) Twelfth Night (1600)
The Merry Wives of Winsor (1598) Romeo & Juliet (1595) Julius Caesar (1599)
The Third Period (1601-1609)-Seven tragedies & two dark comedies:
Hamlet Othello King Lear Macbeth
Antony & Cleopatra Troilus & Cressida Coriolonus
All's Well That Ends Well Measure for Measure
The Fourth Period (1609-1612)-Romantic tragic-comedies & two plays:
Pericles Cymbeline The Winte's Tale
The Tempest Henry Ⅷ The Two Noble Kinsmen
Shakespeare's authentic non-dramatic poetry consists of two long narrative poems: Venus & Adonis & The Rape of Lucrece & his sequence of 154 sonnets.
3. 领会His Influence
1) Contributions to language
Many words and commonly used phrases have been added to everyday English vocabulary through their appearance in Shakespeare's works.
2) Effects on literature
Shakespeare's plays & poetry have had a pervasive influence on world literature. Most of the great literary figures of the world have been inspired & stimulated by his achievement.
On the whole, however, Shakespeare's contribution has been to the language & spirit of later writing rather than to its form. References & parallels to Shakespeare's phraseology have occurred in literature since the 16th century.
Perhaps the greatest inspiration to subsequent authors has been Shakespeare's capacity to depict life in all its complexity & to illuminate man's character & destiny.
4. 领会 His Major Works
1) Drama
A. The Merchant of Venice
Theme: to praise the friendship between Antonio & Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit & loyalty, & to expose the insatiable greed & brutality of the Jew.
Plot: The play has a double plot (P39)
B. Hamlet
Hamlet is generally regarded as Shakespeare's most popular play on the stage, for it has the qualities of a "blood-and-thunder" thriller & a philosophical exploration of life & death. And the timeless appeal of this mighty drama lies in its combination of intrigue, emotional conflict & searching philosophic melancholy.
The play opens with Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, appearing in a mood of world-weariness occasioned by his father's recent death & by his mother's hasty remarriage with Claudius, his father's brother. While encountering his father's ghost, Hamlet is informed that Claudius has murdered his father & then taken over both his father's throne & widow. This, Hamlet, is urged by the ghost to seek revenge for his father's "foul & most unnatural murder." Trapped in a nightmare world of spying, testing & plotting, & apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his father's death, Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world, to live suspended between fact & fiction, language & action. His life is one of constant role-playing, examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger. By characterizing Hamlet, Shakespeare successfully makes a philosophical exploration of life & death.
