TÀI LIỆU THI CUỐI KHOÁ VĂN HỌC ANH MỸ EHOU EN16 HỆ ELEARNING ĐH Mở HN và Thái Nguyên

GIÁO TRÌNH VĂN HỌC ANH – MỸ EHOU EN16 (DÙNG CHO HỆ TỪ XA – THI TỰ LUẬN – ĐẦY ĐỦ ĐÁP. Table of Contents GIÁO TRÌNH VĂN HỌC ANH – MỸ EHOU EN16 1 I. DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE 4 + CONTENTS 4 II. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE 4 UNIT 1 4 I. EARLY AND MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE 5 THE SONG OF BEOWULF 5 II. ANGLONORMAN PERIOD (11TH 13TH CENTURIES) 6 III. PRERENAISSANCE (14 – 15 CENTURY) 6 IV. LITERATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE 7 1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’ LIFE AND WRITING CAREER 9 2. TWELFTH NIGHT 11 3. HAMLET 11 + AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 12 + THE CONTENTS 12 I. THE ENLIGHTENMENT 12 1.1 DANIEL DEFOE THE FATHER OF ENGLISH NOVEL 14 DANIEL DEFOE’S WORKS 14 ROBINSON CRUSOE 14 2. JONATHAN SWIFT THE GREATEST SATIRIST JONATHAN SWIFT’S LIFE 15 JONATHAN SWIFT’S WRITING CAREER 16 2. 1 GULLIVER’S TRAVELS 17 3. SWIFT’S AND DE FOE’S REALISM 17 II. ROMANTICISM 17 ROMANTICISM SAW A SHIFT FROM CLASSICAL AGE 19 ROMANTIC AGE 19 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA 19 COMMON FEATURES OF ROMANTIC POETRY 20 3. ROBERT BURNS (17591796) 20 ROBERT BURNS’ WRITING CAREER 20 ROBERT BURNS’ WRITING CAREER 21 4. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (17701850) WILLIAM WORDSWORTH – A WORSHIPPER OF NATURE 21 5. JANE AUSTEN (17751817) 22 WITHIN A CONCRETE SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT. IT IS HOPED THAT THROUGH THE SELECTED READING TEXTS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE, THE STUDENTS WILL BUILD UP THEIR LITERARY VOCABULARY, AND DEVELOP THEIR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE WORKS OF LITERATURE. + THE CONTENTS 23 1. THE CRITICAL REALISM 23 2. THE 20TH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE 23 THE VICTORIAN AGE 23 THE VICTORIAN AGE 23 NEW LITERARY TREND 24 CONTRIBUTION AND WEAKNESS 24 CHARLES DICKENS (18121870) 25 CHARLES DICKENS’S WRITING CAREER 25 DICKENS THE FIRST NOVELIST IN THE TREND OF CRITICAL REALISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 25 DICKENSS ORIGINAL STYLE 26 DICKENSS CHARACTERS 26 DICKENSS CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD LITERATURE 26 THE BRONTE SISTERS (18161855) 27 JANE EYRE 27 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY (18111863) 28 WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY ‘S WRITING CAREER 28 THE TWO TRENDS 30 OSCAR WILDE (18541900) 31 OSCAR WILDE’S WRITING CAREER 31 OSCAR WILDE’S TALES 32 GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (1856 –1950 33 GREENE’S WRITING CAREER 34 CHAPTER IV: AMERICAN LITERATURE 35 + THE COLONIZATION OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT 35 + THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 36 SLAVERY 36 LITERATURE 37 LITERATURE 38 JACK LONDON – THE PRAISER OF STRONGWILLED PEOPLE ERNEST HEMINGWAY A WRITER OF THE ICEBERG PRINCIPLE

GIÁO TRÌNH VĂN HỌC ANH – MỸ EHOU EN16

(DÙNG CHO HỆ TỪ XA – THI TỰ LUẬN – ĐẦY ĐỦ ĐÁP ÁN)

Table of Contents

GIÁO TRÌNH VĂN HỌC ANH – MỸ EHOU EN16 1

I DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE 4

+ CONTENTS 4

II AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE 4

UNIT 1 4

I EARLY AND MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE 5

T HE S ONG OF B EOWULF 5

II ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (11 TH - 13 TH CENTURIES) 6

III PRE-RENAISSANCE (14 – 15 CENTURY) 6

IV LITERATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE 7

1 W ILLIAM S HAKESPEARE ’ LIFE AND WRITING CAREER 9

2 T WELFTH NIGHT 11

3 H AMLET 11

+ AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 12

+ THE CONTENTS 12

I THE ENLIGHTENMENT 12

1.1 D ANIEL D EFOE - T HE FATHER OF E NGLISH NOVEL 14

DANIEL DEFOE’S WORKS 14

ROBINSON CRUSOE 14

2 JONATHAN SWIFT - THE GREATEST SATIRIST JONATHAN SWIFT’S LIFE 15

JONATHAN SWIFT’S WRITING CAREER 16

2 1 GULLIVER’S TRAVELS 17

3 SWIFT’S AND DE FOE’S REALISM 17

II ROMANTICISM 17

ROMANTICISM SAW A SHIFT FROM CLASSICAL AGE 19

ROMANTIC AGE 19

2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA 19

COMMON FEATURES OF ROMANTIC POETRY 20

3 ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796) 20

ROBERT BURNS’ WRITING CAREER 20

ROBERT BURNS’ WRITING CAREER 21

4 WILLIAM WORDSWORTH (1770-1850) WILLIAM WORDSWORTH – A WORSHIPPER OF NATURE 21

5 JANE AUSTEN (1775-1817) 22

WITHIN A CONCRETE SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT IT IS HOPED THAT THROUGH THE SELECTED READING TEXTS ON ENGLISH LITERATURE, THE STUDENTS WILL BUILD UP THEIR LITERARY VOCABULARY, AND DEVELOP THEIR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE WORKS OF LITERATURE + THE CONTENTS 23

1 THE CRITICAL REALISM 23

2 T HE 20 TH CENTURY E NGLISH L ITERATURE 23

THE VICTORIAN AGE 23

THE VICTORIAN AGE 23

NEW LITERARY TREND 24

CONTRIBUTION AND WEAKNESS 24

C HARLES D ICKENS (1812-1870) 25

C HARLES D ICKENS ’ S WRITING CAREER 25

DICKENS - THE FIRST NOVELIST IN THE TREND OF CRITICAL REALISM IN ENGLISH LITERATURE 25

DICKENS'S ORIGINAL STYLE 26

DICKENS'S CHARACTERS 26

DICKENS'S CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD LITERATURE 26

T HE B RONTE S ISTERS (1816-1855) 27

JANE EYRE 27

W ILLIAM M AKEPEACE T HACKERAY (1811-1863) 28

W ILLIAM M AKEPEACE T HACKERAY ‘ S WRITING CAREER 28

THE TWO TRENDS 30

OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900) 31

OSCAR WILDE’S WRITING CAREER 31

O SCAR W ILDE ’ S T ALES 32

G EORGE B ERNARD S HAW (1856 –1950 33

GREENE’S WRITING CAREER 34

CHAPTER IV: AMERICAN LITERATURE 35

+ THE COLONIZATION OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT 35

+ THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE 36

SLAVERY 36

LITERATURE 37

LITERATURE 38

JACK LONDON – THE PRAISER OF STRONG-WILLED PEOPLE 39

ERNEST HEMINGWAY - A WRITER OF THE ICEBERG PRINCIPLE 40

I Description of the course

+ The course, English and American literature, contains 2 main parts The first part

is English Literature which is divided into 3 chapters with comprehensive reading

texts The second part is American Literature with selected extracts by famous

American writers

+ Each chapter covers a chronological period, and provides a brief outline of

historical and social background, as well as the writer's life and works The major

developments in prose, poetry and drama are summed up and followed by a series

of selected extracts (reading texts), complete with the writer's biography, an

appreciation of his or her works and questions for discussion

+ Contents

Chapter I: Early and Medieval English Literature, Literature of the Renaissance Chapter II: Eighteenth Century English Literature, Romanticism in England

Chapter III: The Victorian Age and Twentieth Century English Literature

Chapter IV: American Literature

II Aims and objectives of the course

The aims of the course are to provide the students with a broad overview of

English-American literature within a concrete social and historical context It is

hoped that through the selected reading texts on English-American literature, the

students will build up their literary vocabulary, and develop their ability to

understand and appreciate works of literature

The course is hoped to provide further explanation, analysis and comments onworks of literature by famous writers of certain period in English and AmericanLiterature

Unit 1

The aim of Unit 1 is to provide the students with a broad overview of

English-literature from the Anglo-Saxon to the 18th century

within a concrete social and historical context It is hoped that through the selected

reading texts on English-American literature, the students will build up their

literary vocabulary, and develop their ability to understand and appreciate works

of literature

English literature from the Anglo-Saxon to the 18th century

1 The Anglo-Saxon Period

1.1 Historical, social and literary context

1.2 Beowulf

2 The Middle Ages

2.1 Historical, social and literary context

2.2 Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

3 The Renaissance

3.1 Historical, social and literary context

3.2 William Shakespeare’s life and works

3.3 Twelfth Night

3.4 Hamlet

3.5 Romeo and Juliet

Britain's history is considered to begin in the 5th century, when it was invadedfrom the Continent by the fighting tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes At the veryend of the 5th century they settled in Britain and began to call themselves English(after the principal tribe of settlers, called Englisc)

Although we know very little of this period from literature some poems havenevertheless reached us

In those early days songs called epics were created in many countries The epicstell about the most remarkable events of a people's history and the deeds of one ormore heroic personages

The Song of Beowulf

The first masterpiece of English literature, the epic poem The Song of Beowulf

describes the historical past of the land from which the Angles, Saxons and Jutescame They brought the subject over from the Continent when they invadedBritain, and it was made into a poem somewhere about the 7th century

Thus, the epic The Song of Beowulf, tells of some events from a people's history,

sings the heroic deeds of a man, his courage and his desire of justice, his love forhis people and self-sacrifice for the sake of his country

The poem is a classic example of Anglo-Saxon poetry It has no rhyme, but eachline has alliteration, which is a repetition, at close intervals, of the same consonant

in words or syllables For example, the repetition of the sounds and Ifs in thefollowing lines makes them musical and gives them rhythm

Another interesting feature of the poem is the use of picture names that show thesubject in a new light The unknown poet calls the sea a "sail-road'', or

"saltstreams", the musical instruments "joy-wood", "glee-wood", etc Thesedescriptive words, together with the subject, are called double metaphors

II ANGLO-NORMAN PERIOD (11th - 13th centuries)

In the year 1066, in the Battle of Hastings, the Anglo-Saxon king's army wasdefeated by William, Duke of Normandy, who became King of England A strongfeudal monarchy was established in the country The ruling classes consisted of theNorman nobility and the clergy The power of the Catholic Church had becomevery great Most of the English people became serfs

The Normans came from the north-west of France They brought with them theculture of their country and the French language Thus three languages werespoken in England The language of the nobility was French, the churchmen usedLatin and the common people spoke Anglo-Saxon

The three social classes of the country had their own literature The Normansbrought the romance to England The romance told of love and adventure andexpressed the ideals of knighthood in feudal society Among the best known

romances are the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.

The literature of the Church was scholastic, moralizing, and it supported thefeudal system The books written in Latin by monks, taught the common peoplethat they should he poor and obey their masters Their suffering on earth, theChurch said, would bring them happiness in heaven

The Anglo-Saxons composed their own popular poetry The main genres werethe fabliaux - funny stories about townspeople, and the bestiaries - stories in whichthe characters were animals

III PRE-RENAISSANCE (14 – 15 century)

The 14th century was a difficult time for England The country was waging theHundred Years' War with France The war brought great hardships to the commonpeople and a revolt took place in 1381 - the Peasants' Revolt At the same timeEngland suffered from three epidemics of the plague This was a real tragedy forthe country, because half of its population died from the "black death"

Though the power of the feudal nobles and the Church was still very strong, therealready appeared signs of the birth of a new class The townspeople, that is thecraftsmen and tradesmen, were becoming an important social force Thesetownspeople later formed the class of the bourgeoisie

During this stormy century the English nation was being formed English becamethe spoken language of the country English literature was born

The scholastic Latin Church literature still ranked high, but a new spirit wasalready noticeable in the cultural life of the country The new spirit was marked by

an optimism unknown to the Middle Ages It was best reflected in the works by

Geoffrey Chaucer, the last poet of the Middle Ages and the first poet who pavedthe way for English realistic literature, free of the influence of the Church.

Geoffrey Chaucer was the greatest writer of the 14th century He was born in

London in the family of a wine merchant From the age of 18 he was connectedwith the Court of the King of England During his life he visited France and Italyseveral times In Italy he got with the works of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio.What they wrote was full of new, optimistic ideas and love of life and had a greatinfluence on his future works, the most important of which was the CanterburyTales

The Canterbury Tales (Geoffrey Chaucer) is the great work of Chaucer's maturity,

the product of his final interest in literature Turning his attention from hisaudience at court to a wider reading public, he hit upon a masterful scheme for hiscollection of stories Something similar is indeed to be found in the Arabian Nightsand The Decameron, but their settings are static while Chaucer's is dynamic ThePrologue gives the frame of the work It presents the pilgrims an route toCanterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket, in a series of portraits unmatched

in medieval poetry Excluding royalty and nobility on one hand, and theimpoverished on the other, they represent all of English society Yet each portrait,besides being typical, is individualized, too

No master artist ever painted his subjects more completely than does Chaucer, who

by cunning detail has caught in each portrait the revealing facts of their characters.The poet introduces a group of people gathered together from all walks of life bytheir common desire to make a pilgrimage

The great poet contributed to the formation of the English literary language Hisworks were written in the London dialect which at the time was becoming thespoken language of the majority of the people

Chaucer also worked out a new form of versification which replaced alliteration.This was called metrical form It was based on rhythmic arrangement of theaccents, of the length of the verse, of stanzas

Geoffrey Chaucer showed life as it was, as great artist and humanist he gave anequally masterly description of Good and Evil The great writer believed in manand was optimistically full of hope for the future

IV Literature of the Renaissance

In the 15th - 16th centuries capitalist relation began to develop in Europe Theformer townspeople became the bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie fought againstfeudalism because it held back the development of capitalism

The decay of feudalism and the development of capitalist relation were followed

by a great rise in the cultural life of Europe There was an attempt at creating a newculture which would be free from the limitation of the feudal ideology of theMiddle Ages The epoch was characterized by a thirst for knowledge anddiscoveries, by a powerful development of individuality

There was a revival of interest in the ancient culture of Greece and Rome("Renaissance" is French for "rebirth") The study of the works of ancientphilosophers, writers, and artists helped the people to widen their outlook, to knowthe world and man's nature On the basis of both the ancient culture and the mostprogressive elements of the culture of the Middle Ages the fine arts, literature andscience of the Renaissance began to develop The culture of the Renaissance was,

in fact, the first stage of bourgeois culture The progressive ideology of theRenaissance was Humanism Human life, the happiness of people and the belief inman's abilities became the main subjects in fine arts and literature The works ofhumanists proclaimed equality of people regardless of their social origin, race andreligion Humanism did away with the dark scholastic teaching of the MiddleAges

The development of a new social order presented great possibilities for man'screative power That is why the humanist outlook was marked with brightoptimism, with belief in man’s great abilities and his high mission It was contrary

to the medieval ideology and especially to that of the Catholic Church Therenaissance was the greatest progressive revolution that mankind had so farexperienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants-giants in power ofthought, passion and character, in universality and learning The Renaissance gavemankind such great men as Michelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci, Petrarch andDurer, Cervantes and Shakespeare

English humanists dreamed of social changes that would do away with the vices ofsociety and establish the equality of people English humanism was both antifeudaland anti-bourgeois It was directed against the ignorance and oppression of feudal,against the grabbing and self-interest character of the bourgeoisie It was theideology of the most progressive people of the epoch

These ideas were best expressed by the first English humanist Thomas More(1478-15350 in his book Utopia Utopia had a great influence on the development

of humanistic ideas in England as well as in the whole of Europe It was the firstliterary work that conveyed the ideas of communism

More's Utopia marked the first period of English humanist literature The secondperiod which lasted from the middle of the 16th century up to the beginning of the17th century, saw the flourishing of the English drama

The playwrights of the period were John Lyly, Robert Greene, ChristopherMarlowe, Ben Johnson and others The most outstanding dramatist of the period,

as well as of all time, was William Shakespeare

1 William Shakespeare’ life and writing career

The great English playwright and poet William Shakespeare was born on April 23,

1564 in the small town of Stratford-upon-Avon

Life itself, contact with people and his acquaintance with the rich English folkloregave him more than the scholastic methods used at school

At twenty-one he left Stratford-upon-Avon for London where he joined a theatricalcompany and worked as an actor and a playwright

In the late 90s a new theatre called The Globe was built on the bank of the

Thames Shakespeare became one of its owners The people of the London liked it

better than any other theatre It was in The Globe that most of Shakespeare's plays

were staged at that time

In 1613, Shakespeare left London and returned to his native town of Avon Three years later, on April 23, 1616, he died and was buried there

Stratfordupon-Shakespeare is the author of 2 poems, 37 plays and 154 sonnets Stratfordupon-Shakespeare’screative work is usually divided into three periods

The first period that lasted from 1590 to 1600 was marked by the optimism socharacteristic of all humanist literature It is best reflected in his brilliant comedies:

The Comedies of Errors (1592), The Taming of the Shrew (1593), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594), Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595), Much Ado About Nothing (1598), The Merry Wives of Windsor (1599), As You Like It (1599), Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will (1600)

The comedies describe the adventures of young men and women, their friendshipand love, their search for happiness The scene is usually laid in some southerncountries But one cannot help feeling that the comedies show the “Merry

England” of Shakespeare’s time

The comedies are usually based on some misunderstanding that creates comicsituations They are full of fun But the laughter is not a mockery directed againstthe people and their vices Shakespeare never moralizes in his comedies He laughswith people, but not at them His comedies are filled with humanist love for peopleand the belief in the nobleness and kindness of human nature

The historical chronicles form another group of plays written by Shakespeare in the

first period They are: King Henry VI (part II) (1590), King Henry VI (part III) (1590), King Henry VI (part I) (1591), The Tragedy of King Richard II (1592), The

Tragedy of King Richard II (1595), The Life and Death of King John (1596), King Henry IV (part I) (1597), King Henry IV (part II) (1597), The Life of King Henry V

(1598)

Historical Chronicles are plays written on subjects from national history

Shakespeare’s chronicles cover a period of more than three hundred years of

th thEnglish history (from the rule of King John in the 12 century up to the 16 century).However, the main subjects of the chronicles are not the lives and fates of Kingsbut history itself and the development of the country

Like all humanists of his time Shakespeare believed a centralized monarchy to be

an ideal form of state power He thought it would put an end to the struggle offeudal and would create conditions for the progress of the country One of the greatachievements of Shakespeare was that in his chronicles he showed not only thekings, feudal, and churchmen, but the lower classes too

The drama The Merchant of Venice and the two early tragedies Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar, also written in the 90s, show a change in the playwright's

understanding of life, whose approach to reality becomes more pessimistic

The main works written by Shakespeare during the second period (1601-1608) are

his four great tragedies: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601), Othello, the Moor of

Venice (1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1605) The tragedies reflect the deep,

unsolvable contradictions of life, the falsehood, injustice and tyranny existing insociety They show people whoperish in the struggle against Evil Thetragedies, like the chronicles, are also based on real events but there is aconsiderable difference between the two genres The playwright raised greatproblems of Good and Evil in both But in the chronicles they are mostly linkedwith political themes-the question of the state and public life of the perioddescribed In the tragedies which are centered round the life of one manShakespeare touched on the moral problems of universal significance - honesty,

cruelty, kindness, love, vanity and others That is why his tragedies are of greatinterest to every new generation

The plays of the third period (1609 - 1612) differ from everything written byShakespeare before The playwright still touches upon important social and moralproblems But now he suggests utopian solution to them He introduces romanticand fantastic elements, which have a decisive role in his plays Due to these

peculiarities the works of this period - Cymbeline (1609), The Winter's Tale (1610) and The Tempest (1612) are called romantic dramas

2 Twelfth night

Twelfth Night, written in 1600, was the last comedy created by Shakespeare during

the first period of his literary work They say that the playwright was asked by theQueen to write a play to be staged on the last, twelfth night of merry Christmas

holidays This is where the name of the comedy comes from

Twelfth Night has all the features characteristic of Shakespeare's other comedies.The scene of the comedy is laid in the beautiful imaginary country of Illyria wherepeople are care-free and happy The action of the play is based on a

misunderstanding caused by the complete likeness of twins - sister and brother - Viola and Sebastian

In the character of Viola Shakespeare embodied the new humanist ideal of awoman, which was very different from that of feudal times The women described

in the literature of the Middle Ages, especially in the romances, were usuallyshown as passive objects of love, obedient to the men who loved them.Shakespeare asserts the right of women to equality and independence

3 Hamlet

The tragedy Hamlet is one of the greatest of Shakespeare's masterpieces It is themost profound expression of his humanism and his criticism of the epoch Thetragedy tells of the struggle between Hamlet, the bearer of the ideals of theRenaissance, on the one hand, and the evil, false world of kings and courtiers, onthe other

The characters of the play are: Hamlet, young prince of Denmark; Claudius: King

of Denmark, Hamlet's uncle; Gertrude: Queen of Denmark, Hamlet’s mother;Horatio: a friend of Hamlet; Polonius: a courtier; Laertes: his son; Ophelia: hisdaughter; Guildenstern, Rosencrantz and other courtiers and soldiers

The tragedy Hamlet is an outstanding play because unlike other "bloody tragedies"written before and in Shakespeare's time, it is "a tragedy of thought" and Hamlet isthe first thinker that has ever appeared on the stage The tragedy of Hamlet is

caused not so much by the discord between Hamlet and the evil outer world, as bythe discord within his own soul Seeing the evil he does not want to put up with it.The tragedy of Hamlet has always excited the minds of people It stirs people'sconscience, makes them fight against Evil for the triumph of justice and Good UNIT 2

Chapter II: Eighteenth Century English Literature, Romanticism in England

+ Aims and objectives

The aim of Unit 1 is to provide the students with a broad overview of

English-literature of Eighteenth Century, Romanticism period within a concrete social

and historical context It is hoped that through the selected reading texts on

English-American literature, the students will build up their literary vocabulary, and develop their ability to understand and appreciate works of literature

+ The contents

1 The Eighteenth Century English Literature (The Enlightenment)

1.1 Historical, social and literary context

The 18th century saw Great Britain rapidly growing into a capitalist country It was

an age of intensive industrial development While in France the bourgeoisie wasjust beginning its struggle against feudalism, the English bourgeoisie had alreadybecome one of the ruling classes

The 18th century was also remarkable for the development of science and culture.Isaac Newton's discoveries in the field of physics, Adam Smith’s economic

theories, the philosophical ideas of Hobbes, Locke and others enriched thematerialistic thought and implanted in people's minds belief in great powers ofman's intellect It was in this period that English painting began to develop too:portraiture reached its peak in the works of William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds aswell as Thomas Gainsborough, who was equally good at landscape and portraitpainting

In the epoch of Enlightenment the poetic forms of the Renaissance were replaced

by prose The moralizing novel was born and became the leading genre of theperiod Ordinary people, mostly representatives of the middle-class, became themain characters of these novels These characters, either virtuous or vicious, wereaccordingly, either rewarded or punished at the end of the novel By these meansthe Enlighteners idealistically hoped to improve the morals of the people and ofsociety in general

The Enlightenment epoch in English literature may be divided into three periods:

1 Early Enlightenment (1688-1740)

This period saw the flourishing of journalism which played an important part inthe country's public life Numerous journals and newspapers which came intobeing at the beginning of the 18th century not only acquainted their readers withthe situation at home and abroad, but also helped to shape people's views Most

popular were the satirical moralizing journals The Tatler, The Spectator, The

Englishman edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele In their essays - short

compositions in prose - these two writers touched on various problems of political,social and family life The essays paved the way for the realistic novel which wasbrought into English literature by Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift

2 Mature Enlightenment (1740-1750)

The social moralizing novel was born in this period It was represented by the

works of such writers as Samuel Richardson (Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded,

Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady), Henry Fielding (The History of Torn Jones, a Foundling and other novels), and Tobias Smollett (The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker and other novels)

Henry Fielding's works were the summit of the English Enlightenment prose.Fielding also worked out the theory of the novel In the introductory chapters to the

eighteen parts of The History of Tom Jones he put forward the main requirements

that the novel should meet: to imitate life, to show the variety of human nature, toexpose the roots and causes of man's shortcomings and to indicate the ways ofovercoming them

3 Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism) (1750-1780)

The writers of this period, like the Enlighteners of the first two periods, expressedthe democratic bourgeois tendencies of their time They also tried to find a way out

of the difficulties of the existing order However, while their predecessors believed

in the force of intellect, they considered feelings (or sentiments) most important.The principal representatives of sentimentalism in the genre of the novel were

Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of Wakefield) and Lawrence Sterne (Tristram

Shandy, The Sentimental Journey) and in drama-Richard Sheridan (School for

Scandal and other plays)

1.1 Daniel Defoe - The father of English novel

Daniel Defoe is rightly considered the father of the English and the Europeannovel, for it was due to him that the genre became once and for ever established inEuropean literature

Daniel Defoe life was complicated and adventurous His father, being a puritan,wanted his son to become a priest Daniel was educated at a theological school.However, he never became a priest, for he looked for other business to apply hisabilities to He became a merchant, first in wine, then in hosiery He traveled inSpain, Germany, France and Italy on business Though his travels were few they,however, gave him, a man of rich imagination, material for his future novels Hetook an active part in the political life of Britain After years of political ups anddowns, including imprisonment for his attacks against the Church He died at theage of 71 having written numerous works

Daniel Defoe’s works

In the early 90s Defoe turned to literature His first literary works were satirical,

poems dealing with the urgent problems of the time In 1697 he publishes An

Essay on Projects, a typical enlightener's work He paid much attention to public

education Defoe stressed the necessity of establishing a number of educationalinstitutions to train specialists for various branches of life

In 1702 Defoe published a satirical pamphlet written in support of the protestants

In the pamphlet called The Shortest Way with the Dissenters the author ironically

suggested that the best way to fight against the dissenters was to excuse them all

He wrote his Hymn to the Pillory which at once became known all over London His first and most popular novel The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of

Robinson Crusoe was written in 1719 when Defoe was about 60 It was followed

by Captain Singleton, Moll Flanders, Roxana and some other novels of adventure

1.2 THE LIFE AND STRANGE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

ROBINSON CRUSOE

The rapid industrial development of Britain in the 18th century went hand in handwith the process colonization of other countries and with an intensive growth ofcolonial trade British merchant ships could be seen in different parts of the world.There appeared numerous stories about voyages and all kinds of adventures thatbecame very popular One of them, published by Richard Steele in his magazineThe Englishman, told about the adventures of a Scottish sailor, Alexander Selkirk,who spent four years and four months on an uninhabited island

The story was used by Daniel Defoe for the plot of his novel The Life and StrangeSurprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe

The popularity of the novel was due to the fact that Robinson Crusoe was a typicalfigure of the period Crusoe's adventurous and enterprising nature and his commonsense were the features most characteristic of the English bourgeoisie He was thefirst character of a bourgeois ever created in world literature Through him Defoeasserted the superiority of the new class over the idle aristocracy

Robinson Crusoe became an instant success after its publication The charm of thisstory mainly lies in its intense reality, in the succession of thought, feelings andincidents that every reader find true to life It is an interesting picaresque novelabout an 18th-century English adventurer who is a true empire-builder, a coloniser

as well as a foreign trader

In this novel, both physical and mental labour is glorified The detaileddescriptions of the steps taken by the hero to provide for himself shelter, food,clothing and the other simple comforts of life, are managed with great skill by theauthor - not treated with exaggeration or romantic colouring but narrated in asimple, straight-forward style This adds to the realistic effects of the story Herelies the permanent glamour of the book

Through the description, Robinson's will-power and ingenuity are greatlyeulogized

2 Jonathan Swift - The greatest satirist Jonathan Swift’s life

The greatest satirist in the history of English literature Jonathan Swift was thecontemporary of Steele, Addison, Defoe and other English enlightens of the earlyperiod However, he stood apart from them, for while they supported the bourgeoisorder Swift, by criticizing different aspects

The greatest satirist in the history of English of the bourgeois life came to thenegation of the bourgeois society Lunacharsky called Swift one of the first critics

of bourgeois system and capitalist reality

Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Dublin in an English family.There he studied theology and later became a clergyman His favourite subjects,however, were not theology but literature, history and languages At 21 Swift went

to live in England and became private secretary of a distant relative, Sir WilliamTemple, a writer and a well-known diplomat of the time At Moor Park, Sir

William's estate, Swift made friends with Hester Johnson, the daughter of one ofTemple's servants, fourteen years his junior Hester, or Stella as Swift poeticallycalled her, remained his faithful friend through all his life His letters to her,

written in 1710 - 1713, were later published in the form of a book under the title of

Journal to Stella

During the two years at Moor Park Swift read and studied much and in 1692 hetook his Master of Arts Degree at Oxford University With the help of Sir William,Swift got the place of vicar in a small church in Kilroot (Ireland) where he stayedfor a year and a half Then he came back to Moor Park and lived there till Sir William's death in 1698

In 1701 Swift went to the small town of Laracor (Ireland) as a clergyman When the Tories came to power in 1709 Swift returned to England and edited their

paper The Examiner He became one of the leading

political figures in England, although he occupied no official post in theGovernment

In 1713 he was made Dean of St Partrick's Cathedral in Dublin Living in Dublin Swift became actively involved in the struggle of the Irish people for their rights and interests, against English oppression and poverty In fact he became theideological leader of the Irish people At the age of 78 he died and was buried inthe Cathedral, the Dean of which he had been most of his life

Jonathan Swift’s writing career

Among Swift’s early works was the allegory Tale in a Tub, a biting satire on

religion The meaning of the allegory was quite clear to the readers of that time.The tub was religion which the state (for a ship has always been the emblem of astate) threw to its people to distract them from any struggle

The satire is written in the form of a story about three brothers symbolizing Swift'sliterary work was always closely connected with his political activity In thenumerous political pamphlets Swift ridiculed different spheres of life of bourgeois

society: law, wars, politics, etc His strongest pamphlets, were written in Ireland.

One of the most outstanding pamphlets and the most biting of all his satires was A

Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People of Ireland from Being a Burden to their Parents (1729)

Theauthor wrote about the horrible poverty and starvation of the Irish people This

pamphlet, like his other pamphlets, had a great influence on the readers It attractedthe wide public's attention to the terrible position of the Irish people It alsoinspired the Irishmen to struggle against oppression for freedom and a better life Itwas his novel Gulliver’s Travels, however that brought him fame and immortality

2 1 Gulliver’s Travels

Gulliver's Travels is the summit of Swift's creative work and one of the leer works

in world literature Tit is one of the books most loved by children, because it tells

of the entertaining adventures of Lemuel Gulliver in four strange countries

Gulliver's Travels was conceived as a synthesis of everything that Swift had said

and written about before in his satires, essays and pamphlets It was an exposure ofall the evils and vices of the bourgeois society, of its corruption and degradation.The book consists of four independent parts that tell about the adventures ofGulliver, a ship surgeon The first part is the story of Lemuel’s voyage to the land

of Lilliput The second part is an account of Gulliver’s adventures in Brobdingnag,

a country inhabited by giants The third tells of Gulliver’s voyage to Laputa, aflying island and the large travel was to the country of Houyhnhnms inhabited byintelligent horses and ugly-looking human beings called Yahoos

3 Swift’s and De Foe’s realism

Swift’s realism was different from Defoe’s Defoe presented extremely precisepictures of bourgeois life Swift used his favourire weapon - laughter - to mock atbourgeois reality He criticized it and his criticism was hidden away in a whole lot

of allegorical pictures At the same time he gave very realistic descriptions, exactmathematical proportions of the tiny Lilliputs and the giants from Brobdingnag.Swift’s language was more elaborate and literary than Defoe’s This does not meanthat he did not make use of the language of the common people He resorted to itwhen his criticism became most severe

Swift’s art had a great effect on the further development of English and Europeanliterature The main features of his artistic method, such as hyperbole, grotesque,generalization, irony, were widely used by the English novelists and many others

II ROMANTICISM

The period of Romanticism covers approximately 30 years, beginning from the lastdecade of the 18th century and continuing up to the 1830s In 1868, Karl Marxstated that Romanticism literature was a reaction of different strata of society to theFrench Bourgeois Revolution and to the Enlightenment connected with it Thepeople were disappointed with the outcome of the Revolution The common peopledid not obtain the liberty, fraternity and equality which they had hoped for; the,bourgeoisie found that the reality was not what the Enlighteners had promised it to

be, although the revolution had paved the way for capitalist development

Quite naturally, the reactionary feudal class was discontented, because therevolution had made it weaker

The progressive minds of Europe expressed this general discontent, because theinfluence of the French Bourgeois Revolution was felt all over the world The newtrend in literature (Romanticism) reflected it The Revolution brought newproblems for the problems for the progressive-minded writers, who were facedwith the necessity of finding au answer to such questions as their attitude to thefeudal state, to the revolution, to the national liberation movements to the relationsbetween the individual and society, to the common people, to historicaldevelopment

The Romantic period lasts about forty years, from the French Revolution in 1789

to the Reform Act of 1832 It is sometimes called the Age of Revolution: theAmerican Revolution of 1776, and the spirit of ‘liberty, equality, fraternity’ of theFrench Revolution made it a time of hope and change Society was changing,becoming industrial rather than agricultural as towns and cities developed; thegovernment encouraged free trade; the new middle class became powerful, andthere were moves towards voting reform and greater democracy

1 In literature, Romantic writing is mostly poetry: Wordsworth and Coleridge

wanted a revolution too, in poetic language and in themes which contrasted withthe earlier Augustan age

Romantic has come to mean basically two things:

1 The loving or potentially loving relationships b/w men and women

2 A way of looking at the world that looks beyond, or ignores, the world as it

is and perceives a visionary world Definition:

+ “literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form…….”

+ “liberalism in literature…….“ Imagination, emotion and freedom are certainlythe focal points of romanticism Romanticism stresses on self-expression andindividual uniqueness

Romanticism (the Romantic Movement), a literary movement, and profound shift

in sensibility, which took place in Britain and throughout Europe from 1770-1848 + Intellectually, it marked a violent reaction to the Enlightenment

+ Politically, it was inspired by the revolutions in America and France and popularwars of independence in Poland, Spain, Greece, and elsewhere

+ Emotionally, it expressed an extreme assertion of the self and the value ofindividual experience (the 'egotistical sublime'), together with the sense of theinfinite and transcendental Socially it championed progressive causes, thoughwhen these were frustrated it often produced a bitter, gloomy, and despairingoutlook

The Romantic Age began in 1798 when William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylorpublished Lyrical Ballads, and ended in 1832 when Walter Scott died

Romanticism saw a shift from CLASSICAL AGE

+ faith in reason

+ interest in urban society

+ public, impersonal poetry

+ concern with the scientific and mundane

ROMANTIC AGE

+ faith in the senses, feelings & imagination

+ interest in the rural and natural

+ subjective poetry

+ interest in the mysterious and infinite

Romanticism includes…… Subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism +

Spontaneity

+ Freedom from rules Devotion is superior to beauty Solitary life

+ Imagination is superior to reason

+ Love of and worship of nature

+ Fascination with the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages

Romanticism is characterized by the 5 “I”s Imagination, idealism, Intuition, Inspiration, Individuality

2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA

1 Common Man and Childhood over Urban Sophistication Romanticsbelieved in the natural goodness of humans, which is hindered by the urban life of

civilization They believed that the savage is noble, childhood is good and theemotions inspired by both beliefs causes the heart to soar

2 Emotions over Reason Romantics believed that knowledge is gained throughintuition rather than deduction This is best summed up by Wordsworth who statedthat “all good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.”

3 Nature over Artificial Romantics stressed the awe of nature in art andlanguage and the experience of sublimity through a connection with nature.Romantics rejected the ideas of the industrial revolution

4 The Individual over Society Romantics often elevated the achievements ofthe misunderstood, heroic individual outcast

5 Imagination over Logic Romantics legitimized the individual imagination as

a critical authority

COMMON FEATURES OF ROMANTIC POETRY

+ The romantics cultivated imaginative freedom;

+ Used a variety of poetic forms;

+ Tended to express the feelings of man in solitude as opposed to those of man insociety;

+ All the poets, except Blake, described the natural environment;

+ They tended to use language with more freedom and informality than the 18thcentury poets;

+ They tended to use language with more freedom and informality than the 18thcentury poets;

+ They were profoundly affected by the great historical fact of the FrenchRevolution;

+ The romantic poets were deeply interested both in life and art;

+ The most interesting poems were about writing poetry;

ROMANTIC THEMES: NATURE, LOVE, HISTORY

LITERARY FORMS: LYRIC, BALLAD, SONNET, HISTORICAL NOVEL

INDIVIDUALISM, REBELLIOUSNESS

3 Robert Burns (1759-1796)

At the close of the 18 century a young Scotsman became the national poet of bothScotland and England His name was Robert Burns, and he is considered one of thegreatest poets in English literature, his songs and poems are known and loved farbeyond the limits of his country The years of Burns’ creative work belong to theperiod known in English literature as Pre-Romanticism Burns’ poetry has features

from the Enlightenment to Romanticism And his love of nature, his singing ofliberty, his rebellious spirit have much in common with such revolutionaryromanticists as George Byron and Percy Shelley

Allan Cunningham, one of the Burn’s first biographers, wrote the following lines

as a preface to his work about Burns: His genius was universal In satire, inhumour, in pathos, in description, in sentiment, he was equally great… I aminclined to regard him as one of the few geniuses… and to place him by the side ofthe greatest names, this country has produced

Robert Burns’ writing career

In 1786 he published his first book under the title of Poems Chiefly in the ScottishDialect which contained his early lyrical, humorous and satirical verses The bookwas a great success and soon another edition appeared

Robert Burns’ poetry was inspired by his deep love for his mother-land, for its

history and folklore His beautiful poem My heart’s in the highlands full of vivid

colourful descriptions, is a hymn to the beauty of Scotland’s nature and to itsglorious past

Burns’ poetry is closely connected with the national struggle of the Scottish people

for their liberation from England oppression, the struggle that had been going on inScotland for many centuries Burns’ lyrical poems are known for their beauty,truthfulness, freshness, depth of feelings and their lovely melody Among his best

lyrics is Oh My love is like a red, red rose.

Robert Burns’ writing career

Burns’ style is characterized by vivid colourful images His metaphors, similes,personifications are taken from nature and everyday life Love is likened to a rose,that’s newly sprung in June, to the moldy that’s sweetly played in tune A brilliantexample of personification is the poem John Barleycorn Barleycorn personifiesthe undying spirit of the common people who can never be crushed by anyenemies

“A red, red rose” is one of the best of Burn’s love poems It is world famous

because it describes the poet’s own emotions with such vividness and simplicitythat it appeals directly to the reader’s heart The idea in this poem is simpleenough, but it is expressed with very strong emotions and in effective words andhaunting rhythm, which makes it melodious and immortal

“My heart’s in the Highlands” is one of Burn’s most beautiful lyrics It is patriotic

and fully reveals the poet’s deep patriotic sentiments for his native home ofScotland in his powerful expressions of yearning for the Highlands The sentiments

demonstrated in this and Burn’s other patriotic poems encouraged the Scots torebel against the English tyranny and struggle for Scotland’s freedom andindependence

4 William Wordsworth (1770-1850) William Wordsworth – A worshipper of nature

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was born in the Lake District in NorthwesternEngland The first influence upon William Wordsworth’s life as a poet came notfrom his parents but from Nature In his poem, The Prelude, William Wordsworthleft a full account of his boyhood in the Cumberland hills It is noteworthy thatWilliam Wordsworth, more than any other English poets up to his day, regardednature not only as a source of spiritual influence on man, but as a moral teacherwho can teach us more than all sages can Nature was, in fact, his religion AtCambridge, another dominant interest came into his life The world was seething

with democratic ideas The boy over the sea, to use Byron’s words, were

propagating the ideas of individual and national rights to life, liberty, and pursuit ofhappiness

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud was written in reflection after two years of the time

when Wordsworth saw a land of daffodils by the lake of Ullwater upon his returnfrom a visit to his friend Clarkson in Eusemere The poet described his heartfelthappiness as he saw the beautiful daffodils and sang high praises of nature

5 Jane Austen (1775-1817)

Born at Steventon Rectory in Hampshire, England, Jane Austen spent herchildhood and early womanhood at her birthplace Though the place was secludedfrom the outside world, it “gave her an intimate knowledge of the segment ofEnglish society – the landed gentry – that was to provide the materials for most ofher fiction”

Jane Austen began writing when she was still a little girl and by 1787, she had

already started to write stories In 1795, she embarked on the writing of Elinor and

Marianne, an early version of her first published work Sense and Sensibility One

year later, the writing of First Impressions got under way and it eventually turned

out to be her most famous work Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice his long been a favourite of both readers and critics alike

and is often regarded as Jane Austen's consummate achievement In Pride and

Prejudice and her other works, Jane Austen focused on characters of her own

social class: the ladies and gentlemen of the landed gentry She wrote about thepeople that she knew best and wove her plots around the intricacies of courtship