英美文学选读The Neoclassical Period

2. What did Neoclassicists celebrate in literary creation?

They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. They seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings, primarily as social animals. Thus a polite, urbane, witty and intellectual art developed. 3. What is neoclassicism?

With the introduction of the Enlightenment Movement into England, a revival of interest in the old classical works was in full swing. This tendency is known as neoclassicism.

According

to

the

neoclassicist, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers(Homer, Virgil, Horace. Ovid., etc.)and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. 4.

Briefly

discuss

Enlightenment

Movement. Enlightenment

Movement

was

a

progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe. The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance from the 14th century to the mid-17th century. The purpose of the movement was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical

and

artistic

ideas.

It

celebrated reason of rationality, equality and science. It advocated universal education. Literature at the time became a very popular means of public education. ◆Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) 1. What are the common features of Defoe’s four minor novels? And what are their social significances?

Defoe's four minor novels deal with the personal history of some hero or heroine, usually a whore, a pirate, a pickpocket, a rogue or some other criminal. Their history is traced from their unfortunate childhood, through, their many vicissitudes in life, to their final prosperity or repentance and death. The all powerful influence of material

circumstances

or

social

environment upon the thoughts and actions of the hero or the heroine is highlighted. The struggle of the poor unfortunate for mere existence, mixed with their desire for great wealth, comes into conflict with the social environment which prevents them from obtaining the goal under normal circumstances and thus forces them into criminal actions or bold adventures. The group of the four novels clearly manifest Defoe's deep concern for the poor and the unfortunate in his society. They are the first literary works devoted to the study of problems of the lower class people.

2. Robinson Crusoe

鲁滨逊的性格特点，及他所代表的人Robinson is a typical 18th century English

middle-class man, with a great capacity for work,

inexhaustible

energy,

courage,

patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile natural environment. He is the very prototype of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist

3. Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe was a great success partly because the protagonist was a real middle-class hero. Discuss Crusoe, the protagonist of the novel, as an embodiment of the rising middle-class

virtues

in

the

mid-eighteenth century England. A. Social background: The Eighteenth Century England witnessed the growing importance of the bourgeois or middle class.

a. The Industrial Revolution;

b. The expansion of international markets;

c. Values/virtues/moral standards/ . . . different from those of the feudal aristocratic class-courageous, full of energy, hard

working,

practical,

resourceful,

self-reliant, etc*

d. Literature should give/provide a realistic presentation of the life of the common people; it should meet the demand/interest of the middle class people. B. Robinson Crusoe embodies the virtues of the middle class people.

a. Crusoe as an adventurous/courageous man full of energy and courage(example the text) ;

b. Crusoe as a practical man (example from the text) ;

c. Crusoe as a resourceful/self-reliant man (example from the text) ;

d. Crusoe as a patient/persistent man (example from the text); e. And others. 4. Robinson Crusoe is universally considered as Daniel Defoe's masterpiece. Discuss why it became so successful when it was published?

A. Robinson Crusoe is supposedly based on the real adventure of an Alexander Selkirk who once stayed alone on the uninhabited island for five years. Actually, the story is an imagination.

B. In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe trace8 the growth of Robinson from a naive and artless youth into a shrewd and hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life.

C. In the novel, Robinson is a real hero and he is an embodiment of the rising middle class virtues in the mid eighteenth century England.

D. Robinson Crusoe is an adventure story very much in the spirit of the time. Because of the above reasons, when it was published, people all liked that story, and it became an immediate success.

◆Jonathan Swift (A Tale of a Tub//The Battle of the Books//The Drapier’s Letters//Gulliver’s Travels//A

Modest

Proposal)

1. Gulliver’s Travels

The book contains four parts: Lilliput; Brobdingnag;

Flying

Island

and

Houyhnhnm land.

“I\" is Gulliver. In this excerpt he gives an account of some aspects of Lilliputian life and obviously alludes to the similar

ridiculous practices or tricks of the English government.

2. What is Swifts achievements?

Swift is a master satirist. His satire is usually masked by an outward gravity and an apparent earnestness which renders his satire all the more powerful. His A Modest Proposal is generally taken as a perfect model.

Swift is one of the greater masters of English prose. He is almost unsurpassed in the writing of simple, direct, precise prose. He defined a good style as “proper words in proper places\". Clear, simple, concrete diction, uncomplicated sentence structure, economy and conciseness of language mark all his writings-essays, poems and novels. Swift's chief works are: A Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books, The Drapier’s Letters, Gulliver's Travels and A Modest Proposal.

3. A Modest Proposal is a satire written by Swift and it is generally taken as a perfect model of satire. Gulliver’s Travels is Swift's masterpiece. Based on them, discuss why Swift is a master satirist.

Swift has the talent of being a prose satirist. In his life, he wrote many satires. They are A Tale of a Tub, The Battle of the Books, The Drapier's Letters, Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal. The first two books are on corruption in religion and learning and they established his name as a satirist. Gulliver’s Travels is one of the most effective and devastating criticisms and satires of all aspects in the then English and European

life-socially,

politically,

religiously, philosophically, scientifically, and morally. Its social significance is great and its exploration into human nature profound. Swift's satire is usually masked by an outward gravity and an apparent earnestness which renders his satire all the more powerful. In A Modest Proposal, by suggesting that poor Irish parents sell their one-year-old babies to the rich English lords and ladies as food, Swift is making the most devastating protest against the inhuman exploitation and oppression of the Irish people by the English ruling class. The apparent

eagerness,

sincerity

and

detachment of the author adds force to the bitter irony and biting sarcasm. So he is a master of satire.

4. Please cite examples from Gulliver’s Travels' to explain briefly how Swift criticized and alluded to the government and the society.

In the first part of Gulliver's Travels, Swift described the tricks and practices in the competition held before royal members to allude to the fact that the success of the officials was not for their wisdom and excellence but for their skills in the games. In part 4 of the book, Swift made horses with reason and good qualities. The citizens who are \"hairy, wild, low and despicable brutes, who resemble human beings not only in appearance but also in almost every way\" to criticize all respects of the English, and European life, and urge people to consider the nature of humans.

◆Henry Fielding (The History of Jonathan Wild the Great//The History of Tom Jones a Foundling,//The History of

Amelia)

1. Tom Jones. The story tells about Tom, the titular hero of the story, who is a boy found in, Mr. Allworthy's house and brought up there with the kind old man's nephew Blifil. The latter, a hypocritical, wrecked man, is envious of Mr. Allworthy's fondness for the foundling and of Tom's intimacy with the beautiful Sophia, daughter of the well-off squire Western. He plays some tricks so that Mr. Allworthy drives Tom out of the house. Tom, intending to go to sea, wrongly takes the road to London, and Sophia, in rebellion against her father’s desire that she be married to Blifil, marches out for London too, accompanied by her maid. The two young people, especially Tom, have many adventures on the .road, but in the end, after some misunderstanding between them, they are happily united.

2.What is the position of Henry Fielding in the history of English literature? Henry Fielding was the first of all the 18th century English novelists to write the “comic epic in prosehe modern novel its structure and style. Before him, the narration of the novel was either in the epistolary form or through the mouth of the hero. Fielding used “the third person narration\" in which the author remains the omniscient God. Thus, \"He\" can not only represent the behaviours of the characters, but also the internal workings of their mind. In form, Fielding retains a grand epic style and keeps to a realistic representation of common life as it is. So, he has been regarded as “Father of the English novel.\"

3. What are the characteristics of Fielding's writing?

In Field's writing, .his language is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm, and his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending. His works are also noted for lively, dramatic dialogues and other theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidence and unexpectedness.

1.Into this fence or fortress,with infinite labour,I carry’d all my riches,all my provisions,ammunition, and stores, of which you have the account above; and I made me a large tent, which, to preserve me from the rains that in one part of the year are very violent there, I made double, viz. one smaller tent within, and one larger tent above it, and covered the uppermost with a large tarpaulin which I had saved among the sails.答：1.Daniel Defoe Robinson crusoe

2.narrator:Robinson crusoe

C. what

are

the

narrator’s characteristics and

whom does

he

represent?Robinson is a typical 18th

century English middle-class manmwith a great capacity

for

work,inexhaustible

energy,courage,patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles in struggling against the hostile natural environment.he is the very prototype of the empire builder,the pioneer colonist.

2. My gentleness and good behaviour had gained so far on the Emperor and his court,and indeed upon the army and

people in general, that I began to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time. I took all possible methods to cultivate this favorable disposition.The natives came by degrees to be less apprehensive of any danger from me. I would sometimes lie down,and let five or six of them dance on my hand.l And at last the boys and girls would venture to come and play at hide-and seek in my hair. 答：Jonathan Swift，Gulliver’s Travels. The book contain four parts,it is taken from the first part.

First part is Lilliput:Second part is Brobdingnag;

Third

part

is

Flying

Island,Forth part is Houyhnhnm land. “I” is Gulliver.In this excerpt he gives an account of some aspects of Lilliputian life and obviously alludes to the similar ridiculous practices or tricks of the English government.

3.”She no sooner came home than she sent for the gamekeeper,and ordered him to bring his daughter to her;saying she would provide for her in the family,and might possibly place the girl about her own person,when her own maid,who was now going away had left her.”答：Henry Fielding Tom Jones. The story tells about Tom,the titular hero of the story, who is a boy found in Mr.Allworthy’s house and brought up there with the kind old man’s nephew Blifil. The latter, a hypocritical, wrecked man,is envious of Mr Allworthy’s fondness for the foundling and of Tom’s intimacy with the beautiful Sophia,daughter of the well-off squire Western.He plays some tricks so that Mr.Allworthy drives tom out of the house.Tom,intending to go to

sea,wrongly

takes

the

road

to

London,and Sophia,in rebellion against her father’s desire that she be married to Blifil,marches out for London too, accompanied by he maid.The two young people,

especially

Tom,have

many

adventures on the road,but in the end,after some misunderstanding between them,they are happily united.