（8) Fielding, Gray, Goldsmith, Sheridan,Blake and Burns

1、Richard Brinsley Sheridan理查德.布林斯里.谢里登 (1751-1816) 1. the drama of the 18-th century Oliver Goldsmith The Good-Natured Man She Stoops to Conquer 2. his life 3. The Rival The School for Scandal The Critic Richard Brinsley SheridanHis plays, especially The Rivals and The School for Scandal, are general

2、ly regarded as important links between the masterpiece of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy. In his plays, morality is the constant theme.The School for Scandal is mainly a story about two brothers, the hypocritical Joseph Surface and the good-natured, imp

3、rudent, spendthrift Charles Surface. The play ends with great disgrace for Joseph and double bliss for Charles. It is a sharp satire on the moral degeneracy of the aristocratic-bourgeois society in the eighteenth-century England. It gives a brilliant portrayal and a biting satire of English high soc

4、iety. No wonder, the play has been Regarded as the best comedy since Shakespeare. 伪君子约瑟夫.萨尔菲斯，放荡不羁但心地善良的查尔斯.萨尔菲斯梯泽尔夫人FeaturesIt has been called a great comedy of manners.(风俗喜剧)Sheridans dramatic techniques are largely conventional; they are exploited to the best advantage. His plots are well organiz

5、ed; his characters, either major or minor, all sharply drawn; and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays.By the middle of the 18th century, sentimentalism cam

6、e into being as the result of a bitter discontent among the enlightened people with social reality. It was a direct reaction against the cold, hard commercialism and rationalism. Dissatisfied with reason, sentimentalists appealed to sentiment, to “the human heart”. SentimentalismSentimentalism turne

7、d to countryside for its material, and their writings were marked by a sincere sympathy for the peasants. It indulged in emotion and sentiment, which were used as a sort of relief for the grief and heart aches felt toward the worlds wrongs, and as a kind of mild protest against the social injustice.

8、 They yearned for the return of the patriarchal times. Laurence Sternes A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1768)Goldsmiths The Vicar of Wakefield (1766)Thomas Grays “An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” (1750)Goldsmiths “The Deserted Village” (1770) Thomas Gray托马斯.格雷 (1716-1771) 1.

9、 his life unhappy childhood, shy and scholarly life, the early romantic poet.2. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard Literature of melancholy The theme of deathThomas GrayThomas Gray was born in London into a brokers family. He got very good school education, first at Eton and then at Cambridge. He

10、 left Cambridge without taking a degree.He toured around Europe. In 1768 he was made Professor of History and Modern Languages at Cambridge.In his lifetime, he was known as one of the most learned persons and a very successful poet. He was not sociable. He declined the Poet Laureateship in 1657 and

11、led a peaceful life as a scholar.Comments on GrayGrays literary output was small. He wrote slowly and carefully. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form.His masterpiece Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard once and for all established his fame as the leader of sentimentalist poetr

12、y and the spokesman of the Graveyard School.感伤主义诗歌创始人， “墓地诗歌”流派的代表。ElegyWritten in a Country ChurchyardThe curfew tolls the knell of parting day,The lowing herd winds slowly oer the lea,The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,And leaves the world to darkness and to me.Now fades the glimmering lan

13、dscape on the sight,And all the air a solemn stillness holds,Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,And drowsy tinklings lull the distant foldsOliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) 1. his life essayist, novelist, poet, dramatist2. The Vicar of WakefieldMoral and ThemeMen and women do not break under

14、 public disaster or private grief: they endure, and maybe as they go on they find they still like living.The buffets of a wanton fate cannot destroy the human spirit.His styleAlternately praises, satirizes and sentimentalizes a pioneer settlement.His novel appeals to human sentiment as a means of ac

15、hieving happiness and social justice.Show passive resistance to social evil and have a false idealization of a patriarchal society.Pre-romanticism In the latter half of the 18th century, a new literary movement arose in Europe, called the Romantic Revival. It was marked by the strong protest against

16、 the bondage of classicism, by recognition of the claims of passion and emotion, and by a renewed interest in medieval literature. In England, this movement showed itself in the trend of Pre-romanticism in poetry, and represented by Blake and Burns. They struggled against the neoclassical tradition

17、of poetry. William Blake (1757-1827) The most independent and original romantic poet of 18-th century1. his life 2. his works “London”, “The Tiger”, “The Chimney Sweeper” William BlakeI Life Born on 28 November 1757, the son of a London hosier.He never went to school and he studied by himself, his f

18、avorite studies in early days were Shakespeare, Milton and Chatterton. At 14, an apprentice to an engraver. The illustrations engraved by him had a peculiar style.In 1782, he married Catherine Boucher, an illiterate but smart girl. Blake taught her to read and help him in engraving.In his old age Bl

19、ake gave up poetry to devote himself to painting and engraving. In 1809 he put on a one-man exhibition, but it was a total failure because few people understood his pictures.In 1827, Blake died in obscurity and poverty.BlakeThroughout his life, Blake served as both a poet and an engraver. He lived i

20、n solitude and poverty. He never tried to adapt himself to worldly affairs. He was a rebel all his life.He cherished great enthusiasm for the French Revolution, which advocated equality, liberty and fraternity.He severely criticized the society of his time and had controversy with modern science, es

21、pecially the theory of Newton.Literarily he was a Romantic poet, treasuring individuals imagination while opposing the neoclassical rule of reason.His Major WorksPoetical Sketches (1783)Collection of youthful poems, the keynote of which is joy, laughter, love and harmony. He was opposed to the class

22、ical tradition of the 18th century.Songs of Innocence (1789) A lovely volume of poems presenting a happy and innocent world.Songs of Experience (1794)Marriage of Heaven and HellSongs of Innocence and Songs of Experience -The contrast between the two collections of poems is of great significance: It

23、marks a progress in the poets outlook in life. The former portrays a world of harmony, peace and love; while the latter revealed the power of evil, the great misery and pain of the peoples life. Songs of ExperienceIt presents a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy

24、tone. England becomes “a land of poverty fed with cold and usurious hand” (Holy Thursday) and London is chartered by the rich and the metropolis is blighted with plagues with the “youthful harlots curse” (London). The tame Lamb becomes the dreadful Tyger.Marriage of Heaven and HellThe poem is writte

25、n at the climax of French Revolution. It explores the relationship of the contraries. According to Blake, life is a combination of opposites, of good and evil, of innocence and experience, of body and soul. The word “marriage” means the reconciliation of the contraries, not the subordination of one

26、side to the other.Blakes Position in English Literature:-A pre-romantic or a forerunner of the Romantic poetry of the 19th century. -His lyric poetry displays the characteristics of the romantic spirit, emphasizing the natural sentiment and individual originality. -Symbolism is a distinctive feature

27、 of his poetry. -A strong likeness between Shelly and Blake: the imagery and symbolism as well as the underlying revolutionary spirit.CommentsBlake is an imaginative poet. His world is a world of imagination and vision. From childhood he has a visual mind. He can see whatever he imagines. He claims

28、that he can see a tree full of angels and the ancient kings in Westminster Abbey. His poetry is full of imagination.Blake writes his poems in plain and direct language. Robert Burns(1759-1796) Robert Burns The greatest of Scottish poethis poems written in the Scottish dialect a representative of Pre

29、-RomanticismInterests in folk literatureExploration of emotions and feelingsUnder the influence of French Revolution, and be against the bondage of classicismmany lyrics praising nature, love, and friendship, such as “A Red, Red Rose,” “My hearts in the Highland”.His “Auld Lang Syne” (Old Long Ago)

30、which have been sung as a parting song in many places of the world in different languages. Robert Burns (1759-1796)Life:born in a clay cottage, Scotland, in 1759. His father a poor, honest peasant.At 6, he had a little schooling. From his early childhood, he had an intimate knowledge of Scottish fol

31、k songs and poems. Then, he had to work on the land from morning till dawn, but he squeezed out some time to read and write. Burns had a great passion for Scottish folk songs. When he was 27, he resolved to go abroad. He gathered together some of his early poems and published them under the title Po

32、ems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. In 1789 he was appointed exciseman with a small salary. During the last 12 years, he did a great deal in collecting Scottish folk songs for two anthologies, “Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs” and “The Scots Musical Museum”. In 1796, he died due to an i

33、llness. Celebration of BurnsBurns SupperOn Jan. 25, as Burns nightHave haggis (羊肚包杂碎), traditional Scottish foodPlay pipesPoetry reading Burns Cottage in Alloway, Scotland Burns statuesStatue in AustraliaStatue in Dumfries, ScotlandThe poems of Burns are written in the Scottish dialect on a variety

34、of subjects.Songs of love and friendshipSongs of patriotismSongs on the theme of revolutionSongs showing sympathy for the Negro slavesSongs of satireClassification of his poemsLyrics of Love and Friendship Burns fame is established on his lyrics on love and friendship. His best known lyrics of this

35、category include A Red,Red Rose, John Anderson, My Jo and A Fond Kiss, of which A Red, Red Rose is the most popular among Chinese students of English. Mainly, 3 kindsPatriotic PoemsBurns wrote some patriotic poems, in which he expresses his deep love for his motherland. The best-known piece is My He

36、art is in the Highlands.Scottish BalladsBurns wrote some ballads on the basis of old Scottish legends. He expressed his love for freedom and sang of the heroic spirit of the Scottish people. The best-known poem is A Mans A Man for AThat.Features of Burns Poetry:-He is the national poet of Scotland-H

37、e is a poet of the peasants, a poet of the people: rural theme. -He mastered the old song tradition-He refined the old songs into noble masterpieces with higher artistic effect.-His poems have a musical quality. E,g, “ Auld Lang Syne”-originally a Scottish song, rewritten by Burns.CommentsBurns was

38、nurtured by the Scottish cultural tradition. The majority of his poems were written in the Scottish dialect. In the history of English literature since the Middle Ages, Burns is the only greatest English poet who writes outside the standard/London dialect.Comments Burnss reputation lies chiefly in h

39、is love poems and songs. They express tender feelings that came from the bottom of his heart, which can be best illustrated by A Red, Red Rose and Auld Lang Syne.Burns ushered a tendency that prevailed during the high time of Romanticism: To cultivate medieval literary legacy and embrace national cu

40、lture; To introduce daily expressions into poetic diction; To pick up the life of common people as poetic subjects and show great sympathy Lyrical: A red, red rosewritten in 1794, published in 1796 QuestionsHow dose the narrator in the love song express his love?Why is this poem so touching to the r

41、eaders? Question 1How dose the narrator in the love song express his love? to use many figures of speeches: simile, metaphor, repetition Question 2Why is this poem so touching to the readers? 1) original flavor in fiery and direct expression: directly passionate 2) artistic recreation; imagery presentation: newly sprung rose/ sweetly played melody 3) in repetition to stir an echoing effectComparison with Chinese folk song 上邪 上邪，吾欲与君相知，长命无绝衰。 山无陵，江水为竭，冬雷震震，夏雨雪，天地合，乃敢与君绝！Q: what are the similarities between the two songs?Summary This is one of Burns popular love lyrics and is also