Survey of British Literature
Old and Medieval periods (450---1066)
After the fall of the Roman Empire and the withdrawal of Roman troops from Albion , the aboriginal Celtic population of the larger part of the island was soon conquered and almost totally exterminated by the Teutonic tribes of Angles , Saxons and Jutes who came from the continent and ttled in the island , naming its central part Anglia , or England.
For nearly four hundred years prior to the coming of the English , Britain had been a Roman province . In 410 A.D. the Romans withdrew their legions from Britain to protect Rome herlf against swarms of Teutonic invaders . About 449 a band of Teutons , called Jutes , left Denmark , landed on the Isle of Thanet . Warriors from the tribes of the Angles and the Saxons soon followed , and drove westward the original inhabitants.
The literature of this period falls naturally into two divisions , ---Religious and Secular . In reading the earliest poetry of England it is well to remember that all of it was copied by the monks , and ems to have been more or less altered to give it a religious coloring.
The Song of Beowulf can be justly termed England’s national epic and its hero Beowulf ---one of the national heroes of the English people .
The only existing manuscript of The Song of Beowulf was written by an unknown scribe at the beginning of the 10th century and was not discovered until 1750 .怎么去色斑 The Song was compod much earlier , and reflects events which took place on the Continent approximately at the beginning of the 6th century , when the forefathers of the Jutes lived in the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula and maintained clo relations with kindred tribes , e.g. with the Danes who lived on the other side of the straits.
Medieval periods (1066---mid-14th century)
In the year 1066 , at the battle of Hastings , the Normans headed by William , Duke of Normandy , defeated the Anglo-Saxons.
The Normans were originally a hardy race of a rovers inhabiting Scandinavia . In the
tenth century they conquered a part of northern France , which is still called Normandy , and rapidly adopted French civilization and the French language . Their conquest of Anglo-Saxon England under 愚公移山教案William , Duke of Normandy , began with the battle of Hastings in 1066 .
The literature which they brought to England is remarkable for its bright , romantic tales of love and adventure , in marked contrast with the strength and somberness of Anglo-Saxon poetry . During the strength three centuries Anglo-Saxon speech simplified itlf by dropping of its Teutonic inflection , absorbed eventually a large part of the French vocabulary , and became the English language . English literature is also a combination of French and Saxon elements .
The Renaissance Period (mid-14th ---mid-17th century)
The 16th century in English was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of capitalism .
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Manufactories were developing and the wool trade was rapidly growing in bulk . The enclosure of commons drove thousands of peasants off their lands and many of them ttled in towns .
New social and economic conditions brought about great changes in the development of science and art .写给你
英语六级多少分算过 Together with the development of bourgeois relationships and formation of the English national state this period is marked by a flourishing of national culture known as the Renaissance .
大闹天竺 The greatest of all English authors , William Shakespeare belongs to tho rare genius of mankind who have become landmarks in the history of world culture . The works of William Shakespeare are a great landmark in the history of world literature for he was one of the first founders of realism , a masterhand at realistic portrayal of human characters and relations .
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His first original play written in about 1590 was King火歌词 HenryⅥ ,parts two and three , the first part having been written earlier by another dramatist and only retouched by Shakespeare . During the twenty-two years of his literary work he produced 37 plays , two narrative poems and 154 sonnets .
His literary work may be divided into three major periods : the first period from 1590 to 1600 , the cond from 1601 to 1608 , and the third from 1609 to 1612 .
Hamlet is considered to be summit of Shakespeare’s art . It was written in 1602-1620 and first published in 1603 . Shakespeare took a certain story of Prince Amleth from old sources which can be traced to the 12th century .
Under Shakespeare’s pen the medieval story assumed new meaning and significance . Danish names could not hide from the spectators and readers the fact that it was English which the great writer described in his play . The whole tragedy is permeated with the spirit of Shakespeare’s own time . Hamlet is the profoundest expression of Shakespeare’s humanism and his criticism of contemporary life .
