e major theme of her novels is love and marriage.
2. Walter Scott （1771-1832） is the most popular novelist of his day. His major novels： Waverley， Old Mortality， The Heart of Midlothian， Rob Roy and Ivanhoe. The last 3 are most famous. Importance of Walter Scott：
a. In his depiction of Scotland， England， and the Continent from medieval times to the 18th century， he showed a keen sense of political and traditional forces and of their influence on the individual.
b. He is the first major historical novelist， exerting a powerful literary influence both in British and on the Continent throughout the 19th century.
Gothic Novel
It’s a phase of the Romantic Movement. Its principal elements are violence， horror and the supernatural.
Gothic Novel：
1. Content： magic， supernatural elements， ghosts， monsters.
2. Setting： old castle， graveyard， dark forest.
3. Atmosphere： horrible.
Lake Poet：
1. Wordsworth， Coleridge， Southey. They live in the district of Great Lake， northwestern England.
2. They have radical inclinations in their youth， but later turned conservative and received favors from the Government.
3. They criticize the industrial capitalist society.
William Blake （1757-1827）
1757 He was born in an Irish family. His father was a small hosiery businessman. As a child， he was talented in drawing.
1767 At the age of 10， he was sent to a drawing school.
1771 Age of 14， he began his 7-year apprenticeship for an engraver.
1779 He began to earn a living as an engraver.
1780 He married Catherine Boucher. His marriage is a life long happiness.
Blake often misunderstood by other people as a gifted but mad man. He wasn’t rich as he spent most of his time on writing and painting. In his time， he wasn’t known as a poet， because his poems were published posthumously.
William Blake’s 3 major works
1809 The Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems， presenting a happy and innocent world， though not without its evils and sufferings.
Writing style of the poem： He broke completely with the traditions of the 18th century. He experienced in meter and rhyme and introduced bold metrical innovations which could not be found in the poetry of his contemporaries.
1794 The Songs of Experience paints a different world， a world of misery， poverty， disease， war and repression with a melancholy tone.
The two books hold the similar subject matter， but the tone emphasis and conclusion differ.
e.g. "The Chimney Sweeper" in the two books
Difference The Songs of Innocence The Songs of Experience
Writing tone Happy and hopeful Bitter and ironical
Sweeper Sees duty a hope， if they do their duty， they will live happily in the heaven. Sees duty an exploitation.
Religion Identify himself with religion or Christianity. He believes he will gain happiness if he does his duty. Sees the reli |
|
|
 |
| 上一篇文章： 自考《英美文学选读》笔记3 |
| 下一篇文章： “英美文学选读”串讲资料 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
