浪漫主义时期-现代主义时期的英国文学

-1-浪漫主义时期-现代主义时期的英国文学RomanticisminEngland(1798-1832)1.RomanticismAliterarymovement,whichtookplaceinBritainandthroughoutEuroperoughlybetween1770and1848.PoliticallyitwasinspiredbytherevolutionsinAmericaandFranceandpopularwarsofindependenceinsomecountries.Sociallyitsupportedprogressivecauses,thoughwhenthesewerefrustrateditoftenproducedabitter,gloomy,anddespairingoutlook.IntellectuallyitmarkedaviolentreactiontotherationalismoftheEnlightenmentandClassicism.Emotionallyitexpressedanextremeassertionoftheself.(emphasisonpersonalthoughtsandfeelings,oftentriggeredbyobservationofnature)2.RomanticisminEnglandPrevailedduringtheperiodof1798-18322generations:the1stgenerationincludeWordsworth,ColeridgeandSouthey(theLakePoets)andthe2ndgenerationincludeByron,ShelleyandKeats,whowroteswiftly,travelledwidely(Greece,Switzerland,Italy),anddiedprematurely.ThougheachoftheRomanticpoetshadtheirownspecialqualities,theyallhadthingsincommon.TheRomanticPeriodisanageofpoetryandtheonlygreatnovelistisWalterScott.3.Artisticfeatures:abeliefintheinnategoodnessofmaninhisnaturalstate;individualism;reverencefornature;exaltationofemotion,sensation,andphysicalpassion;andarevoltagainstpoliticalauthorityandsocialconvention.TheRomanticperiodisanageofpoetryBlake,Wordsworth,Coleridge,Byron,Shelley&KeatsarethemajorRomanticpoets.Theystartedarebellionagainsttheneoclassicalliterature,whichwaslaterregardedasthepoeticrevolution.Wordsworth&Coleridgewerethemajorrepresentativesofthismovement.Theyexplorednewtheories&innovatednewtechniquesinpoetrywriting.Theysawpoetryasahealingenergy：theybelievedthatpoetrycouldpurifybothindividualsouls&thesociety.TheRomanticsnotonlyextolthefacultyofimagination,butalsostresstheconceptofspontaneity&inspiration,regardingthemassomethingcrucialfortruepoetry.Thenaturalworldcomestotheforefrontofthepoeticimagination.Natureisnotonlythemajorsourceofpoeticimagery,butalsoprovidesthedominantsubjectmatter.Wordsworthistheclosesttonature.Toescapefromaworldthathadbecameexcessivelyrational,aswellasexcessivelymaterialistic&ugly,theRomanticswouldturntoothertimes&places,wherethequalitiestheyvaluedcouldbeconvincinglydepicted.Romanticsalsotendtobenationalistic,defendingthegreatpoets&dramatistsoftheirownnationalheritageagainsttheadvocatesofclassicalruleswhotendedtoglorifyRome&rationalItalian&Frenchneoclassicalartassuperiortothenativetraditions.TotheRomantics,poetryshouldbefreefromallrules.Theywouldturntothehumblepeople&theireverydaylifeforsubjects,RomanticwritersarealwaysseekingfortheAbsolute,theIdealthroughthetranscendenceoftheactual.Theyhavealsomadeboldexperimentsinpoeticlanguage,versification&design,&constructedavarietyofformsonoriginalprinciplesofstructure&style.4.DifferencebetweenRomanticismandClassicismTowardtheendoftheeighteenth-century,RomanticismemergedasaresponsetoClassicism.Eventhoughthis-2-changewasgradual,ittransformedeverythingfromartandphilosophytoeducationandscience.WhiletheClassicststhoughtoftheworldashavingarigidandsternstructure,theromanticiststhoughtoftheworldasaplacetoexpresstheirideasandbelieves.TheRomaniticistsandClassicstsdifferedintheirviewsoftherelationshipbetweenanindividualandsociety,theirviewsofnatureandtherelationshipbetweenreasonandimagination.ClassicistsandRomanticistsdifferedintheirviewsofnature.Classicismwasbasedontheideathatnatureandhumannaturecouldbeunderstoodbyreasonandthought.Classicistbelievedthat“naturewas,aself-containedmachine,likeawatch,whoselawsofoperationcouldberationallyunderstood.”Ontheotherhand,Romanticistsviewednatureasmysteriousandeverchanging.AsWilliamCullenBryantstatesthatnature“speaksavariouslanguage.”Romanticwritesbelievedthatnatureisaneverchanginglivingorganism,whoselawswewillneverfullyunderstand.ClassicistandRomanticistsalsodifferedontheirapprochestowardsreasonandimagination.Classicismattachedmuchmoreimportancetoreasonthanimaginationbecauseimaginationcouldnotbeexplainedbytheirlaws.Tothem,“;theimagination,thoughessentialtoliterature,hadtoberestrainedbyreasonandcommonsense.”;TheRomanticists,however,emphasizedthatreasonwasnottheonlypathtotruth.“Instead,Romanticwritersemphasizedintuition,thatinnerperceptionoftruthwhichisindependentofreason.”;TotheRomanticwriters,imaginationwasultimatelysuperiortoreason.YetanotherareaofdifferencebetweenClassicitsandRomanticstsiswhethertheyplacedgreaterimportanceontraditionorwhethertheychosetoinnovate.Classiciststhoughtthatitwasliterature’sfunctiontoshowtheeverydayvaluesofhumanityandthelawsofhumanexistence.Theirideawasthat“classicismupheldtradition,oftentothepointofresistingchange,becausetraditionseemedareliabletestinggroundforthoselaws.”;AsfortheRomantics,theywroteabouthowmanhasnoboundariesandendlesspossibilities.“Who,”Emersonasked,“cansetboundstothepossibilitiesofman?”;Opposingclassicitswhoseimportanceisputonhumanlimitation,“theRomanticsstressedthehumanpotentialforsocialprogressandspiritualgrowth.”.Wordsworth1.Wordsworth’sLifeWordsworth,borninhisbelovedLakeDistrict,wasthesonofanattorney.HewenttoschoolfirstatPenrithandthenatHawksheadGrammarschoolbeforestudyi