第一篇：英美文學(xué)資料匯總精選

一，中世紀(jì)文學(xué)（約5世紀(jì)---1485）

1.英國(guó)最初的文學(xué)是口頭的。

2.5世紀(jì)中葉，盎格魯，撒克遜，朱特三個(gè)日耳曼部落開(kāi)始從丹麥以及現(xiàn)在的荷蘭一帶地區(qū)遷入不列顛。

3.盎格魯，撒克遜時(shí)代最重要的一部古英語(yǔ)文學(xué)作品是《貝奧武夫》，它被認(rèn)為是英國(guó)的民族史詩(shī)。主題：反映了7、8世紀(jì)不列顛的生活風(fēng)貌，呈現(xiàn)出新舊生活方式的混合，兼有氏族時(shí)期的英雄主義的封建時(shí)期的理想，體現(xiàn)了非基督日耳曼文化和基督教文化兩種不同的傳統(tǒng)。

4.1066年，威廉公爵率領(lǐng)法國(guó)的諾曼底人，征服英格蘭。法國(guó)文化占據(jù)主導(dǎo)地位，法語(yǔ)成為宮廷和上層貴族社會(huì)的語(yǔ)言。

5.1066年階段這一時(shí)期的文學(xué)形式是浪漫傳奇。典型是亞瑟王和圓桌騎士的故事。

6.傳奇文學(xué)（主人公：高貴的騎士的冒險(xiǎn)和愛(ài)情故事）是英國(guó)封建社會(huì)發(fā)展到成熟階段的一種社會(huì)理想的體現(xiàn)。

7.14世紀(jì)以后，英語(yǔ)開(kāi)始恢復(fù)使用，杰弗里 喬叟（Geoffrey Chaucer,1343-1400）的出現(xiàn)標(biāo)志著以本土文學(xué)為主流的英國(guó)書(shū)面文學(xué)歷史的開(kāi)始。喬叟首創(chuàng)英雄詩(shī)行，即五步抑揚(yáng)格雙韻體，被譽(yù)為“英國(guó)詩(shī)歌之父”。他推動(dòng)了英語(yǔ)作為英國(guó)統(tǒng)一的民族語(yǔ)言的進(jìn)程。

二：文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期文學(xué)（15世紀(jì)后期----17世紀(jì)初）

1.英國(guó)的文藝復(fù)興發(fā)生在15世紀(jì)末。

2.文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的思想體系是人文主義：以人為本，反對(duì)中世紀(jì)以神為中心的世界觀(guān)，提倡積極進(jìn)取、享受現(xiàn)世歡樂(lè)的生活理想。

3.該時(shí)期典型人物：英國(guó)托馬斯 莫爾（Thomas More，1478--1535），作品《烏托邦》（Utopia），內(nèi)容：社會(huì)平等，財(cái)產(chǎn)公有，人們和諧相處的理想國(guó)。

4.《烏托邦》（Utopia）開(kāi)創(chuàng)了英國(guó)哲理幻想小說(shuō)傳統(tǒng)的先河。

5.該時(shí)期典型人物：埃德蒙 斯賓塞（Edmund Spenser,1552--1599）的長(zhǎng)詩(shī)《仙后》（The Faerie Queen），主題歌頌女王，宣揚(yáng)人文主義思想。文學(xué)特色：創(chuàng)造了有音樂(lè)性的“斯賓塞詩(shī)體”（Spens—erian）。

6.該時(shí)期典型人物：弗蘭西斯 培根（Francis Bacon，1561--1626），散文家，作品是《論說(shuō)文集》（Essays）

7.英國(guó)戲劇起源于中世紀(jì)教堂的宗教儀式，16世紀(jì)末，戲劇進(jìn)入全盛時(shí)期。

8.該時(shí)期典型人物：克里斯托佛 馬洛（Christopher Marlowe，1564---1593）創(chuàng)作了新戲劇。主要組品：《帖木兒大帝》（Tamburlaine）、《浮士德博士的悲劇》（The Tragically History of the Life and Death of Dr.Faustus）、《馬耳他島的猶太人》（The Jew of Malta），主題：探索精神和極端的個(gè)人主義精神。

9.該時(shí)期典型人物：英國(guó)最杰出的作家是，威廉 莎士比亞（William Shakespeare,1564--1616），全部作品：兩首長(zhǎng)詩(shī)，154首十四行詩(shī)和38部戲劇。主要?jiǎng)∽饔邢矂　吨傧囊怪畨?mèng)》（A Midsummer Night’s Dream）、《威尼斯

商人》（The Merchant of Venice）；悲劇《羅密歐與朱麗葉》（Romeo and Juliet）、《哈姆雷特》（Hamlet）、《奧賽羅》（Othello）、《李爾王》（King Lear）、《麥克白》（Macbeth）；歷史劇《亨利四世》（Henry IV）；傳奇劇《暴風(fēng)雨》（The Tempest）。

10.莎士比亞作品的主題：宣揚(yáng)了人文主義和個(gè)性的解放。展現(xiàn)了封建制度和資本主義制度交替時(shí)期的波瀾壯闊。

11.Renaissance is commonly applied to the movement or period in western civilization, which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world.Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th century.Renaissance –Rebirth.（意大利語(yǔ)：Rinascimento，由ri-“重新”和nascere“出生”構(gòu)成）是一場(chǎng)發(fā)生在14世紀(jì)中期至16世紀(jì)末的文化運(yùn)動(dòng)，在中世紀(jì)晚期發(fā)源于佛羅倫薩，后擴(kuò)展至歐洲各國(guó)。“文藝復(fù)興”只是對(duì)這一時(shí)期的通稱(chēng)。

12.文藝復(fù)興的社會(huì)背景Historical Background：

1.The New Monarchy—The Tudor Dynasty by Henry VIII 新君主政體。

2.The Reformation宗教改革。

3.The Enclosure movement 圈地運(yùn)動(dòng)。

4.The commercial expansion 商業(yè)擴(kuò)張。

5.The war with Spain 與西班牙之戰(zhàn)。

6.Renaissance in Europe 歐洲文藝復(fù)興的影響。

13.文藝復(fù)興的特征Features of Renaissance：

1.A Thirsting for Classical literature, Greek and Latin authors

2.Dissatisfaction at the Catholic and feudal ideas

3.The Keen Interest in Humanity

Humanism is the idea that man has a potential for culture which distinguishes him from lower orders of beings, and which he should strive constantly to fulfill.Rebellious spirit against the Medieval feudal value and blind faith in humbleness, servitude, and after-life.Belief in man’s divinity and capability of self perfection Emphasis of the importance of personal worth and enjoyment of the present life.三，17世紀(jì)文學(xué)

1.1649年1月國(guó)王查理一世被送上斷頭臺(tái)。

2.該時(shí)期典型人物：約翰 彌爾頓（John Milton,1608-1674），在1660年的查理二世復(fù)辟時(shí)期，主要作品有《失樂(lè)園》（Paradise Lost）和《復(fù)樂(lè)園》（Paradise Regained），詩(shī)劇《力士參孫》（Samson Agonistes）。

3.17世紀(jì)英國(guó)詩(shī)歌的另外一支是玄學(xué)派詩(shī)歌。

該時(shí)期典型人物：約翰 鄧恩（John Donne,1572--1631）和安德魯 馬維爾（Andrew Marvell，1621--1678）

4.王政復(fù)辟時(shí)期該時(shí)期典型人物：約翰 班揚(yáng)（John Bunyan,1628---1678）,典型

作品是《天路歷程》（The Pilgrim’s Progress）,采用夢(mèng)幻的形式講述宗教寓言，展現(xiàn)是17世紀(jì)英國(guó)社會(huì)的一幅現(xiàn)實(shí)主義圖景。

四，啟蒙時(shí)期文學(xué)（17世紀(jì)后期---18世紀(jì)中期）

1.1688年“光榮革命”推翻復(fù)辟王朝，確定了君主立憲制度，建立了資產(chǎn)階級(jí)和新貴族領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的政權(quán)。

2.18世紀(jì)初，新古典主義（理性）成為時(shí)尚。

3.18世紀(jì)英國(guó)散文繁榮起來(lái)，散文風(fēng)格基本建立在新古典主義美學(xué)原則之上。

4.該時(shí)期典型人物：?jiǎn)碳{森 斯威夫特（Jonathan Swift，1667--1745）是英國(guó)文學(xué)史上最偉大的諷刺散文作家，主要作品：《格列佛游記》是一部極具魅力的兒童故事。

5.《格列佛游記》可分為小人國(guó)，大人國(guó)，飛島國(guó)，慧馬國(guó)的描寫(xiě)，以理性為尺度。

6.塞繆爾 約翰遜（Samuel Johnson,1709--1784）是18世紀(jì)英國(guó)人文主義文學(xué)作家，在英語(yǔ)詞典編撰史上有獨(dú)特地位；《英語(yǔ)詞典》（A dictionary of the English Language），這是英語(yǔ)史上第一部也是隨后一百年間英國(guó)唯一的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)辭書(shū)。

7.18世紀(jì)被稱(chēng)為“散文世紀(jì)”。原因：小說(shuō)的興起。

8.18世紀(jì)中葉，英國(guó)發(fā)生了工業(yè)革命。英國(guó)詩(shī)歌開(kāi)始逐漸擺脫了新古典主義的束縛，理性的優(yōu)勢(shì)地位為感情或感受所替代。

五，浪漫主義時(shí)期文學(xué)（1798--1832）

1.18世紀(jì)末，19世紀(jì)初，蘇格蘭農(nóng)民詩(shī)人羅伯特 彭斯（Robert Burns，1759--1796）。

2.威廉 布萊克（William Blake，1757--1827），是版畫(huà)家兼詩(shī)人，他在詩(shī)歌中建立起自己一套獨(dú)特的神話(huà)體系，具有神秘主義色彩，布萊克的革命性，獨(dú)創(chuàng)性和復(fù)雜性使他成為浪漫主義詩(shī)歌的先驅(qū)。

3.1798年，威廉 華茲華斯（William Wordsworth，1770--1850）與塞繆爾 泰勒 柯勒律治（Samuel Taylor Coleridge，1772--1834）合作出版了一本小詩(shī)集《抒情歌謠集》，這部作品的問(wèn)世標(biāo)志著英國(guó)浪漫主義文學(xué)的真正崛起。

4.浪漫主義是對(duì)新古典主義的反撥：詩(shī)歌內(nèi)容不再是對(duì)現(xiàn)實(shí)的反映或道德說(shuō)教，而是詩(shī)人內(nèi)心涌出的真實(shí)感情。

5.浪漫主義詩(shī)人崇尚自然，主張返璞歸真。

6.華茲華斯為湖畔派詩(shī)人。

7.喬治 戈登 拜倫（George Gordon Byron，1788--1824）和波西 比希 雪萊（Percy Bysshe Shelley,1792--1822）是革命詩(shī)人。

8.雪萊深受柏拉圖哲學(xué)影響。

9.約翰 濟(jì)慈（John Keats,1795--1821）,是創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)美的天才詩(shī)人。

六，現(xiàn)實(shí)主義時(shí)期文學(xué)。（19世紀(jì)30年代--1918）

1.1837年維多利亞女王（Queen Victoria, 1819--1901）登基。

2.維多利亞時(shí)期英國(guó)詩(shī)歌表現(xiàn)出注重形式的典雅，對(duì)詩(shī)藝精益求精。

3.該時(shí)期典型作家：簡(jiǎn) 奧斯丁（Jane Austen 1775--1817）以女性作家特有的敏銳和細(xì)膩刻畫(huà)英國(guó)鄉(xiāng)村中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的生活和思想。

4.奧斯丁“一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村中的三四戶(hù)人家是合適的寫(xiě)作對(duì)象。”

5.主要作品：《傲慢與偏見(jiàn)》（Pride and prejudice）;《愛(ài)瑪》（Emma）。

6.勃朗特三姐妹在19世紀(jì)英國(guó)文學(xué)上很重要，夏洛蒂 勃朗特（Charlotte Bronte,1816---1855）的《簡(jiǎn)愛(ài)》（Jane Eyre）受到20世紀(jì)女性主義批評(píng)家的青睞。艾米麗 勃朗特（Emily Bronte,1818--1848）的呼嘯山莊（Wuthering Heights）采用了間接敘述手法，具有神秘恐怖色彩。安妮 勃朗特的《阿格尼斯 格雷》。

7.查爾斯 狄更斯(Charles Dickens, 1812-1870)是19世紀(jì)英國(guó)最偉大的小說(shuō)家；代表作品：《霧都孤兒》Oliver Twist，《大衛(wèi)科索菲爾》David Copperfield, 《遠(yuǎn)大前程》Great Expectation, 等都是以孤兒為主人公；《荒涼山莊》Bleak House；《雙城記》A Tale of Two Cities.8.查爾斯 狄更斯在他的小說(shuō)中展示了一幅幅維多利亞時(shí)期英國(guó)社會(huì)生活的畫(huà)卷，是一位具有浪漫，幽默氣質(zhì)的作家。

9.19世紀(jì)末，20世紀(jì)初，英國(guó)不少小說(shuō)家創(chuàng)作出以“幻滅”為主題的小說(shuō)。

10.托馬斯 哈代(Thomas Hardy,1840-1920)，他的小說(shuō)一直以故鄉(xiāng)多塞特郡和該郡附近的農(nóng)村附近作為背景。

11.托馬斯 哈代早期作品描寫(xiě)的是英國(guó)農(nóng)村的恬靜景象和明朗的田園生活，后期作品是明顯變得陰郁低沉，主題都是無(wú)法控制的外部力量和內(nèi)心沖動(dòng)決定著個(gè)人命運(yùn)，并造成悲劇。

12.托馬斯 哈代代表作品：《德伯家的苔絲》Tess of the D’ Urbervilles；《無(wú)名的裘德》(Jude the Obscure)

13.19世紀(jì)末迎來(lái)英國(guó)戲劇的復(fù)興。

14.王爾德和蕭伯納是戲劇復(fù)興的里程碑，他們的戲劇創(chuàng)作活動(dòng)使英國(guó)劇壇發(fā)根本的變化，一改英國(guó)戲劇百年不振的局面。

第二篇：英美文學(xué)

A summery of first two lessons

From the previous classes, we＇ve essentially get an brief idea of some basic knowledge about the United Kingdom.The main knowledge points can be concluded as follows:

The full name of the complicated country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Britain is no longer an imperial country, though its past has huge effects.The two main effects respectively lie in Britain＇international relationships and the make-up of the British population.UK, as a multiracial society, has the remarkable class regional and economic differences.London, the capital and the largest city, is dominant in the UK in all fields.England, the largest in geography and population of the four nations, dominant in culture and economy.A British invasions history which experiences from stages.Scotland, the most confident of its own identity, has spent a history as a unified state independent of the UK.Scotland joined the Union by agreement of the English and Scottish parliament.A brief introduction to Wales.Northern Ireland has an active cultural life but has its problems because of the conflicts and the influence of UK.Irish desires for an indepent Irish state all the time, therefore issues accurred in frequent succession.The Home Rule Bill, the East Rising of 1916 and the Sinn Fein Party made Irish independent.There exists religious conflicts between the Irish and the British because of the ethnical distinction.British government organised a partition of Ireland as a compromise.More violent campaign, IRA＇s violence and Bloody Sunday.In order to halt the terrible conflicts, Ireland and Great Britain aim to cooperate with each other and arrive at a resolution.Finally, the Good Friday Agreement was emerged.Learning first two lessons has laid a good foundation for our further study on the following lessons.I＇m looking forward to comprehend more knowledge about British politics, economy, culture and foreign relations and so on.

第三篇：英美文學(xué)

severalfamous sonnets – a powerful expose of social evils

of the poet’s age,– on steadfast love

Artistic achievement profound in their moral depth and more complex in their expressed feelings.University witsa group of talented youngdramatists

Christopher Marlowe(1564-1593)

?One of the “University wits”

?The greatest tragedy playwright before William Shakespeare

?His masterwork: Doctor Faustus(1604)(P75-76)

Doctor Faustus(1604)

Doctor Faustus’s contract with Lucifer, a devil.His twenty four year long life in an exchange for some magic power:

----playing tricks upon the Pope(The bishop of Rome and head of the Roman Catholic Church on earth.);

---calling for the spirit of Alexander the Great(the emperor ofMacedonia)and it appears;Doctor Faustus(1604)

---having succeeded in having Helen, the beauty of ancient Troy, as his wife.Finally, Doctor Faustus is sent to hell because of the deadly sin has damned both his body and his soul.Doctor Faustus(1604)

?Analysis of the hero: Doctor Faustus

Knowledgeable, but having blind faith in human intellect;

Ambitious and proud: A passionate seeker for

power, which comes from forbidden knowledge.?Doctor Faustus’s Biblical source:

The fall of Adam and Eve

William Shakespeare

He is the author of 37 plays, but we are not certain of his life story until now.Drama: his career may be dividedinto four periods.(P78)

---Comedies in the four periods

---Tragedies in the four periods

Plot of Four Great Tragedies(P86-P87)Othello:

---Othello: a capable general in Venice

---Desdemonon: a strong-minded, beautiful girl

---Iago: one of the officers under Othello

Reasons for the tragedy:

jealousy

Plot of Four Great Tragedies(P86-P87)Macbeth:

---Macbeth: to commit murder in order to become king knowing he will be the king of Scotland from the witch

---lady Macbeth: to encourage her husband

---Duncan: king of Scotand who was murdered by Macbeth

Reasons for the tragedy :ambition, lust for power

Plot of Four Great Tragedies(P86-P87)King Lear:

---King Lear: a wish to divide his kingdom and give it to his daughters

---Goneril and Regan: his two elder daughters who flatter him

---Cordelia: his youngest daughter who speaks her true mind but loves her father most

Reasons for the tragedy: Misjudgment

Hamlet

Leading characters:

?Hamlet : the Prince of Denmark

?King Hamlet: Father of the Prince, wecan only see his ghost

?Claudius: Hamlet’s uncle, now the King

?Gertrude: Hamlet’s mother, and the Queen of Denmark.? Polonius:Ophelia’s father, the King’s trusted courtier

?Laertes: Ophelia’s brother, Polonius’s son

Hamlet

Act 1:

Old Hamlet’sghost told Hamlet a tale of

horror.There has been murder andadultery;and the Ghost demands revenge for his wrongs.Hamlet makes a promise to revenge for his father’s death before the Ghostleaves.Act 2:

To dull his uncle’s vigilance, Hamlet pretends to go mad.However, his madness is taken by Polonius, an old courtier who is loyal to Claudius , to an emotionaldisturbance due to his passion for Ophelia, daughter of Polonius.At this moment, a company of playersvisits the castle, and Hamlet will have a play acted, which resembles the late king’s murder.Act 3:

The guilty Claudius starts up in fear before the play ends, and goes out.Gertrude sends Hamlet to her chamber, where he reveals Claudius’s baseness and expresses his indignation at her hasty marriage with Claudius, which renders the queen heart-broken.Then Hamlet becomes aware that he is being overheard in the conversation.Thinking it is Claudius that is in hiding, he runs his sword through the arras but finds the eavesdropper thus killed to be Polonius.Before he parts from his mother, Hamlet refers to the King’s decision to send him to England.Act4:

The king now determines to kill Hamlet.He sends Hamlet to England, intending to have him killed there.But pirates capture Hamlet and send him back to Denmark again.Heart-broken at the death of her father, Ophelia goes mad and then is drowned in a stream.Hamlet returns just at the time of her funeral.In the grave-yard he has a quarrel with Laertes, Ophelia’s brother.Laertes vows to avenge the death of his father and sister.Act 5:

With Laertes, Claudius conspires to do away with Hamlet.The kings arranges that Laertes is to challenge Hamlet to a friendly duel andkill him with a poisoned rapier.In the duel, Laertes wounds Hamlet but is himself struck with the same poisoned weapon.Before death, Laertes reveals the plot.The queen, at this moment, has drunk from a poisoned cup intended for Hamlet.Hamlet, in a passion, stabs the King, and then dies through his poisoned wound, giving the election to the crown to young Fortinbras, the prince of Norway.

第四篇：英美文學(xué)。

一、殖民主義時(shí)期The Literature of Colonial America

1．船長(zhǎng)約翰?史密斯Captain John Smith

《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亞墾荒以來(lái)發(fā)生的各種事件的真實(shí)介紹》

“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”

《弗吉尼亞地圖，附：一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)村的描述》

“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”

《弗吉尼亞通史》“General History of Virginia”

2．威廉?布拉德福德William Bradford and John Winthrop

《普利茅斯開(kāi)發(fā)歷史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”

3．約翰?溫思羅普J(rèn)ohn Winthrop

《新英格蘭歷史》“The History of New England”

4．羅杰?威廉姆斯Roger Williams

《開(kāi)啟美國(guó)語(yǔ)言的鑰匙》”A Key into the Language of America”

或叫《美洲新英格蘭部分土著居民語(yǔ)言指南》

Or “ A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ”

5．安妮?布萊德斯特Anne Bradstreet

《在美洲誕生的第十個(gè)謬斯》

”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America

二、理性和革命時(shí)期文學(xué) The Literature of Reason and Revolution

1。本杰明?富蘭克林Benjamin Franklin

※《自傳》“ The Autobiography ”

《窮人理查德的年鑒》“Poor Richard’s Almanac”

2。托馬斯?佩因Thomas Paine

※《美國(guó)危機(jī)》“The American Crisis”

《收稅官的案子》“The Case of the Officers of the Excise”

《常識(shí)》“Common Sense”

《人權(quán)》“Rights of Man”

《理性的時(shí)代》“The Age of Reason”

《土地公平》“Agrarian Justice”

3。托馬斯?杰弗遜Thomas Jefferson

※《獨(dú)立宣言》

4。菲利浦?弗瑞諾Philip Freneau

※《野忍冬花》“The Wild Honey Suckle”

※《印第安人的墳地》“The Indian Burying Ground”

※《致凱提?迪德》“To a Caty-Did”

《想象的力量》“The Power of Fancy”

《夜屋》“The House of Night”

《英國(guó)囚船》“The British Prison Ship”

《戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)后期弗瑞諾主要詩(shī)歌集》

“The Poems of Philip Freneau Written Chiefly During the Late War”

《札記》“Miscellaneous Works”

第五篇：英美文學(xué)

SIR THOMAS MALORY

(1405-1471)

The OutlineI.SIR THOMAS MALORY

II.Morte d' Arthur《亞瑟王之死》

III.Questions for Discussion

.SIR THOMAS MALORY(1405-1471)

Life: He was very rich because he inherited a

considerable estate in Warwickshire(a county in west

central England)upon his father's death in 1433 and he

seems to have quickly become drawn into the turmoil of

local politics.In 1445, he became a Member of

Parliament for his county: a rather unstable area during

this time because the usually powerful Earl of Warwick,was only in his mid-teens.A lot of political affairs in Warwickshire led Sir

Thomas into his numerous clashes with the law.From

1444 onwards, he was caught up in raids(襲擊)on the

attacks on the Duke of Buckingham and Combe Abbey

大修道院,大寺院 , as well as a number of thefts in the county

of Essex.Keen to blacken his name, Sir Thomas'

enemies branded(給某人加上污名)him “a rapist, church-

robber, extortioner(勒索者，敲詐者)and would-be

murderer".Unlucky or incompetent,Sir Thomas was certainly in prison almost

continuously throughout the 1450s, though he did

escape several times.His pardon came to him in

October 1462, followed by military service in

Northumbria.From then on he kept his head down,but may have become embroiled(使卷入)in Cook's

Conspiracy(陰謀活動(dòng))of 1468, for which he was

imprisoned.There, he turned to writing and earned

eternal fame.Sir Thomas died on 12th March 1471,probably in Newgate Prison(London).He was buried in the nearby Friary Church of St.Francis.II.Morte d' Arthur

《亞瑟王之死》

Malory's tale begins with the mysterious birth of Arthur and ends with his equally mysterious death.The central concern is with the adventures of Arthur and his famous Knights of the Round Table.The knights fight many battles and win glory, all of which is a credit to the name of King Arthur.Near the end of the story, however, the tide of good fortune turns.Launcelot, one of Arthur's knights, falls in love with Arfhur's queen, Guinever, and the lady

returns his love.One by one the other knight become discontented(使不滿(mǎn)), selfish, or

disillusioned(使醒悟;使不再抱幻想;使...的理想破滅).Thus weakened, the kingdom is attacked by force under Sir Mordred, Arthur's treacherous(背叛的;不忠的)nephew, and ultimately it goes down in defeat.Arthur is borne away(被...所驅(qū)使)on a barge(大型平底船)by three mysterious ladies of the Lake.Morte d‘Arthur was written in a time of transition.The feudal order was dying.By the time Malory began writing his story, soldiers were fighting with gunpowder, a middle class of

tradesmen was arising;and the practices of chivalry were being replaced(代替,取代)by a new aristocratic code.Malory, in a desire to escape the disorder and uneasiness of his day,tried to recapture lost ideals of the romantic past as recounted(敘述,講述)in his tale of noble kings, adventurous knights, and damsels(少女;閨女)in distress(悲痛;苦惱;憂(yōu)傷;貧困,窮苦;危難;不幸;引起痛苦或悲痛的事物).This book is very important in English literature.Its Arthurian materials have a strong influence on literature of later centuries.III.Questions for Discussion

1.What are the features of Popular Ballads?

2.What is the story of Morte d‘Arthur ?

3.Why is Sir Thomas Malory an important writer the 15th century?

1.What are the features of Popular Ballads?

See the last paragraph on Page 50 to the fifth paragraph on Page 51.of our text book.What is the story of Morte d‘Arthur ?See Page 6 –9 of our PPt..Why is Sir Thomas Malory an important writer the 15th century?

See the first paragraph on Page 52 of our text book.