西洋文學概論(II)
梁淑芳 教授
正修科技大學應用外語系
Outline
• From Later Europe
Beowulf and the Creatures from the Burning Lake
Roland’s Fateful Decision
E1 Cid and the Cowardly Brothers
• From the East
Gilgamesh, the King Who Discovered His Other Self
• From the UK
William Shakespeare,
Byron, Shelley, and Keats
• From America
Evangeline’s Incredible Journey
From Later Europe
Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown
authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript
from between the 8th[1][2] and the early 11th century,[3] set in
Denmark and Sweden. Commonly cited as one of the most
important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf has been
the subject of much scholarly study, theory, speculation,
discourse, and, at 3182 lines, has been noted for its length.
In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three
antagonists: Grendel, who has been attacking the resident
warriors of a mead hall called Heorot in Denmark; Grendel's
mother; and an unnamed dragon. The last battle takes place
later in life, after returning to Geatland (modern southern
Sweden), where Beowulf has become king. In the final battle,
Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death his retainers bury
him in a tumulus in Geatland.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf
An approximation of the central regions of the tribes mentioned in
Beowulf, and the approximate location of the Angles.
• First battle: Grendel
• Second battle: Grendel's mother
• Third battle: The dragon
Third battle: The dragon
Beowulf is challenged
by a Danish coast
guard, Evelyn Paul
(1911).
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•
•
•
•
Beowulf exemplifies the traits of the perfect hero. The poem explores his heroism in two separate phases—
youth and age—and through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts—with Grendel, Grendel’s mother,
and the dragon. Although we can view these three encounters as expressions of the heroic code, there is
perhaps a clearer division between Beowulf’s youthful heroism as an unfettered warrior and his mature heroism
as a reliable king. These two phases of his life, separated by fifty years, correspond to two different models of
virtue, and much of the moral reflection in the story centers on differentiating these two models and on showing
how Beowulf makes the transition from one to the other.
In his youth, Beowulf is a great warrior, characterized predominantly by his feats of strength and courage,
including his fabled swimming match against Breca. He also perfectly embodies the manners and values
dictated by the Germanic heroic code, including loyalty, courtesy, and pride. His defeat of Grendel and Grendel’s
mother validates his reputation for bravery and establishes him fully as a hero. In first part of the poem, Beowulf
matures little, as he possesses heroic qualities in abundance from the start. Having purged Denmark of its
plagues and established himself as a hero, however, he is ready to enter into a new phase of his life. Hrothgar,
who becomes a mentor and father figure to the young warrior, begins to deliver advice about how to act as a
wise ruler. Though Beowulf does not become king for many years, his exemplary career as a warrior has served
in part to prepare him for his ascension to the throne.
The second part of the story, set in Geatland, skips over the middle of Beowulf’s career and focuses on the very
end of his life. Through a series of retrospectives, however, we recover much of what happens during this gap
and therefore are able to see how Beowulf comports himself as both a warrior and a king. The period following
Hygelac’s death is an important transitional moment for Beowulf. Instead of rushing for the throne himself, as
Hrothulf does in Denmark, he supports Hygelac’s son, the rightful heir. With this gesture of loyalty and respect
for the throne, he proves himself worthy of kingship.
In the final episode—the encounter with the dragon—the poet reflects further on how the responsibilities of a
king, who must act for the good of the people and not just for his own glory, differ from those of the heroic
warrior. In light of these meditations, Beowulf’s moral status becomes somewhat ambiguous at the poem’s end.
Though he is deservedly celebrated as a great hero and leader, his last courageous fight is also somewhat rash.
The poem suggests that, by sacrificing himself, Beowulf unnecessarily leaves his people without a king,
exposing them to danger from other tribes. To understand Beowulf’s death strictly as a personal failure, however,
is to neglect the overwhelming emphasis given to fate in this last portion of the poem. The conflict with the
dragon has an aura of inevitability about it. Rather than a conscious choice, the battle can also be interpreted as
a matter in which Beowulf has very little choice or free will at all. Additionally, it is hard to blame him for acting
according to the dictates of his warrior culture.
www.sparknotes.com › ... › Literature Study Guides › Beowulf -
William Shakespeare
• William Shakespeare (baptised
26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616)
was an English poet and
playwright, widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English
language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often
called England's national poet
and the "Bard of Avon". His
surviving works, including some
collaborations, consist of 38
plays, 154 sonnets, two long
narrative poems, and several
other poems. His plays have
been translated into every major
living language and are
performed more often than those
of any other playwright.
The Chandos portrait, artist
and authenticity
unconfirmed. National
Portrait Gallery, London.
• Shakespeare was a respected poet and
playwright in his own day, but his reputation
did not rise to its present heights until the
nineteenth century. The Romantics, in
particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius,
and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare
with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw
called "bardolatry". In the twentieth century, his
work was repeatedly adopted and
rediscovered by new movements in
scholarship and performance. His plays
remain highly popular today and are constantly
studied, performed and reinterpreted in
diverse cultural and political contexts
throughout the world.
"He was not of an age, but for all time."
-- Ben Johnson
The Plays of William Shakespeare. By Sir John Gilbert, 1849.
The Song of Roland
• The Song of Roland (French: La
Chanson de Roland) is the oldest
surviving major work of French
literature. It exists in various different
manuscript versions, which testify to
its enormous and enduring popularity
in the 12th to 14th centuries. The
oldest of these versions is the one in
the Oxford manuscript, which
contains a text of some 4,004 lines
(the number varies slightly in different
modern editions) and is usually dated
to the middle of the twelfth century
(between 1140 and 1170). The epic
poem is the first and most outstanding
example of the chanson de geste, a
literary form that flourished between
the eleventh and fifteenth centuries
and celebrated the legendary deeds
of a hero.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_Roland -
Eight phases of The Song of
Roland in one picture.
Critical Overview
• The Song of Roland was largely ignored by critics and the
reading public until the nineteenth century. In their cursory
examinations of the French epic, the first commentators on
the work considered it lacking in emotionalism, primitive,
and inferior to Greek and Latin epic. The first real interest in
the text stemmed from a debate between Gaston Paris, the
most illustrious professor of medieval French literature in
late nineteenth-century France, and his student, Joseph
Bedier. Paris claimed that The Song of Roland was an
essentially oral text, having been sung by minstrels since
the battle of Roncesvalles. The written text, he contended,
was simply a version of the oral story copied down by a
cleric. This critical approach is called "traditionalism." Bedier
contended that, while the story of Roland and Olivier was a
popular legend, the...
•
www.bookrags.com/The_Song_of_Roland
El Cid
• Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1040 –
July 10, 1099), known as El Cid
Campeador, was a Castilian
nobleman, a military leader and
diplomat who, after being exiled,
conquered and governed the city
of Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was
educated in the royal court of
Castile and became the alférez,
or chief general, of Alfonso VI,
and his most valuable asset in the
fight against the Moors. He is
considered the national hero of
Spain.
• El Cid Campeador translates as
"The lord, master of military arts",
or more directly, "The Champion.“
en.wikipedia
A statue of the Cid in Burgos,
the capital of Sancho II's
kingdom, and where the Cid
served in his early years.
• The Cid is best known for its interweaving of irony, heroic
drama, and a rare strain of realism that incorporates
multifaceted portraits of Moors, Jews, and Christians.
One of the oldest Spanish documents in existence, it is
also the only Spanish epic to have survived almost intact.
It is contained in a fourteenth-century manuscript, which
bears the date 1207, most likely referring to an earlier
version of the poem that was copied in the later book.
Several accounts of the Cid's life, however, exist before
this epic poem was written in manuscript form. Two Latin
poems, one written before the Cid's death, and the other
just after, chronicle his life. He is mentioned in Arabic
sources, and his fame endured throughout the Middle
Ages, in works of varying quality.
www.enotes.com/cantar-de -
From America
• Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie is a
poem published in 1847 by the
American poet Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow. The poem follows an
Acadian girl named Evangeline
and her search for her lost love
Gabriel, set during the time of the
Great Upheaval. The work was
written in dactylic hexameter
reminiscent of Greek and Latin
classics, though Longfellow was
criticized for the meter. Longfellow
got the idea for the poem from his
friend Nathaniel Hawthorne and
published Evangeline in 1847. It
has remained one of his most
popular and enduring works.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evangeline -
Monument to Acadians
exiled from Canada in
1755 (in St. Martinville,
Louisiana)
•
•
Although it sold in the tens rather than the hundreds of
thousands of copies, Longfellow's Evangeline was one
of the most popular poems in American literary history.
Like Stowe's novel, its central character is torn away
from home and family. Unlike Tom, who is carried south
against his will, Evangeline travels south and west
across the American landscape on her own quest for
her lover. Both, however, come to accept their
unhappiness as the will of God to which they must
submit.
Included in the selections below are six illustrations
from the 1850 deluxe edition of the poem published to
exploit its popularity. In her depiction of the Acadians
being driven into exile (Part I, Section V), Jane E.
Benham chose to put the men in chains. This detail is
not in Longfellow's text, and the image suggests that it
was possible to associate this eighteenth-century story
with nineteenth-century images of American slavery.
Hawthorne had a different reaction to the illustrations.
After Fields sent him a copy of the deluxe edition, he
wrote back to say that Benham's "representations of
the heroine have suggested to me a new theory" about
the poem: "Evangeline is so infernally awkward and
ugly . . . that Gabriel was all the time running away
from her, . . . when she at last caught him, it was
naturally and inevitably the instant death of the poor
fellow.“
utc.iath.virginia.edu/sentimnt/evanhp.html -
• William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was
a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English
literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads.
• Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to
be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his
early years which the poet revised and expanded a
number of times. The work was posthumously titled and
published, prior to which it was generally known as the
poem "to Coleridge". Wordsworth was England's Poet
Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.
"My heart leaps up when I behold"
MY heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began,
So is it now I am a man,
So be it when I shall grow old
Or let me die!
The child is father of the man:
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
• Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834):
English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher. His
Lyrical Ballads, written with William Wordsworth,
heralded the English Romantic movement, and
his Biographia Literaria (1817) is the most
significant work of general literary criticism
produced in the English Romantic period.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834):
-- "Wrecked in a Mist of Opium."
"In height he might seem to be about five feet eight
(he was, in reality, about an inch and a-half taller, but
his figure was of an order which drowns the height);
his person was broad and full, and tended to
corpulence; his complexion was fair; though not
what painters technically style fair, because it was
associated with black hair; his eyes were large, and
soft in their expression; and it was from the peculiar
appearance of haze or dreaminess which mixed with
their light that I recognized my object. This was
Coleridge."
www.blupete.com/Literature/Biographies/.../Coleridge.htm -
• Lord George Gordon Byron
(1788-1824) was as famous in his
lifetime for his personality cult as
for his poetry. He created the
concept of the 'Byronic hero' - a
defiant, melancholy young man,
brooding on some mysterious,
unforgivable event in his past.
Byron's influence on European
poetry, music, novel, opera, and
painting has been immense,
although the poet was widely
condemned on moral grounds by
his contemporaries.
englishhistory.net/byron.html -
Portrait of Lord Byron by
Thomas Phillips
• John Keats (1795 – 1821) was the
latest born of the great Romantic poets.
Along with Byron and Shelley, he was
one of the key figures in the second
generation of the movement, despite
publishing his work over only a four
year period. During his short life, his
work was not well received by critics,
but his posthumous influence on poets
such as Alfred Tennyson and Wilfred
Owen was significant. The poetry of
Keats was characterised by sensual
imagery, most notably in the series of
odes which remain among the most
popular poems in English literature.
The letters of Keats are among the
most celebrated by any English poet.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats -
• Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 – 1822) was one of the major
English Romantic poets and is critically regarded among the
finest lyric poets in the English language. He is most famous
for such classic anthology verse works as Ozymandias, Ode to
the West Wind, To a Skylark, and The Masque of Anarchy,
which are among the most popular and critically acclaimed
poems in the English language. His major works, however, are
long visionary poems which included Prometheus Unbound,
Alastor, Adonaïs, The Revolt of Islam, and the unfinished The
Triumph of Life. The Cenci (1819) and Prometheus Unbound
(1820) were dramatic plays in five and four acts respectively. He
also wrote the Gothic novels Zastrozzi (1810) and St. Irvyne
(1811) and the short works The Assassins (1814) and The
Coliseum (1817). Shelley was famous for his association with
John Keats and Lord Byron. The novelist Mary Shelley was his
second wife.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Bysshe_Shelley -
“Ode to the West Wind”
Summary
• The speaker invokes the “wild West Wind” of autumn, which scatters
the dead leaves and spreads seeds so that they may be nurtured by
the spring, and asks that the wind, a “destroyer and preserver,” hear
him. The speaker calls the wind the “dirge / Of the dying year,” and
describes how it stirs up violent storms, and again implores it to hear
him. The speaker says that the wind stirs the Mediterranean from “his
summer dreams,” and cleaves the Atlantic into choppy chasms,
making the “sapless foliage” of the ocean tremble, and asks for a third
time that it hear him.
• The speaker says that if he were a dead leaf that the wind could bear,
or a cloud it could carry, or a wave it could push, or even if he were, as
a boy, “the comrade” of the wind’s “wandering over heaven,” then he
would never have needed to pray to the wind and invoke its powers.
He pleads with the wind to lift him “as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!”—for
though he is like the wind at heart, untamable and proud—he is now
chained and bowed with the weight of his hours upon the earth.
• The speaker asks the wind to “make me thy lyre,” to be his own Spirit,
and to drive his thoughts across the universe, “like withered leaves, to
quicken a new birth.” He asks the wind, by the incantation of this
verse, to scatter his words among mankind, to be the “trumpet of a
prophecy.” Speaking both in regard to the season and in regard to the
effect upon mankind that he hopes his words to have, the speaker
asks: “If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”
Happy Summer Vacation!
Always laugh when you can.
It is cheap medicine.
-- Lord Byron
All who joy would win must share it.
Happiness was born a Twin.
-- Lord Byron