Glorious Revolution
&
18th Century
I. Historical Background
Politically:
After
Bourgeois
Revolution, the
Tory and Whig
joined hands
against tyranny and restoration of
Catholicism, and welcomed to the throne
Mary and her husband, William of Orange
(Glorious Revolution/Bloodless Revolution)
in 1688, thus ending the autocratic
monarchy 君主独裁制, replacing it with a
constitutional monarchy 君主立宪制.
I. Historical Background
• The power passed from the king
gradually to the parliament and cabinet
ministers.
• With it established the capitalist
system once and for all in England
.
Stuart Dynasty
Mary II and William III (1688-1694, -1702)
Anne (1702-1714))
Hanoverian dynasty
George I (1714-1727)
George II (1727-1760)
George III (1760-1820)
Socially: Age of Bourgeoisie
• The old aristocratic class was fast
loosing its power politically and
economically to the rising urban middle
class or bourgeoisie who worked hard,
economized and accumulated great
wealth and became the mainstay of the
nation.
I. Historical Background
• The Puritan spirit of wisdom, diligence,
honesty, and thriftiness contributed
greatly to the development of the
country. They accumulated more
wealth and money, and their social
status was raised.
Economically:
• Industrial Revolution
the beginning of largerscale manufacturing
• continued to expand its colonies
abroad in Asia, Africa and North
America, which led to social unrest in
Scotland, Ireland, America
Ideologically: Age of Enlightenment
Under the influence of scientific discoveries
(Newton) and flourishing of philosophies,
French enlightenment started.
Enlightenment:
• an intellectual movement beginning in
France and then spread throughout
Europe.
• a continuation of Renaissance in belief in
the possibility of human perfection through
education
I. Historical Background
• the guiding principle or slogan is
Ration/Reason, natural right and equality
(American Independence War in 1776;
French Revolution in 1789).
• Ration became standard for measurement
of everything.
II. Literature: Age of
Neoclassicism/ Age of Pope
Inspired by the spirit of Enlightenment,
• Better education facilitated by
developing economy was available to
more and more people, esp. middleclass men and women, more schools
and social clubs were established.
• Ancient classic works and contemporary
French works were models of writing.
II. Literature: Age of
Neoclassicism/ Age of Pope
• New genres of literature appeared to
satisfy middle-class readers:
• ---Periodicals (Tatler and Spectator) to
write interesting sketches and stories, to
entertain and teach
• ---Novels about middle class by middle
class for middle class’s education
1. Neoclassicist poetry: 新古典主义
a) Upheld the classic principles of ration,
morality, balance, unity, order,
propriety,
decorum, etc.
b) Led by Alexander Pope and Samuel
Johnson
c) Mock epics, romance, literary
criticism,
satires
2. Prose
•
•
•
Satire: Jonathan Swift’s “Proposal” and
Gulliver’s Travels
Journalism/Periodicals: Steels and
Addison’s literary journals
Realist novel: bourgeois in essence 写实/
现 实主义小说
---subject matter,
----readership,
----didactic purpose,
---form (prose, comic epic);
---Samuel Richardson’s Pamela
(epistolary)
Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe,
Henry Fielding’s Joseph Andrews
(comic epic in prose); Tom Jones
(picaresque)
Smollett (sea novel),
Sterne(sentimentality)
Goldsmith, etc.
•
Gothic novel (from mid-18th-century)
哥特式小说
--- against the rigid rationality principle
--- emphasis on the irrational and dark
side of human nature: the
imaginative,
the supernatural, the discarded
Medieval castle
II. Literature: Age of
Neoclassicism/ Age of Pope
---1st book: Horace Walpole’s The
Castle of Otranto(1764)
--- Ann Radcliffe the most successful:
The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
---influenced the later generations:
Coleridge, Keats, Dickens, Bronte
sisters, etc.
•
Sentimentality literature伤感文学
---started by Samuel Richardson’s
Pamela and Clarissa
---represented in novel form by Laurence
Sterne
---represented in poetry by “The
Graveyard School”: Thomas Gray,
Edward Young
---emphasizing the emotion/heart
instead of ration
---gradually merged into Romanticism
•
Biography
James Boswell’s Life of Samuel
Johnson
3. Drama
•
•
•
theatres moved from outskirts into the
cities;
tragedies replaced by comedies as
source materials and audience changed;
to satirize the upper middle class people;
the best playwrights Sheridan (The
School for Scandal, The Rivals)
and Goldsmith (She Stoops to Conquer).
III. Text Study
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
1. A master of prose:
“proper words in proper places”
simple, direct, precise prose style:
--- clear, simple and concrete diction
用词明了、简单、具体
--- uncomplicated sentence structure
简单句子结构
--- economy and conciseness of
language 语言简约
2. A master satirist:
usually masked by an outward gravity and
an apparent earnestness which render his
satire more powerful
III. Text Study
3. “A Modest Proposal”:
p.84-87
• a model satire
• the most devastating protest against the
inhuman exploitation and oppression of
the Irish people by the English ruling class
• the apparent eagerness, sincerity and
detachment of the author adds to the
bitter irony and biting sarcasm
Assignment for Next Week:
A. Pope
An Essay on Man
p.89-90
T. Gray
Elegy p.91-92 (Stanza 1-9)
Assignment for Next Week:
Text study:
An Essay on Man by A. Pope (89-90)
• What is heroic couplet?
• What is the poetic pattern?
• What are the themes of the two extracts?
• Paraphrase the texts or tell in brief your
interpretation.
Assignment for Next Week:
“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”
by Thomas Gray (91-92)
• What do you know of the Graveyard poetry?
• What is the poetic pattern?
• What is the predominant mood?
• What is the theme ?
• Summarize each stanza in your own words.