English Literature.

Prezentace na téma: "English Literature."— Transkript prezentace:

1 English Literature

2 Outline 1. Anglo- Saxon Literature (Beowulf, Caedmon, Cynewulf, Alfred the Great)) 2. Middle Ages (Wycliffe, Chaucer) 3. Elizabethan Age (Shakespeare, Marlowe) 4. 17th, 18th century (Defoe, Swift, the Age of Reason) 5. Romanticism (Byron, Shelley, Keats, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge) 6. Realism (Dickens. Bromte sisters. Thackeray) 7. Oscar Wilde 8. 20th century

3 Anglo-Saxon Literature
5th century – 1066 3 Germanic tribes invaded Britain Angles (occupied England), Saxons, Jutes Anglo- Saxon language A famous king - Alfred the Great ( )

4 Alfred the Great 850 – invasion of Danes – Alfred the Great stopped the Danish advance inspired Anglo– Saxon Chronicle translated a number of Latin books into English improved education of people

5 Poetry Cynewulf Caedmon Anglo- Saxon poetry: heroic narrative poems
poems on biblical themes short riddles, elegies

6 Beowulf written in Old English
written sometime before the tenth century (7th/8th century) describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. A masterpiece Epic poem

7 Plot: Hrothgar– King of the Danes is in trouble
His castle is visited by a terrible creature Grendel (lives in a lake), which kills his men Beowulf attacks the creature and kills it B. becomes a king He also kills its the creature´s mother He is wounded and dies

8 The main themes Youth vs. Old age Rise Decline Success Violence
Courage

9 Head-rhyme: ALLITERATION
(two or more words beginning with the same sound) there is no rhyming things are described indirectly and in combination of words e.g.: ship= sea goer, sea boat

10 Middle English Literature (1066-15th century)
started by the conquest in 1066 when Normans brought French into the country everything slowed down 3 languages: French – at the court, in commerce, government Latin – clergy Enlish – common people

11 Genres Religious writings, Latin writings, Ballads, Allegories
John Wycliffe – inspired John Huss, criticized Roman Catholic Church

12 Secular Literature Geoffrey Chaucer (1345?-1400)
The end of middle ages A group of Pilgrims (30) travelling from London to Canterbury The prologue gives vivid picture of 14th century society All social levels are represented here

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15 A merchant, lawyer, sailer, miller, cook,… are ordinary people, each of them has its own character
30 pilgrims assembled in an inn, are about to set off for the shrine of Thomas Beckett each of them is supposed to tell 4 tales (but it´s unfinished)

16 e.g.: The General Prologue The Knight's Tale The Miller's Prologue and Tale The Cook's Prologue and Tale The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

17 Chaucer´s view of life:
very tolerant full of humour passion against mediaval religious ascetism

18 Elizabethan Age Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn A great flowering of arts and literature Emancipation of secular life Scholars returned to philosophy of Plato and Aristotle one of the best loved monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time

19 Elizabethan Drama Golden age of drama Theatres were for everybody
University Wits – a group of intellectuals who wrote plays (Ox., Camb. students) e.g.: Ch. Marlowe, T. Kyd

20 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) dramatist and poet
the greatest of all playwrights b. Strattford-upon- Avon the son of a glovemaker he married Anne Hatheway in 1594 he joined the Lord Chamberlain´s Men, later called the King´s men 1599 – bought the Globe

21 Wrote 37 plays: historical plays comedies tragedies Retired to Strattford, died and buried there

22 Comedies Dva šlechtici veronští (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) 1595
Jak se vám líbí (As You Like it) 1601 Komedie plná omylů (The Comedy of Errors) 1593 Konec vše napraví = Konec dobrý, všechno dobré (All's Well That Ends Well) 1603 Kupec benátský (The Merchant of Venice) 1597 Marná lásky snaha 1595 (Love's Labor's Lost)

23 Mnoho povyku pro nic (Much Ado About Nothing) 1599
Sen noci svatojánské (A Midsummer Night's Dream) 1596 Večer tříkrálový (Twelth Night) 1602 Veselé paničky windsorské (The Merry Wives of Windsor) 1601 Zkrocení zlé ženy (The Taming of the Shrew) 1594

24 Tragedies Antonius a Kleopatra (Antonius and Cleopatra) 1607
Hamlet 1604 Julius Caesar 1599 Král Lear (King Lear) 1606 Macbeth 1606 Othello 1605 Romeo a Julie (Romeo and Juliet) 1595 Timon athénský (Timon of Athens) 1608 Titus Andronicus 1594

25 Historical Plays Jindřich IV. (Henry IV), 1598 - 1600
Jindřich V. (Henry V) 1599 Jindřich VI. (Henry VI), tři díly 1591 Jindřich VIII. (Henry VIII) 1611 Král Jan (King John) 1597 Richard II. 1596 Richard III. 1593

26 17th century The Age of Reason
The Restoration of Monarchy 1660 and the Glorious Revolution = big changes in political and social life technical progress, development of culture, manners, education interest in philosophy Silver Age of Drama (elaborate staging, light effects, songs, women players)

27 John Milton Paradise Lost Paradise Regained

28 18th century Development of journalism
Jonathan Swift – Gulliver´s Travels Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe Henry Fielding – Tom Jones, History of a Foundling

29 Romanticism Late 19th century
Strong use of feeling, exploration of nature and supernatural Against logic and reason Nature is the source of the truth and beauty

30 Lake Poets (Wordworth, Coleridge) - 1st period of romanticism Lyrical Ballads – the official beginning of romanticism Inspiration from the Lake District in England

31 Romantic Revolt The romantic movement culminated in the works of:
G.B. Byron (Childe Harold´s Pilgrimage), P.B. Shelley (Prometheus Unbound), John Keats and Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe)

32 Victorian Age Queen Victoria (1837-1901) Britain – the strongest
world power Great industrial, financial, commercial power Social inequalities and contrasts

33 Novel was the most influential literary form

34 Bronte sisters Charlotte (Jane Eyre) Emily (Wuthering Heights)
Anne (Agnes Grey) Protest against everything inhuman and cruel (moral, psychological problems) Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility)

35 Critical Realism True description of reality
Charles Dickens – life of poor people in th e 19th century He himself suffered in his childhood and his experience can be found in his works Combines comic and serious situations

36 His major novels: Little Dorrit The Pickwick Papers Oliver Twist
David Copperfield Great Expectations Nicholas Nickleby

37 William Makepeace Thackery
Novels against snobbery,hypocrisy Vanity Fair – compares the lives of two different characters: manipulating Rebecca and gentle, sentimental Amelia

38 Modern literature Choose some of the authors you know and talk about them: E.g.: Oscar Wilde G.B. Shaw James Joyce J.R.R. Tolkien Virginia Woolf George Orwell Rudyard Kipling Agatha Christie Samuel Beckett R.L. Stevenson