英美文学作家及文学评析

1英美文学作家及作品简介英国文学1.古英语时期（1）《贝奥武夫》《贝奥武夫》(Beowulf)一译贝奥武甫，是一部完成于公元八世纪左右的英国古代盎格鲁撒克逊(Anglo－Saxons)民族的英雄叙事长诗，讲述了斯堪的纳维亚(Scandinavia)的英雄贝奥武夫(Beowulf)的英勇事迹。该诗是现存古英语文学中最古老的作品，也是欧洲最早的方言史诗。这部英格兰的古典英雄史诗从发生的历史背景、地理位置、主要人物都与英国毫不相干。诗中的主人公贝奥武夫来自瑞典,完成其英雄壮举却在丹麦。全诗分为两部分:第一部分讲述丹麦洛斯格国王(KingHrothgar)修建的宏伟宫殿在前后十二年中被半人半魔的妖怪哥伦多(Grendel)每晚骚扰，捉食洛斯格的战士。此时恰逢瑞典南部济兹(Geats)王子贝奥武夫率家臣来访，欲帮助洛斯格国王除害。国王当晚设宴款待，妖怪哥伦多再次出现，捉食一名济兹战士，贝奥武夫与之格斗，扭断其臂，妖怪落荒而逃，因受重伤回到栖身的洞穴后死去。第二天晚上，哥伦多的母亲前来为其子复仇，之后贝奥武夫将其在一湖泊的洞穴中杀死。史诗第二部分描叙贝奥武夫返回本国，被拥戴为王，统治国家五十年，举国大治。最后贝奥武夫以垂老之年，杀一喷火巨龙，身受重创死去。史诗以贝奥武夫的葬礼结束。BeowulfisanOldEnglishepicpoemconsistingof3182alliterativelonglines.ItispossiblytheoldestsurvivinglongpoeminOldEnglishandiscommonlycitedasoneofthemostimportantworksofOldEnglishliterature.ItwaswritteninEnglandsometimebetweenthe8thandtheearly11thcentury.TheauthorwasananonymousAnglo-Saxonpoet,referredtobyscholarsastheBeowulfpoetThepoemissetinScandinavia.Beowulf,aherooftheGeats,comestotheaidofHroðgar,thekingoftheDanes,whosemeadhallinHeorothasbeenunderattackbyamonsterknownasGrendel.AfterBeowulfslayshim,Grendel'smotherattacksthehallandisthenalsodefeated.Victorious,BeowulfgoeshometoGeatland(GötalandinmodernSweden)andlaterbecomeskingoftheGeats.Afteraperiodoffiftyyearshaspassed,Beowulfdefeatsadragon,butisfatallywoundedinthebattle.Afterhisdeath,hisattendantsburyhiminatumulus,aburialmound,inGeatland.ThefullpoemsurvivesinthemanuscriptknownastheNowellCodex,locatedintheBritishLibrary.Ithasnotitleintheoriginalmanuscript,buthasbecomeknownbythenameofthestory'sprotagonist.In1731,themanuscriptwasbadlydamagedbyafirethatsweptthroughAshburnhamHouseinLondonthathadacollectionofmedievalmanuscriptsassembledbySirRobertBruceCotton.（2）乔叟（1340-1400）《坎特伯雷故事大全集》杰弗雷·乔叟（1343-1400年10月25日），英国文学之父，被公认为中世纪最伟大的英国诗人，也是首位葬在维斯特敏斯特教堂诗人之角（PoetofWestminsterAbbey）的诗人。作为诗人、哲学家、炼金术士和天文学家（为他十岁的儿子路易斯Lewis完成了关于星盘的著述）乔叟生前声名显赫。除此之外，他还积极投身于为民服务的职业中，做过官员，侍臣和外交家。他的众多作品中比较著名的有公爵之书（TheBookoftheDuchess,）声誉之屋（HouseofFame）贤妇传奇（LengendofGoodWife）托爱乐斯与克莱西达（TroilusandCriseyde），最为著名的要数坎伯雷故事集（TheCanterburyTales）。乔叟在促进和中世纪英语白话的正统方面起着举足轻重的作用，当时的文学语言主要是法语和拉丁语。GeoffreyChaucer(1343–25October1400),knownastheFatherofEnglishliterature,is2widelyconsideredthegreatestEnglishpoetoftheMiddleAgesandwasthefirstpoettobeburiedinPoets'CornerofWestminsterAbbey.Whileheachievedfameduringhislifetimeasanauthor,philosopher,alchemistandastronomer,composingascientifictreatiseontheastrolabeforhisten-year-oldsonLewis,Chauceralsomaintainedanactivecareerinthecivilserviceasabureaucrat,courtieranddiplomat.Amonghismanyworks,whichincludeTheBookoftheDuchess,theHouseofFame,theLegendofGoodWomenandTroilusandCriseyde,heisbestknowntodayforTheCanterburyTales.Chaucerwasacrucialfigureindevelopingthelegitimacyofthevernacular,MiddleEnglish,atatimewhenthedominantliterarylanguagesinEnglandwereFrenchandLatin.《坎特伯雷故事集》是一部诗体短篇小说集，叙述朝圣者一行30人会聚在泰巴旅店，这些朝圣者有骑士、僧尼、商人、手工艺者、医生、律师、学者、农夫、家庭主妇等当时英国社会各个阶层的人士，他们准备前往坎特伯雷去朝拜圣托马斯。店主爱热闹，自告奋勇为他们担任向导，并提议在往返圣地的途中每人来回讲两个故事，以解旅途中的寂寥，并由店主做裁判，选出讲故事最好的人，回到旅店后大家合起来请他吃饭。众人接受了店主的建议，于是次日一同踏上朝圣之途，并开始讲故事。TheCanterburyTalesisacollectionofover20storieswritteninMiddleEnglishbyGeoffreyChaucerattheendofthe14thcentury,duringthetimeoftheHundredYears'War.Thetales(mostlywritteninverse,althoughsomeareinprose)arepresentedaspartofastory-tellingcontestbyagroupofpilgrimsastheytraveltogetheronajourneyfromSouthwarktotheshrineofSaintThomasBecketatCanterburyCathedral.TheprizeforthiscontestisafreemealattheTabardInnatSouthwarkontheirreturn.Afteralonglistofworkswrittenearlierinhiscareer,includingTroilusandCriseyde,HouseofFame,andParliamentofFowls,TheCanterburyTalesisnear-unanimouslyseenasChaucer'smagnumopus.HeusesthetalesandthedescriptionsofitscharacterstopaintanironicandcriticalportraitofEnglishsocietyatthetime,andparticularlyoftheChurch.Structurally,thecollectionresemblesTheDecameron,whichChaucermayhavereadduringhisfirstdiplomaticmissiontoItalyin1372.ItissometimesarguedthatthegreatestcontributionTheCanterburyTalesmadetoEnglishliteraturewasinpopularisingtheliteraryuseofthevernacular,English,ratherthanFrenchorLatin.Englishhad,however,beenusedasaliterarylanguagecenturiesbeforeChaucer'stime,andseveralofChaucer'scontemporaries—JohnGower,WilliamLangland,thePearlPoet,andJulianofNorwich—alsowrotemajorliteraryworksinEnglish.ItisuncleartowhatextentChaucerwasresponsibleforstartingatrendasopposedtosimplybeingpartofit.WhileChaucerclearlystatestheaddresseesofmanyofhispoems,theintendedaudienceofTheCanterburyTalesismoredifficulttodetermine.Chaucerwasacourtier,leadingsometobelievethathewasmainlyacourtpoetwhowroteexclusivelyfornobility.2.文艺复兴时期（1）马洛礼（1405-1471）托马斯·马洛礼，（SirThomasMalory1395-1471）生于明洪武二十八年，逝于明成化七年。英国作家，一生中最有名的著作为史诗式传奇《亚瑟王之死》，书中全面收录了亚瑟王圆桌骑士们的传奇故事和追寻圣杯的英雄壮举。于明英宗正统十三年受封为郡领骑士。《亚瑟王之死》以法国古书作为蓝本，加上了作者的很多虚构的创作内容，并杂糅了一些其他方面的素材，后世普遍认同此书为最完整地描述亚瑟王传奇的文学作品。同时，他也对英国散文叙事史诗的发展做出了不朽的贡献。3SirThomasMalory(died14March1471)wasanEnglishwriter,theauthororcompilerofLeMorted'Arthur.SincethelatenineteenthcenturyhehasgenerallybeenidentifiedasSirThomasMaloryofNewboldRevelinWarwickshire,aknight,land-ownerandMemberofParli