Outline
Thesis statement: The Bible provides English literature with inexhaustible sources and has great influence on it in various aspects.
Abstract in English…………………………………………………………………….1 Key words in English …………………………………………………………………1 Abstract in Chinese ………………………………………………...…………………1
Key words in Chinese ………………………………………………………………...2 I. Introduction…………………………………………………………..………..……3 II. Influence of the Bible on Articles’ theme……………...………………………3
1. Influence on the spirit of people……………….……………………………………3
2. Influence on the theme of Shakespeare’s works…………..………..........................4
1.1 Romeo and Juliet………………………………………………..............................4
1.2 The Merchant of Venice………………………………..……….….........................6 III. Quotation of the Bible’s Allusions in Literature……...……………….…..…...…6
1. The story of Adam in John Milton’s works…………………………………………6
2. Allusions of the Bible in The Pilgrim’s Progress………………..………………….8
Ⅳ. Influence of the Bible on the Styles of Literatures……………………………......9
1. Influence on the style of Macbeth…………………………………………..………9
2. Influence on the styles of Ernest Hemingway’s works..……………………………9
Ⅴ. Employment of the Bible’s Symbolic Meanings…....……………………………..9
1. Symbolic meaning in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice…………...11
2. Symbolic meaning in Jane Eyre…………………………………………………...11
Ⅵ.Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………......12
Works Cited…………………………..……………………………………………....14
全文共13页，4033字
The Bible’s Influence on English Literature
Abstract
The Bible provides English literature with inexhaustible sources and has great influence on it. Writers generally employ the materials of the Bible in four aspects: use the Bible’s theme as the theme of their works; quote the names of the characters or the allusions in the Bible; employ the styles of the Bible; and make use of the Bible’s symbolic meaning. As English literature reflects the Bible in various aspects, it is necessary to acquaint ourselves with the Bible so as to understand English literature better.
Key words: the Bible, philanthropy, allusion, Style, symbol
摘 要
《圣经》是基督教的经典作品，为英美文学提供了取之不尽、用之不竭的素材。英美作家化用《圣经》故事的主要方法有：借用《圣经》的主旨思想；借鉴《圣经》文体和艺术方面的特征；直接引用《圣经》故事或对原型故事进行变形或处理作为创作素材；通过比喻，隐喻或象征等手法把《圣经》故事的寓意融会到作品情节中或人物性格里，使这些故事发挥有力的陪衬作用。英美文学作品无不体现《圣经》的各个侧面,因此对《圣经》的了解有助于我们进一步欣赏英美文学，加深我们对英美文化和思想意识的了解, 从而更好地学习、欣赏乃至研究英国文学作品。
关键词：圣经 博爱 典故 风格 象征
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I. Introduction
The Bible is the only book of Christianity. It consists of two testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains the Jewish writings before the coming of the Christ. The New Testament contains four accounts (gospels) of the life of Christ. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This part covers the life of Jews and the history of the production and development of Christianity. If one reads the Bible carefully, he will find out that the Bible does not only record the history of the ancient Hebrews, or the Jews, but also is a philosophical work with plentiful meanings. It is said that the creation of the Bible lasted for over 1000 years and by numberless writers. In this long process of creation, the Bible became and is still the most important book in Christianity world. With the Christianity spreading all over the western world, the Bible has become more and more popular, this is why the Bible is not weakened. Some people read nothing but the Bible all their lives, and get their knowledge mainly from the Bible in Britain. The Bible is also used as a textbook and component of students’ education. The concept and philosophy of the Bible has been deeply pervading into the mind of English-speaking people, especially the writers who like thinking.
Writers use materials of the Bible by four main methods. First, the writers use the Bible’s theme as their article’s theme. Second, they quote persons names or allusions of the Bible as the character’s names or plots of the creations from the Bible. Sometimes they make some changes on the original stories. Sometimes they quote stories directly from the Bible as the writing materials. Third, the Bible influences British literature on styles. Forth, they make use of symbolic meaning of the Bible by some technical such as simile, metaphor and symbolism, so that the stories could exert a great influence on contrasting with the new products.
II. Influence of the Bible on Articles’ Theme
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1. Influence on the spirit of people
The Bible has a great influence on almost all aspects of westerners’ lives, especially on spirit. The Christians believe that the Bible has the absolute authority in their lives. They cannot break any rules said in the Bible. If they follow the Bible, everyday could be colorful and after they die they can enter the heaven. We can say that the Bible is the constitution which is not only affect the behaviors of westerners’ lives, but also rule the thinking of people in Christian world. Christianity is a religion of philanthropy, which can be seen in the Bible. The Bible runs through by the spirit of mercy and love and they are theme of the Bible. The Bible’s influence is unique on the western consciousness system.
2. Influence on the theme of Shakespeare’s works
It can be proved from works of Shakespeare, the most important Britain writer. Shakespeare was very familiar with the Bible. We can find many ideas which belong to the Bible in any works of Shakespeare. There is an intense connection between Shakespeare and the Bible and it can be expressed from two ways. First, the spirit of the Bible influence the Shakespeare’s composing. Second, Shakespeare quoted many allusions of the Bible as the characters’ name or plots of the creation in his play, which will be introduced in the second part. In Shakespeare’s works, humanity, mercy and fraternity are the main themes, which, as we all know, are also the themes of the Bible. These themes are the most important characteristics of Shakespeare’s plays. In the Bible there are many maxims and admonitions expressing the idea of mercy and humanity on which Shakespeare’s works are based.
2.1. Romeo and Juliet
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Ⅲ. Quotation of the Bible’s Allusions in Literary works
One of the special features of the Bible is that it is composed of many small stories allusions. These allusions were used as the materials of the English literary works by many writers.
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1. The story of Adam in John Milton’s works
The story of Adam’s depravation originated from the Bible—Creation. God created the world from chaos. He created the sky, the earth, rivers, animals and plants. Then he used mud to make a man named Adam. Later when Adam was sleeping, God drew out a rib from Adam to make a companion for him, who is Eve. Their living place was wonderful. There were beautiful flowers and fruits with moderate breezes all over. All that they needed was prepared. This is the scene of the Eden. God said to them “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die. Later a serpent tricks Eve that God is unwilling to let them know good and evil as him. Then Eve ate the fruit on the knowledge tree and she asked Adam to eat it too. When God found out this, he swept them away from the garden of the Eden. This is the cause of the original sin.
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Ⅳ. Influence of the Bible on the Styles of Literatures
The literary styles of the Bible also have a profound impact on English literature. Prediction is a very common way used in the Bible. For example, before Jesus was burn, three east doctors watched the sky and found a rising star in the east. According the language of his prophecy, the Jewish would be born in Bethlehem. So they went to Bethlehem to worship, and happened to see the star again on the road. Then they found Jesus in Bethlehem. In the last volume, Apocalypse basically used the way that seeing the uncommon phenomena described the predictions.
1. Influence on the style of Macbeth
Shakespeare employed this form in his plays repeatedly. In Macbeth, the witch predicted that Macbeth General would become the future king. Then Macbeth killed King Duncan and became the king. In the first act in Chapter Four, three witches mention three predictions. The first says that Macbeth should look out Maikedefu; second, no one could harm Macbeth; and third, Macbeth would not be defeated unless 4
Bona Forest would be mobile. These three prophecies fulfilled later one by one. The prediction Shakespeare used repeatedly in Macbeth was influenced by Bible which contains various predictions.
2. Influence on the styles of Hemingway’s works
Ernest Hemingway is regarded as one of the most important writers. He is famous for his novels and short stories written in his spare, laconic terse, clear, telegraph-like, yet intense prose with short sentences and very specific details. This style is his famous “Iceberg Principle” that emphasizes simplicity and economy of expression. In all his works, The Old Man and Sea is one of the most famous works. The Old Man and Sea is the representation of Hemingway’s style. Let’s compare two examples chosen from The Old Man and Sea and the Bible.
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Ⅵ. Conclusion
The Bible, with the deepest influence, the biggest circulation and the most readers, has a great influence on almost all western writers. It is not weakened mainly because of the high literary value of the Bible. It has a high literary value. It is not only the value of the Bible itself, but also its influence on world’s literature. Besides a great number of allusions, the Bible contains lots of styles, namely, they are fable, legend, myth, essay, short story, and so on. The language of the Bible is simple but not ineffective, and its rhetoric is excellent and rich. We can find metaphor, symbolism and simile, etc. However, many Chinese readers keep a distance from the Bible because it is the book of Christianity. It is true that the Bible has its mythical sides. But when we think it over, we can find out that the Bible is not only a religious book which just records the history of ancient Hebrews but also a philosophical work with profound meanings. It has unique influence in progress of the cultural development in the west. It has contributed a lot to human ideology and philosophy, and its language has deeply permeated into the humans’ common language. It has become the basic material treasure of western literature. When we are appreciating British literature, it 5
is unsurprising to see that the Bible is reflected in almost all literary works. So research on the ways in which English writings are influenced by the Bible would surely enable us to understand English literature better.
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Works Cited
[1] Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre. 珠海: 珠海出版社，1994.
[2] Creve Coeur, St. John de. Sketches of Eighteenth Century America. New York: George MacManus Company, 1925.
[3] David Norton. New American Standard. London: Penguin Books Limited London.
[4] John Milton. Paradise Lost.上海:上海译文出版社，2000.
[5] William Shakespeare. The Merchant of Venice 北京: 外语教学与研究出版社2000.
[6] 陈光明. 基督教《圣经》在西方文化中的影响. 安徽: 安庆师范学院学报，1999.
[7] 钱青. 美国文学名著精选[M]. 北京: 商务印书馆，1994.
[8] 王佐良.英国文学史[M]. 北京: 商务印书馆，1996.
[9] 王佐良，何其莘．英国文艺复兴时期的文学史[M]．北京: 外语教学与研究出
版社，1996.
[10] 朱虹. 英国小说的黄金时代[M]. 北京: 中国社会科学出版社，1997.
[11] 张奎武.《圣经》对英国文学的影响初探. 东北师大学报，1986
[12] 黄荃. 论基督教《圣经》对英美文学作品的影响. 长春师范学院学报(人文社
会科学版), 2006
题 目：圣经对英美文学的影响
作 者：王娜
班 级：05级商英班
指导教师：陈建刚
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