Charlotte Bront? (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855) was an English novelist, the eldest of the three Bront? sisters whose novels have become enduring classics of English literature. Life and

worksCharlotte Bront? was born at Thornton, in Yorkshire, England, the third of six children, to Patrick Bront? (formerly "Patrick Brunty"), an Irish Anglican clergyman, and his wife, Maria Branwell. In April 1820 the family moved to Haworth, where Patrick had been

appointed Perpetual Curate. Maria Branwell Bront? died of cancer on 15 September 1821, leaving five daughters and a son to the care of her sister Elizabeth Branwell. In August 1824, Charlotte was sent with three of her sisters to the Clergy Daughters' School at Cowan Bridge in Lancashire (which she would describe as Lowood School in Jane Eyre). Its poor conditions, Charlotte maintained, permanently affected her health and physical development, and hastened the deaths of her two elder sisters, Maria (born 1814) and Elizabeth (born 1815), who died of tuberculosis in 1825 soon after they were removed from the school.

"Jane ? Love" is an autobiographical 1847 novel ingredients very strong, although the bok is the story of fictional, but the heroine and many other figures of life, the environment, and even many details of life are taken from the author and around the Real experience.

The novel goes through five distinct stages:

1.) Jane's childhood at Gateshead, where she is emotionally abused by her aunt and cousins;

2.) Her education at Lowood School, where she acquires friends and role models but also suffers privations;

3.) Her time as the governess of Thornfield Manor, where she falls in love with her Byronic employer, Edward Rochester;

4.) Her time with the Rivers family at Marsh's End (or Moor House) and Morton, where her cold clergyman-cousin St John Rivers proposes to her;

5.) Her reunion with and marriage to her beloved Rochester at his house of Ferndean.

第二篇：英国文学补充资料1

英国文学补充资料1

PART ONE: EARLY AND MEDIEVAL ENGLISH LITERATURE

Chapter 1. The Making of England

Ⅰ. The Britons:

Before entering upon the study of English literature, it is necessary to know something about the English people. The English people are of a mixed blood. The early inhabitants in the island now we call England were Britons, a tribe of Celts. From the Britons the island got its name of Britain, the land of Britons. The Britons were a primitive people. They were divided into dozens of small tribes, each of which lived in a clustering of huts. "The oldest Celtic laws that have come down to our day show the gens still in full vitality." (Engels) The Britons lived in the tribal society.

Ⅱ. The Roman Conquest:

In 55 B.C., Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar, the Roman conqueror, who had then just occupied Gaul. But as soon as the Romans landed on shore of the island, the Britons fought like lions under the leadership of their chieftain. And with the comings and goings of many Roman generals within the time of a century, Britain was not completely subjugated to the Roman Empire until 78 A.D.

With the Roman Conquest the Roman mode of life came across to Britain also. Roman theatres and baths quickly rose in the towns. All these refinements of civilization, however, were for the enjoyment of the Roman conquerors while the native Britons were trodden down as slaves. The Roman occupation lasted for about 400 years, during which the Romans, for military purposes, built a network of highways, later called the Roman roads, which remained useful for a long time to come. Along these roads grew up scores of towns, and London, one of them, became an important trading centre. It was also during the Roman rule that Christianity was introduced to Britain. But at the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman Empire was in the process of declining. And in 410 A.D., all the Roman troops went back to the continent and never returned. Thus ended the Roman occupation in Britain.

Ⅲ. The English Conquest:

At the same time Britain was invaded by swarms of pirates. They were three tribes from Northern Europe: the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. These three tribes landed on the British coast, drove the Britons west and north, and settled down themselves. The Jutes occupied Kent, in the southeastern corner of the island. The Saxons took the southern part and established some small kingdoms as Wes-sex, Essex and Sussex. The Angles spread over the east

midland and built the kingdom of the East Anglia. Gradually seven such kingdoms arose in Britain. And by the 7th century these small kingdoms were combined into a united kingdom called England, or, the land of Angles. The three tribes had mixed into a whole people called English, the Angles being the most numerous of the three. And the three dialects spoken by them naturally grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English, which is quite different from the English that we know today.

Ⅳ. The Social Condition of the Anglo-Saxons:

Before the Anglo-Saxons settled down in Britain, they still lived in the tribal society. Each group of families united by kinship fixed its home in a separate village. There were chiefs of the war-band, which was composed of young men. The warriors ate the chief's bread and shared the booty. Though the chief had power of life and death over his men, he did not keep them at a distance. He was familiar with them. He would eat and drink with them, would join their amusements and their songs. There was then what Engels calls "the military democracy grown out of the gens." After the conquest of Britain, the social constitution of the Anglo-Saxons went through some rapid changes. "We know that rule over subjugated people is incompatible with the gentile order… Thus, the organs of the gentile constitution had to be

transformed into organs of state… The first representative of the conquering people was, however, the military commander. The internal and external safety of the conquered territory demanded that his power be increased. The moment had arrived for

transforming military leadership into kingship. This was done." (Engels) Therefore, the Anglo-Saxon period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudalism.

Ⅴ. Anglo-Saxon Religious Belief and Its Influence:

The Anglo-Saxons were heathen people. They believed in old mythology of Northern Europe. That is why the Northern mythology has left its mark upon the English language. For example, the days of the week in English are named after the Northern gods. Odin, the All Father, gave his name to Wednesday, Thor gave his name to Thursday, and Frigga, the beautiful goddess to whom prayers were made by lovers, gave her name to Friday. Tuesday preserves the memory of Tiu, another Northern god.

The Anglo-Saxons were Christianized in the seventh century. Then monasteries were built all over the country. In these monasteries, at a time when few but monks could read and write, the earliest English books were written down. But as the monks hated the heathen books, they managed to tinge them with some

Christian colour which does not go in with the content of the whole thing.

Chapter 2. "Beowulf"

Ⅰ. Anglo-Saxon Poetry:

English literature began with the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England. Of Old English literature, five relics are still

preserved. All of them are poems, or, songs by the Anglo-Saxon minstrels who sang of the heroic deeds of old time to the chiefs and warriors in the feasting-hall. Four are short fragments of long poems. But there is one long poem of over 3,000 lines. It is "Beowulf", the national epic of the English people. Ⅱ. The Story of "Beowulf":

Beowulf is the nephew of Hygelac, King of the Geats, a people in Jutland, Denmark. News reaches him that Hrothgar, king of the Danes, is in great trouble. Hrothgar has built a great hall. But a terrible monster, Grendel, visits the hall from night to night and carries the warriors away. So the hall is deserted.

On hearing the news, Beowulf sails for Denmark with fourteen companions and offers to fight the monster. After a feast of welcome, Beowulf and his companions lie down in the hall for the night. Then Grendel appears, seizes and devours one of Beowulf's men. He next attacks Beowulf, who grapples with him single-handed,

because weapons do not avail against him. After a terrible hand-to-hand combat, Grendel retreats mortally wounded, leaving one of his arms with Beowulf. Great rejoicing follows and next night the hall is once more full of joys and songs.

But Grendel has a mother. She comes to avenge her son's death by carrying away the chief counsellor of Hrothgar. Beowulf and his companions follow the bloody trail to the edge of a lake. Beowulf plunges into the water, finds the old she-monster and follows her into a hall under the waves. In the desperate combat his sword fails to bite. And at first he almost gets the worst of it if he does not by chance seize a big sword left by the giants of old time. With it he cuts off the head of the she-monster. There, too, he finds the body of Grendel himself and cuts off his head as well. With these trophies he goes back to the hall of the Danish king. The triumph is celebrated by feasting and song. And Beowulf sails home to the land of the Geats.

Now, he becomes king and reigns over his people for fifty years. Then it comes to pass that a fire dragon comes out of its den and belches forth its fire to burn the people. Beowulf is an old man now. But he bids farewell to his household and goes to seek the dragon with eleven companions. He fights it single-handed. Again the sword fails to bite, and the hero is enveloped in flames.

The dragon is killed at last. But Beowulf is hopelessly wounded too. The poem ends with the funeral of the hero:

"Thus made their mourning the men of Geatland,

For their hero's passing, his hearth-companions

Quoth that of all the kings of earth,

Of men he was the mildest and most beloved,

To his kin the kindest, keenest to praise."

(In modern translation)

Ⅲ. Analysis of Its Content:

"Beowulf" is a folk legend brought to England by Anglo- Saxons from their continental homes. It had been passed from mouth to mouth for hundreds of years before it was written down in the tenth century. Its main stories (the fights with monsters) are evidently folk legends of primitive Northern tribes. Such tribes lived along the northwestern coast of Europe. Back of their settlements were impenetrable forests. In front of them was the stormy northern ocean. They had to fight against the beasts. They had to struggle against the forces of nature, which remained mysterious and unknown to them. When they returned from their exploits and voyages, the warriors would tell stories of strange monsters that lived beneath the sea, or in the marshes and dark forests inland. They were brave but superstitious. Such is the

background of the marvellous stories in "Beowulf".

Beowulf is a grand hero. He is so, simply by his deeds. He is faithful to his people. He goes alone, in a strange land, to rescue his people. He forgets himself in face of death, thinking only that it profits others. Though the poem was written in the tenth century, its hero was no doubt mainly the product of a primitive, tribal society on the continent. It was probably put together in England on the basis of lays brought from Northern Europe by the minstrels. In his manuscripts on English and Irish histories, Engels mentioned the historical significance of "Beowulf" in reflecting the features of the tribal society of ancient times.

Ⅳ. Features of "Beowulf":

The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use of alliteration. In alliterative verse, certain accented words in a line begin with the same consonant sound. There are generally 4 accents in a line, three of which show alliteration, as can be seen from the above quotation.

Other features of "Beowulf" are the use of metaphors and of understatements. "Ring-giver" is used for king,

"hearth-companions" for his attendant warriors, "swan's bath" or "whale's road" for sea, "sea-wood" for ship; such metaphors occur

in great numbers. Understatements as "not troublesome" for very welcome, "need not praise" for a right to condemn, give an impression of reserve and at time a tinge of ironical humour. This quality is often regarded as a permanent characteristic of the English.

Chapter 3. Feudal England

1) The Norman Conquest

Ⅰ. The Danish Invasion:

About 787, the English began to be troubled by bands of Danish vikings. At first, the Danes came only on plundering the country. Gradually, however, they came to make permanent settlements. King Alfred the Great (849-901) succeeded in driving the Danes off with force. Laying down his sword, King Alfred set himself to the task of encouraging education and literature. He translated some works from Latin himself. More important as a literary work is the Anglo-Saxon "Chronicle", written under his encouragement and supervision, which begins with Caesar's conquest and is a monument of Old English prose.

After his death, the Danes occupied the country in 1013, and held it for 30 years. Then England was once more governed by another foreign ruler.

Ⅱ. The Norman Conquest:

The French-speaking Normans under Duke William came in 1066. After defeating the English at Hastings, William was crowned as King of England. Revolts were cruelly suppressed and the conquest was completed with sword and fire. It was called the Norman Conquest.

William the Conqueror ruled England with a high hand. He confiscated the lands of the English lords, and, regarding whole England as his own, bestowed large patches of land to his Norman barons. The Norman barons in turn divided their lands among their own knights. In order to secure the King's authority over his barons, William compelled all vassals to take oath to him directly as well as to their local lords. Then he ordered a great survey to be made of all the land and taxable property in the whole kingdom. The result of the inquiries was enlisted on a roll called the Domesday's Book by the English people. By this means he pushed England well on its way to feudalism, and the Norman Conquest marks the establishment of feudalism in England.

Ⅲ. The Influence of the Norman Conquest on the English Language: After the Norman Conquest, the general relation of Normans and Saxons was that of master and servant. One of the most striking manifestations of the supremacy of the conquerors was to be seen in the language. The Norman lords spoke French, while their

English subjects retained their old tongue. For a long time the scholar wrote in Latin and the courtier in French. There was almost no written literature in English for a time. Chronicles and religious poems were in Latin. Romances, the prominent kind of literature in the Anglo-Norman period, were at first all in French. By the end of the fourteenth century, when Normans and English intermingled, English was once more the dominent speech in the country. But now it became something different from the old Anglo-Saxon. The structure of the language remained English, and the common words were almost all retained, though often somewhat modified in form. But many terms employed by the Normans were adopted into the English language. The situation is typified by the use of the English "calf", "swine" and "sheep" for the animals when tended by the Saxon herdsmen, and of the French "veal", "pork" and "mutton" for the flesh served at the noble's table.

2) Feudal England

Ⅰ. Social Feature of the Feudal England:

By the time when England entered the feudal society, the chief feature of the society was distinct division into classes, mainly, two classes: landlords and peasants. Noblemen, knights, bishops, archbishops, abbots and the like, with the king at their head, all belonged to the ruling class who held most of the land. The

peasants toiled all the year round and paid rent to the gentle folks in grain, service, or cash, with little left to sustain themselves. To rule the people, there was a whole network of church government as well as that of the king's officers. Those who were courageous enough to do or say anything against the feudal order were often condemned as heretics and severely punished, usually burnt alive.

Ⅱ. The Miseries of the Peasants:

English peasants lived little better than slaves. To make things worse, a disease called Black Death swept over the country (1348-49), and a third of the population perished of this terrible plague. The peasants were compelled to quit their homes in serch of work. Then the King proclaimed a Statute of Labourers (1350) to force them to work at low wages. At the same time, the war between England and France (Since 1337) was prolonged for 40 years. The burden of war expenditure fell upon the common people. In 1379, a poll-tax was imposed upon the peasantry, requiring 4 pence from every poor peasant. Next year, the tax-money was raised to 3 times as much. The peasants were thus completely pauperized. Ⅲ. The Rising of 1381:

The peasants could endure no longer, and the famous Rising of 1381 broke out in England. Its leaders were Wat Tyler and John

Ball. John Ball was a poor priest, whose saying,

"When Adam delved and Eve span

Who was then the gentleman?"

became a slogan for the peasants. One of his sermons has been preserved in Froissart's "Chronicles":

"My good friends, matters cannot go well in England until all things shall be in common; when there shall be neither vassals nor lords; when the lords shall be no more masters than ourselves. How ill they behave to us! For what reason do they thus hold us in bondage? Are we not all descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve? And what can they show, or what reason can they give, why they should be masters than ourselves? They are clothed in velvet and rich stuffs, ornamented with ermine and other furs, while we are forced to wear poor clothing. They have wines, spices, and fine bread, while we have only rye and the refuse of the straw, and when we drink, it must be water. They have handsome seats and manors, while we must brave the wind and rain in our labours in the field, and it is by our labour that they have wherewith to support their pomp. We are called slaves, and if we do not perform our service we are beaten, and we have no sovereign to whom we can complain or who would be willing to hear us. Let us go to the King and remonstrate with him; he is young and from him we may

obtain a favourable answer and if not we must ourselves seek to amend our condition." (In modern English translation)

The essence of his sermon was not an appeal to the oppressors to mend their ways, but a call to action directed to the oppressed. The rising was treacherously and bloodily repressed, and Ball and his comrades were arrested and hanged. But the peasants' rising had shaken the feudal system in England to the root.

3) The Romance

Ⅰ. The Content of Romance:

The most prevailing kind of literature in feudal England was the romance. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The central character of romances was the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He was commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He was devoted to the church and the king. The code of manners and morals of a knight is known as chivalry. One who wanted to be a knight should serve an apprenticeship as a squire until he was admitted to the knighthood with solemn ceremony and the swearing of oaths. Ⅱ. The Romance Cycles:

The great majority of the romances fall into groups or cycles,

as the "matters of Britain" (adventures of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table), and the "matters of France" (Emperor Charlemagne and his peers), and the "matters of Rome" (Alexander the Great and so forth). The English versions of these romances were translated from French or Latin. The romance of King Arthur is comparatively the most important for the history of English literature. It has its origin in Celtic legends, its beginning in Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of the Kings of Britain" (in Latin prose) and Layamon's "Brut" (in alliterative and rimed English verse), its culmination in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (metrical romance), and its summing up in Thomas Malory's "Mort D'Arthur" (in English prose).

Ⅲ. The Class Nature of the Romance:

The theme of loyalty to king and lord was repeatedly

emphasized in romances, as loyalty was the corner-stone of feudal morality, without which the whole structure of feudalism would collapse.

The romances were either recited by professional minstrels or written to be read aloud. But in both cases the audience was usually that of the court or of the castle. The romances had nothing to do with the common people. They were composed for the

noble, of the noble, and in most cases by the poets patronized by the noble.