1. Renaissance :between 14th and mid-17th century.
2. Renaissance means rebirth or revival, is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion.
3. the Renaissance, therefore in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and Scholars made attempt to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in Medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the purity of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic church.
4. Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance
(1) Capable of individual development in the direction of perfection.
(2) They inhabited was theirs not to despise by to question, explore and enjoy.
(3) By emphasizing the dignity of human being and the Importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life
(4) Tomas More, Christopher Marlow and William Shakespeare are the best representative of the English humanist.
5 Metaphysical poetry: Metaphysical is characterized by passionate thought succession of concentrated image, exercise of elaborate ingenuity and “wit”, John Done was the famous of the Metaphysical poet. The Metaphysical Poets were men of learning and to show their learning was their endeavour.
中英文双语讲解:
1． 时间界定：
It refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries.
2． 文艺复兴的理论基础：人文主义兴起。
A． 核心：Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors.
B． 基础：It was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.
3． 文艺复兴的文化背景：
A． 场所：English schools and universities were established in place of the old monasteries.
B． 印刷术的引进：William Caxton introduced printing into England .
C． 翻译的时代的出现。With the introduction of printing, an age of translation came into being.
4． 文学形式：
A.诗歌：A). 早期特点：The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assimilation.
B). 代表作家及作品:
a. Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender showed the pastoral convention
b. In “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love,” Marlowe spoke that it would be very difficult for us to connect it with the voice in his tragedies.
c. Poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and carried on by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson.
B.戏剧: A). 特点: The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance
B). 作家: The most famous dramatists are Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and Ben Johnson.
5. 本章主要作家及作品:
