一、The Anglo-Saxon period (449-1066)
1、这个时期的文学作品分类：pagan(异教徒) Christian(基督徒)
2、代表作:The Song of Beowulf 贝奥武甫(national epic民族史诗)采用了暗喻、押头韵手法。勇士贝奥武甫与怪物格伦德尔搏斗，使其断臂而死。怪物之母为子复仇，又被他追踪杀死。后来他做了国王。一次火龙来犯，他挺身斩龙，伤重而死。人民为他举行了隆重的葬礼。
3、The ancestors of the English are Angles, Saxons and Jutes.
二、The Anglo-Norman period (1066-1350)
1、The Roman Conquest: In 1066, the Duke of Normandy William led the Norman army to invade England. The result of this war was William became the king of England.  After the conquest, feudal system was established in English society. Chivalry was introduced by the Normans into England.  1066年诺曼人入侵，带来了欧洲大陆的封建制度，也带来了一批说法语的贵族。古英语受到了统治阶层语言的影响,本身也在起着变化,12世纪后发展为中古英语。文学上也出现了新风尚，盛行用韵文写的骑士传奇，它们歌颂对领主的忠和对高贵妇人的爱，
其中艺术性高的有Sir Gawain and the Green Knight高文爵士与绿衣骑士。它用头韵体诗写成，内容是古代亚瑟王属下一个“圆桌骑士”的奇遇。
2、传奇：描写骑士的冒险精神和典雅爱情，表现骑士为获得荣誉、保护宗教或为了赢得贵妇人的爱情而到处冒险的骑士精神的文学。
三、Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)（反封建、反教会、追求个性自由）
1、the father of English poetry 英国诗歌之父
2、the first great poet who wrote in purely English(the London dialect伦敦方言)
3、heroic couplet英雄双韵体
4、代表作：The Canterbury Tales 坎特伯雷故事集 (英国文学史的开端)
内容：The pilgrims are people from various parts of England, representatives of various walks of life and social groups. 朝圣者都是来自英国的各地的人,代表着社会的各个不同阶层和社会团体。
特点：Each of the narrators tells his tale in a peculiar manner, thus revealing his own views and character. 这些叙述者以自己特的方式讲述自己的故事，无形中表明了各自的观点，展示了各自的性格。The story was endowed with what medieval romance lacked-interest of character as well as incident.
观点：He believes in the right of man to earthly happiness. He is anxious to see man freed from superstitions and a blind belief in fate.他希望人们能从迷信和对命运的盲从中解脱出来。
主要故事: ①The Knight’s Tale ②The Pardoner’s Tale ③The Merchant’s Tale ④The Wife of Bath
四、The Renaissance (16世纪) 文艺复兴时期monarchy
1、Background: (Renaissance started in Italy in 14th century)
①工商业、城市的复兴②地理大发现(Geographical Discoveries)、科学技术的发展③海上殖民主义和资本主义生产关系的出现④古希腊罗马文化的发现⑤以城市为中心、以市民为支柱
的工商金融体系⑥军事上与西班牙决战
Political: Feudal nobility lost much of their power, with the centralization of political and military power that came with the establishment of the great monarchies necessary for the development of capitalism. (The New Monarchy)
Another form of political struggle is The Reformation of the church. Catholicism was at first challenged and then was replaced by Protestantism.
Economic: Geographical Discoveries (commercial expansion and broadening the mental horizons) in the commercial expansion, Spain was the rival with England over the sea. At last a war broke out in 1588. it ended with the rout of the Spanish fleet “Armada”. In the cities the merchants and the master artisans grew in wealth, while in the countryside the peasants were badly exploited. They either rose in uprisings or ran away to the cities to add to the factory workers. (The Enclosure Movement)
Cultural: In the literary field, the so-called revival of learning includes the study of ancient G
reek and Roman literature and philosophy. There was the growing interest in man and the infinite capabilities of man against implicit faith in God.
2、主要文学成就：
drama: Christopher Marlowe(1478-1535)马洛、William Shakespeare(1564-1616)
lyrical poetry抒情诗:Thomas Wyatt(1503?-1542)、Edmund Spenser(1552-1599)
prose essay: Francis Bacon(1561-1626)、Thomas More(1478-1535)、Thomas Nashe(1567-1602)
Christopher Marlowe made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama.
Edmund Spenser：poet’s poet(诗人中的诗人)
Francis Bacon: 书上的Of Truth、Of Studies均选自Essays论文集
Thomas Wyatt: the first to introduce the sonnet into English literature引入十四行诗的第一人
韵脚排列规律：ABABCDCDEFEFGG(P118为例)
3、William Shakespeare
四大悲剧：Hamlet哈姆雷特Othello奥赛罗King Lear李尔王The Tragedy of Macbeth麦克白
四大喜剧：A Midsummer Night’s Dream仲夏夜之梦The Merchant of Venice威尼斯商人As You Like It皆大欢喜 Twelfth Night第十二夜
十四行诗P118赏析
Sonnet 18:
或许我可用夏日将你作比方/但你比夏日更可爱也更温良/夏风狂作常会摧落五月的娇蕊/夏季的期限也未免还不太长/有时候天眼如炬人间酷热难当/但转瞬又金面如晦常惹云遮雾障/每一种美都终究会凋残零落/或见弃于机缘，或受挫于天道无常/然而你永恒的夏季却不会终止/你优美的形象也永远不会消亡/死神难夸口说你在它罗网中游荡/只因你借我的诗行便可长寿无疆/只要人口能呼吸，人眼看得清/我这诗就长存，使你万世流芳
Theme：The poet writes beautifully on the conventional theme that his poetry will bring eternity to the one he loves and eulogizes.
Shall I compare you to a summer's day?/You are more beautiful and gentle./Stormy winds will shake the May flowers,/and summer lasts for too short of a time./Sometimes the sun is too hot,/and many times it is overcast,/and everything beautiful eventually decays,/either by some unforseen circumstance, or nature's course./But your beauty will never fade/or lose its inherent loveliness,/even Death will not be able to claim you,/when in my eternal poetry you will grow./As long as there are people who see and breathe,/this will live and give you life.