Part One Anglo-Saxon Literature（大约450- 1066）
    Anglo-Saxon literature, that is, the Old English literature，is almost exclusively a verse（韵文） literature in oral form. It could be passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. Its creators for the most part are unknown. It was only given a written form long after its composition. There were two groups of English poetry in Anglo-Saxon period. The first group was the pagan (非宗教的)poetry represented by Beowulf [beɪəˌwʊlf]（《贝奥武甫》 它被认为是英国的民族史诗。 《贝奥武甫》讲述主人公贝奥武甫斩妖除魔，与火龙搏斗的故事，具有神话彩。）课下网上欣赏电影 “Beowulf” （女主角：安吉丽娜·朱莉）或《贝奥武夫与怪兽格兰戴尔》 。
    The second was the religious poetry represented by the works of Caedmon （凯德蒙，公元7世纪盎格鲁-撒克逊基督教诗人）and Cynewulf [K]（基涅武甫，盎格鲁-撒克逊诗人，生活在公元9世纪，其古英语诗稿于10世纪被发现，有《埃琳娜》、《使徒的命运》、《基督升天》和《朱莉安娜》等）. In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon prose appeared. （《尚书》的出现标志着中国散文的形成。非成于一人之手，后由孔子编订，成于春秋末战
国初,战国时期开始于公元前475年）The famous prose writers of the period were Venerable Bede（比德，英国历史学家和神学家, the most important of his works is The Ecclesiastical History of the English People《英国基督教会史》.）and Alfred the Great( he is the king of Wessex Kingdom. The most important of his works is The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles《盎格鲁撒克逊编年史》.
Part Two  Medieval English Literature (1066—1485)
    Medieval English literature can be divided into three parts, the first is Anglo-Norman literature, in 1066, the Duke of Normandy William the Great led the Norman army to invade England. After the conquest, the feudal system was established in English society. The body of customs and ideals known as chivalry(骑士精神 表现为对个人人格的爱护和尊重；为被压迫者和被迫者牺牲全部力量乃至生命的慷慨勇敢精神；把女子作为爱和美在尘世上的代表及作为和谐，和平与安慰的光辉之神而加以理想化的崇拜等等，) was introduced by the Normans into England. The knightly code（道德尊则）, the romantic interest in women, tenderness and reverence paid to Virgin Mary（圣母玛丽亚）were reflected in the Literature.
    The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of the books were written in Latin or French. The romance(传奇文学) was the main form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero. The romance prospered for about 300 years (1200-1500). It was written for the noble class, so it had nothing to do with the common people. The second part is English Literature in Age of Chaucer(乔叟). Chaucer lived in the 14th century.
    Geoffrey Chaucer, the last one, was the greatest of them. He was a scholar, traveler, a business man, courtier（朝臣）, who shared in all the stirring life of his age and reflected it in his works. He was the representative writer of the century. The third part is English literature in the fifteenth century. The fifteenth century was a period of general unrest. The continuous wars（百年战争和玫瑰战争） greatly affected the development of literature. Yet in this barren age, popular literature became very prosperous. There were ballads, lyrics, popular dramas and so on.
    So the fifteenth century became the especial spring tide of English ballads. There was only one important writer whose name is Thomas Malory 托马斯·|马洛礼 , he wrote an important work called Le Morte D’Arthur（《亚瑟王之死》亚瑟王及其圆桌骑士的传说 ）. The book is very important in English
steele
literature. Its Arthurian materials have a strong influence on literature of later centuries.(这些传说包括了各种不同类型的故事，贯穿这些故事的主题也是各种多样，从爱情的忠贞、宗教的奥秘，到帝国的兴衰，这些都是各个时期西方作家所追求和探索的主题) 
Part Three 
English Literature in the Renaissance Period(1516-1660)
    The Renaissance had its origin in north Italy in the fourteenth century, and spread northward to other European countries — to France, to Germany, to the Low countries（低地国家荷兰、比利时 卢森堡Holand, Belgium Luxemburg）, and las
tly to England. It revived the study of Roman and Greek classics and marked the beginning of bourgeois revolution.
    English Renaissance (1516-1660) is usually divided into three periods. In the second period, Queen Elizabeth ruled the country. For this reason it is also called Elizabethan Period. William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright of England, lived in the Elizabethan Period, so in the history of English literature, this period is often referred to as the Age of William Shakespeare. English literature in the Renaissance Period is usually regarded as the highlight in the history of English literature. The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is the drama.
    Thus a group of excellent dramatists appeared. They are John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Robert Greene, Christopher Marlow, William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson. Next to the drama is the lyrical poetry. Queen Elizabeth was a poet. England then became “a nest of singing birds”. The famous poets of that period we
re Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser. In the beginning period, the greatest humanist, Thomas More, wrote his famous prose work Utopia《乌托邦》, Francis Bacon wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which make him one of the best essayists in English literature.
Part Four
English Literature in the Seventeenth Century
1. Literature of the Revolution Period
2.Elizabethan literature was generally inspiring. It throbbed（跳动）with youth, hope and vitality. Literature in the Revolution Period expressed rage

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