TheVictorianPeriod英国文学维多利亚时代.ppt

Chapter 5 The Victorian Period2021/6/161Background InformationChanges in SocietyChanges in PoliticsChanges in Science&TechnologyChanges in Ideology2021/6/162Changes in Politics•Political power passed from the decaying aristocrats into the hands of the middle-class industrial capitalists. →As a result, from the 30’s of 19th century, the struggle between the workers and capitalists became the fundamental contradiction in England. A new class, the proletariat, emerged.2021/6/163While England had reached its highest point of development as a world power, the poor living and working conditions of workers led to the Chartist Movement (宪章 运 功), which was the first mass movement of the English working class and the early sign of the awakening of t h e p o o r , o p p r e s s e d p e o p l e .2021/6/164Changes in Science and Technology•Scientific discoveries and technological inventions made England the “workshop of the world”. (railway, steamship, spinning looms, printing machine, etc)→With Industrial Revolution in full swing, England accumulated large amounts of profit and settled down to a time of prosperity and relative stability.2021/6/165The middle-class life of the time was characterized by prosperity, respectability（体面）, and material progress.People as a whole celebrated a national spirit of earnestness（认真）, respectability, modesty and domesticity.→Common sense and moral propriety（得体） became the predominant concern in literary works.2021/6/166Changes in Ideology•Religious collision•The widespread of Utilitarianism(功利主义)2021/6/167Religious collision•It started from the early 19th century and was caused by the rapid development of science and technology, new inventions and discoveries. •Evolutionary science shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith. (Darwin’s The Origin of Species & The Descent of Man)•People’s religious doubts and anxieties were increased.2021/6/168Utilitarianism•The belief that everything should be tested by the extent to which it could promote the material happiness.•It was welcomed especially by the middle-class industrialists and made cultural values, moral standards less valuable. →the worsening of living condition of poor people2021/6/169Literary FormsLiterary ExpressionNovelProsePoetry2021/6/1610Novel•The most widely read and the most vital and challenging expression of progressive thought in this period•The most famous novelists of the time were the critical realists. (Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë , Emily Brontë , Mrs. Gaskell and Thomas Hardy)2021/6/1611Features of English Critical Realism•The critical realists described with much vividness and great artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system.•Humorous scenes and bitter satire2021/6/1612The English critical realists not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling class, but also show profound sympathy for the common people.The critical realists were unable to find a good solution to the social contradictions. The chief tendency in their works is not of revolution but of reformism.2021/6/1613Prose•Great prose writers:Thomas CarlyleThomas Babington MacaulayMatthew ArnoldJohn Henry NewmanJohn Stuart MillJohn RuskinThomas Henry Huxley2021/6/1614Most influential prose works:Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus, Chartism & The French RevolutionMacaulay’s History of EnglandRuskin’s Modern Painters (5 volumes)2021/6/1615Poetry•Famous poets:Robert BrowningAlfred TennysonDante Gabriel RossettiGerald Manley HopkinsAlgernon Charles Swinburne2021/6/1616The poetry of this period was mainly characterized by experiments with new styles and new ways of expression.The most famous experimental poet was Robert Browning.2021/6/1617 结束语结束语若有不当之处，请指正，谢谢！若有不当之处，请指正，谢谢！。