文档介绍：英美文学选读
Lecture 1 William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
(1) Historical Background
A. Queen Elizabeth I: a powerful England with the fast development of capitalism
B. Renaissance: an intellectual movement sprung first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. Two features are striking of this movement. The one is a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature. Another is the humanism, which means the new feeling of admiration for human beauty and human achievement.
(2) Life
A. plete works include 37 plays, 2 narrative poems and 154 s.
B. He is mainly famous for his great plays, especially the outstanding "Four Great Tragedies". ("Hamlet", "King Lear", "Othello" and "Macbeth") He is also the author of some other famous plays, such as "Romeo and Juliet"
(3) 18
A. A is a lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines linked by an intricate rhyme scheme. (It is a very popular poem form and used widely in English literature. In the Elizabeth era, Edmund Spenser was also famous for his s. And later, John Milton, Byron and Keats all contributed excellent s.)
B. abab cdcd efef gg: the typical rhyme scheme used by Shakespeare in all his s. Theme: expressing the deep love to his friend
(4) The Merchant of Venice
A. edy written by Shakespeare in his youth
B. Setting: Venice, the Middle Age
C. Characters: Bassanio, Anto