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1 知识内容
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2 作业
内容
Naturalism and Aestheticism
I. Naturalism
1. Definition
2. Representative English naturalist writer--- George Gissing
1). Introduction to George Gissing
2) Introduction to New Grub Street
II. Aestheticism
1. Definition
2. Representative English Aestheticism writer--- Oscar Wilde
1). Introduction to Oscar Wilde
2). Introduction to his works
A. Novel- The Picture of Dorian Gray
B. Comedy -Lady Windermere's Fan
Module 8-2 Naturalism and Aestheticism PPT 图片来源
1.George Gissing 介绍
http://www.reocities.com/dcjarviks/Masterpiece.html
2.New Grub Street
http://www.google.com.tw/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%6d%61%6e%79%62%6f%6f%6b%73%2e%6e%65%74%2f%74%69%74%6c%65%73%2f%67%69%73%73%69%6e%67%67%65%74%65%78%74%39%39%6e%77%67%72%62%31%30%2e%68%74%6d%6c&ei=edWBUsibIOySiQfe6YHYCA&usg=AFQjCNE_GnrRb49ECe0kGjsXiNn9-wvGFg
3.Oscar Wilde
http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh/%E5%A5%A5%E6%96%AF%E5%8D%A1%C2%B7%E7%8E%8B%E5%B0%94%E5%BE%B7
4.Lady Windermere's Fan
http://www.bookdepository.com/Lady-Windermeres-Fan-Oscar-Wilde/9780141197937
讲义
Naturalism and Aestheticism
I. Naturalism
1. Definition
Naturalism as a literary trend flourished in Europe in the second half of the 19th century, particularly in France . Zola is the representative of this trend.
Naturalism, in literature is the theory that literary composition should be based on an objective, empirical presentation of human beings. The naturalists argued that if literature is to reflect life, it must be “true to life” and that to be “true to life”, the writer must not choose details from real life, but must produce life exactly as it is in his literary writings, including all the details without any selection. Hence there was the theory of “a slice of life”, that is, to cut a slice out of life since it is quite impossible to reproduce all of life, but the slice cut being a whole slice, it still is a truthful representation of life in its totality and therefore it is true to life.
The naturalist writer in England never really quite formed a literary school. One of the outstanding naturalist writer in the last two decades of the 19th century was George Gissing.
2. Representative English naturalist writer--- George Gissing
1). Introduction to George Gissing
George Gissing is an English novelist, who frequently wrote about working-class and lower-middle-class people in his 22 novels. Under much influence of naturalist writers' “slice of life” theory and the German philosopher Schopenhauer, he showed strong traces of pessimism in his works.
2) Introduction to New Grub Street ( 《新格鲁勃街》 )
George Gissing's best known novel is New Grub Street , a novel about the different types of writers in England in the last decades of the 19th century.
The work chronicled the life of Edwin Reardon, a writer who struggles to support himself and his family on his meager earnings. The novel also expressed Gissing's grim view of literary life in London in the 19th century. By contrasting the successful career of a selfish and unscrupulous journalist with a poor writer who has a fine conscience, Gissing hit upon the very essence of the general conditions of journalism in England of his time.
As far as his writing features are concerned, his works tend to leave the impression that he is escaping from it rather than fighting and offering a way out. It simply describes people and events but offers little or no psychological depth.
II. Aestheticism
1. Definition
The school of aestheticism in English literature and art stemmed from the Pre-Raphaelites and from the French poets. It means that beauty is the basic principle from which all other principles, especially moral ones, are derived. The writers of aestheticism did not agree to any one theory of art or literature. But they tried to separate art or literature from life or social reality. Therefore the objective result is this school of literature is escapism. The actual expression of this escapism may be the cry of “art for art's sake”. The chief representative figure of aestheticism in English literature of this period is Oscar Wilde.
2. Representative English Aestheticism writer--- Oscar Wilde (1857 -- 1903)
1). Introduction to Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde is a versatile writer of essays, fiction, drama, poetry and miscellaneous prose. Born in Ireland and educated at Oxford , he is famous as the leader and spokesman of the late-Victorian aestheticism. He started his literary career by writing poetry and short stories and essays, and then he achieved fame with his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and his comedies. In 1895, Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual conduct. On his release from prison in 1897 he lived in obscurity in Europe, and died in Paris in 1900.
2) Introduction to his works
A. Novel --- The Picture of Dorian Gray
The hero Dorian Gray was at first a handsome and innocent youth, and the painter drew a picture of him. Then Dorian met Lord Henry and became a hedonist. Dorian continued to look as innocent and handsome as before, but his picture now looked terrible.
One night, he stabbed at the picture with a knife but the result was that he had stabbed himself and now he looked terrible but the picture appeared as handsome and innocent as before.
The story of The Picture of Dorian Gary is simple but has a deep meaning. It is full of the author's humor and romantic temperament. And the exquisite depiction of Dorian' inner side world makes it belong to the scope of psychological novel.
What's more, aestheticism is a strong theme in the story. Oscar Wilde uses lots of beautiful words to describe Dorian's youth and his image. His aesthetic ideas are hidden in his witty words. When the novel was first published, it had poor reception among critics. Some critics thought that it was a short biography of Oscar Wilde, and was described as immoral and unclean. Today, more and more critics pay their attention to the modernist factors hidden inside the novel. They say that this novel embraces sex, desire, and dark side of human beings. Besides that, the depth of its thought, the bravery of the author in revealing the internal world of himself and his insistent pursuit of independence of art all makes the novel a classical work.
B. Comedies
Oscar Wilde is an excellent playwright of comedies. Though he did not live long enough to bring his dramatic powers into full play, his achievements in the field of comedy are significant. His famous comedies include:
Lady Windermere's Fan
The Importance of Being Earnest
An Ideal Husband
And A Woman of No Importance
The four comedies all enjoyed amazing popularity in his time. In addtion to their satirical spirit against the polite society of London , the plays are noted for their distinguished stylistic features. His comedies broke the traditional theoretic conventions of Western comedy. All of the characters in his comedies lived in upper-class society and most of them were aristocrats. To these characters Wilde's attitude was ambiguous and it is difficult for the audience to judge them clearly by common views. Thus, the characters in Wilde's comedies are different from those in traditional comedies. The originality of the characters in Wilde's comedies is connected not only with his own living experiences, but also with the Victorian audience and many other factors. From these characters we can see Wilde's deep understanding of human nature and his innovation of the art of Western comedy.
Lady Windermere's Fan
Of Wilde's four comedies, the first and by far the best-known is Lady Windermere's Fan (1893). Actually it is written in the tradition of the well-made play and the only distinguishing feature in the play is the use of witty, paradoxical remarks by some of the characters in it. The play is set in the artificial framework of a cleverly constructed theatrical plot.
Lady Windermere learns that her husband is spending much time with a Mrs Erlynne, and fearing that he is being unfaithful to her, she decides that her marriage is over. Then, in an act of generosity, Mrs Erlynne protects Lady Windermere's reputation and the truth about loyalty is revealed.
Because of Oscar Wilde's literary idea and practice, he received much criticism from people and most of his comedies are considered lacking in depth. But still we couldn't deny the fact that he makes significant contributions to the English literature.
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