History of literature of the English language. Periodization of English literature and its historical conditionality

PREFACE

This textbook is intended for students of the humanities faculties of pedagogical universities and for students of English literature in the faculties of foreign languages. It presents the main phenomena of the history of English literature from its origins in the era early Middle Ages until modern times. The development of one of the richest literatures in the world is traced, which gave humanity Chaucer, Shakespeare, Defoe, Swift, Byron, Dickens, Shaw and many other wonderful novelists, playwrights and poets. The work of each of them is associated with a certain era, reflects the characteristics of their time, conveys the thoughts, feelings and aspirations of their contemporaries. But, becoming a property national culture, great works of art do not lose their significance for subsequent eras. Their value is eternal.

English literature is an integral part of world culture. The best traditions English art enriched world literature; The works of the masters of English prose and poetry, translated into many languages, won recognition far beyond the borders of England.

The acquaintance of Russian readers with Shakespeare and Defoe, Byron and Dickens has its own history. Their work, like the legacy of many other English writers, has long enjoyed recognition and love in Russia. Shakespeare's tragedies were played by the greatest actors of the Russian theater; Belinsky wrote about English realism, comparing it with the Gogolian trend in Russian literature; Byron's poetry attracted Pushkin; L. Tolstoy admired Dickens's novels. In turn, Russian literature, its brilliant writers Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov influenced the work of many English writers.

The literature of England has gone through a long and complex path of development, it is connected with the history of the country and its people, it conveys the peculiarities of English national character. Its originality was manifested in medieval poetry, in the poems of Chaucer, in the bold flight of thought of Thomas More, in the comedies and tragedies of Shakespeare; it was reflected in the satire of Swift, in the comic epics of Fielding, in the rebellious spirit of the romantic poetry of Byron, in the paradoxes of Shaw and the humor of Dickens.

The following main periods are distinguished in the history of English literature: the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the 17th century, the era Enlightenment XVIII century, XIX century, turn of XIX-XX centuries, XX century (periods 1918-1945 and 1945-1990s).

In its main points, the periodization of English literature corresponds to the periodization of the literary process of other European countries (France, Germany, Italy, etc.). However, the historical development of England is characterized by some features related to the fact that the bourgeois revolution occurred in England in the middle of the 17th century, i.e. much earlier than in France. The development of capitalism proceeded at a faster pace in England. England has become a kind of classical country of capitalist relations with all their inherent contradictions, which also affected the nature of its literary development.

English literature developed in Great Britain. Its origins originate in the oral folk poetry of the tribes that inhabited the British Isles. The original inhabitants of these lands - the Celts - were under Roman rule (I-V centuries), then were attacked by the Anglo-Saxons (5th century), who, in turn, in the 11th century. were conquered by the descendants of the Scandinavian Vikings - the Normans. The language of the Anglo-Saxon tribes was subject to Celtic, Latin and Scandinavian influences. The mixture of different ethnic principles determined the originality of the literature of the early Middle Ages.

Formation English nation and national literary language takes place in the 14th century. Literary approval in English associated with the activities of Chaucer, whose work marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. His "Canterbury Tales" -an important stage in the development of English literature; The process of formation of English realism with Chaucer’s inherent skill in depicting characters, humor, and satirical ridicule of social vices originates in them. During the Renaissance, English literature is characterized by the intensive development of philosophical thought, especially clearly represented in the works of Bacon, the founder of English materialism, and in More's Utopia, which proclaimed the possibility of a society without private property. More made an important contribution to the development of socialist ideas and laid the foundation for the utopian novel of modern times.

Renaissance English poetry, distinguished by its diversity of genres, reached a high level. In the work of the humanist poets Wyeth, Surry, Sidney and Spencer, the art of the sonnet, allegorical and pastoral poem, and elegy reached great heights. The sonnet form developed by Sidney was adopted by Shakespeare, and the “Spenserian stanza” became the property of the poetry of the romantics - Byron and Shelley. In the context of the national upsurge of the Renaissance, English theater and drama were flourishing. Green, Kyd, and Marlowe prepared the dramatic art of Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's global significance lies in the realism and nationalism of his work. A humanist writer, whose works were the pinnacle of English poetry and drama of the Renaissance, Shakespeare conveyed the movement of history, the turning point and tragic contradictions of his time, and addressed the most acute political problems, created unforgettably bright, multifaceted characters. The problem of “man and history” became the main one in his work. Shakespeare's legacy is an ever-living and inexhaustible source of thoughts, plots, and images for writers of subsequent generations. The Shakespearean tradition - the tradition of realism and nationalism - is immortal. She largely determined the development of drama, lyrics and the novel of modern times.

The bourgeois revolution of the 17th century played an important role in the history of England and the development of literature. The humanistic ideals of the Renaissance came into conflict with the inhumane essence of the bourgeois order. And yet they continued their life in the works of writers who reflected the rise of the people's liberation movement and the intensification of the class struggle. The focus of the socio-political, aesthetic and ethical ideas of this turbulent era was the work of Milton, the largest public figure, poet and thinker of the 17th century. His works reflected the events of the English bourgeois revolution and the mood of the masses. Milton's poetry is a link between the cultural traditions of the Renaissance and the educational thought of the 18th century. The images of rebellious tyrant fighters he created laid the foundations of a new tradition, continued by the English romantics XIX century- Byron and Shelley.

Milton's poems and lyrics, Bunyan's allegorical stories, Donne's poems, treatises, religious and political sermons, the first experiments in English literary criticism belonging to Dryden - all this together constitutes a unique genre system of the English literature XVII V.

XVIII century - This is the age of Enlightenment, the age of the industrial revolution, important achievements in technology and science. Enlightenment became widespread in European countries; it was an advanced ideological movement associated with the liberation struggle aimed at replacing feudalism with capitalist forms of relations. The Enlighteners believed in the power of reason and subjected it to critical judgment of the existing order.

In the conditions of England, where the bourgeois revolution occurred earlier than in other countries (with the exception of the Netherlands), the 18th century. became a period of strengthening of the bourgeois order. The uniqueness of the literature of the era is connected with this. The ideas and culture of the Enlightenment originated here earlier than on the continent, and the contradictions of the Enlightenment ideology became more pronounced, which is fully explained by the inconsistency of bourgeois reality with the ideal of a harmonious society. Literary directions XVIII V. - classicism (the poetry of Pope), educational realism (the pinnacle of which is the work of Fielding), sentimentalism, which developed as a reaction to the rationalism of the Enlightenment (Thomson, Jung, Gray, Goldsmith, Stern). Genre forms The literature of the English Enlightenment is diverse: pamphlet, essay, farce, comedy, bourgeois drama, “ballad opera,” poem, elegy. The leading genre is the novel, represented in its various modifications in the works of Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Goldsmith, Stern.

The traditions of the educational novel continued their life in the works of English critical realists of the 19th century. -Dickens and Thackeray; Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" marked the beginning of the development of "Robinsonades" in world literature; Stern's psychologism became a school of excellence for novelists of subsequent generations. At the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. A new direction is being formed in English literature - romanticism.

The peculiarities of the socio-political life of England determined the existence of the romantic movement for a longer period than in other European countries. Its beginning is associated with the pre-romanticism of the 18th century, the final stage dates back to the end of the 19th century. The heyday of romanticism, which emerged as a special movement under the influence of the French bourgeois revolution of 1789-1794, occurred at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries.

The originality of the romantic movement is determined by the transitional nature of the era, the replacement of feudal society by bourgeois society, which was not accepted and condemned by the romantics. Romanticism in England with particular force reflected the alienation of personality, the fragmentation of consciousness and psychology of an individual living in a period of transitional and unstable times, full of tragic contradictions, an intense struggle between the new and the old. In romantic art, there was a desire to depict the individual as valuable in itself, living with his own bright inner world.

The transitional and preparatory stage in the formation of romanticism as a reaction to the Enlightenment was pre-romanticism, represented in England by the work of such writers and poets as Godwin, Chatterton, Radcliffe, Walpole, Blake. The pre-romanticists contrasted the rationalistic aesthetics of classicism with the emotional principle, the sensitivity of the sentimentalists with the mystery and enigma of passions; They are characterized by an interest in folklore.

The formation of the aesthetic views and principles of the English romantics is determined both by the peculiarities of their contemporary reality and by the nature of their attitude to the philosophical and aesthetic concepts of the Enlightenment. The optimistic ideas of the enlighteners, their belief in the possibility of social improvement in accordance with the laws of reason, were critically revised by the romantics. The Enlightenment's views on human nature were subject to a decisive re-evaluation: the romantics were not satisfied with the rational-materialist interpretation of man and his existence. They emphasized the emotional principle in a person, not the mind, but the imagination, the contradictions inherent in the inner world of a person, constant intense quests, the rebellion of the spirit, combined with aspiration to the ideal and a sense of irony, an understanding of the impossibility of achieving it.

The work of the English romantics is influenced by the national tradition of fantastic-utopian, allegorical and symbolic depiction of life, the tradition of a special dramatic disclosure of lyrical themes. At the same time, educational ideas are also strong (in Byron, Scott, Hazlitt).

The Romantics were united in their desire to pave the way for new art. However, sharp aesthetic polemics never ceased between writers of different ideological and political orientations. Ideological and philosophical disagreements and differences gave rise to several movements within romanticism. In English romanticism, the boundaries between movements were very clearly defined. In the literature of England of the Romantic era, the “Lake School” (“Leucists”), to which Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey belonged, stood out; revolutionary romantics - Byron and Shelley; London romantics - Keate, Lamb, Hazlitt. The combination of romanticism with pronounced features of realism is characteristic of the work of Scott, the creator of the historical novel.

The genre system of romanticism is characterized mainly by a variety of poetic forms (lyric poems, lyric-epic and satirical poems, philosophical poems, novels in verse, etc.). A significant contribution to the development of the novel was the work of Scott, whose historicism played important role in the making realistic novel XIX century In the 30-40s. XIX century Critical realism is established as the leading trend in English literature. It reaches its heyday during the period of the highest rise of the Chartist movement - in the second half of the 40s.

Critical realism is formed on the basis of the cultural achievements of previous eras, absorbs the traditions of educational realism and romanticism; At the same time, the development of realism was marked by the emergence of a new aesthetics, new principles for the depiction of man and reality. The most important object artistic image a person becomes in his connection with the specific historical conditions of existence. Personality is shown in its conditioning social environment. Social determinism, which has become a fundamental principle for critical realists, is combined with historicism as a specific system that helps to reveal the patterns of phenomena in reality. In English art, the movement towards establishing relationships between the individual and society began long before the 19th century. However, only in the 19th century. Dickens and Thackeray, Bronte and Gaskell were able to show their heroes as organically included in the social structure of contemporary England.

In the history of England mid-19th V. - a period of intense social and ideological struggle. At this time, a galaxy of Chartist poets and publicists (Jones, Linton, Garney and others) appeared in England. Chartist literature adopted and continued the traditions democratic art XVIII century (Godwin, Paine), revolutionary poetry and journalism of the romantics (Byron, Shelley). The innovation of Chartist literature was manifested in the creation of the image of a proletarian fighter.

In the second half of the 19th century. New trends emerged in the literary process in England. In the works of J. Eliot, and later in the works of Meredith, Butler and Hardy, new principles for creating character and depicting the inner world of a person are developed. Satirical sharpness and journalistic passion are replaced by closer attention to the sphere of the spiritual life of the heroes, through the prism of which the conflicts of reality are revealed. The peculiarities of the literature of this period were manifested in the process of its psychologization, in the dramatization of the novel, the intensification of its tragic beginning and bitter irony.

On turn of XIX-XX centuries The literary process in England is characterized by the intensity and complexity of its development. Aesthetic subjectivism is defended by Pater, who influenced Oscar Wilde; “literature of action” is represented by Kipling; the socialist ideal is proclaimed by Morris; the traditions of the realistic novel are refracted in the works of Bennett and Galsworthy.

First World War 1914-1918 marked the beginning of a new period in history and literature. The flourishing of English modernism is associated with the activities of Joyce, Eliot, Woolf and Lawrence. Their work revealed a new artistic thinking, a new artistic language. During the period between the two world wars, writers of the older generation continued their creative path - Shaw, Wells, Galsworthy, Forster. In the 20th century and especially intensely after the Second World War, the British Empire was going through a period of its collapse. The national liberation struggle of the peoples of colonial and dependent countries changed the position of Great Britain on the world stage. It lost its position as a colonial power, which could not but have a significant impact on the restructuring of the national self-awareness of the British, stimulating the desire to realize the novelty of the current situation in the world and within the country and its “English essence.”

Hopes associated with the end of the war gave way to disappointment; the unsettled state of affairs of the younger generation caused a mood of criticism, irritation, nostalgia, and deep dissatisfaction. The galaxy of “angry young writers” is a characteristic phenomenon in the literary life of post-war England in the 50s. In the 60-70s. The attention of many writers was attracted by the problem of the effectiveness of scientific and technological achievements for the destinies of mankind. Developing in conditions of aggravated social and racial contradictions, the labor and student movements, literature could not help but react to the instability of the emerging situation. The process of searching for a unifying “ national idea" Deindustrialization gave rise to a return to the dream of a “merry old England”, opposed to the cult of technicization, which did not live up to the hopes placed on it.

IN genre system English literature of the modern era leading place, as in previous eras, belongs to the novel. The modern novel exhibits various and at the same time interrelated features of the genre typology (epic and dramatic novel, panoramic and metaphorical, lyrical and documentary, intensive and extensive, centripetal and centrifugal, objective and subjective). The attraction to dramatic and tragic structure is combined in it with a satirical beginning. The form of the epic cycle develops. The largest English novelists in modern English literature are Green, Waugh, Snow, Golding, Murdoch, Spark, Fowles. Among playwrights, Osborne, Bond and Pinter gained wide fame; Poets include Robert Graves and Dylan Thomas.

At the core English literature lie the myths and legends of the Anglo-Saxons, which were passed down orally from generation to generation. After the introduction of Christianity and the conquest of England by the Normans, written accounts of ancient history appeared. folklore, resulting in legends, knightly verses, poems and ballads.
Despite the endless political and religious wars, humanism underlies the ideological current of all English literature. The time of its origin falls on the era of the mature Renaissance and is marked by the appearance of a brilliant playwright. He remains an unsurpassed world-class playwright who managed to express in his plays not only drama, but optimism and cheerfulness human essence. “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet” are still in demand in the repertoires of world theaters and evoke a lively response from audiences.
The cheerful and somewhat frivolous style of the Renaissance is being replaced by educational classicism, which makes the center of attention of the ordinary person of bourgeois society, the ordinary man in the street.
With the advent of the novel Robinson Crusoe, a period of realism began in English literature, which was marked by the flourishing of pamphlets and satirical works such as Gulliver's Travels. In his science fiction novel, the author exposes the morals of the English bourgeois plutocracy.
With the plays of Sheridan and Goldsmith, the genre of social comedy appears, which is intended not only to expose, but also to entertain.
A consequence of the disappointment of the results of the Great French Revolution should be considered the emergence of such a literary movement as romanticism, which glorified English literature with the appearance of great poets and writers. J. Byron, P. Shelley, J. Keats. V. Scott, R. Burns are bright and talented representatives of the mysterious Albion. Walter Scott is the founder of the English historical novel. He authored works that reflected the main historical periods in the development of England and Scotland from the Crusades to the mid-18th century.
From the beginning of the 19th century, the English realistic novel began to flourish, which gave rise to a brilliant galaxy of such names as Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Meredith, Robert Stevenson, Lewis Carroll.
At the end of the 19th century, a new era begins English literature, which absorbed all the best from domestic and world literature of the previous period and added its own vision of the world, social acuity, and truthfulness to life. , combining romanticism and realism, creates a landmark work for his generation." It expresses the entire philosophy of human knowledge of truth.
Playwright Bernard Shaw in the play “Pygmalion”, J. Jerome in the novel “Three in a Boat and Dogs”, continue the search for the destiny of man with truly English humor.
The modern science fiction philosophy of H.G. Wells and the excitement of detective adventurism of Conan Doyle have found millions of admirers all over the world.
Acute social problems of modern English society are reflected on the pages of novels. “” is a cross-section of the English bourgeois society of property owners, which tries not to escape the ideas of humanism and mercy and understands that without moral values ​​they are doomed to destruction.
The latest English literature, represented by such names as J. Priestley, R. Aldington, A. Christie, A. Murdick, G. Green, C. Snow, which are not subject to fashionable preferences and therefore will always be of interest to modern readers.
Modern English literature, with all its inconsistency and ambiguity of perception, causes a lot of controversy and disagreement. But that’s why the works of JK Rowling, the authors of the famous “Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter”, are also interesting.

REVIEWERS: Department foreign literature Chisinau State University and Doctor of Philology, Professor I. A. Dubashinsky,

Anikin G.V., Mikhalskaya N.P.

c Publishing house "Higher School", 1975

PREFACE

This manual is intended for students of foreign

n lingual languages ​​of pedagogical institutes engaged in the study of English literature. It will introduce students to the main phenomena of history

English literature, from its origins in the early Middle Ages to modern times. The material is presented taking into account the information that is provided to students in the course on the history of England.

The manual traces the path of development of one of the richest literatures in the world, which gave humanity Chaucer, Shakespeare, Swift, Byron, Dickens, Shaw and many other wonderful novelists, playwrights and poets. The work of each of them is associated with a certain era, reflects the characteristics of their time, conveys the thoughts, feelings and aspirations of their contemporaries. But, becoming the property of national culture, great works of art do not lose their significance for subsequent eras. The ideological and artistic value of the works of the greatest English writers is eternal.

English literature is an integral part of world culture. The best traditions of national English art have enriched the world literary process; The works of the masters of English prose and poetry, translated into many languages, won love and recognition far beyond the borders of England.

The acquaintance of Russian readers with Shakespeare and Defoe, Byron and Dickens has its own history. Their work, like the legacy of many other English writers, has long enjoyed recognition and love in Russia. The largest actors of the Russian theater played in Shakespeare's tragedies, Belinsky wrote about the achievements of English realism , comparing it with the Gogolian trend in Russian literature; Byron's poetry attracted the attention of Pushkin; L. Tolstoy admired Dickens's novels; Gorky called England the birthplace of European realism.

Preface

English literature has gone through a long and complex path of development, reflected the history of the country and its people, and has become an expression of the peculiarities of the English national character. The national originality of English literature was manifested in folk ballads, in the poetry of Chaucer, in the bold flight of thought of Thomas More, in the great works of Shakespeare, it was reflected in the satire of Swift, the humor of Fielding, in the rebellious spirit of the romantic poetry of Byron, in the realistic paintings of Dickens and Thackeray, in paradoxes Show.

In every country, the historical and literary process develops in direct connection with the history of the struggle of classes and social contradictions within the nation. This fully applies to the literature of England. Therefore, in his assessment of the phenomena under study, a literary historian who takes a materialist position must proceed from a determination of their place and role in the class struggle.

IN In connection with this, the question of continuity in the field of ideological development, of literary traditions and the peculiarities of their perception in different eras by representatives of various literary movements in the conditions of an ongoing literary struggle becomes important. Literary traditions are never neutral and in a class society cannot be perceived equally by everyone. Marxist literary criticism, in its understanding of traditions and their role in the development of society, proceeds from the fact that all inherited traditions contain a very specific socio-historical content. Advanced and revolutionary traditions contribute to social development, while conservative ones act as a force of inertia in history.

There is a periodization of the literary process in other European countries (France, Germany, Italy, etc.). However, it also has some peculiarities. One of them is connected with the fact that the bourgeois revolution occurred in England in the middle of the 17th century. (1649), i.e. much earlier than in France (1789-1794). Already in the second half of the 17th century. The industrial revolution took place in England, and the development of capitalism in the early days of its existence proceeded here at a faster pace than in other countries. England became a kind of classical country of capitalist relations with all their inherent contradictions and peculiarities, which could not but affect the nature of its literary development.

The common paths of historical development put forward similar socio-political tasks and common ideological problems in a number of European countries. But in each country they were solved differently. Various versions of the literature of the Enlightenment, romanticism, and realism arose. However, the very pattern of emergence of essentially similar literary phenomena is determined by the logic of history.

MIDDLE AGES

LITERATURE OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

Anglo-Saxon literature V-XI centuries

|The oldest period of English literature dates back to the V-XI centuries. ad. Its beginning is associated with the invasion of [British territory in mid-Vb. Anglo-Saxons and Jutes - tribes German origin; the end of the period dates back to 1066, when the Battle of Hastings took place, ending

the war of the British Isles by the Normans.

During these six centuries, the earliest literary monuments that have reached us were created. They are written in the Anglo-Saxon language from which the English language developed.

Before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, the British Isles were subject to repeated invasions of tribes from the European continent. In the VI century. BC The Celts invaded Britain. In the 1st century AD Britain was conquered by the Romans. Dominion of the Romans

Middle Ages

The empire lasted until the 5th century. Then came the Anglo-Saxon invasion. They pushed the Celts into the western and northwestern parts of the island and settled in the southern, central and eastern regions of Britain.

The Anglo-Saxon tribes brought their language, their way of life and their culture to the British Isles, the further development of which took place in the conditions of the decomposition of the clan system and the formation of feudal relations.

The Angles, Saxons and Jutes formed seven kingdoms (Kent, Sessex, Essex, Wessex, East Anglia, Northumbria and Mercia), each of which sought to dominate the others. The strengthening of the state unity of the country was facilitated by the process of centralization of power and the adoption of Christianity (VI century). The collapse of the clan system and the emergence of feudalism were accompanied by class differentiation of society.

Relations between the Anglo-Saxons and the Celts were characterized by deep national enmity. The subsequent history of England, as the Anglo-Saxons called the country they conquered, determined new and more complex forms of interaction between these peoples and their cultures. Celtic tales formed the basis of medieval chivalric romances about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table; they were the source from which poets of subsequent centuries drew inspiration and plots for their works.

Monuments of runic writing of the Anglo-Saxons have been preserved (inscriptions on swords and household items, an inscription on a cross carved from stone near the village of Ruthwell in Scotland). It is known that there were songs performed during wedding and funeral ceremonies, during labor, and during military campaigns. Stories, legends and songs were passed down from generation to generation. They were performed by singers available in each tribe. There were singer-poets (ospreys), who were the creators of the songs they performed, and singer-performers (glimen), who sang songs created by others. Both ospreys and glimens were honored and respected; they were keepers of folk legends, skilled craftsmen and professionals.

Pagan priests forbade recording poetic works; their recording began to be carried out by scholar-monks after the introduction of Christianity. Not everything was recorded; many records have not survived, almost all lists and manuscripts were changed several times: the legends of pagan times were subjected to Christianization.

Dating the surviving monuments presents significant difficulties. The exact dates of creation of many works have not been established. The time of the appearance of the monument, its original recording and the appearance of the edition that has survived to this day do not always coincide; several centuries may separate the emergence

English literature -XI centuries

the publication of a work from the edition in which it becomes known to subsequent generations.

Thus, the most significant surviving work of Anglo-Saxon poetry, the poem Beowulf, has reached us.

V lists of the 10th century, and the appearance of this monument dates back approximately

to the 8th century

The first English edition of the poem was published in 1833. The manuscript of the poem is kept in the British Museum.

"Beowulf" is one of the examples of medieval heroic epic. The poem arose on the basis of ancient German legends,

to British territory. The action of the poem takes place on the shores of the Baltic Sea, its plot is borrowed from German mythology. There is no mention of England in the poem.

“Beowulf” includes two parts and tells about the exploits of the brave Geat 1 knight Beowulf, who saved Denmark from the terrible sea monster Grendel, and then happily ruled in his homeland and died after defeating a fire-breathing dragon from the poisonous bites inflicted on him. The poem ends with a description of the solemn burial of Beowulf by his faithful warriors.

“Beowulf” opens with an introduction containing a story about Scylda Skefing, the ancestor of the Danish kings, about the glorious family of Scyldings, to which one of the characters in the poem, King Hrothgar, belongs. During his reign, Hrothgar built a vast chamber for. ceremonial feasts, calling it Heort (“chamber of the deer”). For twelve years now, Heort has been attacked by the sea monster Grendel. Beowulf sails with fourteen warriors to help Hrothgar. Arriving in Denmark, he feasts with his friends in the “chamber of the stag,” and when Hrothgar and the other Danes leave Heort at nightfall, Beowulf prepares for battle with Grendel. He takes off his chain mail and helmet, gives up his armor and “giant sword” for safekeeping.

In the darkness of the night, “from the foggy heights and from the swamps, Grendel himself descended towards the chamber.” With a menacing noise he tore the door off its strong hinges,

With he furiously attacked one of the sleeping warriors, crushed his bones, tore his muscles and sucked out his blood. The first victim was supposed to be followed by a second, but then Beowulf, with an iron grip, plunged the monster into trembling. Never met Grendel before

With such strength and fearlessness. The walls of Heort trembled when Beo-

1 Geats (Gauts) are Scandinavian tribes that lived in southern Sweden.

And the evil monster, which had so often quenched the thirst for villainy with murders, for the first time recognized weakness and infirmity, as soon as the fighter Hygelac squeezed him.

(Translation by M. Zamakhovsky)

In the fight, Beowulf rips Grendel's arm from his shoulder. Bleeding, the cannibal giant crawls into the cliffs and disappears into the abyss of the swamps.

The next night, Grendel's mother appears in Heort. She kills and drags away one of King Hrothgar's retainers. Fearless Beowulf follows her and plunges into the sea. In the depths of the sea, he fights with Grendel's mother and kills her. Then he finds Grendel's corpse, cuts off his head and brings it to the Danes as a trophy. Generously rewarded by Hrothgar, he returns to his homeland and tells King Hygelac about everything that happened to him. Hygelac grants him land, and when Hygelac's son Heardred dies in battle with the Swedes, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats.

The second part of the poem tells how, after fifty years of a prosperous reign, Beowulf enters into battle with a fire-breathing dragon that attacked his domain. The brave warrior Wigelaf helps the elderly king defeat the dragon, but the wounds inflicted on Beowulf are fatal. Beowulf names Laf as his successor and dies. He is buried with honor, lowered into the grave along with the remains of the jewel from the dragon's cave. The twelve bravest warriors pay their last respects to the brave and noble knight Beowulf.

In terms of its composition, the poem about Beowulf is a complex phenomenon. The edition that has reached us indicates that the fairy-tale motifs underlying the narrative were subsequently reworked in accordance with the principles of the heroic epic. The motifs of tales from the early Middle Ages (descriptions of battles with sea monsters and a dragon, which have parallels in folk tales and Icelandic sagas), are combined in the poem with elements indicating their later processing in the spirit of the Christian religion. The names of pagan gods have disappeared from the text of the poem, but are mentioned biblical names(Abel, Noah) and biblical legends (about the flood); Grendel is called a descendant of Cain, and sea monsters are called a fiend of hell; Instructions of a Christian nature were put into Beowulf’s mouth. The poem repeatedly mentions God's intervention in current events (Beowulf defeats monsters because God wants it); The first part of the poem includes lines about the creation of the world.

Anglo-Saxon literature V-XI centuries.

And yet the spirit of the poem is in clear contradiction with later layers and insertions. The pagan-mythological basis of the work is obvious. The fantasy that saturates the poem reflects the mythological understanding of the history and relationships of tribes in the early Middle Ages. People are shown in their clash with the formidable forces of nature, represented in the images of a stormy sea, sea monsters, and a fire-breathing dragon. Piety and fear of God are by no means the defining qualities of the hero; he is not characterized by asceticism, in his character there is the fullness of a primitive, but integral personality. In naive heroic simplicity lies the peculiar charm of the epic narrative, its serious tone, and leisurely pace. Beowulf embodies features that give an idea of ​​the ideal of a medieval warrior, of a hero in whom the ideal is not separated from the earthly. The appearance of Beowulf reflected popular ideas about a hero who tames the forces of nature. Beowulf is the embodiment of the moral ideal of the heroic personality of the early Middle Ages.

The construction of the poem is complicated by the fact that the story of Beowulf's life and exploits is not always given in a certain sequence; Much of what is told about Beowulf is retrospective. Some episodes are not related to Beowulf, but contain information about the life of the Germanic tribes and include details from history royal families Geats, Danes, Swedes

And continental English. The poem is important as a source of information about the life of the tribes that inhabited northern Germany

And Scandinavia. The poem contains echoes of historical events (feuds between North German tribes, their wars with the West German tribes). The hero of the poem is involved in a circle of historically significant events.

The poetic speech and rhythmic structure of the poem are unique. The technique of parallelism, characteristic of epic monuments, is widely used. Multiple repetitions of the same motif emphasize certain episodes of the plot and deepen them inner meaning. Thus, the poem speaks of Hygelac’s campaign four times (once in the first part and three times in the second). This successful campaign ended with the defeat of the king of the Geats and his squad. Among the few survivors was Beowulf. Mentions of Hygelac are a parallel to the final episodes of the poem; they precede the scene of the death of Beowulf and the defeat of the Geats. The theme of ancestral revenge is heard repeatedly in the poem; the repetition of this theme emphasizes the idea that revenge

The language of the poem amazes with its richness of metaphorical names of characteristics. The sea is called the “whale-road”, the “playground of winds”; the sword is designated

Middle Ages

as “light of battle”; the woman is called the “spinner of the world” (peace-weaver), “home decoration” (dwelling-ornament).

Retreats play an important role. They perform various functions: they introduce the background of the characters, predict their future, complement the plot, clarifying individual episodes.

The poem conveys local flavor: the features of the nature of Scandinavia and England are reproduced. The features of the Scandinavian landscape are palpable in the descriptions of the rocky seashore, steep cliffs, caves under the rocks (episodes of the battle between Beowulf and the dragon); When we're talking about about Grendel, it is said that the monster lives “in swamps hidden by fogs,” “in swamps,” “in the depths of swamps and swamps.”

Like other monuments of Anglo-Saxon poetry, the poem about Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. Its peculiarity is the presence of four stresses in a verse (two in each hemistich) and the repetition of identical sounds at the beginning of a series of words that make up the verse (line); in this case, the stress falls on syllables that begin with the same sounds (consonance coincides with the stress). The repetition of the pre-stressed consonant sound at the beginning of the first and second hemistich was considered mandatory for ancient German alliterative verse:

Folk-princes fared then from far and from near, Through long-stretching journeys to look at the wonder.

Such repetitions play an organizing role in the verse, being one of the types of initial rhyme. End rhyme verse replaced alliterative verse much later.

In addition to Beowulf, fragments of other epic works have survived: heroic song“The Battle of Finnsburg” (The Fight at Finnsburg, 10th-11th centuries), tales of Waldere (10th century); songs about the Battle of Maldon (The Battle of Maldon, late X-XI centuries) and some others.

Examples of lyrical Anglo-Saxon poetry are also known. These are small poems “The Wife's Lament, approximately VIII century”, “The Husband's Message”, “The Wanderer”, etc.1 They are interesting and significant in the force conveyed in them feelings, a wealth of emotions and experiences. The wife, slandered and separated from her husband, laments the injustice of fate (“The Wife’s Lamentations”); her lyrical monologue amazes with the strength and depth of sorrow. The memories of the past years of the warrior, who was forced after the death of his master to wander around the world (“The Wanderer”), are filled with sadness. These works create vivid pictures of the harsh northern nature, the raging sea, and the dark forest.

1 These verses were included in the handwritten Exeter Book, dating back to the mid-11th century; precise dating of the poems is difficult.

The history of English literature actually includes several “stories” of different kinds. This is literature belonging to specific socio-political eras in the history of England; literature reflecting certain systems of moral ideals and philosophical views; literature that has its inherent internal (formal, linguistic) unity and specificity. IN different times one or another “story” came to the fore. The heterogeneity of definitions is fixed in the names that are usually given to different periods of English literature.

Main periods of English literature:

1. Middle Ages:

A) Anglo-Saxon literature (Usually the beginning of English literature is attributed to the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon period. The first major monuments of Anglo-Saxon literature - Latin monuments - belong to representatives of the clergy:

- Aldhelm, who lived in the second half of the 7th century, author of florid prose and poetry

- Trouble the Honorable(672-735) - author of the famous "Ecclesiastical History of the Angles"

- Alcuin(died 804) - learned monk, expert in grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, who moved to the court of Charlemagne at the age of 60.

The most ancient monuments Anglo-Saxon language, then major poetic works reach us from the 11th century, not counting documentary monuments, chronicles, and legal texts. Writers from the Christian clergy revised some pagan poems (Vidsid, Deor's Complaint).

The most remarkable monument of ancient English poetry is the poem about Beowulf. It describes events dating back to the first half of the 6th century, the era of the struggle between the Franks and the Goths.

The "Golden Age" of Anglo-Saxon literature before the Norman invasion - the era of Alfred the Great, the conqueror of the Danes, who devastated Britain for almost two centuries. Alfred did a lot to restore the destroyed culture, to raise education, he himself was a writer and translator (translated, among other things, into the Anglo-Saxon language " Church history"Troubles, written in Latin).

B) Anglo-Norman literature (In the second half of the 11th century, England was subjected to a new invasion of the Normans. It fell under the rule of the Normans, who for several centuries established the dominance of the Norman dialect of French in England and French literature. A long period begins, known in history as the period of Anglo-Norman literature. During the first century after the Norman invasion, literature in the Anglo-Saxon language almost disappeared. And only a century later, literary monuments of ecclesiastical content and later secular ones, which were translations of French works, again appeared in this language. Thanks to this confusion of languages, the Latin language again acquires great importance among educated society. The period of French domination left an important mark on further history English literature, which, according to some scholars, is more closely related to the artistic techniques and style of French literature of the Norman period than to the ancient Anglo-Saxon literature from which it was artificially divorced.)

IN) Literature of social protest (In the middle of the 13th century, poetry of political and social protest appeared, castigating the vices of the nobility and clergy, protesting against taxes, against the abuses of officials and even the king, covering up his favorites and dissolving parliament for this purpose. This satirical literature, emerging from among the people, finds its completion in the 14th century in Langland’s poem “The Vision of Peter the Ploughman,” which, although written in a moralizing spirit, is not without revolutionary significance.

With the intensification of social struggle, literature in the 14th century acquired great public interest.

By the 14th century, a new English language was being formed, combining elements of the Anglo-Saxon and French languages. The Normans played a large role in the spread of Celtic stories (The Tales of King Arthur) throughout European poetry. Already around 1300, the English priest Layamon used these tales for his poem Brutus.)

D) Chaucer and Wyclif(The greatest English writer of the 14th century was Chaucer (1340-1400), author of the famous “Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer simultaneously ends the Anglo-Norman era and opens the history of new English literature.

He gave expression in English to all the richness and variety of thoughts and feelings, the subtlety and complexity of mental experiences that characterized the previous era, completing the experience of the past and capturing the aspirations of the future. Among English dialects, he established the dominance of the London dialect, the language spoken in this large mall, where the residence of the king and both universities were located. But he was not the only founder of the new English language. Chaucer did a common cause with his famous contemporary John Wycliffe (1320-1384). Wycliffe adheres to the accusatory literature directed against the clergy, but he, the forerunner of the Reformation, goes further, translates the Bible into English, and addresses the people in his struggle against the papacy. Wyclif and Chaucer, with their literary activities, arouse interest in the earthly nature of man, in personality.

The next century saw great interest in living folk poetry, which already existed in the 13th and 19th centuries. XIV centuries. But in the 15th century this poetry shows especially active life, and the most ancient examples of it, preserved to this day, belong to this century. Ballads about Robin Hood were very popular)

2. Renaissance(In the 16th century, the development of capitalism proceeds rapidly. Landowners prefer the wool industry to cultivating the land. Sheep breeding leads to landlessness among peasants. The discovery of America, the growth of industry and cities are increasingly pushing England to fight for supremacy on the seas and will soon give Shakespeare an opportunity in The Merchant of Venice » talk about a rich merchant whose ships transport goods all over the world.

At the beginning of the 16th century and at the beginning of the next, there are two great literary monuments: Thomas More's Utopia and Francis Bacon's Novum Organum.

Thomas More is a typical representative of English humanism. His "Utopia" - public organization, built in the spirit of humanist ideals. Its goal is the happiness of a person, the well-being of the entire community. Medieval spiritualism, those consolations that the Catholic Church offered beyond the grave in exchange for earthly suffering, are alien to him. He desires joy here on earth. Therefore, in his community there is no property, compulsory labor prevails for all its members, work alternates in the city and in the countryside, complete religious tolerance is established, thanks to the ideal organization of society there are no crimes, etc.

Bacon's work is a book from which one can develop positive thought. The author proceeds from observation and experience as sources of knowledge of the truth; he believes that he does not know what lies beyond them. The 16th century was the heyday of English humanism, which arose here later than in Italy and met the Reformation. Classical literature and Italian poetry have a great influence on English literature.

The sonnet form flourished, introduced by Thomas Wyatt and followed by the more talented Earl of Surrey.

John Lyly writes the novel "Euphues", which marked the beginning of euphuism. The best novel in this style is Rosalind by Thomas Lodge.

The shepherd's romance, characteristic of the Renaissance, became widespread in England. One of the most famous novels of this kind is “Arcadia”, written by Philip Sidney. The fame of Sidney, who was imitated by dozens of poets over the course of a whole century, was shared by Edmund Spenser, the author of the famous “Fairy Queen,” a poem that attracted his contemporaries not with the depth of its content, but with the bizarre diversity and brightness of colors, intricate and complex intrigue, the extraordinary fantastic nature of the plot, and the splendor of the paintings. and images. But English literature of the Renaissance reaches its greatest brilliance in the field of theater. In the 15th century, the medieval mystery became a frozen form and showed no tendency to further development, thanks to the reformation, which supplanted it, promoting the development of other dramatic genres. The following are becoming popular: morality plays, scenes based on scenes from sacred history, “interludes”, comic performances that gradually replaced mystery plays and morality plays, “masks” - magnificent, very complex performances combining mythology, allegory and extravaganza, accompanied by symbolic dances and music, the forerunners of ballet and operas.

Elizabethan era: In the era of Elizabeth, the theater reaches such a flourishing, which history has not known, meets the tastes of all classes of society, depicting the tragic moments of English history, the tragedies of kings and aristocracy, and family dramas the bourgeoisie, and the rough morals of the urban lower classes, introducing jokes and humor that equally captivate both the aristocracy and the urban crowd. Most of the playwrights of the Elizabethan era are marked by originality and talent, reflecting the prevailing tastes of one or another group of the population: Robert Greene, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Webster. All these names were obscured by the name of Shakespeare)

3. The era of Cromwell and the Restoration(This was the English theater under Elizabeth and her successors - James I and Charles I. After the victory of the bourgeois revolution of 1648, which executed the king, the English theater was again persecuted, and literature acquired a harsh character. Poetry gave way to prose. Brutal political struggle led to the disappearance of literature for entertainment and gave impetus to the development of political literature. Writers and thinkers of the era of Cromwell (who ruled until 1658) and the Restoration - John Milton (1608-1674), Thomas Hobbes (1578-1679), John Locke (1632-1704) - staged the most important problems democracy, church, education, freedom of the press, religious tolerance, etc. It was this educational movement that had a powerful influence on French philosophers in the next century, from where it spread throughout Europe. Milton, defending the revolution against the monarchy, published “Defense of the English People” and the famous “Areopagitica” - a wonderful pamphlet in defense of freedom of the press. In his poem “Paradise Lost,” he was a representative of Puritan ideals, spoke about the beginning of the world, about the struggle between God and Satan, about the expulsion of the first people from paradise, thus again recreating biblical tales, transforming them according to the ideas of the Renaissance. Another pathetic work of the Puritan trend is “The Pilgrim's Progress” by John Bunyan (1628-1688). Locke denied innate ideas and the only source of all knowledge declared the impressions that our senses receive from external objects. Following Milton, Locke anticipated Rousseau's theory of the social contract and the right of the people to refuse obedience to authority if it violates the law. During the era of Cromwell, the theater died down, classical traditions were maintained only among the persecuted supporters of the royal house. After the Restoration, the theater opened again, funny comedies of manners with not always decent content appeared (Wycherley, Congreve and others), gallant literature was revived and, finally, classicism arose French type. Its representative was John Dryden (1631-1700) - a typical unprincipled poet of the dissolute court society of the restoration, an unsuccessful imitator of Corneille and Racine, who strictly defended the three unities and, in general, all classical rules.)

4. Augustinian era ( After 1688, with the establishment of the Constitution, the tone of literature was set by the bourgeoisie, whose influence was clearly felt both in novels and on the stage. The new consumer demands his own literature, images of family virtues, honest merchants, sensitivity, nature, etc. He is not touched by tales about classical heroes, about the exploits of the aristocratic ancestors of court society. He needs a satire on loose secular mores. Moral and satirical magazines appeared - “Chatterbox”, “Spectator”, “Guardian” - Stil and Addison, with talented everyday essays exposing luxury, emptiness, vanity, ignorance and other vices of the society of that time. The exemplary classical poetry of Pope, the author of the Essay on Man, is didactic, satirical and moral in nature. England gave impetus not only to the liberation ideas of the French encyclopedists, but also laid the foundation for moralizing sentimental literature, that novel of morals that spread throughout Europe. Samuel Richardson, author of Pamela, Clarissa and Grandisson, brings out virtuous bourgeois girls and contrasts them with dissolute aristocrats, idealizes bourgeois virtues and forces the corrupted representatives of the chewing golden youth to reform. Sterne writes his "Sentimental Journey" and "Tristram Shandy". Fielding is the author of "Sir Joseph Adrouse" and "Tom Jones", less sentimental than Richardson, but just as moralizing, just as attentive to family relationships, an observant realist, covering the morals of both towns and villages. Goldsmith, the author of The Vicar of Wickfield, and a number of other writers create a truly sensitive epic of the works and days of bourgeois society. The exponent of these sentiments in the lyrics is Thomson, author of “The Seasons”. And in drama, England is a pioneer and creates not only sentimental theater, but also its theory. New playwrights - Lillo, author of The Merchant of London, portraying touching story reformed young merchant, Cumberland, Edward Moore destroyed the three unities, abolished the poetic form and solemn language. classical tragedy and proved that not only sovereigns and nobles are exposed to misfortunes and suffering - ideas that formed the basis of Diderot’s thoughts on drama. Daniel Defoe with his famous novel “Robinson Crusoe” is the most complete ideologist of the middle bourgeoisie, expressing its desires and the idea that it has about itself and its place in the state. Jonathan Swift, in his famous Gulliver's Travels, caustically ridicules modern English society.

Second half of the 18th century. in general, it is rich in diverse talents, illuminating from different sides the psychological changes that accompanied the growth of the bourgeoisie, which gradually occupied dominant positions. Among others, it is necessary to note T. Smollett, the author of adventure novels - “The Adventures of Roderick Random”, “The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle”, which combine elements of classicism with the artistic techniques of Spanish picaresque, with romantic fiction and at the same time with real images - novels, in which there is a lot of humor, satire and even the bitterness of a person not spoiled by success. Next, - Sheridan, author of the famous comedy "School for Scandal", a witty and evil satire on social vices. Among the poets of this era, two are major predecessors of romanticism: Collins, in whose “Odes” the romantic invention, rich and varied content, tenderness of feeling and elegiac moods do not quite get along with the Pindaric classical tradition, which restrains his free inspiration; Thomas Gray, writer of elegies, whose classical sense of proportion regulates the impulse of free inspiration without prejudice. The features of approaching romanticism are even more evident in Mackenzie’s novels (“Man of Feelings,” “Julia de Rubinier”). Mackenzie imitated Stern, Richardson and Rousseau, but introduced into his work that confusion of opposing feelings, that complexity of experiences that would later become characteristic of romanticism. Walpole's "Castle of Otranto" is already a real "Gothic novel" with medieval castles, their secrets and eerie moods. Clara Reeve came out of the Walpole school. In her novel (“The Old English Baron”) there is more natural feeling; there are also elements of Richardsonian moralizing. Following her is Anna Radcliffe, who can be considered the first representative of romanticism. Novels: “The Castles of Altin and Denbane”, “The Mysteries of Udolpho”, “The Italian”, etc. - typical genre romantic novel with dungeons, daggers, secret doors, sensitive, flawless girls pursued by bandits, noble devoted servants, etc. The type of Byronic hero is anticipated in The Italian. )

5. Romanticism ( Romanticism - as a school - did not exist in England. Here, as in France and Germany, there was no group of writers united on a romantic platform. And yet, a number of typical signs of romanticism that distinguished English literature in the first decades of the 19th century give the right to talk about the romantic movement in England. These signs were: protest against classical rationality, especially against classical rules and contrasting them with individual poetic freedom; further, interest in nationality and antiquity, in the Middle Ages - as opposed to Antiquity, which was the main content of classicism; interest in the exotic, which attracted the attention of English romantics to Scotland, the country of ancient folk songs and legends. Nature and the countryside flow into English romantic poetry in a wide stream. Finally, revolutionary sentiments, passion for the French Revolution, and political radicalism played a major role in English poetry of the romantic period. The singer of the village, a republican and an admirer of the French Revolution was Robert Burns. Godwin, in his novel “The Adventures of Caleb Williams” and other writings, defends the most revolutionary ideas of his time not only in the field of politics, but also in the field of education and marriage, going ahead of the then English revolutionary thoughts. The so-called "Lake School" (from the residence around the lakes) includes a number of poets. Of these, Wordsworth was the head of the school. A dreamy poet in love with nature of small phenomena, which he knew how to make sublime and touching, he, together with his friend Coleridge, was a representative of that movement in romanticism, which, along with love for nature, introduced simple, unartificial language, images of patriarchal antiquity, contemplation and dreaminess. The third poet of the lake school, Southey, wrote in the spirit of his friends, adding fantastic pictures of the exotic countries of Mexico, India, and Arabia to the idyllic images of lake poetry. And the poets of the lake school were interested in the revolution, but not for long. Wordsworth and Coleridge traveled to Germany, where they were influenced by German romantic idealism and ended their journey in pure contemplation. Next to the populist romanticism of the lake school, the greatest poet of the era, Byron, was a representative of revolutionary aristocratic romance. Despising the high society society with which he was connected by his origin, having cut himself off from his class, not seeing anything attractive in the representatives of capital, greedy and corrupt traders, Byron in his youth burst out with a fiery speech in defense of the workers, but later did not return to this issue, until all his life he remained a declassed aristocrat, a rebellious individualist revolutionary, a singer of dissatisfied, disappointed natures, starting with the mysterious demonic wanderers and robbers (“Gyaur”, “Lara”, etc.). The same image is deepened in “Childe Harold,” which became the subject of widespread imitation in European poetry. Byron ended with a protest against the universe and world order in his godless tragedies (“Manfred” and “Cain”). Towards the end of his life, Byron came close to political and social satire (“Don Juan”, “ Bronze Age"). Extreme individualism, a sense of dissatisfaction, an attraction to the East and exotic countries, a love of nature and solitude, dreams of the past near ruins and monuments - all this makes Byron a poet of English romanticism, and his angry, accusatory protests against all forms of violence and exploitation, his connections with the Italian Carbonari and the struggle for the liberation of Greece made him a singer of freedom in the eyes of the European intelligentsia. His friend Percy Bysshe Shelley, a brilliant lyric poet, also an aristocrat, like Byron, combines in his poetry the world of fantastic romance with a revolutionary protest against the emerging bourgeois-capitalist society. In his poem “Queen Mab,” he depicts this society where everything is “sold in the public market,” where, with the help of severe hunger, the owner drives his slaves under the yoke of wage labor. Shelley appears as a similar revolutionary-romantic in his other poems (“Laon and Cytne”, “Prometheus Unchained”, etc.). His wife Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, pioneered the question of the scientist's responsibility. Walter Scott, like two great poets, reveals a tendency towards antiquity. He was the creator of the historical novel (Ivanhoe, Rob-Roy, Quentin Dorward, The Templars, etc.), in which he knew how to combine verisimilitude and realism with rich romantic fiction and depict the most dramatic moments of the national history of Scotland and England .

In the first thirds of the XIX V. The first stage of the struggle between the nobility and the industrial bourgeoisie, which is increasingly becoming master of the situation, ends. The struggle against the Corn Laws, Chartism and the actions of the working class, powerfully declaring their demands, relegate feudal romance and patriarchal dreamy poetry to the background. The city with its practical interests, the growing bourgeoisie, the beginning social struggle between it and the working class become the main content of English literature, and realism - its predominant form. Instead of a medieval castle - a factory town, instead of distant antiquity - vibrant modern industrial life, instead of fantastic images of inventive imagination - an accurate, almost photographic, image of reality. Bulwer-Lytton, still continuing the traditions of romanticism, an aristocrat by birth, filling his novels with transformations, miracles and criminality, leaves us, however, a number of literary documents of social significance, depicting the process of impoverishment and decay of the nobility (novels - “Pelgam”, “Night and Morning” " and etc.)

6. Realism(Dickens, the most famous writer of this era, develops a broad picture of the life of bourgeois-capitalist society in his famous novels: “Hard Times”, “David Copperfield”, “Dombey and Son”, “The Pickwick Club”, “Nicholas Nickleby”, etc. , creates a gallery of capitalist types. Dickens's petty-bourgeois, humane, intellectual point of view prevents him from taking the side of the revolutionary part of the working class. He gives stunning pictures of the dryness, greed, cruelty, ignorance and selfishness of capitalists, but he writes for the instruction of the exploiters and does not think about organization forces of the exploited. Its purpose is to touch human hearts a spectacle of suffering, and not to awaken hatred and call for rebellion. Thackeray, the author of the novels Vanity Fair and Pendennis, is more embittered, more sarcastic and cruel in his criticism of the noble-bourgeois society. The author sees no way out. He is filled with pessimism and irritation. He, like Dickens, is unable to understand the liberating role of the emerging revolutionary labor movement. Oscillating as always between big capital and the labor movement, petty-bourgeois thought sought conciliatory paths. Kingsley, in his novels “Yeast” and “Alton Locke,” depicts the horrors of exploitation and need, but sees salvation in Christian socialism, in the “spirit of God,” in the repentant rich who turned to charitable causes. Disraeli, later the famous Lord Beaconsfield, leader of the Tories (novels “Sibilla”, etc.), depicting in bright colors the vices of bourgeois-aristocratic society and the misfortunes of peasants and workers, speaks out negatively against the revolution and sees saviors in the person of energetic and active aristocrats who take on itself the business of building the people's well-being. Not only the novel, but also lyric poetry is inspired by social topics, and the main question raised by the era - the question of the exploitation of the working class by capital - is resolved in a spirit of vague humanity and moral improvement. Poets, like Thomas Hood or Ebenezer Elliot (q.v.), in their poems depict individual moments of the difficult existence of workers and urban poverty, create songs against the Corn Laws, and give images of working women driven by poverty to prostitution and suicide. But their positive ideals also boil down to charity: to some lady who comprehended her duty thanks to an edifying dream and devoted her life to alleviating the lot of the poor.

As we approach the end of the 19th century. in European, in particular in English literature, the realistic and social trends begin to give way to the reviving ideas of individualism and aestheticism. Instead of militant capitalists, paving the way for themselves with struggle and energy, creating enterprises, instead of Dombey and Gradgrinds, the tone for literature is beginning to be set by those representatives of the bourgeoisie who received their capital by inheritance, who did not go through the harsh school of life, who can enjoy the heritage of their fathers, who have become lovers and connoisseurs arts, buyers of expensive paintings and elegant volumes of poetry. A literature of refined experiences and fleeting impressions is flourishing. Individualism, pure art, eroticism, the cult of moods are the distinctive features of the literature of the end of the century. True, the main theme of the era - the organization of society, the abolition of exploitation, the position of the working class - occupies great place in literature, but also the socialism of the end of the century is aesthetic socialism. John Ruskin starts from an ideal beautiful life, calls society back to the old patriarchal craft forms of production and rebels against industrialism and capitalism. He inspires the school of artists known as the Pre-Raphaelites, among whom we see Rossetti and William Morris, the author of the novels “The Dream of John Bol” and “News from Nowhere,” a defender of socialism and at the same time a passionate esthete, who, together with Rossetti, sought the ideals of beauty in past centuries, who dreamed of causing a social revolution through the aesthetic education of workers. Next to the Pre-Raphaelites are Tennyson, a poet of pure art, free from the motives of social struggle, Robert Browning and his wife Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, Swinburne, in whose poetry the ideals of eternal beauty and the protection of the exploited are vaguely intertwined. The most popular of the poets of this movement was Oscar Wilde, the “king of aesthetes”, in his “Planes” and in the novel “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, who created the “religion of beauty” and the cult of liberating fiction, proclaiming the only reality of the creation of art, asserting that art creates life , and not vice versa.

The continuing growth of the industry introduces new topics into literature - urbanism, machinism. Literature becomes dynamic, satire against the capitalist way of life develops. Bernard Shaw is the most brilliant and paradoxical of satirical writers, a virtuoso of sophistry, a witty author of hoaxes, a moderate socialist, who, however, intends to improve the situation of the workers with the help of the bourgeoisie. H.G. Wells is the author of science fiction novels, imbued with the pathos of technology, depicting the wonders of industry, magically transforming life, connecting planets, allowing a person to move into both the past and the future. This process of simultaneous growth of socialist tendencies and conservative-individualistic and aesthetic aspirations is accompanied by a number of diverse literary phenomena. Imperialism and chauvinism, which has its representative in the person of Chamberlain, the Boer War, the cult of Kitchener - all this finds its literary reflection in the works of Rudyard Kipling, the most talented of nationalist writers, the author of colonial stories and poems, where the colonial policy of England is exalted, where oppression backward peoples is glorified as the implementation of a great civilizing mission.

Another phenomenon is the reaction against machinism, causing a revival in the literature of religious movements, impulses in other world, theosophy, spiritualism, occultism, etc. Already Samuel Beutler and George Meredith, so dissimilar in other respects, are however doing a common job, paving the way for spiritualism, trying to build a new religion on the foundations of modernity, using experience and research for this. We find features of romantic symbolism in the works of Yeats, a representative of the so-called. “Celtic revival”, and another of its representatives, also an Irishman, more prone to realism and naturalism, Synge. Another form of protest against machinism was Nietzscheanism, the cult of force and hypertrophied aestheticism, all those modernist ideas, the influence of which is easy to discern not only in Oscar Wilde, but also in the work of Stevenson, a sophisticated author of exemplary adventure novels, as well as George Moore, who spoke almost the language of Zarathustra (in “Confession of a Young Man”) about his contempt for compassion and Christian morality, about the beauty of cruelty, strength and the beauty of crime.

This same hostility to the industrial age gave rise to a current of pessimism in English literature among those writers who could not reconcile machinism with peace of mind. James Thomson is one of the wonderful poets, through all of whose poetry the main theme runs as a leitmotif - the torment of life, the gloomy grandeur of despair. The most popular and, perhaps, the deepest of the pessimists is Thomas Hardy, the creator of the grandiose dramatic epic “The Dynasts” and a number of novels, mainly from the life of the village and province. According to his teachings, the fate of man is weighed down by a dark and evil fate, an incomprehensible accident, a cruel inevitability. An enemy of prejudice and modern marriage, which puts a burden on a woman, an enemy of civilization in the spirit of Rousseau or Tolstoy, Hardy does not find a way out of the thoughts tormenting him. The same pessimism permeates George Robert Gissing, a writer of everyday life of the London lower classes and the starving literary bohemia, a student of Dickens, but deprived of his humor and his philanthropic faith, who expected nothing equally “neither from the philanthropy of the rich, nor from the rebellion of the poor.” The basic tone of Joseph Conrad's work is also pessimistic. Conrad is one of the most powerful and difficult writers modernity, amazes with the richness and diversity of the language. He strives to penetrate into the depths of human nature and use all means to convey the impression of the real to our consciousness: “the colorfulness of painting, the plasticity of sculpture and the magical effect of music.” He depicts all types of human suffering, he does not idealize man, because he is convinced that ineradicable egoism makes a person a wolf to another person. There is more everyday life and healthy realism in Arnold Bennett, a portrayer of the morals of the lower strata of the provincial bourgeoisie, and more true social instinct in Galsworthy, which the source sees social conflicts in the existence of private property. Chesterton is an enemy of flabbiness, a preacher of activism, but the activism of medieval corporations, a zealous Catholic, convinced that the development of industry is the source of social slavery. James Barry - a writer of everyday life of Scottish peasants, Conan Doyle - a famous author of historical and police novels, Robert Hichens - a satirist and romanticist, Israel Zangwill - author of "Children of the Ghetto", a writer of everyday life of the Jewish poor, and a number of other, less significant ones, complete the literary work of the eldest group of contemporary writers.

The paths of the new generation have not yet been clearly outlined. In most cases, these are realists, who, however, are not averse to touching on the occult powers of the soul. This influence corresponds to amorphism in literature, a reaction against French plasticity. Hugh Walpole, one of the most fashionable novelists, himself easily follows fashion; Oliver Onions gained fame with a trilogy in which he describes bohemians, models, typists, poor artists, etc.; Gilbert Cannan, Compton Mackenzie, Lawrence and a number of other young writers who are currently attracting the attention of the English reader touch on a wide variety of topics, depict various classes of society, criticize social values, but their own worldview most often comes down to vague humanitarianism. They are stronger in criticism than in their positive ideas, and none of them has yet succeeded in surpassing the great "old men" like Shaw, Wales or Hardy.)

7. The period of World War II and later ( Graham Greene, Iris Murdoch, Harold Pinter, Aldous Huxley, JK Rowling and others. )

Content
CONTENT
Preface 3
MIDDLE AGES
Anglo-Saxon literature
Ancient Britain (5). Social life and culture of the Anglo-Saxons
(5). Folk character Anglo-Saxon poetry (7). Poets-singers (7).
"Beowulf" (8). Formal features of Anglo-Saxon poetry (11).
Church and monastic literature of the Anglo-Saxons (11). Caedmon (12).
Kynewulf (13). Anglo-Saxon prose (13).
Anglo-Norman literature
Norman conquest and rise feudal culture in England
(14). Church and monastic literature (16).
Knightly poetry. 17
general characteristics(17). Novels about King Arthur and the Knights
Round Table (17). Major Arthurian legends (18). Basic
motives of chivalric novels (21).
Folk poetry. 23
Literature of the 14th century
England in the 14th century (24). "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" (26). William
Langland and his “Vision of Peter the Plowman” (28). Gower (31).
Chaucer... 33
Life and Person of Chaucer (34). First period (36). Second period
(37). Third period. "The Canterbury Tales" (41).
Literature of the 15th century
The crisis of feudal society in England (47). "Le Morte d'Arthur"
Malory (48). Folk ballads England and Scotland (48). Medieval
drama (50).
RENAISSANCE
Renaissance culture (54). England in the Renaissance (56), Three
period of humanistic ^Significance.* England (59). Thomas More (60).
479
Poetry of the English Renaissance
Wyeth (63). Surrey (64). Sydney (65).
Spencer 66
Biography (66). "Shepherd Calendar" (67). Spencer's lyrics
(67). "Fairy Queen" (67)
Relsey (69). "Metaphysical Poetry" (70).
Humanistic drama before Shakespeare
The vernacularity of English Renaissance drama (71). "Ralph
Royster Doyster" (72). “Needle of the gossip Hammer Girton” (72). "Gorbo-
duk" (72).
Shakespeare's predecessors (73). Lily (73). Green (74). Kid (75).
Marlo (76).
Construction of theaters and acting art (77).
Shakespeare 79
Biography (79). Question about authorship (81). Chronology of creativity (81).
General characteristics (82). Periods of Shakespeare's creativity (83).
The first period of Shakespeare's work... 84
Chronicle plays from the history of England (84). Comedies (87). Knot dramas
first period (89). "Romeo and Juliet" (90). "The Merchant of Venice"
(90).
Second, the period of Shakespeare's work.. 91
General characteristics (91). "Hamlet" (93). "Othello" (95). "King
Lear" (96). "Macbeth" (99). "Timon of Athens" (101). "Measure for Measure" (102).
Sonnets (103).
The third period of Shakespeare's work.... 104
. Romantic dramas (104). "Storm" (105). Shakespeare's Realism (106).
English drama after Shakespeare
Ben Jonson (108). The theory of “humors” (109). Dramaturgy Ben Jonson
p (PO). "Volpone" (111). "Bartholomew's Fair" (111).
Beaumont and Fletcher (111). The Decline of Humanistic Drama (112).
XVII CENTURY
"Literature of the English bourgeois
revolutions of the 17th century
Liy bourgeois revolution (114).
Milton.... 115
The first period of creativity (116). The second period of creativity (117).
Sonnets (118). Third period (118). "Paradise Lost" (118). "Returned
paradise" (120). "Samson the Fighter" (120). Artistic features
Milton's poetry (121).
Literature of the Restoration period
Restoration of the Stuart monarchy (122).
Dryden. . ..
Dryden's Poetry (123). Dryden's Dramaturgy (123). Drydep-cree-
tick (123).
Comedy of the Restoration (124).
Bunyan (124). "The Pilgrim's Path" (125). "Badman" (125).
THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT
England in the 18th century (127). Educational (129). general characteristics
educational literature and stages of its development (132).
First period of the Enlightenment
Alexander Pop. . . . ..
Biography (133). Pop's aesthetic views (134). Pastoral
poetry (134). "The Stealing of the Lock" (134). Philosophical poems(135). Translations
Butt (135). Pop's satire (135). Pop's poetic style (136).
Satirical and moralizing magazines
Addison and Style (136). "Chatterbox" (137). "Spectator" (138).
The beginning of the English realistic novel
Defoe's
Biography (139). "Robinson Crusoe" (142). Secondary novels
Defoe (146). Defoe's Realism (146).
J Swift
Life and work (148). "Gulliver's Travels" (152). Realism
Swift (157).
Second period of the Enlightenment
Family-everyday and social-everyday novel
J Richardson. . . .
Biography (159). "Pamela" (159). "Clarissa" (160). "Grandison" (161).
Richardson value (161).
l/
Fielding. . . ...
Biography(162). Fielding's dramaturgy (163). "Jonathan Wilde
Great" (163). "Joseph Andrews" (164). "Tom Jones" (166). "Emilia*
(169). Theory of the Novel (171). Fielding's style (172).
Smollett. . . .
Biography (173). "Roderick Random" (174). "Peregrine Pickle" (175)
"Humphry Clinker" (175). The significance of Smollett's novels (176).
479
Third period of literature of the 18th century
Sentimentalism and pre-romanticism
General characteristics of the period (177).
Novel
*
Goldsmith... 179
Biography (179). "Citizen of the World" (180). Comedies (180). "Desolate
der I" (180). "The Vicar of Wakefield" (181).
Stern. . . . .... 183
Bio 1fia (183). "Tristram Shandy" (183). "Sentimental Journey"
" (5).
Drama
Bourgeois drama. Lillo (187)
Sheridan 189
Biography (188). "Rivals" (189). "School of Scandal" (189).
18th century poetry
Stages of development of English poetry of the 18th century (191). Thomson (191).
Jung (191). Cooper (192). Crabb (193).
Poetry of pre-romanticism (193). "Ossian" by Macpherson (194). Chatterton
(195). Blay to (195).
Berne 196
Biography (196). Burns's poetry (197).
Roman at the end of the 18th century
Gothic novel (200). Walpole (201). Redcliffe (202). Maturin (202).
The meaning of the Gothic novel (203).
ROMANTICISM
England at the end of the 18th century and the first third of the 19th century (204). General;?
characteristics of romanticism (206). Stages of development of romanticism (210).
First period of English Romanticism
Godwin (211). .“Caleb Williams” (211).
"Rter School". . . . 212
Wordsworth (213). Early works (213). "Lyrical Ballads"
(213). Intimate and political lyrics (215). Long poems (215).
Coleridge (216). Early poetry (216). "The Old Sailor" (216). "Han Ku-
bly" and "Christabel" (217). Southey (218). Southey's Poetry (218).
Second period of English Romanticism
Yaairon. ...... 219
Life path - (220). Byron's early work (222). "Pilgrimage
Childe Harold" (222). Oriental or romantic poems
(225). Lyrics (226). Political poems (226). Swiss
period (227). "The Prisoner of Chillon" (228). "Manfred" (228). Italian
Chinese period (228). "Beppo" (229). Political poems and satires (229).
Historical tragedies (231). "Cain" (232). "Don Juan" (235). Significant!,
and the influence of Byron's poetry (241).
Shelley
. Biography (242). Shelley's literary views (243). "Queen Maf
(243). Early lyric poems (244). "The Rise of Islam" (245). "ABOUT**
Godless Prometheus" (246). "Cenci" (247). Political lyrics<р-).
Poems about nature and love (249).
Kite
(Biography (251). Social motives in Keats's poetry (252). Lyrma
and poems by Keats (253).
Jomas Moore. . . ....
Early Poems (256). "Irish Melodies" (256). "Lalla Ruk" (256;
Satires (257). “Songs of different nations” (257). Biography of Byron (257)
Walter Scott
Biography (257). Poetic works (259). Creator of historical
novel (260). Scottish Novels (260). Novels from English
history (262). "Ivanhoe" (262). Other novels from English history
ria (263). Novels from the history of France and other European countries
(264). A novel from modern life (265). Walter's artistic method
Scott (265).
19TH CENTURY REALISM
England in the 30-50s of the 19th century (269).
Social poetry of the Chartist era
General characteristics of the poetry of the Chartist era (271). Thomas Good (271).
Ebenezer Elliot (272). Thomas Cooper (273). Ernest Jones (273). Gerald
Massey (274). Mass Chartist poetry (275).
19th century critical realism
Apologists of the bourgeoisie (276). Romantic critique of capitalism.
Carlisle (277). Critical realism (278).
Dickens
Life path (282).
Dickens's first period
"Essays" (284). "The Pickwick Club Papers" (284)
Second period
"Oliver Twist" (287). "Nicholas Nickleby" (287). "Antiquities Shop"
(288). "Barnaby Rage" (289). "American Notes" (290). "Marty
Chuzzlewit" (290). "Christmas Stories" (292).
Third period
General characteristics (293). "Dombey and Son" (293). "David Koppsr
field" (296). "Bleak House" (298). "Hard Times" (299). "Kroshk
Dorrit" (302). "A Tale of Two Cities" (304).
481
"Fourth period. . . . . . . 306
""Great Expectations" (306). "Our Mutual Friend" (307). Features of realism
Dickens (308).
/ Teknerey. , . . ". 312
Biography (313). General characteristics (314). "The Book of Snobs" (316).
"Vanity Fair" (318). "Pendennis" (322). "Nyokomy" (323)". Historical
novels (326). Thackeray's narrative style (328).
V Elizabeth Gaskell and the Bronte sisters?
Elizabeth Gaskell (330). Charlotte Brontë (331). Emily Brontë (334).
SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY
England in the second half of the 19th century (335). Social Darwinism
(336). Positivism (336). Realism and neo-romanticism in second literature
half of the 19th century (337).
Realistic novel of the second half of the 19th century
Dz/sorge Eliot 338
Biography (338). "Adam Beed" (339). "Mill on the Floss" (340).
"Silas Marner" (340). "Romola" (341). "Felix Holt, Radical" (341).
"Middlemarch" (342). "Daniel Deronda" (343). General characteristics
Eliot's realism (343).
Meredith 344
Biography (344). General characteristics (344). "Richard's Trial"
Feverel" (346). "Beauchamp's Career" (346). "Egoist" (347).
Butler 348
Biography (348). "Erewhon" (348). "Life Path" (351).
, Garoi.... 352
V Biography (353). General characteristics (354). "Under the green tree
"(356). “Away from the noisy crowd” (357). "Homecoming"
(357). "The Mayor of Casterbridge" (358). “Tscc of the D'Urberville family” (359).
i “Di#d invisible” (360).
Poetry of the second half of the 19th century
Victorian Poets (361). Tennyson (361). Robert Browning (363).
Elizabeth Barrett-Browning (365).
Aesthetic criticism of capitalism. Ruskin (366). Pre-Raphaelites
> (368).Rosseti (368). Sunnburn (369).
Narrative genres of neo-romantic literature
C Stevenson 370
Biography (370). Literary views (371). "Treasure Island"
(372). Other novels (372). "The Strange Case of Jekyll and Mr.
Haida" (373).

482
Morris... 3 4
Biography (374). Morris's poetry (375). Utopian novels (375).
Decadence
Oscar Wilde. 378
Biography (378). General characteristics (378). "Portrait of Dorian"
Gray" (380). Drama (381). Recent works (382).
XX CENTURY
England in the era of imperialism (384). General characteristics of the literature
(387).
Kipling G589
Biography (389). General characteristics (38 "U). First period (391).
Kipling's poetry (392). "The Jungle Books" (393). Second period (395).
Galsworthy 397
Biography (397). General characteristics (397). "Nilla Rubain" (399).
Island of the Pharisees" (399). "Proprietor" and "Estate" (400). "Brotherhood" (401).
"Struggle" (402). "Freelands" (403). "The Forsyte Saga" and "Modern
comedy" (404). "End of the Chapter" (414).
Wells. . . . . . 416
Biography (4.16). Characteristics of the creative method (419). Social
fantasies,"~written before the end of the First World War (420). Social
domestic novels (425). Late science fiction novels (426).
Bernard Show. . 430
Biography (430). Social and literary views (433)7"Dra~
maturgical method (435). “Unpleasant plays” (437). "Pleasant plays"
(439). "Caesar and Cleopatra"* (441). "Man and Superman" (441).
"Major Barbara" (443). On the eve of the First World War (445). In the years
First World War (445). Drama of the Show of the 20s and 30s (448).
Newest literature (1918-1955)
Decadent literature. Joyce (453). ,Lawrence (454). T. S. Eliot
(455). Huxley (456). I j
I Critical realism and naturalize (457)UMoem (457).|/Mansfield
/ (458). Aldington (459)/Zhronin (460):/ Priestley" (4~bP- Forster (462).
Progressive Literature (463). Tressol (464). Fox (464). Cauduel
(465). O'Casey (466). Gibbons (468). Mac Diarmid (469). Lindsay (469).
Aldridge (471). Gwyn. Thomas (473).
Brief index of names 474

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