第一部分　章節(jié)題庫(kù)（含名校考研真題）

第1章　早期和中世紀(jì)的英國(guó)文學(xué)

填空題

1Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous work _____ contains 20-odd stories unified by a fictitious pilgrimage.（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)2008研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

2_____ is generally considered to be Chaucer’s masterpiece.（國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院2007研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》被公認(rèn)為是喬叟的代表作。

3The English great writer Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343 and died in 1400. His most important work is _____, a long poem made up of a general introduction and 24 stories.（南開(kāi)大學(xué)2007研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】喬叟的代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》，是一首由一篇序言和24個(gè)故事組成的長(zhǎng)詩(shī)。

4The most magnificent prose work of the 15th century is Le Morte D’ Arthur concerning with _____ legend.

【答案】Arthurian

【解析】15世紀(jì)左右公認(rèn)的集大成作品為《亞瑟王之死》，是關(guān)于亞瑟王的傳奇故事。

5The only important prose writer in the 15th century is Sir _____.

【答案】Thomas Malory

【解析】十五世紀(jì)最著名的散文家是托馬斯·馬洛禮爵士，他將眾多的關(guān)于亞瑟王的傳奇故事收錄為集大成之作《亞瑟王之死》，是英國(guó)第一部重要的散文。

6The fifteenth century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English _____.

【答案】ballads

【解析】十五世紀(jì)英國(guó)歌謠開(kāi)始興起。

7_____ is Chaucer’s longest complete poem (about 8, 000 lines) and his greatest artistic achievement.

【答案】Troilus and Criseyde

【解析】《特羅勒斯和克麗西德》是喬叟最長(zhǎng)的一首完整詩(shī)篇，長(zhǎng)達(dá)8000多行。

8The Canterbury Tales contains in fact a general prologue and only _____ tales, of which two are left unfinished.

【答案】24

【解析】喬叟的代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》計(jì)劃寫(xiě)120個(gè)故事，但最后只完成總序和24個(gè)故事，其中兩個(gè)未完成。

9Critics tend to divide Chaucer’s literary career into three periods: the _____ period, the _____ period and the _____ period.

【答案】French, Italian, English

10Among the Middle English poets, three are the greatest. One is the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The other two are _____ and _____.

【答案】William Langland, Geoffrey Chaucer

11The Canterbury Tales contains the _____ and 24 tales, two of which left unfinished.

【答案】General Prologue

12Chaucer employed the _____ couplet in writing his greatest work The Canterbury Tales.

【答案】heroic

13The framework in The Canterbury Tales is a _____.

【答案】pilgrimage

14When Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400, he was the first to be buried in _____.

【答案】Westminster Abbey

15Besides Chaucer, King James I also wrote in verses of seven lines, so this kind of verse came to be called the _____.

【答案】rhyme royal

16The _____ is an important stream of the British literature in the 15th century.

【答案】popular ballad

17The _____ century has traditionally been described as the barren age in English literature.

【答案】15th

18In the 14th century, the two most important writers are _____ and Langland.

【答案】Geoffrey Chaucer

【解析】喬叟和蘭格倫是英國(guó)14世紀(jì)兩位最重要的作家。

19Today Chaucer is acclaimed not only as “the father of English poetry” but also as “the father of English fiction”. His masterpiece is _____.

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】喬叟被譽(yù)為“英國(guó)詩(shī)歌和英國(guó)小說(shuō)之父”，其代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》。

20The fifteenth century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English _____.

【答案】ballads

【解析】十五世紀(jì)英國(guó)歌謠開(kāi)始興起。

21The _____ provides a framework for the tales in The Canterbury Tales, and it comprises a group of vivid pictures of various medieval figures.

【答案】Prologue

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》的序言部分提供整本書(shū)的基本框架，生動(dòng)地刻畫(huà)了一群各種各樣的中世紀(jì)人物畫(huà)卷。

22The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer’s greatest work and the greater part of it was written in _____ couplets.

【答案】heroic

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》大部分采用的是英雄雙行體。

23The pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at a place named _____.

【答案】Canterbury

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》講述的是詩(shī)人和其他29名朝覲者一起去坎特伯雷朝拜的故事。

24Chaucer’s work _____ gives us a picture of the condition of English life of his day, such as its work and play, its deeds and dreams, its fun and sympathy.

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】在《坎特伯雷故事集》中，喬叟淋漓盡致地揭露了宗教的腐敗，貴族的驕奢以及當(dāng)時(shí)社會(huì)的其他丑惡現(xiàn)象，同時(shí)也表達(dá)了他的人文主義思想。

25_____ is Chaucer’s longest complete poem (about 8, 000 lines) and his greatest artistic achievement.

【答案】Troilus and Criseyde

【解析】《特羅勒斯和克麗西德》是喬叟最長(zhǎng)的一首完整詩(shī)篇，長(zhǎng)達(dá)8000多行。

26In The Canterbury Tales, from the character of _____, we may see a very vivid sketch of a woman of the middle class, and a colorful picture of the domestic life of that class in Chaucer’s own day.

【答案】the Wife of Bath

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》中，喬叟通過(guò)對(duì)來(lái)自中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的巴斯夫人的生動(dòng)細(xì)膩的描寫(xiě)，展示了當(dāng)時(shí)中產(chǎn)階級(jí)多彩的生活畫(huà)卷。

27The only organic whole poem to come out of the Anglo-Saxons period is _____, an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)2010研）

【答案】Beowulf

【解析】《貝奧武甫》是盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期英國(guó)文學(xué)中偉大的英雄敘事長(zhǎng)詩(shī)，講述了斯堪地那維亞的英雄貝奧武甫的英勇事跡。

28Beowulf is the national epic of the _____.（國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院2007研）

【答案】England

【解析】《貝奧武甫》是英格蘭的民族史詩(shī)。

29Beowulf probably existed in its oral form as early as the _____ century and its hero and his adventures are placed in _____ and southern Sweden rather than in England.（國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院2010研）

【答案】6th; Denmark

【解析】《貝奧武甫》最早在公元六世紀(jì)開(kāi)始口頭傳誦，故事發(fā)生在丹麥和瑞典南部，詩(shī)中并沒(méi)有提及英國(guó)。

30The _____ period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudalism.

【答案】Anglo-Saxon

【解析】盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期，英國(guó)由部族社會(huì)步入封建社會(huì)。

31Angles, Saxons and _____ usually known as Anglo-Saxons are the first Englishmen. Language spoken by them is called _____, which is the foundation of English language and literature.

【答案】Jutes; the Old English

【解析】盎格魯——撒克遜人通常指盎格魯、撒克遜、朱特人三個(gè)部族的人，他們的語(yǔ)言是古英語(yǔ)。

32The literature of the Anglo-Saxon period falls naturally into two divisions, _____ and Christian.

【答案】pagan

【解析】盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期的英國(guó)文學(xué)主要是世俗詩(shī)和宗教詩(shī)兩類。

33In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon prose appeared. The famous prose writers of that period were Venerable Bede and _____.

【答案】Alfred the Great

【解析】阿爾弗雷德大帝和比德是盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期的散文家。

34The Old English poetry can be divided into two groups: the _____ poetry and the _____ poetry.

【答案】secular, religious

35_____ is the most prevailing literary form in the Middle Ages.

【答案】Romance

36The history of English literature begins in the _____ century.

【答案】5th

37_____ is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language.

【答案】Beowulf

【解析】貝奧武甫被保留下來(lái)的古老的英語(yǔ)史詩(shī)。

38The early inhabitants on the island now we call England were _____, a tribe of Celts. From the Britons the island got its name of Britain, the land of Britons. The Britons were a _____ people.

【答案】Britons, primitive

【解析】作為凱爾特一個(gè)部族的不列顛人是英格蘭的早期定居者，不列顛島也因此而得名。

39_____ conquered England on October 14, 1066. From then on began the medieval period.（南開(kāi)大學(xué)2008研）

【答案】Duke of Normandy

【解析】公元1066年，諾曼底公爵，或者叫William, the Conqueror（征服者威廉），占領(lǐng)英格蘭，從此開(kāi)始了中世紀(jì)時(shí)期。

40In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of _____.

【答案】Hastings

【解析】1066年黑斯廷之戰(zhàn)，盎格魯——撒克遜人潰敗，諾曼征服開(kāi)始。

41After the _____ Conquest, feudal system was established in English society.

【答案】Norman

【解析】諾曼征服后英國(guó)封建主義制度建立。

42In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of _____.

【答案】Hastings

【解析】1066年黑斯廷之戰(zhàn)盎格魯——撒克遜人潰敗，諾曼征服開(kāi)始。

43By the time when England entered into feudal society, the society was divided into two classes: _____ and _____.

【答案】landlords; peasants

【解析】英國(guó)進(jìn)入封建社會(huì)后社會(huì)分為地主和農(nóng)民兩大階級(jí)。

選擇題

1_____, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.

A. Geoffrey Chaucer

B. Sir Gawain

C. Francis Bacon

D. John Dryden

【答案】A

【解析】喬叟被譽(yù)為“英國(guó)詩(shī)歌之父”；培根被認(rèn)為是現(xiàn)代科學(xué)的奠基人，他的《培根散文集》被譽(yù)為英國(guó)散文發(fā)展的里程碑。

2Chaucer died on the 25th October 1400, and was buried in

A. Flanders

B. France

C. Italy

D. Westminster Abbey

【答案】D

【解析】1400年10月25日，喬叟逝世，被安葬于威斯敏斯特大教堂，從此威斯敏斯特大教堂一角為文學(xué)大師所留。

3_____ was the first to be buried in the Poet’s Comer of Westminster Abbey.

A. Chaucer

B. Shakespeare

C. Marlowe

D. Spenser

【答案】A

【解析】第一個(gè)被安葬于威斯敏斯特大教堂“詩(shī)人一角”的是喬叟。斯賓塞安葬于其師喬叟的旁邊。

4Chaucer’s earliest work of any length is his _____, a translation of the French Roman de la Rose by Gaillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung, which was a love allegory enjoying widespread popularity in the 13th and 14th centuries not only in France but throughout Europe.

A. The Romaunt of the Rose

B. A Red, Red Rose

C. Piers the Plowmand

D. Troilus and Criseyde

【答案】A

5The second period of Chaucer’s literary career includes mainly the three longer poems written prior to The Canterbury Tales. Among the following works which is NOT the correct one?

A. The House of Fame

B. Troilus and Criseyde

C. The Legend of Good Women

D. The Book of the Duchess

【答案】D

【解析】喬叟第二個(gè)創(chuàng)作時(shí)期的作品具有明顯的意大利文學(xué)痕跡，他這一時(shí)期的作品包括三首長(zhǎng)詩(shī)《名譽(yù)之堂》、《特羅勒斯和克麗西德》和《好婦人的故事》。《公爵夫人之書(shū)》是喬叟第一個(gè)時(shí)期的作品。

6_____ creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the 14th century.

A. Chaucer’s

B. Byron’s

C. Shelley’s

D. Eliot’s

【答案】A

【解析】喬叟的作品栩栩如生地反映了14世紀(jì)下半葉英國(guó)文化發(fā)生的變化。

7Apart from original poems, Chaucer translated various works of French authors, among who is the famous _____.

A. The Canterbury Tales

B. The Romaunt of the Rose

C. The Parliament of Fowls

D. The House of Fame

【答案】B

【解析】《玫瑰傳奇》是喬叟翻譯的一首13世紀(jì)的法國(guó)詩(shī)歌；《禽鳥(niǎo)會(huì)議》和《名譽(yù)之堂》是喬叟第二個(gè)時(shí)期的作品，具有明顯的意大利文學(xué)的痕跡；《坎特伯雷故事集》其代表作，是他第三個(gè)創(chuàng)作時(shí)期的作品。

8Chaucer composes a long narrative poem named _____ based on Boccaccio’s poem Filostrato.

A. The Legend of Good Women

B. Troilus and Criseyde

C. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

D. Beowulf

【答案】B

【解析】薄伽丘的影子在喬叟的作品中隨處可見(jiàn)，他的長(zhǎng)敘事詩(shī)《特羅勒斯和克麗西德》在薄伽丘的Filostrato基礎(chǔ)上創(chuàng)作的。

9Generally speaking, Chaucer’s works fall into three main groups corresponding roughly to the three periods of his adult life. Which period is wrong? _____.

A. The period of French influence (1359-1372)

B. the period of Italian influence (1372-1386)

C. the period of English influence (1386-1400)

D. the period of American influence (1371-1382)

【答案】D

【解析】喬叟的三個(gè)創(chuàng)作時(shí)期分別為：法國(guó)時(shí)期、意大利時(shí)期、英國(guó)時(shí)期。

10In 1066, _____, with his Norman army, succeeded in invading and defeating England.

A. William the Conqueror

B. Julius Caesar

C. Alfred the Great

D. Claudius

【答案】A

【解析】1066年征服者威廉率領(lǐng)他的諾曼底軍隊(duì)打敗英軍成為英倫三島的統(tǒng)治者。

11The story of _____ is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.

A. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

B. The story of Beowulf

C. Piers the plowman

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】A

【解析】亞瑟王傳奇有很多套詩(shī)組成，《高文爵士和綠衣騎士》可謂是頂顛之作；《貝奧武甫》是一首史詩(shī)，它主要記述了英雄貝奧武甫與格倫德?tīng)枺突瘕垜?zhàn)斗的英勇事跡；《農(nóng)夫皮爾斯》是朗格蘭的代表作，作者通過(guò)一系列的夢(mèng)境，對(duì)14世紀(jì)英國(guó)的社會(huì)狀況進(jìn)行了生動(dòng)形象的描述：《坎特伯雷故事集》是喬叟的代表作，在此作品中作者把各種各樣的人聚集在一起，讓處于每個(gè)社會(huì)階層的人講自己最喜歡的故事，以此來(lái)描述當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)社會(huì)的生活。

12After the Norman Conquest, three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke _____.

A. French

B. English

C. Latin

D. Swedish

【答案】A

【解析】諾曼征服后英國(guó)出現(xiàn)了三種語(yǔ)言鼎立的局面。國(guó)王和日耳曼的宮廷貴族使用法語(yǔ)；拉丁語(yǔ)成為教會(huì)和學(xué)校的主要語(yǔ)言；平民百姓使用英語(yǔ)。

13Generally speaking, it is in _____ that the English Literary history starts.（北二外2007研）

A. 6th. C. BC

B. 5th. C. BC

C. 6th. C. AD

D. 5th. C. AD

【答案】D

【解析】英國(guó)文學(xué)始于盎格魯——撒克遜人定居英國(guó)，即公元450年，所以是五世紀(jì)。

14_____ is a pagan poem which portraits a panoramic picture of the tribal society in British Island.（北二外2008研）

A. The Legends of King Arthur

B. Beowulf

C. The Tall Tales

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】B

【解析】Beowulf（《貝奧武甫》）是一首長(zhǎng)達(dá)3000多行的頭韻史詩(shī)，講述了一個(gè)斯堪的納維亞的民間傳說(shuō)，是盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)代最重要的文學(xué)作品，由于該詩(shī)含有非基督教因素，因而被看作異教徒詩(shī)歌。

15The history of English literature begins in the _____ century.（北二外2009研）

A. 7th

B. 6th

C. 5th

D. 4th

【答案】C

【解析】英國(guó)文學(xué)始于盎格魯——撒克遜人定居英國(guó)，即公元450年，所以是五世紀(jì)。

16In English poetry, a quatrain is _____.（北二外2008研）

A. a four-line stanza

B. a couplet

C. a fourteen-line stanza

D. a terza rima

【答案】A

【解析】quatrain即四行詩(shī)；a couplet是對(duì)句；a fourteen-line stanza是十四行詩(shī)，也就是sonnet；a terza rima是三韻句。

17The Anglo-Saxons were Christianized in the _____ century.

A. 5th

B. 6th

C. 7th

D. 8th

【答案】C

【解析】七世紀(jì)基督教傳入英國(guó)。

18Beowulf is a _____ poem, describing an all-round picture of the tribal society.

A. pagan

B. Christian

C. romantic

D. lyric

【答案】A

19In Anglo-Saxon period, Beowulf represented the _____ poetry.

A. pagan

B. religious

C. romantic

D. sentimental

【答案】A

【解析】《貝奧武甫》是盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期流傳下來(lái)的世俗詩(shī)。

20English literature began with the _____ settlement in England. Of old English literature, Beowulf, the national epic of the English people, is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.

A. Anglo-Saxon

B. Roman

C. Norman

D. Britain

【答案】A

【解析】英國(guó)文學(xué)始于盎格魯——撒克遜人，《貝奧武甫》是英國(guó)的民族史詩(shī)，它是神話和英雄傳奇結(jié)合的產(chǎn)物。

21Which tale is described by the following selection?（大連外國(guó)語(yǔ)2007研）

A. The Merchant’s

B. The Pardoner’s

C. The Miller’s

D. The Wife of Bath’s

Chaucer’s story describes three rogues who set out to find Death. An old man directs them to a pile of gold florins over which they quarrel and kill one another, thus indeed finding death. However, the greatest irony of the story involves the pilgrim who recounts it.

【答案】B

【解析】這段文字描繪的是赦罪僧（Pardoner）講的故事，三個(gè)惡漢為爭(zhēng)搶金幣而互相殘殺。

22Geoffrey Chaucer, regarded as the first famous English poet in the history of English literature, wrote the following except _____.（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)2007研）

A. The Canterbury Tales

B. The House of Fame

C. The Parliament of Fowles

D. Boethius

【答案】D

【解析】選項(xiàng)D的作者是波伊提烏，羅馬哲學(xué)家，被誤判叛國(guó)罪處死。他在獄中寫(xiě)成以柏拉圖思想為理論依據(jù)的名著The Consolation of Philosophy（《哲學(xué)的慰藉》）。其余選項(xiàng)都是喬叟的作品。

23Beowulf, the oldest great long poem ever written in English, is composed in a form of _____.（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)2009研）

A. epics

B. lyrics

C. folk songs

D. sagas

【答案】A

【解析】《貝奧武甫》（或譯《貝奧武夫》）是一首英雄史詩(shī)，全詩(shī)三千多行，是現(xiàn)存古英語(yǔ)文學(xué)中最古老的作品。

24Geoffrey Chaucer planned originally to have each of the pilgrims tell _____ stories on the way to Canterbury and the same number of stories on the way back in his famous The Canterbury Tales.（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)2009研）

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

【答案】B

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》中的店主提議眾香客在前往坎特伯雷朝圣的路上每人講兩個(gè)故事，回來(lái)時(shí)再講兩個(gè)，一共計(jì)劃講120個(gè)故事，但喬叟后來(lái)只寫(xiě)了24個(gè)（包括兩個(gè)未完成的）。

25Which of the following does NOT belong to “the marriage group” in The Canterbury Tales?（大連外國(guó)語(yǔ)2008研）

A. The Wife of Bath’s Tale.

B. The Pardoner’s Tale.

C. The Oxford Clerk’s Tale.

D. The Franklin’s Tale.

【答案】B

【解析】在《坎特伯雷故事集》中，巴斯婦、牛津?qū)W者與地主的三個(gè)故事，構(gòu)成了一個(gè)“婚姻組”。他們的故事討論中心便是婚姻中，妻子和丈夫哪一個(gè)應(yīng)該處于支配地位。已經(jīng)五次嫁人，還懷著第六次結(jié)婚念頭的巴斯婦，認(rèn)為只有婦女掌權(quán)的家庭才能幸福；學(xué)者的故事則強(qiáng)調(diào)婦女順從的美德；地主的故事講的是夫妻相互信任、共度難關(guān)。選項(xiàng)B是賣贖罪券的僧人，他講了一個(gè)三個(gè)浪子為爭(zhēng)奪金子，互相暗算，最后同歸于盡的故事，講完之后，立刻向大家兜售贖罪券和圣骨遺骸（實(shí)際是豬骨頭冒充的）。

26Knights of the Round Table are characters serving _____ in legends, which depict chivalry in early literature.（北二外2007研）

A. Sir Lancelot

B. Sir Godwin

C. King Arthur

D. King Henry VIII

【答案】C

【解析】圓桌騎士是中世紀(jì)傳說(shuō)中亞瑟王宮廷里最高等的騎士，因聚會(huì)的桌子是圓桌而得名。

27Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the _____.（四川大學(xué)2008研）

A. Renaissance period

B. seventeenth century

C. Middle Ages

D. eighteenth century

【答案】C

【解析】Romance是富有浪漫色彩的戀愛(ài)故事或冒險(xiǎn)故事，是中世紀(jì)在歐洲非常流行的一種文學(xué)體裁，著名作品如《亞瑟王之死》、《特里斯坦和伊瑟》等。

28_____, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.

A. Geoffrey Chaucer

B. Sir Gawain

C. Francis Bacon

D. John Dryden

【答案】A

【解析】喬叟被譽(yù)為“英國(guó)詩(shī)歌之父”；培根被認(rèn)為是現(xiàn)代科學(xué)的奠基人，他的《培根散文集》被譽(yù)為英國(guó)散文發(fā)展的里程碑。

29Beowulf describes the exploits of a _____ hero, Beowulf, in fighting against the monster Grendel, his revengeful mother, and a fire-breathing dragon.

A. Danish

B. Scandinavian

C. English

D. Norwegian

【答案】B

【解析】 《貝奧武甫》講述的故事發(fā)生在北歐斯堪的納維亞半島。歌頌了主人公貝奧武甫先后戰(zhàn)勝巨怪Grendel，Grendel的母親以及火蛇的英勇事跡。

30In the 14th century, the important writers are the following EXCEPT _____

A. William Langland

B. John Cower

C. Thomas Malory

D. Geoffrey Chaucer

【答案】C

31Chaucer was once influenced by Italian literature. His major work during this period is _____.

A. Troilus and Criseyde

B. The Romaunt of the Rose

C. The Legend of Good Women

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】A

32Chaucer’s active career provided him not only with knowledge but also experiences, which accounted for the wide range of his writings. The followings are all his career EXCEPT _____.

A. legislator and ambassador

B. soldier and office-holder

C. businessman and churchman

D. justice and knight

【答案】C

33Chaucer’s narrative poem _____is based on Boccaccio’s poem “Filostrato”.

A. The Legend of Good Women

B. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

C. The Book of the Duchess

D. Troilus and Criseyde

【答案】D

34In English poetry, a four-line stanza is called _____.

A. heroic couplet

B. quatrain

C. Spenserian stanza

D. terza rima

【答案】B

35The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely _____.

A. William Langland’s Piers the Plowman

B. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

C. John Gower’s Confessio Amantis

D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

【答案】B

36In the 14th century, the most important writer (poet) is _____.

A. Langland

B. Wyclif

C. Gower

D. Chaucer

【答案】D

【解析】喬叟是十四世紀(jì)英國(guó)最重要的作家。

37William Langland’s _____ is written in the form of a dream vision.

A. Kubla Khan

B. Piers the Plowman

C. The Dream of John Bull

D. Morte d’Arthur

【答案】B

【解析】朗格蘭的《農(nóng)夫皮爾斯》通過(guò)一系列的夢(mèng)境對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)英國(guó)社會(huì)進(jìn)行了形象的描述；《忽必烈汗》是柯勒律治的作品。

38Piers the Plowman describes a series of wonderful dreams the author dreamed, through which, we can see a picture of the life in the _____ England.

A. primitive

B. feudal

C. bourgeois

D. modem

【答案】A

【解析】《農(nóng)夫皮爾斯》描寫(xiě)的是下層人民的生活，既表達(dá)了對(duì)統(tǒng)治階層的尖銳諷刺，也抒發(fā)了對(duì)窮苦人民悲慘生活的同情。

術(shù)語(yǔ)解釋

1Assonance（南開(kāi)大學(xué)2009研）

Key: Assonance: the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in the stressed syllables (and sometimes in the following unstressed syllables) of neighboring words, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds. It is distinct from rhyme in that the consonants differ although the vowels or diphthongs match: sweet dreams, hit or miss. As a substitute for rhyme at the ends of verse lines, assonance had a significant function in early Celtic, Spanish and French Versification.

2Ottava rima（人大2007研）

Key: Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin, which in English consists of eight iambic lines, usually iambic pentameters originally used for long poems on heroic themes, and it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works.

3Folktale（廈門大學(xué)2009研）

Key: Folktale: A folktale is a story passed on by word of mouth rather than by writing, and thus partly modified by successive retellings before being written down or recorded. The category includes legends, fables, jokes, fairy tales etc. Many folktales involve mythical creatures and magical transformations. A famous folktale is Thousand and One Nights.

4Beowulf（北航2007研）

Key: Beowulf: Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th and the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden. Commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature, Beowulf has been the subject of much scholarly study, theory, speculation, discourse, and, at 3182 lines, has been noted for its length. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, Grendel’s mother; and an unnamed dragon. In the final battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death his retainers bury him in a tumulus in Geatland.

5epic（天津外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院2007研；廈門大學(xué)2008研）

Key: epic: It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving actions of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual, thereby giving unity to the composition. Great epics include The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

6Alliteration（南開(kāi)大學(xué)2010研）

Key: Alliteration: ①(also known as ‘head rhyme’ or ‘initial rhyme’), the repetition of the same sounds—usually initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables—in any sequence of neighboring words. ②Now an optional and incidental decorative effect in verse or prose, it was once a required element in the poetry of Germanic languages (including Old English and Old Norse) and in Celtic verse. ③Such poetry, in which alliteration rather than rhyme is the chief principle of repetition, is known as alliteration verse; its rules also allow a vowel sound to alliterate with any other vowel.

7Old English period (the Anglo-Saxon period)

Key: Old English period (the Anglo-Saxon period): ①The Old English Period, extended from the invasion of Celtic England by Germanic tribes (the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) in the first half of the fifth century to the conquest of England in 1066 by the Norman French under the leadership of William the Conqueror. ②Only after they had been converted to Christianity in the seventh century did the Anglo-Saxons, whose earlier literature had been oral, begin to develop a written literature.

8Romance（北外2011研）

Key: Romance: ①it refers to a fictional story in verse or prose that relates improbable adventures of idealized characters in some remote or enchanted settings; or, more generally, a tendency in fiction opposite to that of realism. ②The term now embraces many forms of fiction from the Gothic novel and the popular escapist love story to the scientific romances of H.G.. Wells, but it usually refers to the tales of King Arthur’s knights written in the late Middle Ages. ③Medieval romance is distinguished from epic by its concerning on courtly love rather than warlike heroism. Later prose romances differ from novels in their preference for allegory and psychological exploration rather than realistic social observation, especially in American works like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance.

9Freudianism（國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院2007研）

Key: Freudianism: Freudianism derives from Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freudianism emphasizes the importance of unconscious forces in determining the beliefs and actions of human beings. The theory also has great influence on literature in the 20th century. A lot of modern writers such as Woolf, Joyce and Lawrence are deeply influenced by Freudianism.

10Arthurian legend

Key: Arthurian legend: It is a group of tales (in several languages)that developed in the Middle Ages concerning Arthur, semi-historical king of the Britons and his knights. The legend is a complex weaving of ancient Celtic mythology with later traditions around a core of possible historical authenticity.

11heroic couplet（人大2006研；廈門大學(xué)2007研；北航2010研）

Key: Heroic couplet: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. The rhyme is always masculine. The use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Legend of Good Women and The Canterbury Tales.

12Prose

Key: Prose: ①the form of a written language that is not organized according to the formal patterns of verse; Although it will have some sort of rhythm and some devices of repetition and balance, these are not governed by a regularly sustained formal arrangement, the significant unit being the sentence rather than the line. ②Some uses of the term include spoken language as well, but it is usually more helpful to maintain a distinction at least between written prose and everyday speech, if not formal oratory. ③Prose has as its minimum requirement some degree of continuous coherence beyond that of a mere list.

13Morality play

Key: Morality play: ①a kind of religious drama popular in England, Scotland, France, and elsewhere in Europe in the 15th and early 16th centuries. ②Morality plays are dramatized allegories, in which personified virtues, vices, diseases, and temptations struggle for the soul of man as he travels from birth to death. ③They instill a simple message of Christian salvation, but often include comic scenes. The best-known is Everyman. They had a considerable influence on the development of Elizabethan drama.

14Couplet

Key: Couplet: ①A couplet is a pair of rhymed verse lines, usually of the same length; One of the most widely used verse-forms in European poetry. ②Chaucer established the use of couplet in English, notably in the Canterbury Tales, using rhymed iambic pentameters later known as heroic couplets, a form revived in the 17th century by Ben Jonson, Dryden and others.

15Ballad (Popular ballad)（廈門大學(xué)2008研；國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院2007研）

Key: Ballad (Popular ballad): ①a folk song or orally transmitted poems telling a direct dramatic manner some popular story usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogue. ②Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with vivid alternating fore-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming;. But some ballads are in couplet form, and some others have six-line stanzas. ③Appearing in many parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, ballads flourished particularly strongly in Scotland from the 15th century onward. Since the 18th century, educated poets outside the folk-song tradition – notably Coleridge and Goethe—have written imitations of the popular ballad’s form and style: Coleridge’s ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ is a celebrated example.

簡(jiǎn)答題

1Why is the Knight first in the General Prologue to tell a tale in Canterbury Tales?（北航2009研）

Key: According to Chaucer’s words before he introduces the pilgrims, he judges each one by whom they are, what is their degree and their arriving sequence. At that time, the upper class or nobility is represented chiefly by the Knight and his Squire, which means that the Knight has the highest degree among the pilgrims. They are noble for their bravery in the battles and their loyalty to the woman. The Knight tells his tragic love story which was treasured by people at that time. So the Knight is the first to tell a tale. This shows the social class at that time. Secondly, according to Chaucer’s description, the Knight is in the front of the other entire persons.

2What is Chaucer’s contribution to the English language?

Key: (1) Chaucer’s language is vivid and exact. His words are easy to understand.

(2) He introduced from France the “heroic couplet” to English poetry.

(3) Though influenced by French, and Italian literature models, he is the first important poet to write in the current English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country.

3What are the artistic features of Piers the Plowman?

Key: Artistic features of Piers the Plowman:

(1) Piers the Plowman is written in the form of a dream vision.

(2) The poem is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.

(3) The poem is a satire on the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular.

(4) Alliteration is notable in this poem.

4What is the function of the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales?

Key: (1) The Prologue is a splendid masterpiece of realistic portrayal, it is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature.

(2) From the Prologue, we can see that Chaucer is a talented portrait painter. The pilgrims presented vividly in the Prologue are the representatives of various walks of life and social groups, with various interests, tastes and predilections. Each of the narrators reveals his or her own views and character. Thus Chaucer created a striking brilliant and picturesque panorama of his time and his country.

(3) The prologue sets the tone for the story-telling.

(4) There is also an intimate connection between the tales and the Prologue, both complementing each other. The Prologue provides a framework for the tales.

（此題可從《坎特伯雷故事集》序言的社會(huì)意義、與正文的關(guān)系等方面作答。)

5What is Chaucer’s contribution to the English language?

Key: (1) Chaucer’s language is vivid and exact. His words are easy to understand.

(2) He introduced from France the “heroic couplet” to English poetry.

(3) Though influenced by French, and Italian literature models, he is the first important poet to write in the current English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country.

（此題可從喬叟作品的語(yǔ)言特點(diǎn)、寫(xiě)作形式的創(chuàng)新方面作答。）

6What is the social significance of The Canterbury Tales?

Key: (1) In his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives us a true-to-life picture of the society of his time.

(2) As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, the corruption of the Church and so on.

（此題可從《坎特伯雷故事集》反映的社會(huì)現(xiàn)實(shí)作答。）

7What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?

Key: The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:

(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions—to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.

(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.

(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

(4) The structure is loose and episodic, and the language is simple and straight forward.

8What are the major subjects that the English romance mainly deals with?

Key: ①The English romance mainly deals with three major subjects: the “Matter of France”, the “Matter of Rome”, and the “Matter of Britain”.

②The “Matter of France” means a collection of tales about Charlemagne, the mighty ruler of France and neighboring countries around 800 A.D., and his peers and their wars against the Saracens.

③The “Matter of Rome” covers everything from the ancient Romans and the Greeks. Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia and conqueror of Greece, Egypt, India and Persian Empire is the favorite hero of this group. Besides this, Trojan War is also dealt with in this group.

The “Matter of Britain” means the legendary history of Britain. It mainly deals with the exploits of King Arthur and his knights.

9What is the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English language and literature?

Key: (1) During the period of the Norman Conquest, English and Norman-French existed side by side in England, together with Latin. French for quite a long time prevailed among the noble; Latin was at bigger schools and it also used in the churches and monasteries; and the lower ranks made use of English.

(2) In this period, English language had experienced gradual but radical and extensive changes. Thousands of words were borrowed from French and through French from Latin and also Greek, but many English worlds disappeared at the same time. The English language in this transitional stage from Old English to Modern English has generally been known as Middle English.

(3) The literature was varied in interest and extensive in range. The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of them were written in Latin of French. The prevailing form of literature in the feudal England was the Romance.

(此題主要從諾曼征服時(shí)期英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言的變化和這一時(shí)期出現(xiàn)的文學(xué)形式兩個(gè)方面回答。)

10What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?

Key: The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:

(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions—to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.

(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.

(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

(4) The structure is loose and episodic, and the language is simple and straight forward.

（此題可從傳奇詩(shī)的定義、主題、結(jié)構(gòu)、語(yǔ)言風(fēng)格等方面作答。）

11Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Key: (1) The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds.

(2) This romance is an interesting combination of French and Saxon element. It is written in an elaborate stanza combining meter and alliteration. At the end of each stanza, there is a rimed refrain.

(3) Its theme id a series of tests on faith, courage, purity and human weakness for self-preservation.

(4) Besides, the romance gives the reader an engrossing tale well told, vested in beautiful poetry and containing many artistic merits. With a preference for irony, suggestion and implication, the author tries to make his romance the vehicle of a wise morality in which the humorous grotesque merges with the morally serious. Its language is simple and straightforward. That is why the poem has shared great popularity over and above most other romances of the period.

（此題主要從《高文爵士和綠衣騎士》的寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格和主題兩方面來(lái)作答。）

12What are the artistic features of Old English poetry?

Key: (1)The use of alliteration. Each full line has four stresses with a number of unstressed syllables, three of which begin with the same sound or letter.

(2)The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants. Almost all this poetry is composed without rhyme. Each line is divided into two halves and each half has two heavy stresses.

(3)The use of vivid poetic diction and parallel expressions for a single idea, such as the sea is called “swan-road” or “whale-path”, a soldier is called “shield-bearer”, “battle-hero” or “spear-fighter”, etc.

13What are the writing features of Beowulf?

Key: Writing features of the poem Beowulf:

(1) It is a pagan poem of all advanced pagan civilization, presenting a panoramic picture of the tribal society.

(2) The use of alliteration is a notable feature and makes the stresses more emphatic.

(3) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are also very notable in this poem.

(4) There are a lot of metaphors and understatements in this poem.

（主要從《貝奧武甫》的主題以及所運(yùn)用的修辭手法來(lái)解答。）

14What are the main incidents in the poem Beowulf?

Key: The main incidents of the poem cover Beowulf’s fight with the monster Grendel in Hrothgar’s Hall, Beowulf’s fight against Grendel’s revengeful mother, his return in glory to his uncle and his succession to the throne, and his defeat over the fire dragon with his life as the cost.

《貝奧武甫》這首史詩(shī)描寫(xiě)了貝奧武甫戰(zhàn)勝惡魔格倫德?tīng)栆约案駛惖聽(tīng)枏?fù)仇的母親后，榮歸故里，繼承王位，為君王50載。詩(shī)的結(jié)尾部分教的是貝奧武甫與火龍作戰(zhàn)的故事，他戰(zhàn)勝了火龍卻也犧牲了自己的生命。

15What are the main characteristics of Anglo-Saxon literature?

Key: (1) Anglo-Saxon literature, is almost exclusively a verse literature in oral form. It could be passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. It is given a written form long after its composition.

(2) English poetry in Anglo-Saxon period falls into two groups: pagan poetry and religious poetry. Beowulf is the representative of the pagan poetry. It is the oldest poem and the most important specimen of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. Religious poetry is represented by the works of Caedmon and Cynewuff.

（主要從盎格魯——撒克遜時(shí)期文學(xué)的形式和分類來(lái)分析。）

論述題

1Summarize Chaucer’s literary career.

Key: Chaucer’s literary career can be divided into three periods corresponding with those of his life.

(1) The first period refers to the period of French influence. In this period he wrote in the manner of contemporary French poets. Among his original poems in his early period, the best known is The Book of the Duchess, an elegy written upon the death of the first wife of the poet’s patron John of Gaunt. The Romance of the Rose is a translation of a 13th-century French poem.

(2) The second period refers to the period of Italian influence, especially of Dante and Boccaccio. In this period, he chiefly used the “heroic” stanza of seven lines. His main works in this period are three longer poems: The House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde, The Legend of Good Women.

(3) The third period refers to the period of his maturity. In this period, he forms his own writing style. He has his own choice of subject and diction, his own grasp of plots and characters. His masterpiece The Canterbury Tales was produced in this period. He mainly used the “heroic couplet”.

（此題可從喬叟三個(gè)時(shí)期不同的寫(xiě)作風(fēng)格以及每個(gè)時(shí)期的代表作品的角度作答。）

2How did Chaucer’s creative work reflect the changes of the English society in the second half of the 14th century? How much was Chaucer influenced by foreign authors such as Dante or Boccaccio? What are some of the significances of such influences?（人大2007研）

Key: (1) At that time, the feudal system had already begun to crumble. His work, for the first time in English literature, created a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. For example, his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury which are from all walks of life. His characterization is very vivid and the true side of society at that time is revealed.

(2) Dante and Boccaccio not only had direct influence on Chaucer’s poem in form and content, but also had determined effects on his world value. Since then, his literary activities turned into an active and creative phase which is marked by his two long poems, The House of Fame and Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer mainly wrote three longer poems using the heroic stanza of seven lines. From the perspective of newly citizen class, he held positive attitude towards love and individual happiness and rejected feudalism and religious abstinence.

(3) Chaucer’s poetry traces out a path to the literature of English Renaissance. Chaucer’s poem marks a new step in the author’s progress to maturity and is distinguished for its profound delineation of characters and truthful description of human relations. Chaucer chose the metrical poetry which laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse. He did much in making the dialect of London.

3Compare Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales with Old English poetry and the works of other Middle English poets to illustrate that Chaucer is the first realistic writer in English literature.

Key: ①The Old English poetry is specifically Christian, devoted to religious subjects. More importantly, it is almost all in the heroic mode due to the great influence of the heroic ideal, i.e. Beowulf is the ideal of kingly behavior. The idealized hero figures predominantly in Old English literature.

②Middle English romance generally concerns the knight. It makes liberal use of the improbable, often of the supernatural.

③Religious writing reflects the unchanging principles of medieval Christian doctrine, which looks to the world to come for the only answer to men’s troubles. William Langland’s Piers the Plowman reflects the great religious and social issues of his day, yet it is written in the form of a dream vision.

④It is Chaucer alone who, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales.

4State the social significance of William Langland’s Piers the Plowman and comment on the poem’s writing features.

Key: ①Piers the Plowman remains a classic in popular literature. It was very popular throughout the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. It praises the poor peasants, and condemns and exposes the sins of the oppressors. It played an important part in arousing the revolutionary sentiment on the eve of the Rising of 1381 headed by Wat Tyler and John Ball.

②It is a realistic picture of medieval England. But Piers is not a representative of the poor peasants. He is one of the well-to-do peasants. He has no intention of upsetting the feudal order of society, and he accepts the existing social relations. This is the limitation of the poem.

③Writing features:

(1) Piers the Plowman is written in the form of a dream vision. The author tells his story under the guise of having dreamed of it.

(2) The poem is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.

(3) The poet uses indignant satire in his description of social abuses caused by the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular.

(4) The poem is written in alliteration.

5What is the function of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales?

Key: ①The General Prologue is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature. It is largely composed of a series of sketches differing widely in length and method, and blending the individual and the typical in varying degrees.

②The purpose of the General Prologue is not only to present a vivid collection of character sketches, but also to reveal the author’s intention in bringing together a great variety of people and narrative materials to unite the diversity of the tales by allotting them to a diversity of tellers engaged in a common endeavor, to set the tone for the story-telling—one of jollity which accords with the tone of the whole work: that of grateful acceptance of life, to make clear the plan for the tales, to motivate the telling of tales and to introduce the pilgrims and the time and occasion of the pilgrimage.

③On the other hand, there is also an intimate connection between the tales and the Prologue, both complementing each other. The Prologue provides a framework for the tales.

6What is the most important department of English folk literature? And make comments on its most famous cycle: the Robin Hood Ballads.

Key: (1) The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song, usually in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming. When it was chanted by ball-assigners, the audience joined in a refrain which usually followed each stanza. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and in them one is able to understand the outlook of the English common people in feudal society.

The subject of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters of class struggle.

(2) The most famous cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary outlaw called Robin Hood. Robin Hood, a legendary popular hero, is depicted in the ballads as a valiant outlaw, famous in archery, living under the greenwood tree with his merry men, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, waging war against bishops and archbishops, and constantly hunted by the sheriffs, whom he constantly outwits.

Clearly the historical origin of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws is to be found in the perpetual struggles of the peasants against the landlords, against the local officials and against the king’s judges. Robin Hood is a partly historical and partly legendary character.

The character of Robin Hood is many-sided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the same time tender-hearted and affectionate. But the dominant key in his character is his hatred for the cruel oppressors and his love for the poor and downtrodden. Robin Hood appears to be devout and orthodox in religion. Another feature of Robin’s view is his reverence for the king. The king appears in the ballads as an intermediary between the outlaws and his officials and judges, as the humorous and understanding guest in the greenwood, feasting on his own stolen deer. In spite of this, the Robin Hood ballads show the fighting spirit, indomitable courage and revolutionary energy of the English peasantry.

（此題分兩部分作答，第一部分主要分析什么是歌謠以及歌謠的寫(xiě)作主題；第二部分主要分析Robin Hood 的主要內(nèi)容，主題和Robin Hood的形象。）

7What are the three parts told in the story of Beowulf?. How is heroic ideal reflected in Beowulf?

Key: ①Structurally speaking, Beowulf is built around three fights. The first part deals with the fight between Beowulf and the monster Grendel that has been attacking the great hall of Heorot, built by Hrothgar, the Danish King. The second part involves a battle between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother, a water-monster, who takes revenge by carrying off one of the king’s noblemen. The last part is about the fight between Beowulf and a firedrake that ravages Beowulf’s kingdom.

②Beowulf is a pagan poem concerned with the heroic ideal of kings and kingship in North Europe. Battle is a way of life at that time. Strength and courage are basic virtues for both kings and his warriors. The king should protect his people and show gentleness and generosity to his warriors. And in return, his warriors should show absolute obedience and loyalty to the king. By praising Beowulf s wisdom, strength and courage, and by glorifying his death for his people, the poem presents the heroic ideal of a king and his good relations to his warriors and people.

作品分析題

Passage 1 （南開(kāi)大學(xué)2009研）

1What does the fact that the knight owns fine horses indicate?

Key: The fact indicates that the knight represents a real knight and the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms.

2What does the clothes he wears indicate?

Key: The knight wears a fustian tunic stained and dark with smudges, which indicates that he has recently returned from an expedition.

3What does Geoffrey Chaucer want to show through these details?

Key: Through these details, Chaucer wants to show that the knight is brave, experienced, devout and prudent. The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue, and his story is the first in the sequence. The Host clearly admires the Knight, as does the narrator.

Question 4 is based on the following passage of The Canterbury Tales.

4What does the narrator think of the nun? Why do you think so?

Key: The narrator does not admire the nun. The author describes the nun with irony. Though the nun is well-educated and has good manners, she gives much importance to those things that should not be important for a nun. For example, the author is sarcastic when he uses the example of her feeling for a mouse to testify her charity and pity. Her dress is also not suitable for a nun: “She wore a coral trinket on her arm,/ A set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green,/ Whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen/ On which there first was graven a crowned A,/ And lower, Amor vincit omnia.”

Passage 2

Questions:

1What is expressed in these opening lines of The Canterbury Tales?

Key: ①The opening lines are a superb expression of a double view of the Canterbury pilgrimage. The first eleven lines are a chant of welcome to the spring with its harmonious marriage between heaven and earth which mellows vegetations, pricks fouls and stirs the heart of man with a renewing power of nature. Thus, the pilgrimage is treated as an event in the calendar of nature, an aspect of the general springtime surge of human energy which wakens man’s love of nature.

②But spring is also the season of Easter and is allegorically regarded as the time of the Redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with its connotations of religious rebirth which wakens man’s love of God (divine love). Therefore, the pilgrimage is also treated as an event in the calendar of divinity, an aspect of religious piety which draws pilgrims to holy places.

2How does the author emphasize the transition from nature to divinity?

Key: ①The structure of this opening passage can be regarded as one from the whole Western tradition of the celebration of spring to a local event of English society, from natural forces in their general operation to a specific Christian manifestation.

②The transition from nature to divinity is emphasized by contrast between the physical vitality which conditions the pilgrimage and the spiritual sickness which occasions the pilgrimage, as well as by parallelism between the renewal power of nature and the restorative power of supernature (divinity).

3Comment on Chaucer’s contribution of rhymed stanzas.

Key: Chaucer introduced various rhymed stanzas to English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse. He first introduced into English octosyllabic couplet and the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to be called later the heroic couplet, And in The Canterbury Tales, he employed the heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature.