Major Terms of English Literature

Major Terms of English Literature

Major Terms of English Literature

Critical Realism was a new literary trend appeared in the forties and in the early fifties of the 19th century. The critical realists described with much vividness and great artistic skill the chief traits of the English society and criticized the capitalist system from a democratic viewpoint. The greatest English realist of the time was Charles Dickens. With striking force and truthfulness, he creates pictures of bourgeois civilization, describing the misery and suffering of the common people. But the critical realists did not find a way to eradicate these social evils.

Stream of Consciousness is a narrative technique that presents thoughts as if they were coming directly from a character’s mind. Lacking chronological order, the events in a stream of consciousness narrative are presented from the character’s point of view, mixed in with the character’s ongoing feelings and memories. Developed by writers such as James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, stream of consciousness writing is used to reveal a character’s complex psychology and to present it in realistic detail.

Naturalism is primarily a French movement in prose fiction and the drama during the final third of the 19th-century. According to the theory of naturalism, literature must be “true to life” and exactly reproduce real life, including all its details without any selection. Naturalist writers usually write about the tails of life without discrimination, they can only represent the external appearance instead of the inner essence of real life. Sometimes it can be included in the concept realism when realism is in its broader sense. The representative was George Gissing.

Byronic hero is a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin in Byron’s poems. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic hero would shoulder the burden of fighting all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and would fight alone against any type of tyrannical rules either I government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies. The conflict is usually one of rebellious individuals against outworn social systems and conversations. Such a hero first can be found in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, and further developed in later works such as the Oriented Tales, Manfred, and Don Juan in different guises. To some extent, the figure is created according to the life and personality of Byron himself, and makes Byron famous both at home and abroad.

Aestheticism began to prevail in Europe at the middle of the 19th century. The theory of “art for art’s sake” was first put forward by the French poet Theophile Gautier. Following him, Swinburne in English literature declared that art should serve no religious, moral or social end, nor any end except itself. Aestheticism in England also owed a great deal to Ruskin, whose social and art criticism prepared the way for its appearance. The most important representative of aestheticism in English literature is Oscar Wilde，his main works are: “ The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Ballad of Reading Goal” and etc.

Romanticism is profound shift in sensibility marked a violent reaction to the Enlightenment. It was inspired by the revolutions in America and France and popular wars of independence in Poland, Spain, Greece, and elsewhere and expressed an extreme assertion of the self and the value of individual experience, together with the sense of the infinite and transcendental. It championed progressive causes, though when these were frustrated it often produced a bitter, gloomy, and despairing outlook.

The general feature of the works of the romanticism is a dissatisfaction with the bourgeois society，which finds expression in a revolt against or an escape from the prosaic and sordid dally life．Their writings are filled with strong willed heroes，formidable events，tragic situations，powerful conflicting passions，and exotic

Major Terms of English Literature

pictures．Some times they resort to symbolic methods．In contrast to the rationalism of the enlighteners in the 18th century，the romanticists paid great attention to the spiritual and emotional life of man. Nature often personified，plays an important role in their works．The passions of man and the beauties of nature appealed strongly to the imagination of the writer，and the glory of lakes and mountains，the little joys and sorrows of children，the weal and woe of ordinary，uncultured peasants，the wonder of the fairy world，and the classical art all became the fountain-heads of the writer’s inspiration．

Chronologically the Victorian period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria over England from1836 to 1901. The period has been generally regarded as one of the most glorious in the English history. the main characteristics of the English literature in Victorian Period ：Victorian literature，as a product of its age，naturally took on its quality of magnitude and diversity．It was many-sided and complex，and reflected both romantically and realistically the great changes that were going on in people’s life and thought．Victorian literature，in general，truthfully represents the reality and spirit of the age. The high-spirited vitality，the down-to-earth earnestness，the good-natured humor and unbounded imagination are all unprecedented．In almost every genre it paved the way for the coming century，where its spirits，values and experiments are to witness their bump harvest．

Dramatic Monologue：In some degree almost every poem can be called a dramatic monologue：a single speaker is saying something to some one，even if only to himself．Frost’s lyric beginning“Whose woods these are I think I know”is an obvious example．But whereas the speaker of a lyric usually seems to be the poet，the speaker of a dramatic monologue is a fictional character or an historical figure caught at a critical moment．His utterance is conditioned by the situation，and is usually directed to a silent audience．The speaker commonly reveals aspects of his personality of which he himself is unaware；in a“My Last Duchess，”Browning’s duke is insufferable but doesn’t know it.

Modernism was a complex and diverse international movement in all creative arts，originating about the end of the 19th century．It provided the greatest renaissance of the 20th century．It was made up of many facets，such a symbolism, surrealism, cubism，expressionism，futurism，etc．It has also been called“the tradition of the new” a conscious rejection of established rules，traditions and conventions，and“the de-humanization of art”pushing into the background traditional notions of the individual and society．

The main theme of Yeats' “Sailing to Byzantium” and its symbolic significance In his famous poem, “Sailing to Byzantium”, Yeats explored the problems of death, love, old age and art. Being at the junction of East and West, the city became a refuge from tome, and, at once, purgatory and paradise, a haunt of spirit, symbolizing the unity of opposites.

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