浪漫主義的藝術(shù)特點(diǎn)對早期英文小說影響的分析

摘 要：英文小說的產(chǎn)生包含了各種復(fù)雜的因素，諸如古代希臘文，羅馬神話，浪漫主義以及其他復(fù)雜的社會因素。在這些因素當(dāng)中，浪漫主義對英文小說的形成有著密不可分的關(guān)系，本文旨在分析浪漫主義的藝術(shù)特點(diǎn)對早期英文小說的影響。

Key words:romance; artistic characteristics; impact; early English novel

關(guān)鍵詞：浪漫主義；藝術(shù)特點(diǎn)；影響；早期的英文小說

作者簡介：李敏芳（1986-），女，陜西寶雞人，陜西師范大學(xué)外國語學(xué)院2011級碩士研究生，專業(yè)：英語學(xué)科教學(xué)。

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻(xiàn)標(biāo)識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-15-0329-02

Introduction

By now， English novel has already come into being for nearly 400 hundred years. The artistic characteristics of English novel are greatly influenced by western mythologies and Romances. As Li Weiping states that “when reviewing the thorough development of English novel， we find that the early English novelists were affected by ancient mythologies and romance in various degrees (2003， p.6).” Among these complex factors， epic and romance play a much more significant role in the birth of early English novel than other literary genres.

I.An introduction to romance

In order to acquire a thorough understanding of the artistic characteristics of romance upon early English novel， it is necessary to give a brief account of romance.

A. Definition of romance

Romance is the most prevailing kind of literature form in feudal England. “It was a long composition in verse， sometimes in prose， describing the life and adventure of a noble hero (Liu， 2007， p.8).” As Chen Jia states that “Romances， alliterative and metrical， constitute the bulk of the literary works in England in the three centuries after 1066 (1982， p.33).” Based on these two similar definitions of romance， generally speaking， the central character of romance was the knight， a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. The major theme of loyalty to king and lord was repeatedly emphasized in romance， and usually emphasized the chivalric love of the Middle Ages in Europe.

B. Romance in Middle Ages and Renaissance period

Romance was born in the Middle Ages of Europe and won people’s taste immediately. In the Middle Ages， romance was usually written to the noble men， and has nothing to do with the common people. Most of the early middle Age romances depict an antique story in the guise of poetry. At the very beginning， romance appears in a verse form with obvious features of poetry， but the conversion from verse romance to prose romance has produced a revolutionary effect on the creation of romances， which paves the way for the coming of early English novel. Anyway， the invention of romances is a transitional literature form from narrative poetry to early English novel， and the contribution made by romances to the coming of English novel is， without doubt， very unique (Jiang， 2005， p.18). In a word， the Middle Age romances are prelude of English novel， and we could hardly acquire a good understanding of English novel without some knowledge of romance (Gao， 2003， p.14).

If we say the Middle Age romances are more like poetry， then the romances produced in Renaissance period are actually the infants of early English novel.

During the period of Renaissance of England， English romances get a considerable progress， and hold a large number of readers. To name some of the best works， we have George Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F. J. Robert Greene’s Pandosto， Philip Sydney’s Arcadia. These works best exemplify the artistic characteristics of romances in the Renaissance period， and further mold the shape of early English novel.

Ⅱ. Artistic characteristics of romance

To some extent， we could state that romances provide us with an artistic model early English novel (Hou， 2005， p.22). These general artistic characteristics of romance play a significant role in the formation of early English novel. As Li Weiping states， there are generally five major artistic characteristics of English romances (2003， p.30). They are as following:

Romances are inclined to present chivalric spirit and romantic love， trying to make a perfect combination of these two.

Romances have a relatively free narrative form， which clearly reveal the artistic taste and ideas of early writers in the process of exploring the ways of writing narrative essays.

Apparently， romances display artistic traces of poetry left upon them， and rhetorical devices of poetry were frequently employed in romances which actually were based on narrative essay.

Romances were written from a relatively mature， sensitive， philosophical and civilized point of view， so they were favored by upper class intellectuals.

Early romances have already shown a sense of realism in their contents.

Besides， there are still other subtle artistic characteristics reflected in romances. For instance， the real description of natural surroundings， the psychological portrayal of characters， the relatively neat organization of plots， the sense of moral education， and the universal value of goodness， etc. As a matter of fact， the above artistic characteristics of romance paved a way for early English writers to exploit a new form of literature which immediately won the taste among people all over the world， that is， the birth of early English novel.

Ⅲ. Artistic characteristics of early English novel

The influences of romance upon early English novel are apparent to us， because the artistic similarities between romance and early English novel can never be ignored. Actually， early English novels always show traces of these influences clearly or subtly.

Stylistically speaking， romances often describe a hero who experienced lots of adventures in a remote past or somewhere unknown to us. This kind of work can easily arouse reader’s interest as much as possible. Coincidentally， Early English novels are inclined to place its hero in a remote environment and envelop him in a series of adventures as well. Daniel Defoe is always regarded as the forerunner of English novel， and his work may best show us the races of romances left on early English novel. Defoe’s masterpiece Robinson Crusoe tells us a seemingly realistic story in an autobiographic form. But in nature， Defoe uses his vast imagination to create a hero who has survived in a remote island for several years. Defoe uses his imagination to create a romantic story to reveal the spirit of the rising bourgeois class.

Thematically speaking， most of the romances extol for man’s right to pursue happiness and deserved rights， which propose a contest against the religious doctrine that regards the pursuit of happiness as a kind of human deterioration. In Defoe’s masterpiece， Robinson Crusoe， Robinson was born in a family of an old English gentle man who wants his son Robinson to become a lawyer， yet Robinson has set his mind on becoming a sailor. Here， Robinson’s pursuit of happiness and freedom in right overshadow the senior man’s order， which is a kind of rebellion against power.

The psychological painting in early English novel comes has its origins in romances. Romances depict the psychological world of its characters for the first time (Gao， 2003， p.5). This kind writing style affect early English novel greatly. In the work of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight， Gawain is painted as a chivalric knight journeyed to meet a sever fighting. Although Gawain is not a real man， the psychological analysis of him is still presented vividly and analyzed as Sir Gawain encounters one strange event after another (Chen， 1982， p.38). Well， in Pamela， or， Virtue Rewarded， written by Samuel Richardson and Tom Jones， written by Fielding’s， the psychological movements of the characters are frequently presented.

Realistic description in early English novel also has something to do with romances. As (Jiang， 2005， p.19) States that though romances are more romantic， fictional and chivalric， yet there are still realistic factors rooted in them. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight， Sir Gawain is an imagined hero who experienced various adventures to challenge the Green Knight. Though many scenes in the story are fabricated， yet the elaborate descriptions of the seasons as well as the places and things witnessed by the hero in the course of his adventure are real reflection of nature (Chen， 1982， p.38). It is a sort of realistic presentation of environment.

The artistic characteristics of early English novel show its intimate relationships with romances. But we should bear in mind that romance is still different from novel in many ways， and it is improper to mix these two literature genres. One thing needs our attention is that romance is a Middle Age literary product which opens the door for diverse flourishing of English literature genres， especially English novel.

Conclusion

Romance does lose its popularity among people’s reading flavor， but the abundant literary heritages left by romance are definitely a body of legacies for literature. The artistic characteristics of romance merit our focus if we want to get more knowledge about the birth of English novel.

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