Chapter Ⅰ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD 1
1． The Historical Background 1
2． “Beowulf” the National Epic of the Anglo-Saxons 3
3． Minor Anglo-Saxon Poetry： Caedmon and Cynewulf 11
4． Anglo-Saxon Prose： Bede； Alfred； “The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle”； Aelfric 16
Chapter Ⅱ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES 26
Section Ⅰ English Literature from the Mid-11th Century to the Mid-14th 26
1． The Background： Political and Social 26
2． Folk Literature and Religious Literature from the Mid-11th to the Mid-14th Century 28
3． Early Alliterative and Metrical Romances in the： 12th，13th and Early 14th Centuries 33
Section Ⅱ English Literature of the Second Half of the 14th Century 39
1． The Background： Political and Social 39
2． John Wycliffe； John Gower； William Langland 42
3． Geoffrey Chaucer 49
Section Ⅲ English Literature of the Fifteenth Century 61
1．The Background： Political and Social 61
2．The English and Scottish Popular Ballads： “Robin Hood Ballads” 63
3．Early English Drama： Folk Drama； The Mystery Plays； The Miracle Plays； The Morality Plays 72
4．The English Chaucerians； Early Scottish Poetry and the Scottish Chaucerians 77
5．English Prose of the 15th Century： Sir Thomas Malory and His “Le Morte d’Arthur” 81
Chapter Ⅲ ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE RENAISSANCE 85
Section Ⅰ The Historical Background： Economic， Politi-cal and Cultural 85
1．The Renaissance in Europe 85
2．Stages and Trends of English Literature of the Renais-sance． 89
Section Ⅱ English Literature of the Early 16th Century 91
1．The Oxford Reformers； Thomas More 91
2．Court Poetry： Skelton； Wyatt and Surrey 97
3．Morality Plays and Interludes of the 16th Century：David Lyndsay； John Heywood． 102
Section Ⅲ English Literature of the Second Half of the 16th Century 105
1．Court Poetry： Philip Sidney； Edmund Spenser 105
2．Prose Fiction： Lyly， Lodge， Greene， Sidney， Nashe，Deloney 113
3．Pre-Shakespearean Drama： English Drama under Classical Influence； University Wits： Lyly， Peele，Lodge， Nashe， Greene， Kyd and Marlowe 121
Section Ⅳ Shakespeare． 133
1．Shakespeare’s Life and Literary Career 133
2．Shakespeare’s Poems and Sonnets 134
3．Early Period of Shakespeare’s Plays： History Plays （“Richard Ⅲ”， “Henry Ⅳ”， Parts 1 and 2， “Henry Ⅴ”）； Early Tragedies （“Romeo and Juliet”， “Julius Caesar”）； Comedies （“The Merchant of Venice”，“Much Ado about Nothing”， “As You Like It”，“Twelfth Night”） 138
4．Mature Period of Shakespeare’s Plays．Tragedies （“Hamlet”， “Othello”， “King Lear”， “Macbeth”， “Antony and Cleopatra”， “Coriolanus”， “Timon of Athens”）， Tragi-Comedies （“Measure for Measure”， “All’s Well that Ends Well”， “Troilus and Cressida”） 150
5．Last Period of Shakespeare’s Dramatic Career： “Peri-cles”， “Cymbeline”， “The Winter’s Tale”， “The Tempest”， “Pericle”， “Henry Ⅷ” 167
6．General Comments on Shakespeare： Shakespeare’s Progressive Significance and Limitations； His Indebted-ness to the English Dramatic Tradition； His Character-Creations； His Plot Construction； His Mastery of Language； His Literary Influence 170
Section Ⅴ English Literature of the First Quarter of the 17th Century 182
1．Drama of Shakespeare’s Contemporaries： Ben Jonson，Chapman， Dekker， Thomas Heywood， Beaumont and Fletcher 182
2．The Decline of Drama in Early 17th-Century England up to the Closing of the Theatres in London in 1642：Marston， Tourneur， Webster， Ford， Middleton， Mass-inger， Shirley 197
3．Francis Bacon 209
4．The King James Bible and Other Prose in Early 17th Century 218
5．English Non-Dramatic Poetry in the First Thirty Years of the 17th Century： John Donne， Ben Jonson，the Spenserians 221
Chapter Ⅳ ENGLISH LITERATURE DURING THE ENGLISH BOURGEOIS REVOLUTION AND THE RESTORATION 231
Section Ⅰ The Historical Background： Political and Ideological 231
1．The Political Background from the Eve of the English Bourgeois Revolution to the Downfall of Stuart Absolutism （1625-1688） 231
2．The Ideological Background of English Literature in the 17th Century． 234
Section Ⅱ Minor Currents of English Literature from 1625 to 1660 238
1．Minor English Poets and Prose Writers of the Period 238
2．The Pamphlet Literature of the Levellers and the Diggers： John Lilburne and Gerrard Winstanley 248
Section Ⅲ John Milton 262
1．Milton’s Life and Literary Career 262
2．Milton’s Early Works 265
3．The Middle Period of Milton’s Literary Career： His Prose and His Sonnets 270
4．“Paradise Lost”， “Paradise Regained” and “Samson Agonistes”． 286
Section Ⅳ English Literature of the Restoration 302
1．John Bunyan． 302
2．John Dryden． 308
3．The English Drama of the Restoration 316
4．Minor English Poetry and Prose of the Restoration：Samuel Butler’s “Hudibras” and the Diaries of Samuel PePys and John Evelyn 323