日志
2012-03-28
热度 1
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. One such movement was dominant in Europe from the mid-18th to the 19th centuries.
18th-century Neoclassical art responded to the perceived excesses of the contemporary Rococo style with a greater restraint in composition and severity of line.[1] Neoclassical architecture, emulated both classical and Renaissance structures, emphasizing order and simplicity. The subject-matter of Neoclassical art and literature was inspired by the emphasis on martial courage seen in the Greek and Latin epics.[2]
u In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe traces the growth of Robinson from a naïve and simple youth into a mature and hardened man, tempered by numerous trials in his eventful life.
u The realistic presentation of the successful struggle of Robinson single-handedly against the hostile nature proves to best part of the novel. Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in stuggling against the hostile natural environment.
u He is the very prototype of the empire bulder, the pioneer colonist.
u In describing Robinson’s life on the island, Defoe glorifies human labor and the Puritan fortitude, which save Robinson from despair and are a source of pride and happiness. He toils for the sake of subsistence, and gets his reward.
1. Social background: The 18th-century England witnessed the growing importance of the bourgeois or middle class. (2fen)
① The Industrial Revolution. (1fen)
② The expansion on international markets. (1fen)
③ Values/virtues/moral standards/… are different from those of the feudal aristocratic class. Such qualities as courageous, full of energy, hard-working, practical, resourceful, self-reliant, etc. are emphasized; (3fen)
④ Thus, literature should give/provide a realistic presentation of the life of the common people; it should meet the demand / interest of the middle class people. (2 fen)
2. Robinson Crusoe embodies the virtues of the middle cmass people; (1fen)
① Crusoe as an adventurous/ courageous man full of energy and courage: (example from the text); (2fen)
② Crusoe as a practical man: (example from the text); (1fen)
③ Crusoe as a resourceful / self-reliant man: (example from the text); (1fen)
④ Crusoe as a patient / persistent man: (example from the text); (1fen)
⑤ Some others.
