In many of the sonnets the poet meditates on Life and

Death. He believes that Beauty and Life are able to con-

30

quer Death, because they continue to live in new genera­ tions (sonnet II) and in the works of Art (sonnet 65). Shakespeare considers that a poet and his poetry play an important role in making people understand life (sonnet

76).

Shakespeare's sonnets are valued because of their

wealth of thought, variety of themes and beauty of the

language. The style of the sonnets is rich in metaphors, similes and other devices.

The images he uses are taken from different spheres of

life, which makes the sonnets very picturesque and ex­ pressive. Shakespeare makes use of everyday words, thus bringing the sonnet close to the ordinary reader The sonnets have been translated into a lot of languages, manv of them have been set to music. Here are the translations of

Sonnet 66 into Russian and Belarusian:

3oBy 11 cMepTb. Mue BH!l.CTb HellTepne>K

.llOCTOHHCTBO, YTO npOCHT nO)l.3HHbR, Haa npocToToii rJJYMRLUYJOCR JJO>Kb, Hwno>KeCTilO B pocKOWIIOM OACRHbe,

11 CO[JCplUCHCTOY JJO>KHbiH npHI'OBOp,

11 JlCUCTBCIIJIOCTb, nopyraiiiiYJO rpy6o,

J-f HCYMCCTHOH nOYCCTH n030p,

11 MOLUb B nJJCIIY y HCMOLUH 6e33y60H,

11 npRMOTy, 4TO 'JIYIIOCTbJO CJJbJBeT,

11 rJJynocTb o MacKe My.Ltpcua, npopoKa,

11 B.l(OXHOBCIIHH 33>Ki1TbiH [lOT,

11 npaBC.l(HOCTb H3 CJJy>K6e y nO[lOK3.

Bee Mcp3ocnw, 'ITO BH>KY 11 noKpyr, Ho K3K TC6R fiOKHHYTb, MHJiblH !l.pyrl

( fl epeaod CaMyuAa M apma1w)

CTaMJJCHbJ yciM, R JJcnw cyCTp3y 6bJ cMepub, LJbJM 33Hil.l(63HbiX 6a4b1Ub )Ka6paB3HHe,

( 3.!(3CK nyCT3!13JlO>KII3CUi URpnCUb,

113HYbiCUCHI!I3H npayJJ,bl 311eB3>K31111

6A4b1Ub flbiXy y 33jj3TbiX cTp3i1x, uiioTy, 31'b3jjy311yio XI)k3h CiJi3h,

.QJJR 6H:li'JIY3.Qacui WJIRX,

MOU, !IKYIO IICM3U 113JJ31IiJJ3,

31

MaCTaKoy Hi3KanaKJIOHHbl a6p011., He,nap3K MaCTaUTBa3Hayuay 3 iMi, icuiHy, liKOH 3aTyJ1CH pOT,

3JJO, WTO oepxano,nJiUb Ha.n yciMi.

CTaMJJeHbl yciM, cyMyJo na TpyHe,

Jlw liK }f(a ,npyr MOH 6y.ll.3C 6e3 Ml!He?

( flepaK.I!aa YAaaJiMipa fly6o[jKi)

Shakespeare's greatness lies in the depth of his hu­ manism. For about four centuries Shakespeare has re­ mained one of the best known and best loved playwrights and poets in world literature. Every new generation of people finds in his works some problems of particular interest. That is why Shakespeare "belongs not to the century- but 1o all tim< " as Ben Johnson, his contempo­ rary, once said.

I. What is a sonnet? 2. V."hy did Shakespeare's sonnets differ from those of other poets? 3. What is the theme of sonnet 66? 4. How did Shakes­ peare portray his beloved in i is sonnets?

Ill. UTERATUt;:: OF THE ENLIGHTENMEl\'T

(18th century)

The 17th century was one of the most stormy periot.. of English history. The growing tensions between the r. w bourgeoisie and the old forces of feudalism brought ab,,ut the English Revolution, or the Civil War, in the 1640-

1660s. As a result of the revolution the king was dethroned and beheaded and England was proclaimed a republic. Though very soon the monarchy was restored, the position of the bourgeosie changed, it obtained more political po­

^wer.

The 18th century saw Great Britain rapidly growing

into a capitalist courtry. It was an age of intensive in­

dustrial development New mills and manufactures ap­

peared one after another. Small towns grew into large cities. The industrial revolution began: new machinery was invented that turned Britain into the first capitalist power of the world. While in France the bourgeoisie was just beginning its struggle against feudalism, the English bourgeoisie had already become part of the ruling class.

The 18th century was also remarkable for the develop-

32

ment of science and culture. Isaac Newton's discoveries in the field of physics, Adam Smith's economic theories, the philosophical ideas of Hobbes, Locke and others en­ riched the materialistic thought and sowed in people's minds a belief in man's intellectual powers. It was in this period that English painting began to develop too: portrait painting reached its peak in the works of William Hogarth, Joshua Reynolds as well as Thomas Gainsborough, who was equally good at landscape and portraits.

In spite of the progress of industry and culture in

England, the majority of the people were still very igno­ rant. One of the most important problems that faced the country was that of education.

The 17th and 18th centuries are known in the history of European culture as the period of Enlightenment. The Enlighteners defended the interests of the common peop­ le- craftsmen, tradesmen and peasants. Their criticism was directed against social inequality and religious hypo­ crisy as well as the immorality of the aristocracy. The cent­ ral philosophical problem of the Enlightenment was that of man and his nature. The Enlighteners believed in reason as well as in man's inborn goodness. They rejected the reli­ gious idea of the original sin. Vice, they thought, was due to the miserable conditions of life ·which could be changed by means of reason. They also believed in the great educa­ tional power of art and considered it their duty to enlighten people, to help them see the roots of evil and the means of social reform.

In England the period of Enlightenment followed the

bourgeois revolution, while in other countries it came before the revolution (the French Revolution took place at the end of the 18th century); therefore, the aims of the English Enlighteners were not as revolutionary as those of French Enlightenment.

The English Enlighteners were not unanimous in their views. Some of them spoke in defence of the existing order,

considering that a few reforms were enough to improve it. They were the moderates, represented in literature by Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele, and Samuel Richardson. Others, the radicals, wanted more democracy in the running of the country. They defended the interests of the exploited masses. The most outstanding representa­ tives of the radicals were Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard B. Sheridan.

In the period of Enlightenment the poetic forms of the

^{2 AHrnHAcKaA JIHTepaTypa} 13

Renaissance were replaced by prose. The didactic novel was born and became the leading- genre of the period. Ordinary people, mos!ly representatives of the middle class, became the heroes of these novels. These characters, either good or bad, were accordingly, either rewarded or pu11ished at the end of the novel. By these means the En­ lighteners idealistically hoped to improve the morals of the people and of society in general.

The Enlightenment epoch in English literature may be

divided into three periods:

I. Early Enlightenment (1688-1740).

This period saw a flowering of journalism, which pla­ yed in important part in the public life ot the country. Nu­ merous journals and newspapers which came into being at the beginning ot the 18th century not only acquainted their readers with the situation at home and abroad, but also helped to shape people's views. Most popular were the satirical journals The Tatter, The Spectator, and The Englishman edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. In their essays- short compositions in prose- these two writers touched on various problems of political, social and family life. The essays paved the way for the realistic novel which was brought into English literature by Daniel Defoe and Jonathan Swift.

II. Mature Enlightenment (1740-1750)

The didactic social novel was born in this period. It was represented by the works of such writers as Samuel Richardson (Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded; Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady), Henry Fielding (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling and other novels), and Tobias Smollett (The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker and other novels).

Henry Fie I ding s works were the summit of the English Enlightenmc·nt prose. In The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling the hero; a charming, cheerful, kind­ hearted man, has a number of adventures and meets with a lot of people from all walks of life. The novel is set in a poor country house, in an aristocratic mansion, in an inn, in a court-room, in a prison and in the London streets. This composition ot the novel enabled the author to give an all­ embracing picture of 18th-century England, to write "a comic cpopee", as Fielding himself called his novel.

He also elaborated a theory of the novel. In the intro­ ductory chapters to the eighteen parts of The History of Tom Jones he put forward the main requirements of a no-

34

vel: to imitate life, to show the variety of human nature, to expose the causes of man's shortcomings and to indicate ways of overcoming them.

Ill. Late Enlightenment (Sentimentalism)

( 1750-1780)

The writers of this period, like the Enlighteners of the

first two periods, expressed the democratic bourgeois tendencies of their time. They also tried to find a way out of the difficulties of the existing order However, while their predecessors believed in the force of intellect, they consid­ ered feelings {or sentiments) most important. The principal representatives of sentimentalism in the genre of the novel were Oliver Goldsmith (The Vicar of Wakefield) and Lawrence Sterne (Tristram Shandy; The Sentimental Jour­ ney) and in drama - Richard Sheridan (School for Scan­ dal and other plays).

I. What is the meaning of !he word "Enlightenment"? 2. What was the peculiarity of the Enlightenment in England as compared with that in France? 3. What were the two trends among the English Enlighleners?

4. What were the three periods of English Enlightenment in literature?

Who were the main representatives of each period? 5. What is the signifi­

cance of Fielding's work?