西洋文學概論Week13

The content of the course

1. Vocabulary

Spect- to look

For example:  spectator: a person who looks on or watches; onlooker; observer.

                        inspect: to look carefully at or over; view closely and critically

Audi- to listen

For example: audience: 1.the group of spectators at a public event; listeners or

    viewers collectively, as in attendance at a theater

    or concert.

   2. the persons reached by a book, radio or television

    broadcast, etc.

                     auditorium: the space set apart for the audience in a theater, school,

  or other public building.

Characteristic: a distinguishing feature or quality.

 

2.words definition

(1)Hubris

Hubris means, in a modern context, extreme pride or self-confidence; in its ancient

Greek context, it typically describes violent and excessive behavior rather than an

attitude. When it offends the gods of ancient Greece, it is usually punished. The

adjectival form of the noun hubris is "hubristic".

Hubris is usually perceived as a characteristic of an individual rather than a group,

although the group the offender belongs to may suffer consequences from the

wrongful act. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an

overestimation of one's own competence, accomplishments or capabilities, especially

when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power.

 

(2) tragic flaw

The term hamartia derives from the Greek ἁμαρτία, from ἁμαρτάνειν hamartánein,

which means “to miss the mark” or “to err”. It is most often associated with Greek

tragedy, although it is also used in Christian theology. Hamartia as it pertains to

dramatic literature was first used by Aristotle in his Poetics. In tragedy, hamartia is

commonly understood to refer to the protagonist’s error or flaw that leads to a chain

of plot actions culminating in a reversal from their good fortune to bad. What

qualifies as the error or flaw can include an error resulting from ignorance, an

error of judgement, a flaw in character, or sin. The spectrum of meanings has

invited debate among critics and scholars, and different interpretations among

dramatists.

 

(3)dramatic tronie

The term 'tronie' is not clearly defined in art historical literature. Literary and

archival sources show that initially the term 'tronie' was not always associated

with people. Inventories sometimes referred to flower and fruit still lifes as 'tronies'.

More common was the meaning of face or visage. Often the term referred to the

entire head, even a bust, and in exceptional cases the whole body. A tronie could be

 two-dimensional, but also made of plaster or stone. Sometimes a tronie was a

likeness, the depiction of an individual, including the face of God, Christ, Mary, a

saint or an angel. In particular a tronie denoted the characteristic appearance of the

head of a type, for example a farmer, a beggar or a jester. Tronie sometimes meant

so much as a grotesque head or a model such as the type of an ugly old person.

When conceived as the face of an individual and of a type a tronie's aim was to

express feelings and character in an accurate manner and must therefore be

expressive.

 

 

3. Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright,

poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan

tragedian of his day. He greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born

in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan

playwright after Marlowe's mysterious early death. Marlowe's plays are known for

the use of blank verse and their overreaching protagonists.

 

Doctor Faustus (or The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus)

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to

simply as Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the German

story Faust. Doctor Faustus was first published in 1604, eleven years after

Marlowe's death and at least 10 years after the first performance of the play.

It is the most controversial Elizabethan play outside of Shakespeare, with few

critics coming to any agreement as to the date or the nature of the text.

 

 

4.the sphinx

The sphinx is a mythical creature with, as a minimum, the head of a human and

the body of a lion.

In Greek tradition, it has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes

the wings of a bird. It is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot

answer its riddle suffer a fate typical in such mythological stories, as they are killed

and eaten by this ravenous monster. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the

myth and drama of Oedipus. Unlike the Greek sphinx, which was a woman, the

Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx). In addition, the

Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar

to the malevolent Greek version and both were thought of as guardians often

flanking the entrances to temples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference website:

Christopher Marlowe

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Christopher+Marlowe&view=detailv2&&id=50CCE

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041235354291459&thid=OIP.M8a506aa22a1a220dc661ef8540a33dceH2&ajaxhist=0

Doctor Faustus

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Doctor+Faustus&view=detailv2&&id=9F00DB41FE8

DE7A5A76C64E0AD0B7A827D687763&selectedIndex=0&ccid=vfZvxjDJ&simid=6080081

42629308550&thid=OIP.Mbdf66fc630c98c3a6bac6716cdb74238H2&ajaxhist=0

sphinx

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=the+sphinx&view=detailv2&&id=F4234D68D80CE

59FE95AD8D07162EB9022ACF81B&selectedIndex=2&ccid=mF5eSTDG&simid=608008

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