英国贵族(英语)

English noble spirits English nobility has a long history which can be traced back to the Anglo Saxon period .With historical development, English nobility gradually formed their own unique qualities and spirits. From my point of view , the most remarkable characteristic of English nobilities is chivalry. The English noble ancestors mostly were military leaders or warriors who made great contributions in the wars. And in the past, English nobilities had to lead people to defend against the invasion of the ancient tribes and alien pirates. So they had to spent lots of time on martial art. As time went by, practicing martial arts has become a way of life for the nobilities and was transformed into a kind of spirit , inherited generation by generation .King Arthur is one of outstanding representative of English nobilities with strong chivalry. These are parts of the oaths that a pre-knight has to swear : be without fear in the face of enemies;be brave and upright that God may see; speak the truth even if it leads to death; safeguard the helpless.[1]According to the oaths ,chivalry can be summarized as bravery ,honesty and martial spirits. Besides, chivalry also advocates being frank and straightforward . The tournament was an important activity of aristocratic society in the middle ages. English nobilities would fight face to face without tricks,which is completely contrary to the Chinese saying “t here can never be too much deception in war”. Another typical example is courtly love. Compared with Chinese ancient marriage which could not do without matchmakers,courtly love is bold and straight .When a knight meet a beloved lady, he will wear the symbolistic mark ,vow to protect her and never change his love for her until die. If the lady accepts the knight, a homage will be held and the knight will swear to be loyal to the lady for the rest of his life, defending her reputation. [2] Another important characteristic of English nobilities is independence. This characteristic is related to their social and economic status .The income of English nobilities mainly comes from their manors and territories. Although the manors and territories are conferred by King and nobilities owe duty to their king ,they are not king’s lackeys or slave s . In their own lands , English nobilities have absolute power and authority and no one can easily violate them. Just as British Prime Minister William Peter said , “the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England cannot enter.” However, as the power of nobilities grow , it becomes a threat to the king. So the king seizes every opportunity to control the nobilities. Certainly English nobilities would revolt against dictatorship since they yearn for independence and freedom so ardently. Nothing could be better than Great Charter Movement to illustrate it . On May 17th ,1215, English nobilities occupied London with the support of London citizens. On June 10th , they forced John ,the king of England to approve the 《Articles of the Barons》. Under great pressure, on June 15th , John signed the 《Great Charter》at RunnyMede . To a degree, English nobilities started the tradition of freedom and independence and made great contributions to English constitutional monarchy. Furthermore, English nobilities are imbued with patriotism and sense of social responsibility . Different from nobilities from other countries, most of English nobilities are not extravagant and the number of them who lived dissipated and debauched life are minor . When the nation was in the gravest peril , they rose up bravely. Not only did they spare no expense to protest their home ,but they faced death unflinchingly . In the second world war, tens of thousands of nobilities went to the front without slightest hesitation and many of them had no chance to come home like Earl Allers F ord and Duke Northumberland who died in 1940. What’s worse, the war made some old aristocratic families die out . For example, the 16th Baron Arundel sacrificed in 1943 , which marked the extinction of this aristocratic families who had more than 400 years history. Last but not least, English nobilities held knowledge in high esteem. When English nobilities were young, they started to learn Latin and French, to read book about philosophy of ancien t Greece, to explore the theology of Aquinas ,etc. What’s more , after graduation they would study abroad for several years to broaden horizons. From their perspective, literature, art, poems, philosophy and other similar knowledge are essential for an aristocrat. The salon culture can well attest this characteristic. English nobilities often invited poets, dramatists, novelists, musicians, philosophers and so on to their salons, savoring drinks, enjoying the elegant music and freely exchanging views of all kinds of problems of common interest . As 《Emma》, one of the most influential classic novels in nineteenth century, which was written by outstanding British writer Jane Austin , shows, the heroine Emma, born in a noble family ,often invited squires and nobilities in the village to hold salons and talked about literature and art. [3] It was because English nobilities laid great emphasis on knowledge that in English history there were so many distinguished people, including George Gordon Byron ,Shelley, Churchill, Arthur Wellesley, Roger Bacon and so on. Not only did English nobilities think highly of knowledge ,but they also attach importance to noble morals. Although English nobilities were martial , they were not ferocious and aggressive. They were polite, elegant and gentle. Take Darcy ,a nobility in《Pride And Prejudice》as an example. At the beginning of the story, Darcy was an arrogant and indifferent man but he still showed great elegance and politeness. [4] All in all , English noble spirits roll chivalry, independence, patriotism strong sense of social responsibility and the pursuit of knowledge and noble moralities into one. And the continuation of English nobilities undeniably owe much to these spirits . [1]摘自Ridley Scott导演的电影《Kingdom of Heaven》台词 [2]参考文献:《西昌学院学报》·《欧洲中世纪骑士文学的典雅爱情观探析》王佳业 [3]参考文献:《爱玛》·上海 译文 精卫填海译文妙法莲华经译文画山水序译文醉翁亭记一句一翻译译文三门记释文及译文带拼音 出版社·2007 [4]参考文献:《傲慢与偏见》·陕西师范大学出版社·2009-11