BRITISH LITERATURE OVERVIEW

Old English Period 450-1066 Victorian Period 1830-1900 (Queen Victoria 1837-1901)
Beowulf German epic poem Industrial Revolution / introduction of photography / technological
progress
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Middle English Period 1066-1500 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Religious writings

Edwardian Period 1900-1914

Renaissance 1500-1660 Awareness of living conditions opposed to luxury / development of the
Sir Thomas More/ Sir Thomas Wyatt: humanists press
William Shakespeare / Christopher Marlowe / Sir Walter Raleigh: drama & The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
poetry Peter Pan by James Barrie
John Milton: political writings

Modern Period 1914-1945

Neo-classical Period 1660-1830 James Joyce / Virginia Woolf
Influenced by French literature and philosophers (Montesquieu, Experiments with literature, introduction of psychology
Marivaux, Rousseau…)
1st novels with very long titles
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift Postmodern Period 1945-present
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Very varied
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (Youth Literature)
Graham Green
Romantic Period 1785-1830 Doris Lessing (multicultural origins)
Symbolism /novels / poetry Benjamin Zephaniah (poetry, novels + Caribbean origins)
William Blake / Lord Byron: romantic poetry Alan Sillitoe
Jane Austen Jonathan Coe
Ivanhoe by Scott: historical novel And many many others
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: Gothic novel