Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
DR. EMILIO B. ESPINOSA, SR. MEMORIAL STATE COLLEGE
OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
Cabitan, Mandaon, Masbate
https://www.debesmscat.edu.ph

MARILYN A. PERNITO
Educ. 224
MaEd – English Language Education

CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE ENGLISH LITERARY HISTORY

The history of English literature is the development of writings and literary techniques used in it
over time. English literature is a hundred years old and continues to be the most popular course of study in
high schools and institutions of higher learning. English literature is so broad and confusing to many
people. English literature includes prose fictions, short stories, drama, novels and poetry among other
writings.

The old English Literature otherwise known as the Anglo-Saxon was written in between the years
600 and 1100. The language descended from North Germanic tribes who settled in England in the 5th
century. Since there were no writings, the earliest English writings were composed orally and passed by
word of mouth from speaker to speaker until they learned writing the Latin alphabet from Roman
missionaries. The old English literature is mostly chronicle, narrative or epic. Caedmon and Cynewulf are
two old authors known for their works.

From about 1100 to 1500, the Middle English literature was used. During this time the ideas of
French and Celtic literature appeared in the English writing. No one can talk of the Middle English
Literature without uttering the great name of Geoffrey Chaucer; Canterbury Tales is his greatest work. He
mostly did narrative poetry as well as prose and lyric poetry.

In the year 1503 to around 1603, the Elizabethan Literature was used. It earned its name because it
emerged during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The most important writers and poets during this period are
William Shakespeare who is considered the greatest playwright of all times, Walter Raleigh and Edmund
Spenser the author of The Faerie Queene. The greatest works of this period are Sidney’s Astrophel and
Stella, Spenser’s Faerie Queene and Shakespeare’s sonnets.

The Age of Milton literature then emerged immediately after the Elizabeth literature. John Milton
was the most talented poet during this period. Some of Milton’s great works include a great biblical epic
and Paradise Lost.

With Charles II coming to power after the death of Oliver Cromwell in 1658, plays were no longer
prohibited, and Restoration comedy arose in the theatres. The Restoration drama came along with a new
kind of comic drama that dealt with the issues of sexual politics. The plays were mainly heroic and
comedy of manners. John Dryden is a great author that wrote heroic plays.
 Then came Neoclassicism literature. Poetry during the neoclassicism period was to be guided by
reason, the poet’s role was to teach and educate. Moreover, poetry was to be written according to certain
rules and use a special diction.  John Dryden and Alexander Pope were the major writers.

The Romantic period during the 18th and 19th century gave rise to Romantic poetry. This kind of
poetry was marked with poetry that was used to express personal feelings and emotions. Imagination
became the main source of poetry. Renowned Romantic poets include William Wordsmith and Samuel
Taylor Coleridge. Later Romanticism works by John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley attempted to make
language beautiful.

The Victorian Literature was marked with Victorian poetry and novels in the 19th century. The
major poets of this period were Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson. Due to increased adult literacy in
the 19th-century novels were introduced. The greatest English novelist of the 19th century Charles
Dickens who varied tones and used irony in most of his works.

Modern literature that expresses the loss of faith, uncertainty and suffering emerged in the
twentieth century as a result of political changes and the two world wars that destroyed the sense of
confidence in the Victorian literature. Bernard Shaw with plays that are inspired by social criticism is
considered the best twentieth-century dramatist. Major literary figures include Samuel Beckett in drama,
W.H Auden and Dylan Thomas in poetry.