THE ENGLISH LITERATURE

Introduction
The major literatures written in English outside the British
Isles are treated separately under :
 American literature
 Irish literature
 Australian literature
 Scottish literature
 Canadian literature
 New Zealand literature

English literature has sometimes been stigmatised as insular.

Yet in the Middle Ages the Old English literature of the
subjugated Saxons was leavened by the Latin and Anglo-
Norman writings, (450-1500) in which the churchmen and
Norman conquerors expressed themselves .
From this combination emerged a flexible and subletle
linguistic instrument exploited by Geoffrey Chaucer and
brought to supreme application by William Shakespeare .
During the Renaissance the renewed interest in classical
learning and values had an important effect on English
literature as on all the arts.
William Shakespeare came to be considered as the most
iconic and greatest writer in the history of English
Literature as he is revered for his legendary plays end
sonnets.
William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare, byname Bard of Avon ( baptized

April 26. 1564, in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire,
England- died April 23.1616).
Other poets, such as Homer and Dante, and novelists,
such as Leo Tolstoy and Charles Dickens, have
transcended national barriers, but no writer is living
reputation can compare to that od Shakespeare, whose
plays, written in the late 16th and early 17th centuries for
small repertory theatre.
His works span tragedy, comedy and historical works,
both in poetry and prose.
William Shakespeare first made his appearance on the
London stage, where his plays would be written and
performed, around 1592, although the exact date is
unknown. From histories written in the late 1580s to the
early 1590s, Shakespeare moved to comedy, which were
described as such for their comic sequences and pairs of
plots that intertwined with each other. Interestingly, two
tragedies booked Shakespeare’s comedic era- Romeo
and Juliet were written at the beginning of the 1590s
and Julius Ceasar was written at the end of the era.