Eras of English literature

M. Hamza Zubair
17811517-004
Intro to literature
Eras of English literature
■ Old English
■ Middle English
■ The Renaissance
■ The Puritan Age
■ 18th Century literature
■ The Romantic Age
■ The Victorian Age
■ Modern Literature
Old English(670-1100)
■ Earliest phase of English literature started with Angles and Saxons
■ Deals with traditions of an older world
■ Poets took up religious themes after embraced Christianity
■ Major portion is religious
■ Marked as beginning of English prose began in King Alfred’s time
through chronicles
■ Great success of Anglo-Saxon prose is in religious instructions
■ With a history of invasions and occupations, many writings of this era are
chronicles, annals, and historical records.
Principles:
■ Love of personal freedom
■ Responsiveness to nature
■ Religion
■ Love for womanhood
■ Struggle for their glory
Important works
■ Beowulf:
■ The most important poem of this period
■ Full of sorts of references allusions to great events
■ Anglo- Saxon Chronicle
■ Inspired by king Alfred
■ Translation from Latin a common available prose was established
■ Religious Poets:
■ Caedmon
■ Cynewulf
Middle English (1100-1500)
■ Establishment of Norman
■ Language :The most significant shift in language occurs at this time. Language shifts
from unrecognizable, to decipherable.
■ Works frequently of a religious content
■ Written for performance at court or for festivals
■ Literature often contains a long composition describing the life and adventures of a
noble hero
■ Theme : loyalty to king and his lord
Middle English Text

Wan that When

Aprille with April with
Row-tuh root
His sure-es His showers sweet
Said to the Into the
The Renaissance (1500-1600)

■ “Renaissance” means “Rebirth”

■ Rebirth of interest in the Greek and Latin classics
■ This is one of the greatest times of expansion for Britain.
■ Focus on the individual
■ Cultivation of human potential through proper education; focus on individual
consciousness and the Interior mind
■ Concern with the refinement of the language and the development of a national,
vernacular literature
The Renaissance

■ Noted authors during this time were Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare
■ Marlowe:
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
■ Shakespeare:
Romeo and Juliet
■ Hamlet
Midsummer Night’s Dream
Neoclassical Period(Age of Reason)(1660-1785)

■ Reaction to the expansiveness of the Renaissance in the direction of

order and restraint.
■ Emphasized classical ideals of rationality and control (human nature is
constant through time).
■ Art should reflect the universal commonality of human nature. (“All men
are created equal.”)
■ Reason is emphasized as the highest faculty (Deism)
Neoclassic Noted Authors

■ John Locke
■ John Milton (Paradise Lost)
■ Alexander Pope (Essay on Man)
■ Jonathon Swift (Gulliver’s Travels)
■ Henry Fielding (Tom Jones)
■ Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe)
■ Jane Austen (Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Pride and Prejudice)
Romantic period (1785-1830)

■ Poetry is the common form of writing.

■ Reaction against the scientific rationality of Neoclassicism and the
Industrial Revolution.
■ Emphasized individuality, intuition, imagination, idealism, nature (as
opposed to society & social order).
■ Elevation of the common man.
■ Mystery and the supernatural
Romantic noted authors

■ obert Burns (“To a Mouse”)

■ William Blake (Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience)
■ William Wordsworth (Lyrical Ballads)
■ Lord Byron (“Don Juan”)
■ John Keats (“Ode on a Grecian Urn”)
Victorian Era (1830-1901)

■ Named for the reign of Queen Victoria, Britain’s longest reigning

monarch.
■ Britain is at the height of its power during this era. This is as a result of
Imperialism (acquisition of as much foreign territory as possible often
through force or coercion).
■ British society extremely class conscious.
■ Generally emphasized realistic portrayals of common people, sometimes
to promote social change
Literature and the Victorians

■ The novel is the dominant form of literature during this time period.
■ Victorian literature was notable for the creation of atypical heroes. This
was a response to Imperialism and fear about the following:
■ change
■ instability
■ fluctuation of beliefs
■ assimilation
Edwardian Period 1901-1914

■ Named for King Edward.

■ Some see as a continuation of Victorian Period; however, the status quo is increasingly
threatened.
■ Distinction between literature and popular fiction.
■ Joseph Conrad (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness)
■ H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds)
■ E.M. Forster (A Room with a View, A Passage to India)
■ George Bernard Shaw (Major Barbara)