Ages of British English Literature

From the beginning to the Twenty first century, the British English literature can be divided into some periods or ages based on the time of writing, writing style, different nature and attitude. Of these, the important Periods are described below-

AGES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

• The old English [450AD -1066AD] 
• The Middle English [1066AD-1500AD] 
• The Renaissance period [1500-1600] 
• The Elizabethan period [1558-1603] 
• The Jacobean period [1603-1625] 
• The Caroline period [1625-1649] 
• The Puritan period [1649-1660] 
• The Restoration period [1660-1700] 
• The Augustan period [1700-1785] 
• The Romantic period [1785-1830] 
• The Victorian period [1830-1901] 
• The Modern period [1890-1918] 
• The Inter- war period [1918-1939] 
• The Mid 20th century [1939 onwards]

?   THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PERIOD  [450-1066] 

             According to British traditions the English from the continent came first as mercenaries to help in the defense against the Picts and Scots.

• Then followed the Christianization of the pagan English tribes
• The establishment of the Dane law in English
• The accession of a Danish king
• The Norman influence on the English court when began before the conquest in 1066 

Beowulf: The theme of the poem is continental Germanic. The poem can be considered as the pagan origin. Work is anonymous.

Anglo- Saxon Chronicle: Inspired by King Alfred. Description of the horrors of Stephen's reign. Description of William the conqueror.

Authors

Ø  Caedmon (poet): The Genesis, Exodus, Daniel. Three shorter poems often considered as one under the title ‘Christ and Satan’.

Ø  Cynewulf (poet): Four poems contain the signature of Cynewulf in runic. Characters: Juliana, Elena, Christ, and the Fates of Apostles.

?   THE  MIDDLE  ENGLISH  PERIOD [1066AD-1500] 

• Period of transition and of experiment
• The transition
• The anonymous nature Works are entirely without known authors
• Internal struggle between king, clergy, noble and people General movements of the times:-the rise of the religious orders, the blossoming of chivalry, the spirit of romance, bringing new sympathy for women and poor, the crusades, widening European outlook, The Renaissance.
• Establishment of Norman and Angevin dynasties.
• The domination of poetry surviving works of the period is poetry.

Important Works

Ø  The vision of William concerning piers the plowman- William Langland

Ø  Brut- Lazamon

?   THE  CHAUCEREAN  PERIOD (1340-1400) 

• The accession of his grandson Richard II
• The period includes the greater part of the rein of Edward III and the long French wars associated with his name.
• The age of unrest and transition.
• The revolution of 1399, the disposition of Richard, and the foundation of the Lancastrian dynasty. 

The literary movement of the age clearly reflected by five famous poets:-

– Wycliffe: giving the gospel to the people in their own tongue.

– Mandeville:  romancing about the wonders to be seen abroad.

– Chaucer:  sharing in all the stirring life of the times. The first humanist. The first novelist in verse. The father of modern English language.

– Gower: criticizing the vigorous life and plainly afraid of its consequences.

– Langland: voicing the social discontent, preaching the equality of men and the dignity of labor. 

Important works

– The Canterbury Tales

– The Book of The Duchess

– The House of Fame

– Anelida and Arcite

– The Parliament of Fowls

– Troilus and Criseyde

– The Legend of Good Women

Shorter Poems

– An ABC

– The Complaint of Mass

– The Complaint to His Lady

– The Complaint of Venus

– Fortune

– Truth.

?   THE  ELIZABETHAN  PERIOD [1558-1603] 

– The golden age of English history

– Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer of the English language

– The Elizabethan era is perhaps more famous for its theatre and the works of William Shakespeare

– Elizabethan Renaissance theatre begins with the opening of the “The Red Lion” theatre in 1567 Other famous theatres:-Curtain Theatre [1577] - Globe Theatre [1599]

– Important genres of theatre are history plays, the tragedy and the comedy.

– William Shakespeare [1564-1616]:

ü  The greatest poet and dramatist in English literature

ü  Playwright, actor and shareholder in an acting company

ü  He wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poem and 3 poems Works 

ü  

 Poems:  The Rape of Lucrene (1594), Venus and Adonis (1593), The Passionate Pilgrim (1599)

  Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth,

  Comedies: The Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice , As You Like it , Twelfth Night

  Tragic comedies: Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale , The Tempest

  Last play: The Tempest (an autobiographical play).

– Edmund Spencer [1552-1599] :

ü  ‘Poets’ poet’ and ‘Prince of poet’- called by Charles lamb and Milton

ü  Poets poet and critic’s critic - T.S Eliot

            Works: The Faerie Queen, Shepherds calendar,  Prothalamion, Epithalamion.

– Sir Philip Sydney [1554-1586]:

ü  Father of English criticism

ü  He took a brilliant in the military-literary-courtly life.

             Works: Astrophel and Stella, Arcadia, Apology for Poetry

– Francis Bacon [1561-1526]:

ü  Father of English essays

ü  Bacon’s fame rests very largely on his essays -the aphoristic style and epigrammatic brevity in his essay -the compact and condensed thought in his essay, are very important

            Works: The history of Henry VII , The new Atlantis , The advancement of learning Christopher    Marlowe , Dramatist and poet , Doctor Faustus.

– University wits :   

ü  Group of young dramatists associated with oxford and Cambridge.

ü  They introduced Romantic drama into English theatre.

ü  The University Wits are: - George Peele (1558-1598), Robert Greene (1558-1592), Thomas Nash (1567-1601), Thomas Lodge (1558-1625), Thomas Kyd (1558-1594), John Lyly , Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593).

?   JACOBEAN  PERIOD [1603-1625]

ü  James ascended the throne in 1603

ü  Court standards were lowered

ü  Development of English prose

ü  Decline of the drama after the death of Shakespeare.

ü  Important events from Jacobean to restoration period: Caroline age, Metaphysical age, Puritan revolution, Puritan age, Period of commonwealth.

The cavalier poets

– Edmund Waller:-Go Lovely Rose

– Richard Lovelace:- Lucasta , To Alter From Prison

– Robert Herrick:- Hesperides , Noble Numbers

            Metaphysical poets

– Abraham Cowley:The Mistress

– Andrew Marvell: The Rehearsal Transposed

– John Donne:

– Henry Vaughan: Silex Saintillans.

?   PURITAN  PERIOD [1649-1660]

ü Clash between Catholics and Protestants

ü Extreme fundamentalism

ü 1649-1660-Rule of commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell

ü Civil war between Charles I and Puritans for 7 years

ü Charles I ascended the throne after the death of Cromwell ; beginning of Restoration period

ü Rebellion began during the age of Charles I.

– John Milton:

ü  The first literary epic poet

ü  Poetry , mathematics and music were his main studies

Works:  Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Comus, On Blindness, Lycidas

?   RESTORATION  POERIOD [1660-1700]

ü  Death of Cromwell in 1660

ü  Influence of French culture Theatres came back to life

ü  Witty intellectual satirizing manners and fashions of a particular time in society

ü  Accession marked the beginning of the Restoration Age

– John Dryden:-The Rival Ladies, Tyrannick Love, All for Love

– William Wycherley:-Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing, Master

– George Etherege:-The Comical Revenge , She Would If She Could.

– William Congreve:-The Old Bachelor , The Double Dealer , The Mourning Bride

?   AUGUSTAN  AGE [1700-1785] 

ü  Strong traditionalism

ü  To them poetry was an imitation of human life

ü  Rise and fall of satires

ü  Rise of novels

ü  Conceived literature primarily as an art

ü  New developments in science shattered man’s ego

– Oliver Goldsmith:-She Stoops to Conquer, The Deserted Village, The Man in Black

– Dr. Samuel Johnson:-Preface to Shakespeare, London, Rasellas

– Daniel Defoe:-A True –born English man , Robinson Crusoe, Raxona

– Henry Fielding:-Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, Amelia

– Alexander Pope: An Essay on Criticism, The Rape of the Lock, Windsor Forest.

?   ROMANTIC  AGE [1785-1830]

ü English Romanticism came from Germany

ü  Love for external nature

ü  Interest in medievalism

ü  Inaugurated with the publication of the Lyrical Ballads(1798)

ü  Revival of lyricism

ü  The influence of French literature

ü  Give importance to subjectivity

– William Wordsworth: The Prelude, The Excursion, Immortality Ode

– Lord Byron: Child Harold’s Pilgrimage , House of Idleness Cain

– Mercy Bysshe Shelly: Ode to The West Wind ,Prometheus, Unbound

– John Keats: Isabella , Hyperion, Lamia , Ode to Nightingale

– Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice, Emma.

– Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Biographia Literaria , Kubla Khan , Scholar , Life of Nelson , Roderick

?   VICTORIAN  PERIOD [1830-1901]

ü  It extends to the death of Queen Victoria

ü  Mood of Nationalistic power

ü  Spiritual conflicts was evident

ü  Publication of Origin of Species

ü  Industrial Revolution

ü  Social stress

– Robert Browning:-The Lady of Shallot ,Fra Lippo Lippi , Men and Women

– Mathew Arnold:-Dover Beach , Scholar Gypsy , Essays on Criticism

– Charles Dickens:-David Copperfield ,Dickwide Papers, Hard times

– Thomas Hardy:-Tess of D’Umbervilles ,Far from the Madding Crowd

– Lord Tennyson: Ulysses, Lotus Eaters , Idllus of the King .

?   THE  MODERN  PERIOD [1890-1918] 

ü  Break with tradition

ü  Rejected Romantic conventions

ü  Traditional verse patterns were rejected

ü  The catastrophe of the world wars had shaken faith in moral and spiritual life

– T. S. Eliot:- Ash Wednesday, The Hollow Man, The Waste Land, Murder in the Cathedral

– W. B .Yeats:- Sailing to Bysantium, September 1913

– Ezra Pound:- Cantos

– W .H. Auden:-Age of Anxiety , Look Stranger

– D .H. Lawrence:-Sons And Lovers, Rainbow, Women in Love.

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