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]
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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.
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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
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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 .
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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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