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The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment, also known as the "Age of Reason," was a period in which people believed in the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness. -
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Pre-Romanticism
In the Pre-Romanic period, the public taste shifted from the grandeur, austerity, nobility, idealization, and elevated sentiments of Neoclassicism or Classicism toward simpler, more sincere and natural forms of expression. -
The First Industrial Revolution
The First Industrial Revolution, which lasted until about 1830, caused agricultural societies to become more industrialized with the invention of machinery such as the steam engine, the spinning jenny, coke smelting, etc. This new technology brought about improved means of transportatios as well as urbanization, meaning that more and more people were moving from the countryside and into the urban areas. -
Lyrical Ballads & Other Poems - Wordsworth and Coleridge
The publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's work is considered the starting point of the Romantic Movement. -
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Romanticism
Unlike the Enlightenment, the Romantic period emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental.
The Gothic novel was born in this period. It was of great interest to all social classes and it influenced today's ghost and horror novels and films. -
Pride and Prejudice
Although "Pride and Prejudice" -by Jane Austen- was published during the Romantic period, it was written during Pre-Romanticism, between 1796 and 1797. -
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The Victorian era
Queen Victoria, who reigned from 1837 to 1901, gives her name to this period. Victorians were known for their morality and ethical conduct. Church had an influence on the society and daily lives of people.
Victorianism was an idealistic age where the great ideals like truth, justice, love, brotherhood were emphasized in literature by poets, essayists and novelists of the period. -
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol -by Charles Dickens- was published. Although this short novel shows the harsh reality of the less-fortunate Victorian society, it does not belong entirely to Realism, since it is full of supernatural elements.
A Christmas Carol is also a work of social criticism. It portrays the injustices that the working class had to endure during the Victorian era, and how cruelly some of them were treated. -
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights -by Emily Brontë- was published. It is a Victorian novel, despite sharing numerous characteristics with the Gothic novel of the Romantic period. -
The Second Industrial Revolution
This second part of the Industrial Revolution lasted until 1914 and was characterized by:
- New and improved ways to use energy, such as the internal combustion engine and electricity.
- Easier communication, thanks to the telegraph and the telephone.
- The versified mass production, thanks to the wide-spread steel usage. -
The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native -by Thomas Hardy- was published.
Hardy's novels are marked by a deep deterministic pessimism, aspects that were characteristic of Naturalism, a School which was more concerned with lower, degraded and often sordid levels of human existence. Hardy was one of its chief authors. -
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Edwardian era
The period is named after the reign of King Edward VII, and, although it only lasted for 13 years, it was a time of tremendous change. For example, child labour laws were introduced, the working class became an active voice in politics, and women's suffrage was brought to the forefront of political discussion. -
The Secret Sharer
The Secret Sharer -by Joseph Conrad- was published. This short story belongs to the School of Naturalism. -
The Road from Colonus
The Road from Colonus - a short story written by E. M. Foster- was published. -
Sons and Lovers
Sons and Lovers -by D. H. Lawrence- was published. It is a semi-autobiographical novel that explores themes such as the Oedipus Complex, love and passion, and the complexities of human emotions.