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450
Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450–1066)
Anglo-Saxon comes from two Germanic tribes: the Angles and the Saxons. This period of literature dates back to their invasion (along with the Jutes) of Celtic England circa 450. A lot of the prose during this time was a translation of something else or otherwise legal, medical, or religious in nature; however the following are examples of the Age:
Heoric, Beowulf
Elegiac, The Seafarer
Lyric, Caedmon´s Hymn -
1066
Middle English Period (1066–1500)
The Middle English period sees a huge transition in the language, culture, and lifestyle of England and results in what we can recognize today as a form of “modern” (recognizable) English. much of the Middle English writings were religious in nature; however, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to rise. For example:
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer
Piers Plowman, William Langland
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl -
1500
The Renaissance (1500–1660)
The Renaissance or “Early Modern” period is often subdivided into four parts, including the Elizabethan Age (1558–1603), the Jacobean Age (1603–1625), the Caroline Age (1625–1649), and the Commonwealth Period (1649–1660). Some noteworthy figures include:Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Thomas Fuller, and others.
Examples:
Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare
Paradise Lost, John Milton
Good Thoughts In Bad Times, Thomas Fuller -
The Neoclassical Period (1600–1785)
Tis period is subdivided into ages, including The Restoration (1660–1700), The Augustan Age (1700–1745), and The Age of Sensibility (1745–1785). Restoration comedies (comedies of manner) developed during this time, Satire, too, became quite popular, Ideas such as neoclassicism, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed during this age.
Examples:
The Way of the World, William Congreve
The Evils of Revolution, Edmund Burke
Pamela, Samuel Richardson -
The Romantic Period (1785–1832)
This era includes the works of such juggernauts as Wordsworth, Coleridge, William Blake, Lord Byron, John Keats, Charles Lamb, Mary Wollstonecraft, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Thomas De Quincey, Jane Austen, and Mary Shelley. There is also a minor period, also quite popular (between 1786–1800), called the Gothic era. Writers of note for this period include Matthew Lewis, Anne Radcliffe, and William Beckford.
Examples:
Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen
Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
The Book of Los, William B -
The Victorian Period (1832–1901)
This period is named for the reign of Queen Victoria, who ascended to the throne in 1837, and it lasts until her death in 1901. It was a time of great social, religious, intellectual, and economic issues, heralded by the passage of the Reform Bill, which expanded voting rights. it is in strong contention with the Romantic period for being the most influential, and prolific period in all of literature.
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
Dover Beach, Matthew Arnold -
The Edwardian Period (1901–1914)
This period is named for King Edward VII and covers the period between Victoria’s death and the outbreak of World War I. the era includes incredible classic novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Henry James.
Examples:
Lord Jim, Joseph Conrad
The Time Machine, H.G. Wells
The Bostonians, Henry James -
The Georgian Period (1910–1936)
Georgian poetry today is typically considered to be the works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh. The themes and subject matter tended to be rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than with passion.
Examples:
Poems, Ralph Hodgson
Georgian Poetry, Edward Marsh.
Leisure, W.H. Davies -
The Modern Period (1914–?)
The modern period traditionally applies to works written after the start of World War I. New Criticism also appeared at this time, led by the likes of Woolf, Eliot, William Empson, and others, which reinvigorated literary criticism in general. It is difficult to say whether modernism has ended.
Examples:
The Lost Girl, D.H. Lawrence
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
Seven Types of Ambiguity, William Empson -
The Postmodern Period (1945–?)
The postmodern period begins about the time that World War II ended. Many believe it is a direct response to modernism. Some say the period ended about 1990, but it is likely too soon to declare this period closed.
Examples:
Closing Time, Joseph Heller
A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
Life in The Garden, Penelope M. Lively