Chronological Overview of English Literature

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) period

410

This period began 410 D.C when the Romans withdrew from Britain, leaving it to Scandinavian settlers. It ends with the Norman invasion in 1066 when were conquered England.
Some examples of literature of this period were; the epic poem beowulf and those by periods poet Caedmon and Cynewulf, the "Wanderer" and the "Seafarer".
The old poetry was alliterative, is known for its use of kenning, a compressed metaphor such as whale-road or night-stalker.

Middle English period (1066-1500)

1066

During this period occurred important events in which the language, culture and lifestyle of England evolve in something that nowadays we can consider ii as a form of modern English. Much of the writings were religious in nature, but about 1350 onward, secular literature began to rise.
Some authors recognized were Chaucer, Thomas Malory, and Robert Henryson.
The most importants works include "Piers Plowman" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", "the Canterbury tales". the tales of King Arthur.

The Renaissance (1500-1660)

1500

This period is also called for some critics and literary historians "the early modern" period. This is divided in four parts:
Elizabethan age (1558-1603)
Jacobean age (1603-1625)
Caroline age (1625-1649)
Commonwealth period (1649-1660).

The Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

1558

It was the golden age of English drama. Some of its popular figures include: Chistopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund Spencer, Sir Walter Raleigh and William Shakespeare.

The Neoclassical Period (1600-1785)

1600

This period is subdivided in different ages:
The Restoration (1660-1700)
The Augustan Age (1700-1745)
The Age of Sensibility (1745-1785)

The Jacobean Age (1603-1625)

1603

It is named for the reign of James I. It includes the works of john Done, Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, John Webster, Elizabeth Cary, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. The King James translation of the Bible appeared during this period.

The Caroline Age (1625-1649)

1625

It covers the reign of Charles I, (Carolus). Some important figures include John Milton, Robert Burton, and George Herbert.
Some works as "Paradise Lost" was popular in this age.

The Commonwealth Period (1649-1660)

1649

This period was so named for the period between the end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. During this time Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan, led Parliament, ruled the nation, the theaters were closed for preventing public assembly and to combat moral and religion transgressions. Appeared political writers as John Milton and Thomas Hobbes and prose writers as Thomas Fuller, Abraham Cowley and Andrew Marvell.

The Restoration (1660-1700)

1660

This time was the period of the puritanical age, especially the theater. As well as the Restoration comedies in which participated William Congreve and John Dryden. Other writers were Aphra Bhen, John Bunyan, and John Locke.
Works as " Pilgrim´s Progress" was popular during this age.

The Augustan Age (1700-1745)

1700

This period was the time of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, who were the first Augustans. The poet Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was prolific at this time and was characterized for challenging stereotypically female roles. Daniel Defoe was also popular.
Some important works include "Robinson Crusoe", "Gulliver´s travels".

The Age of Sensibility (1745-1785)

1745

This period was the time of Edmund Burke, Edward Gibbon, Hester Lynch Thrale, James Boswell, and Samuel Johnson. During this age ideas of Neoclassicism, a critical and literature mode and the Enlightenment were highlighted.
Some novelists include Henrry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollet, and Laurence Sterne. Furtermore, poets as William Cowper and Thomas Percy.
Some popular works include "Tom Jones".

The Romantic Period (1785-1832)

1785

During this period ocurred different events, the most important were the start of the French Revolution and a publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor with the book "Lyrical Ballads".
It ends with the passage of the Reform Bill and the the death of Sir Walter Scott.
Some important figures include Wordsworth, Coleridge, Wlliam Blake, Lord Byron, John Keats, and others.

The Victorian Period (1832-1901)

1832

This period is so called due to the Queen Victoria from 1837 until her death in 1901. Social, intellectual, religious and economics issues were too popular, heralded by the passage of the Reform Bill. It was divided into periods: early (1832-1848), mid (1848-1870), and late( 1870-1901).
This time was a strong contention with Romantic period for being the most popular, influential, and prolific period in all of English literature.
Some important poets include Roberth and Elizabeth Barret Brownin.

The Edwardian Period (1901-1914)

1901

This period received this name due to the King Edward VII, and covers the period between Victoria's death and the outbreak of Word War I.
it had important novelists as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Rudyart Kipling, H.G Wells and Henrry James. Notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William Buttler Yeats. And Dramatits as James Barrie, Gerge Bernand Shaw and John Galsworthy.

The Georgian Period (1910-1936)

1910

This age is so called due to the reign of George V. Georgian poetry is considered works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh. its themes were rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately more than pasion and experimentation.
Some Georgian poets include Ralph Hodgson, John Masefield, W.H Davies and Rupert Brooke.

The Modern Period (1914-1945)

1914

It applies for works after the start of World War I. Its more important features include bold experimentation with subject matter, style and form, encommpassing narrative, verse and drama.
The new criticism also appeared at thit time, leds by Woolf, Eliot, Empson and others.
It is not accure if the modern period ended.

The Postmodern Period (1945-?)

1945

It started after the end of the World War II. The Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism were developed during this period.
Some important writers include Samuel Beckett, Joseph Heller, Anthony Burgues, among others.
Many postmodern authors wrote during the modern period as well.

The Contemporary Period (1945-present)

2000

This period starts at the end of the World War II and the late of the cold war in 1940. During the 50's and 60´s emerged women's movement and civil rights in America. In the 21st century, American literature became more complex than in the past.
Some authors and works include: Norman Mailer (The Naked and the Dead-1948), Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse five- 1969), Alice Waker (The Color Purple-1982), Don Delillo (Underworld (1997), Jhonathan Franzen (The corrections-2001). Among others.