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450
Old English 450 - 1066
Old English literature also referred to as Anglo-Saxon literature encompasses literature written in Old English from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The term Anglo-Saxons refers to a group of settlers from the German regions that formed the basis of English culture, religion, and language.
"Cædmon's Hymn", composed in the 7th century, is considered the oldest extant poem in English.
"Beowulf" was the longest and most important poem of Anglo-Saxon poetry. -
1066
Middle English 1066 - 1500
The Middle English literature was after the Norman Conquest. The term Middle English literature refers to the literature written, from the 12th century until the 1470s, when the Chancery Standard a form of London-based English, became widespread and the printing process regularized the language. Ideas and themes from French and Celtic literature appear in English writing. Important Literature:
Geoffrey Chaucer's' The Canterbury tales (1392).
William Langlands' Piers Plowman (1360). -
1500
English Renaissance 1500 - 1660
The movement actually began in Italy and spread to England, and the English Renaissance occurred from 1500 to 1688. The writers of the Renaissance not only wanted to imitate art, they hoped to change reality through art. The invention of the printing press enabled writers to publish their works.
Renaissance writers were John Milton and Edmund Spenser.
William Shakespeare is considered the greatest of all English authors, he created masterpieces like:
Romeo and Juliet (1597).
Hamlet (1609). -
1558
The Elizabethan Era 1558 - 1603
The Elizabethan Era is considered by many historians to be the golden age in English History. During this era England experienced peace and prosperity while the arts flourished is perhaps most famous for its theatre. English Renaissance theatre began with the opening of "The Red Lion" theatre in 1567. Popular genres of theatre included, the tragedy, and the comedy.
Important writers and works:
John Lyly: Euphues and His England (1580).
Sir Philip: Sidney Astrophil and Stella (1591). -
The Jacobean Era 1603 - 1625
The Jacobean era was the time when James I was King of England, between 1603 and 1625, it was a period of visual and literary arts.
Jacobean art and culture was heavily influenced by the art and culture of the Elizabethan era. It was also influenced by ancient Greece and Rome.
While examining the famous literature of Jacobean Era, William Shakespeare is again prominently displayed. He is known to have written The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1613) during this time period. -
The Puritan Period 1653-1660
King Charles I and Parliament disagreed on many things and the fighting began between the Cavaliers followers of the king and the Puritans.The Puritans formed a Commonwealth. Puritanism included all shades of belief.Even the theatres were forced to closed.Despite the uptight atmosphere,great literature can be gleaned from this time: Cavalier poets. He is famous for his satiric play Volpone (1606). John Bunyan a Puritan preacher, is best known for his allegory, The Pilgrims Progress (1678) -
Restoration Age 1660 - 1700
It was the period of the reign of Charles II. Also called Age of Dryden, because Dryden was the representative writer of this period. he beginning of the Restoration began the process of social transformation. The atmosphere of gaiety, licentiousness and moral laxity was restored. The theatres were reopened. All these tendencies of the age are reflected in the literature of the period. The important author was John Dryden. The Rival Ladies, All For Love (1677), was his masterpieces. -
The 18th Century 1700 - 1798
The 18th century refers to literature produced in Europe during this period. This period had many political and religious conflicts, also intellectual and scientific developments, and of literary and cultural sophistication. The 18th century saw the development of the modern novel as a literary genre and subgenres: the sentimental novel, the libertine novel, and the libertine novel.
Important Authors-Literature:
Jonathan Swift:Gulliver’s Travels (1726)
Alexander Pope:The Rape of the Lock (1712). -
The Augustan Period 1700 - 1750
It was an age of strong traditionalism. It has is beginning with the reign of King George I of Hanover. It forms the golden age of Latin literature and conceived literature primarily as an art, to the poetry was an imitation of human life. This century was the rise of Important novel writers and works, also new developments in science. Important writers and works:
Oliver Goldsmith: The Deserted Village(1770)
Daniel Defoe: A True-Born English man(1701)
Alexander Pope: An Essay on Criticism(1711) -
The Age of Sensibility 1750 - 1798
It's called “the Age of Sensibility” in recognition of the high value that many Britons came to place on explorations of feeling and emotion in literature and the other arts.
Samuel Johnson was the English author who made lasting contributions to English literature in this age, as a poet, literary critic, biographer. Johnson has been described as the most distinguished man of letters in English history. His early works include the poems "London (1738)" and "The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749)". -
The Romantic Period 1798 - 1837
Romanticism was an artistic and literary movement that came to England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and had a profound impact on English literature. It was inaugurated with the publication of the Lyrical Ballads.
English Romantic literature is characterized by a love of nature, distrust of reason, and the rejection of traditional authority.
Important writers and works
William Wordsworth:The Prelude (1799), The Excursion (1814).
Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (1813), Emma (1815). -
The Victorian Age 1837 - 1901
Victorian literature is the literature written during the reign of Queen Victoria. The literature produced in this period was poetry, essays, fiction, and letters. This period can also be called the age of fusion of romantic and realist style of writing. The novels of this era are generally based on very strong concepts of morality.
Important writers and works
Robert Browning: The Lady of Shallot (1832), Men and Women (1855)
Charles Dickens: David Copperfield (1850), Hard times (1854). -
The Modern Period
This Age had a break with tradition, the traditional verse patterns were rejected, and the romantic conventions. The catastrophe of the world wars had shaken faith in moral and spiritual life. Modern world people were more into independence, experimentation, and individualism. The feeling of uncertainty was spread and no one knew where the world was heading into.
David Herbert Lawrence: Sons and Lovers (1913).
James Joyce: Ulysses (1922).
Thomas Stearns Eliot: Murder in the Cathedral (1935). -
The Post Moderns Period 1940 - 2000
Postmodernism in Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power. Postmodern authors tend to reject outright meanings and instead the possibility of multiple meanings, within a single literary work.
Flann O'Brien: At Swim-Two-Birds (1939).
Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game (1943). -
Contemporary
Contemporary literature reflects current trends in life and culture. It reflects the author's perspective and can come across as cynical. It questions facts, historical perspectives, and presents two contradictory arguments side by side. It includes literature written after World War Two through the present. Some of the characteristics include multiple narrators and a mixture of subjects.
Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid's Tale (1985).
Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections (2001).
