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Old English (450- 1066)
Ancient English or Anglo-Saxon developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as angles, Saxons sajones and just. As the Anglo-Saxons became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of Roman Britain:Common Brittonic,a Celtic language, and America, brought to Britain by the Roman invasion. -
Medieval English Period (1066- 1500)
Medieval English literature is a very broad theme, which includes all the works that were available in Europe during the Middle Ages Literature at this time was dominated by religious writings, which included the poetry, theology and life of the saints, but lay works and scientific works were also produced. That is, works of all kinds were produced, from the totally sacred to the completely unholy. -
Early Modern Era (1500- 1660)
"The English Renaissance" is the term used to describe the artistic and cultural movement that existed in England from the 16th to the mid-17th century. It is associated with the Pan-European Renaissance that originated in Italy in the 14th century. This time in English cultural history is also known as "The Shakespeare era" or "The Elizabethan Era", referring to the most important author and monarch of the time. -
Puritan (1653- 1660)
Associated exclusively with the theology not only or definition of the church, the English Puritans were initially known for their extremely critical attitude to the religious commitments made during the reign of Elizabeth I. Many of them were graduates of the University of Cambridge and became Anglican priests to make changes in their local churches. They directly encouraged personal religious experience, sincere moral conduct, and worship simple services. -
Restoration Literature (1660- 1700)
The reopening of the theaters gave the opportunity to represent satirical works about the new nobility and the growing bourgeoisie. The mobility of society, which followed the social upheavals of the previous generation, provided the ideas for the creation of the comedy costumbrista. Aphra Behn was the first female professional novelist and playwright. John Bunyan's allegory, The Pilgrim, is one of the most read works of this period. -
18th Century (1700- 1798)
The time of the early eighteenth century is known as the era of Augustus or neoclassical literature. Alexander Pope's works show that the poetry of these years was very formal. In the mid-18th century the novel was based on authors such as Henry Fielding, Laurence Stern and Samuel Richardson, who perfected the novel epistolary; Richardson was a moralist while Fielding and Stern were closer to the comedy genre. -
Romanticism (1798- 1837)
The reaction to industrialization and urbanism pushed poets to explore nature, such as the group of "The Poets of the Lake" in which we included William Wordsworth. These romantic poets brought to English literature a new degree of sentimentality and introspection. Among the most important authors of the second generation of romantic poets are Lord Byron, Percy Bysse Shelley and John Keats -
Modern literature (1901- 1940)
The most prominent novelists of the interwar period were D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, the latter member of the Bloomsbury group. The Sitwells also gained traction between literary and artistic movements, but with less influence. The most important writers of popular literature were P.G. Wodehouse and Agatha Christie. -
Victorian literature (1837- 1901)
Most of the authors were more focused on knowing the tastes of the middle class they read than on satisfying aristocrats. Among the best-known works of this era we highlight: the works of strong emotional content of the Bronte sisters; William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair satire; George Eliot's realistic novel; and the insightful portraits of the life of landowners and Anthony Trollope's professional class. Charles Dickens came out in 1830 under the trend of delivery publishing. -
Postmodern literature (1940- 2000)
Two examples of English postmodern literature are: John Fowles and Julian Barnes. Important writers of the early 21st century include Martin Amis, Ian McEwan, Will Self, Andrew Motion and Salman Rushdie.
With the latter we complete this blog post, in which we wanted to review the history of English literature and its periods in a simple but complete way. Now we would like to know your opinion and to tell us which of all these times is for you the most important.
