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1066
Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (450–1066)
We could say that Anglo-Saxon is the language that was spoken in the south of the United Kingdom, from the 7th to the 12th century AD. C.
Authors and topics
-Beowulf.
-Caedmon.
-Cynewulf.
These works include genres such as epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, legal works, chronicles, and riddles. In total, there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the time. -
1066
Middle English Period (1066–1500)
The Middle English period sees a great transition in the language, culture and way of life of England and results in what we can recognize today as a form of "modern" English.
This period is home to such characters as Chaucer, Thomas Malory, and Robert Henryson. Notable works include "Piers Plowman" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". -
The Renaissance (1500-1660)
The "Early Modern Age" period, but here we retain the historically familiar term "Renaissance".Some of its notable figures include Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh, and, of course, William Shakespeare. -
The neoclassical period (1600-1785)
The neoclassical period is also subdivided into ages, which include The Restoration (1660-1700), The Age of Augustus (1700-1745), and The Age of Sensitivity (1745-1785). The Restoration period sees some response to the Puritan age, especially in the theater. Restorative comedies (fashion comedies) were developed during this time under the talent of playwrights such as William Congreve and John Dryden. -
The romantic period (1785-1832)
This era includes the works of such giants 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. Notable writers of this period include Matthew Lewis, Anne Radcliffe, and William Beckford. -
The Victorian period (1832-1901)
The Victorian period is in strong conflict with the Romantic period as the most popular, influential, and prolific period in all of English (and world) literature. Poets of this era include Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and Matthew Arnold, among others. -
The Edwardian period (1901-1914)
It was a short period (and a short reign for Edward VII), the era includes incredible classic novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox. Ford, Rudyard Kipling, HG Wells and Henry James (who was born in the United States but spent most of his writing career in England); notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William Butler Yeats; and playwrights like James Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, and John Galsworthy. -
The Georgian period (1910-1936)
The Georgian period generally refers to the reign of George V (1910-1936), but sometimes also includes the reigns of the four successive Georges from 1714-1830. Here, we refer to the above description as it applies chronologically and covers, for example, Georgian poets, such as Ralph Hodgson, John Masefield, WH Davies, and Rupert Brooke.Today, Georgian poetry is typically considered the works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh -
The modern period (1914–?)
The modern period is traditionally applied to works written after the start of the First World War. Common characteristics include bold experimentation with subject, style, and form, spanning narrative, verse, and drama. Words from WB Yeats, “Things are falling apart; the center cannot stand, ”they are often mentioned when describing the basic principle or“ feeling ”of modernist concerns. -
The postmodern period (1945–?)
The postmodern period begins around the time that World War II ended. Many believe that it is a direct response to modernism. Some say the period ended around 1990, but it is likely too early to declare it closed.Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism developed during this time. Some notable writers of the period include Samuel Beckett, Joseph Heller,. Lively, and Iain Banks. Many postmodern authors wrote during the modern period as well.
