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450 BCE
OLD ENGLISH 450-1066
Old English refers to the literature produced from the invasion of Celtic England by Germanic tribes in the first half of the fifth Century till the conquest of England in 1066 by William Conqueror Old English Period, written literature began to develop from oral tradtiion and in the eight century poetry written in vanacular anglo-saxon apperaered. Old English was characterized by epic, heroic stories of violence and feudal loyalty, often written in alliterative verse -
1019
Beowulf 1019
An Old English epic poem consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It may be the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is commonly cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. -
Period: 1066 to 1500
MIDDLE ENGLISH 1066-1500
The Middle English Period consists of the literature produced in the four and a half centuries between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and about 1500, when the standard literary language, derived from the dialect of the London area, became recognizable as "modern English." Prior to the second half of the fourteenth century, vernacular literature consisted primarily of religious writings. The second half of the fourteenth century produced the first great age of secular literature. -
1387
Geoffrey Chaucer
Canterbury Tales 1387 - The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English -
Period: 1500 to
THE RENAISSANCE 1500-1660
The English Renassance began with the ascent of the House of Tudor to the Englsih Throne in 1485, the English Literary Renaissnace began with the Englsih Humanists such as SIr Thomas More and Sir Thomas Wyatt -
1558
ELIZABETHAN AGE 1558-1603
The Elizabethan Age of English Literature coincides with the reign of Elizabeth I. During this time medieval tradition blended with Renaissance optimism. Lyric poetry, prose and drama were major styles of literature that were made in the Elizabethan Age. -
William Shakespeare
English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as both the greatest writer in the English language, and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon" - Romeo and Juliet -
THE RESTORATION 1660-1700
The Restoration Period is marked by the restoration of the monarchy and the triumph of reason and tolerance over religious and political passion. The Restoration produce a multitude of prose and poetry and the distinctive restoration comedy. -
JACOBEAN AGE 1603-1625
The Jacobean Age of English Literature coincides with reign of James I, During this time the literature became sophisticated, sombre and conscious of social abuse and rivarlry. Rich prose and drama were written in this time as well as The King James version of the Bibile. -
Thomas Middleton
English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson among the most successful and prolific of the playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period - The Changeling -
CAROLINE AGE 1625-1649
The Caroline Age of English Literature coincides with the reign of Charles I. During his age the writers wrote with refinement and elegance. The dramaists in this age were the last to write in the Elizabethan tradition. -
Cavelier Poets
Thomas Carew, Robert Herrick, John Suckling, William Davenant and Richard Lovelace -
Commenwealth Period 1649-1660
The Commenwealth Period of English Literature includes the literature produced during the time of the Puritan Leader Oliver Cornwell. This time period created a collection of political writings and prose. In September of 1642, the Puritans closed theaters on moral and religious grounds. For the next eighteen years the theaters remained closed, correlating to the lack of dram produced in this time period. -
Period: to
NEOCLASSICAL PERIOD 1660-1785
The Neoclassical Period of ENglish was influenced by contemporary French Literature, which was in the midst of its greatest age. This literature is known for use of philosphy, reason, skepticism, wit and refinement. The Neoclassical Period marks that first great age of English Literary critism. -
John Milton
English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell - Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained -
Thomas Hobbes
was an English philosopher who is considered one of the founders of modern political philosophy - Livytan -
Daniel Defoe
was an English trader, writer, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. - Robinson Crusoe (first novel in english language) -
THE AUGUSTAN AGE 1700-1745
The Augustan Age dervies from the literary period of Vergil and Ovid under the Roman Emperor Augustus. The Augustan Age refers to literature with predominant characteristics of refinement, clarity, elegance and balance of judgement. Significant contributions of this time period were the release of the first English novel and novel of character. -
Samuel Johnson
poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer - History of Rasselas, Prince of Abissinia -
THE AGE OF SENSIBILITY 1745-1785
The Age of Sensibility began to reflect the worldview of Enlightment and started to emphasize instinct and feeling rather than judgement and restraint. The Age of Sensibility bloomed a growing sympathy of Middle English and sparked an interest in medieval ballads and folk literature. It was also known as the Age of Johnson due to dominant authors being Samuel Johnson and his literary and interlectual circle. -
Period: to
THE ROMANTIC PERIOD 1785-1830
Began in the late 18th century and lasted until about 1832. In a nutshell, Romantic Literature is characterised by it personal nature, its strong use od feeling, abundant use of symbolism and the exploration of nature and the supernatural. The Romantics were considered innovative based on their belief that literature could be spontanteous, imaginative, personal and free.
The Gothic Literature was first created. The characteristics of Gothic Literature include dark and gloomy settings. -
Jane Austen
An English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century - Pride and Prejudice -
Period: to
THE VICTORIAN PERIOD 1832-1901
The Victorian Period of Literature begins with the accession of Queen Victoria onto the throne in 1837 and lasted till her death. As the Victorian period is six decades long 1870 is often used to spilt it into "eraly victorian" and "late victorian".Overall Victorian literature deals with the issues and problems of the day. Some of the contemporary issues include; social, economic, religious and intellectual issues and problems surrounding the Industrial Revolution. -
PRE-RAPHAELITES 1848-1860
In 1848, a group of English artists, created the "Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood". The aim of the brotherhood was to return painting to a style of truthfulness, simplicity and religious devotion that had reigned prior to Raphael and the high Italian Renaissance. -
Mary Shelley
An English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer- Frankenstein -
Charlotte Brontë -
English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels have become classics of English literature - Jane Eyre -
THE AESTHETICISM AND DECADENCE MOVEMENT 1880-1901
The aestheticism adn decadence movement grew out of the french movement of aestheticism adn decadence. These authors encouraged experimentation and held the view that art is opposed to "natural" norms of morality. This style of literature opposed the dominance of scienctific thinking and deifed the hostility of society to any art that was not useful or did not teach any moral values. The phrase "art for art's sake" emerges. -
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
British poet, illustrator, painter and translator, and a member of the Rossetti family, he was leader of the brotherhood - Beata Beatrix -
Alfred Lord Tennyson
was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets. - Ulysses -
Oscar Wilde
Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s - The picture of Dorian Grey -
Martin Heidegger
German philosopher and a seminal thinker in the Continental tradition and philosophical hermeneutics, and is "widely acknowledged to be one of the most original and important philosophers of the 20th century. - Being and Time -
THE EDWARDIAN PERIOD 1901-1914
The Edwardian Period is named after the King Edward VII and spans from Queen VIctorias death till the beggining of WWI. During this time the British Empire was at its height and lived lives of materialistic luxury. However despite this four firths of the population lived in the squalor. The writigns fromthe Edwardian Period reflect deeply on these social conditions. For example some authors attacked the selfishness of the upperclass. -
H.G Wells
English writer. He was prolific in many genres, writing dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, satire, biography, and autobiography. He is often know as the "father of science fiction" - Time Machine -
Rudyard Kipling
English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist - The Jungle Book -
T.S Elliot
An essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and "one of the twentieth century's major poets" - The Waste Land -
Period: to
THE GEORGIAN PERIOD 1910-1936
The Georgian period refers to the period of British Literature that is named after the reign og George V. Many writers in the Edwardian period continued to write in the Georigan period. This period produced a lot of poetry by the Georigan Poets, their poetry tended to focus on rural subject matter and its tradtional shape and form -
Period: to
THE MODERN PERIOD 1914-1945
The Modern Period of British Literature applies to British Literature written since the beggining of WWI. The authors of this period experimented with subject matter, form and style. They have produced achievments in all literary genres. -
Anthology of Georgian Poets
written by Lascelles Abercrombie, Gordon Bottomley, Rupert Brooke, Gilbert K. Chesterton, William H Davies, Walter De La Mare, John Drinkwater, James Elroy Flecker, Wilfrid Wilson Gibson, D.H Lawrence, John Masefield, Harold Monro, T. Sturge Moore, Ronald Ross, Edmund Beale Sargant, James Stephens and Robert Calverley Trevelyan . -
Virginia Woolf
English writer, who is considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device - A Room of One's Own -
Period: to
POSTMODERN 1945-NOW
After WWII, the Postmodern of British Literature developed. Postmodernism blends literary genres and styles and attempts to break free of modernist forms.
While the British literary scene at the turn of the new millenium is crowded and varied, the authors still fall into the categories of modernism and postmodernism. However, with the passage of time the Modern era may be reorganized and expanded -
Modernism - Postmodernism
