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449
Anglo-Saxon 449 - 1066
Characterized by an oral tradition of epic poems, songs, and poetry. Old English or Anglo-Saxon literature was well established by pre-Christian Germanic settlers. One of the best known works from this time period is Beowulf, an epic poem about the Geatish warrior of the same name -
Period: 1066 to 1470
Medieval (1066)
The language was a dialect of French descent with Germanic influences, generally called Anglo-Norman. This fun brought English closer to what we know and use today. Famous works during this period include the History of the Kings of Great Britain (containing the legend of King Arthur) and the Canterbury Tales. This period had a great focus on the Roman Catholic Church, as it was an essential part of everyday life for both royalty and peasant -
Period: 1485 to
Renaissance (1500)
The English Renaissance saw the rise of the merchant class in Britain. Mathematics, science, technology, education, and exploration became more accessible to the masses. The feudal system was slowly dissolving as middle-class merchants increased their wealth. The plays became popular as they appealed to all classes. Notable playwrights include Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, arguably the greatest playwright of all time. -
Period: to
Neoclassical period 1600
focuses mostly on philosophy, known as the great representatives of Enlightenment. Among them are: Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. it tends to the cult of reason and the rejection of religious dogmas. It is characterized mainly by its fables and plays, although neoclassical poetry also enjoyed great popularity. Some of the neoclassical authors are Leandro Fernández de Moratin (1760-1828) with works such as The New Comedy of 1796 and The Yes of the Girls: Comedy in Three Acts of 1805. -
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Romanticism 1798
romanticism reacted to classicism and rationalism, promoted formal renovations both in poetry and in narrative and theater; he was interested in popular, national, historical and fantastic subjects; He defended freedom and creative originality, had a taste for the exotic and subjectivism and idealism, genres such as legend, biography, historical novel, Gothic novel, adventure novel and serial novel.Authors: Walter Scott, Bysshe Shelley, William Blake, -
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Victorian (1832)
It begins with the coronation of Queen Victoria and ends with her death, it was a battle between romantic / Gothic and neoclassical / Enlightenment ideas. Members of the upper middle class felt they could join the ranks of their superiors and focused on acting like the dignitaries of the time. The characters and authors of this time period are often stereotyped for being tight-fisted, hypocritical, and narrow-minded. Charles Dickens well known Victorian author who wrote A Tale of Two Cities. -
Period: to
Modernism 1900
British modernist authors had a sense of betrayal after being devastated by two world wars in Europe. They no longer saw their government or even their religions as a reliable means of giving answers in life, so they turned away and sought the answers for themselves. Sometimes using allegory or even fantasy to do it.
The writing focused more on form than content. Popular British Modernists include: George Orwell (Animal Farm and 1984), James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, TS Eliot, and Aldous Huxley. -
Period: to
The Postmodern Period 1945
Postmodern literature is characterized by dependence on narrative techniques such as fragmentation, paradox, and the unreliable narrator; and is often defined as a style or trend that emerged in the post-WWII era. Postmodern works are seen as a response against the dogmatic following of Enlightenment thought and modernist approaches to literature.
