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Period: 450 to 1066
Old English
The term Anglo-Saxon comes from 2 Germanic tribes: the Angles & the Saxons. This period dates back to their invasion of Celtic England c. 450. The era ends in 1066 when Norman France, under William, conquered England. Much of the 1st half of this period (prior to the 7th c.) had oral literature. A lot of the prose was a translation of sth else or otherwise legal, medical, or religious in nature; however, some works, such as Beowulf & those by period poets Caedmon & Cynewulf, are important -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English Period
It sees a huge transition in the language, culture, and lifestyle of England and results in what we can recognize today as a form of “modern” (recognizable) English. The era extends to around 1500. As with the OE period, much of the Middle English writings were religious in nature; however, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to rise. Some writers: Chaucer, Thomas Malory, and Robert Henryson. Notable works include "Piers Plowman" & "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." -
Period: 1500 to
Renaissance
Recently, critics and literary historians have begun to call this the “Early Modern” period, but here we retain the historically familiar term “Renaissance.” This period is often subdivided into four parts, including the Elizabethan Age (1558–1603), the Jacobean Age (1603–1625), the Caroline Age (1625–1649), and the Commonwealth Period (1649–1660). -
Period: 1558 to
Elizabethan Age
The Elizabethan Age was the golden age of English drama. Some of its noteworthy figures include Christopher Marlowe, Francis Bacon, Edmund Spenser, Sir Walter Raleigh, and, of course, William Shakespeare. -
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Neoclassical Period
The Neoclassical period is also subdivided into ages, including The Restoration (1660–1700), The Augustan Age (1700–1745), and The Age of Sensibility (1745–1785). -
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Jacobean Age
It is named for the reign of James I. It includes the works of John Donne, Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, John Webster, Elizabeth Cary, Ben Jonson, and Lady Mary Wroth. The King James translation of the Bible also appeared during the Jacobean Age. -
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Caroline Age
The Caroline Age covers the reign of Charles I (“Carolus”). John Milton, Robert Burton, and George Herbert are some of the notable figures. -
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Commonwealth Period
It was so named for the period between the end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy. This is the time when Oliver Cromwell, a Puritan, led Parliament, who ruled the nation.
Public theaters closed (for nearly 2 decades) to prevent public assembly and to combat moral and religious transgressions. John Milton & Thomas Hobbes’ political writings appeared and, while drama suffered, prose writers such as Thomas Fuller and Abraham Cowley published prolifically. -
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Restoration period
The Restoration period sees some response to the puritanical age, especially in the theater. Restoration comedies (comedies of manner) developed during this time under the talent of playwrights like William Congreve and John Dryden. Satire, too, became quite popular, as evidenced by the success of Samuel Butler. Other notable writers of the age include Aphra Behn, John Bunyan, and John Locke. -
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Augustan Age
The time of Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, who imitated those first Augustans and even drew parallels between themselves and the first set. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a poet, was prolific at this time and noted for challenging stereotypically female roles. Daniel Defoe was also popular. -
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Age of Sensibility
The Age of Sensibility (sometimes referred to as the Age of Johnson) was the time of Edmund Burke, Edward Gibbon, Hester Lynch Thrale, James Boswell, and, of course, Samuel Johnson. Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed during this age. Novelists include Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett, and Laurence Sterne as well as the poets William Cowper and Thomas Percy. -
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Romantic Period
Beginning date = often debated. Some claim it is 1785, following the Age of Sensibility. Others say it began in 1789 with the French Revolution, & others believe it is 1798, when Wordsworth & Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads was published.
Authors: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Byron, Keats, Mary Wollstonecraft, P. B. Shelley, Austen, & M. Shelley.
Ends with the Reform Bill (which signaled the Victorian Era) & with Walter Scott's death. There is also a minor period (1786–1800) called the Gothic era. -
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Victorian Period
Named for the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901).
Often divided into “Early”, “Mid” & “Late” periods or into 2 phases: the Pre-Raphaelites (1848–1860) & that of Aestheticism & Decadence (1880–1901).
In strong contention with the Romantic period for being the + popular, influential, and prolific period in all of English L.
Time of social, religious, intellectual, & economic issues, heralded by the passage of the Reform Bill, which expanded voting rights.
Dickens, Bronte's sisters, George Eliot -
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Edwardian Period
This period is named for King Edward VII and covers the period bt Victoria’s death and the outbreak of WWI. Although a short period (and a short reign for Edward VII), the era includes incredible classic novelists such as Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Kipling, H.G. Wells, and Henry James (who was born in America but spent most of his writing career in England); notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William Butler Yeats; and dramatists such as James Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, and John Galsworthy -
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Georgian Period
Usually refers to the reign of George V (1910–1936) but sometimes also includes the reigns of the 4 successive Georges from 1714–1830. Here, we refer to the former description and it covers the Georgian poets, such as Ralph Hodgson, John Masefield, W.H. Davies, and Rupert Brooke. Georgian poetry = works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh. Themes+subject matter = rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than with passion or with experimentation. -
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Modernism
Applies to works written after the start of WWI. Common features = bold experimentation with subject matter, style, & form, encompassing narrative, verse, & drama. W.B. Yeats’ words, “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold,” are often referred to when describing the core tenet or “feeling” of modernist concerns.
New Criticism also appeared at this time, led by Woolf, Eliot, and others, which reinvigorated literary criticism in general.
Postmodernism has developed after & from Modernism -
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Postmodernism
The postmodern period begins about the time that World War II ended. Many believe it is a direct response to modernism. Some say the period ended about 1990, but it is likely too soon to declare this period closed. Poststructuralist literary theory and criticism developed during this time. Some notable writers of the period include Samuel Beckett, Joseph Heller, Anthony Burgess, John Fowles, Penelope M. Lively, and Iain Banks. Many postmodern authors wrote during the modern period as well.