History of English Literature :
Introduction to Literature:
Literature is the collection of literary parts or writings, that are Plays, Novels, Dramas, Poetry, Abstract ideas, and art of life.
Importance of Literature:
History of English Literature:
1: Old
Period
2: Middle
/ Medieval period
3: Modern
period
In between these periods, the other considerable ages are ;
•
Renaissance and Elizabethan age
• Neo-Classical age
•
Romanticism and Victorian age
• Modern Literature
In this column, all the prominent ages of English Literature
are discussed briefly.
Old Literature:(From 858 to
1100)
Anglo-Saxon:
Anglo-Saxons were the three tribes, (The Angles, Saxons, and
Jutes) who came from Denmark to England through the North Sea Route.
Main Contributions:
• origin of Oral Work (writing was not given much in Anglo-Saxons).
• Major work: Beowulf ( 1st Literary work, an
epic poem by an anonymous poet).
Major Literary Poets:
• Cædomn
• the Bede
• Aldhelem
• Cynewulf
Norman Conquest:
Attack of Normans on England in 1066.
This age is in between the Old and Middle periods.
The union of the Races _
Clergy; Norman people,
Nobles; French warriors,
Commoners; English
people
Bought distinct
languages that are Latin Language, French, and English.
Middle Age:
( 1100_1500)
The age from 1350_1500 is the end of this age.
Outlines of Literature of Medieval age:
• Chivalry ( a respect code of the Knight)
• Courtly Love ( rites between a knight and a lady)
• Miracle and Mystery plays ( Also known as Saints Play,
main themes had taken from the bible)
• Morality plays ( Lessons
of moral qualities)
Important Literary Figures of Medieval Era:
• William Langland (1322_1400England took: The Vision of William
concerning Piers the Plowman)
• John Gower (1325_1408)
(His central theme was man's Salvation)
• Geoffrey Chaucer (1340_1400)
( Father of English Literature (Poetry), the most prominent poet
of Middle age, his famous works are “The Canterbury Tales, The House of Fame” )
Renaissance ( 1500_1660):
• French word “Rebirth”
• Bridge between the Middle
age and the Modern era.
• Renaissance bought revolutions in Arts, Literature, Philosophy,
and Science
• Humanism was the main motive.
The Renaissance is further configured
into;
~ Tudor era ( 1485_1603)
~ Elizabethan Era
( relates to Queen Elizabeth's reign from 1558 to 1603, Also called Shakespeare’s period.
William Shakespeare ( considerable dramatist of all the time)
belonged to the Elizabethan era/ Renaissance
~ Jacobian period( 1603_1625)
~ Caroline period ( 1625_1649)
~ Late Renaissance (1625_1660, Milton age or Puritan age. John Milton
was the leading literary figure of this era).
Neo-Classical Age ( 1660_1798):
• writing was Based on
reasons and logics
• Poetry was bound to fixed rules
• Have Public themes
• Also known as the Age of Enlightenment
• Literature was of the type of essays, Satire, letters
Neo-Classical age is further divided into three periods:
~ Restoration Period( 1660_1700)
~ Augustan Literature ( Roman Empire age )
~ Age of Sensibility (1750_1798)
Romantic age of Romanticism ( 1798_1837):
• Arts and Literature
were appreciated.
• Ideas were concerned Human emotions and love
• Main focus was on the respect of Nature
Famous poets of the Romantic age are;
John Keats, William Wordsworth,
William Blake
Victorian Age ( 1837_1901) :
• Queen Victoria's reign
• Major themes were Democracy, Socialism, Feminism
• There were differences between religious and science perspectives.
• Various Conflicts emerged due to these differences
Edwardian Age (1901_1910):
• King Edward came
• Women's dignity in society improved.
Modern Era:
( Twentieth
Century, 1901_1945):
• After the world wars and political changes, the Victorian age was replaced by Modernism
• Reveals loss of faith, suffering.
• Women were suppressed.
• Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, T.S Eliot are considerable
figures of Modernism.
Post Modernism:
(Since 1945 up to present age)
• Absence of traditionalism.
• Mainly based on Science and Technology.
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