Brief History of English Literature

History of English literature is divided into following periods:

1.Old or Anglo Saxon literature.
2.Middle English literature.
3.Elizabethan literature.
4.The age of Milton.
5.Restoration drama.
6.Neoclassicism.
7.Romanticism.
8.The Victorian period.
9.The twentieth century (modern).
10.Post modernism (present).

1. Old English literature: (600-1100):

The greatest old English poem called 'Beowulf ' whose author is unknown.

The old English authors, are known by name are Caedmon, the author of a short Hymn and Cynewulf the author of four long poems.

2.Middle English literature:(1100-1500)

☣ Poetry:  the most important poet of the time is Geoffrey Chaucer, his greatest work is Canterbury tales.
☣ Drama: The three main types of medieval  drama are mystery plays about Biblical stories, miracle plays about the lives of saints and the miracles the performed , and morality plays, in which character s personify moral qualities such as charity or vice.

3.Elizabethan literature:
Written approximately during the time of queen Elizabeth (1558-1603).
☣ Poetry:
Edmund Spencer the author of The Faerie Queene, Walter Raleigh ,and William Shakespeare.
☣ Drama:
Drama is the greatest form written during the Elizabethan age. Shakespeare is considered the greatest playwright of all times. His best works include Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello and Merchant of Venice. Marlow has written six plays. Ben Johnson wrote Alchemist , John Donne's (1572 -1631) metaphysical school of poetry.

4. The age of Milton:

Milton's Paradise Lost,
Robert Herrick famous for Beautiful Lyrics.

5. Restoration Drama:

The main form of drama of this period are the heroic plays as written by John Dryden,and the comedy of manners as written by Richard Sheridan and William Congreve.

6. Neo-classicsm:

The characteristics of neoclassicism are:

☸. Poetry should be guided by reason.

☸. The role of the poet is that of the teacher.

☸. Poetry should be written according to fixed rules.

☸. Poetry should use special diction.

The major representative of this school
Are John Dryden and Alexander Pope.

7. Romanticism:

The main characteristics are:

☸.  Poetry is the expression of personal feelings and emotions.

☸. Imagination is a main source of poetry.

☸. Nature in romantic poetry is a living thing,a teacher of man,and a healing power.

Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, Shelley, Blake and  Coleridge.

8. The Victorian period:

It includes second half of the nineteenth century.
☣ Poetry:  Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning are the major poets of this period.

☣Novel: the novel was the main literary production of the Victorian age
Charles Dickens, Jane Austen,Emily Bronte,George Eliot,Thomas Hardy.

☣Drama:
Oscar Wild's "Importance of Being Earnest".

      
9. Modern literature (20th century):

As a result of the political changes and the world wars,the sense of confidence in Victorian literature is replaced by the loss of faith,suffering, and uncertainty that modern literature expresses. Stylistic experimentation and revolution against all literary tradition are the mark of modern literature. Some major figures include W.b Yeats, T.S Eliot and W.H Auden in poetry,
Virginia Wolf and James Joyce in the novel, and Samuel Becket in drama.

10. Post Modernism (C. 1945-present):

A notoriously ambiguous term,specially as it refers to literature, post modernism can be seen as response to the elitism of high modernism as well as to the horrors of world war ll . Post modern literature is characterized by a disjointed,fragmented pasticcio of high and low culture that reflects the absence of tradition and structure in a world driven by technology and consumerism.
Julian Barnes, Don't Delillo, Tony Morrison, Vladimir Nobokov, Thomas Pynchon and Kurt Vonnegut are post modern writers.