Brief History Of English Literature – Simplified

Literature has been in existence for eons. Several historians across the world have therefore, divided the entire English Literature into various segments for easy articulation and understanding that they call them ‘period/age’. Factually, the exact dates, time and names of of these periods vary but this is an accurate research to help you through.

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Period of English Literature

1. The Old English Periosmd – 450 – 1066

2. The Middle English Period – 1066 – 1500

• Anglo-Norman Period – 1066 – 1340
• Age of Chaveer – 1340 – 1400
• Dark Age Period – 1400 – 1500

3. The Renaissance Period – 1500 – 1660

• Preparation: 1500 – 1558
• Elizabethan Age: 1558 – 1603
• Jacobean Age: 1603 – 1625
• Caroline Age: 1625 – 1649
• Age Of Shakespeare: 1590 – 1616
• Commonwealth Age: 1649 – 1660

4. The Neo-classical Period: 1660 – 1785

• Restoration Period: 1660 -1700
• Augustan Age × Age Of Pope: 1700 – 1745
• Age Of Sensibility × Johnson Age: 1745 – 1785/1798

5. Age Of Romantic Period: 1798 – 1832

6. The Victorian Period: 1832 – 1901

• Pre-Raphaelites: 1848 – 1860
• Decadence Period: 1880 – 1901

7. The Modern Period: 1901 – 1939

8. The Post Modern Period: 1939 till today

Some Prolific English Masters & Their Respective Titles

1. William Shakespeare – Bard Of Avon
2. Venerable Bade – Father Of English Learning
3. G.B Shaw – Father Of Modern English Literature
4. Alfred The Great – Founder Of English Prose
5. Thomas Kyd – Father Of Revenge Tragedy
6. John Keats – Poet Of Beauty
7. William Wordsmith – Poet Of Nature, Lake Poet
8. Alexander Pope – Mock Heroic Poet
9. Edmund Spencer – The Poet Of Poet
10. John Milton – Great Master Of Verse, Epic Poet
11. C. Marlowe – Father Of Tragedy
12. P.B. Shelly – Revolutionary Poet
13. Henry Fielding – Father Of English Novel
14. Sir Thomas Wyatt – First Sonneteer In English
15. John Wycliffe – Father Of English Prose, Translator of Bible To English
16. Chaveer – Father Of English Language, Father Of English Poetry

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Some Core & Prominent Writers Of English Literature

1. William Shakespeare
2. Christopher Marlowe
3. Ben Johnson
4. John Milton
5. Ernest Hemingway
6. GB Shaw
7. T.S. Eliot
8. Alexander Pope
9. Jonathan Swift
10. Thomas Gray
11. S.T. Coleridge
12. Charles Dickens
13. William Wordsmith
14. Robert Browning
15. P.B. Shelley

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Couple Of Important Literature Works

1. The Faerie Queene written by Edmund Spencer
2. Lucy, a poem written by William Wordsmith
3. Vanity Fair, a novel written by William Makepeace
4. Gulliver’s Travel written by Jonathan Swift
5. Way Of The World written by William Congreve
6. Sons and Lover, a novel written by D.H. Lawrence
7. The Gift Of The Magi written by O. Henry
8. A Doll’s House written by Henrik Ibsen
9. The Rape Of The Look written by Alexander Pope
10. Volpone written by Ben Jonson
11. The Silent Woman written by Ben Jonson
12. The Spanish Tragedy written by Thomas Kyd
13. An Apology For Poetry written by Sir Philip Sidney
14. The Pilgrims Progress written by John Bunyan
15. Paradise Lost written by John Milton
16. The Waste Land written by T.S. Eliot

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English Literature Period & Prominent Writers Who Served During Its Reign

☆The Old English Period

1. Caedmon
2. Cynewulf
3. King Alfred The Great

☆The Renaissance Period

■The Elizabethan Period

1. Thomas Narton & Sackville
2. Edmund Spencer(1552-1599)
3. Francis Bacon(1561-1626)
4. Christopher Marlowe(1564-1693)
5. William Shakespeare(1564-1616)
6. Ben Johnson(1573-1637)

Characteristics Of The Renaissance Period

1. Modern classical influence
2. A whole new form of Sonnet was further introduced into the system
3. Pathetic & Nationalistic feeling badger in.m
4. Maximum interest in exploration, commerce and travel
5. Essay writing during this era was very remarkable and was even introduced as a genre by Bacon
6. It was the golden age of drama/play with an outstanding poetic output/display
7. Poetry was youthful, fresh and romantic
8. Shakespeare, Bacon, Edmund Spencer etc served during this time.

☆The Commonwealth Period

1. John Milton

☆Augustan Period

1. Jonathan Swift
2. Alexander Pope

☆The Romantic Period

1. William Wordsmith
2. S.T. Coleridge
3. P.B. Shelley
4. John Keats

Characteristics Of The Romantic Period

1. Women who write novels(novelists) emerged from this era.
2. Love & worship for love and nature.
3. Spontaneous Literature
4. Subjective Literature
5. They developed a greater love and affection for mother nature on aesthetic and philosophical reasons.

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☆The Victorian Age

1. Lord Alfred Tennyson
2. Robert Browning
3. Charles Dickens
4. George Eliot
5. Mathew Arnold
6. Elizabeth Barret Browning

Characteristics Of The Victorian Age

1. Literature reflected the reality of truth, love, justice, brotherhood, unity etc.
2. Greater influence of science and also major scientific methods and research.
3. The real age of novel and continuation of romanticism.
4. Age of idealism
5. There was a huge compromise between democracy of that time and royal power.
6. The very root of realism
7. The reflection of female problems in Literature came into daily human existence.

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☆The Modern English Period

1. G.B. Shaw
2. O. Henry
3. W.B. Yeats
4. T.S. Eliot

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☆Neo-classical Period

1. John Dryden(1631-1700)
2. William Congreve(1670-1729)
3. Alexander Pope(1688-1744)
4. John Bunyan(1628-1688)
5. Thomas Gray
6. William Blake
7. Robert Burns
8. Dr. Samuel Johnson
9. William Cowper etc.

Characteristics Of The Neo-classical Period

1. The real age of prose
2. Restored the existence of drama
3. Writers in this age imitated the classical way of writing
4. Much emphasis was laid on correctness
5. Much emphasis was also laid on unified structure and clarity of writing.
6. Appeals to the intellect other than in satire.
7. They avoided all forms of mystery or obscurity.

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