Dr. N. C.

Vethambal
Associate Professor
Dept. of English
GAC, Coimbatore - 641018
THE IMPORTANT PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF
ENGLISH LITERATURE

•The old English [450AD -1066AD]

•The Middle English [1066AD-1500AD]
•The Renaissance period[1500-1600]
•The Elizabethan period[1558-1603]
•The Jacobean period[1603-1625]
•The Caroline period[1625-1649]
•The Puritan period[1649-1660]
•The Restoration period[1660-1700]
•The Augustan period[1700-1785]
•The Romantic period[1785-1830]
•The Victorian period[1830-1901]
•The Modern period[1890-1918]
•The Inter- war period[1918-1939]
•The Mid 20th century[1939 onwards]
 THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD[450AD-1066]

According to British traditions the English from the

continent came first as mercenaries to help in the
defense against the Picts and Scots
•Then followed the Christianization of the pagan
English tribes
•The establishment of the Dane law in English
•The accession of a Danish king
•The Norman influence on the English court when
began before the conquest in 1066
Important works
Beowulf
•The theme of the poem is continental Germanic
•The poem can be considered as the pagan origin
•Work is anonymous
Anglo- Saxon Chronicle
•Inspired by king Alfred
•Description of the horrors of Stephen's reign
•Description of William the conqueror
Authors
Caedmon(poet)
•The Genesis ,Exodus ,Daniel
•Three shorter poems often considered as one under the title ‘Christ and Satan’
Cynewulf(poet)
•Four poems contain the signature of Cynewulf in runic characters :Juliana
, Elene ,Christ , and The Fates of Apostles
THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD[1066AD-1500]
•Establishment of Norman and Angevin dynasties
•Internal struggle between king, clergy , noble and people
General movements of the times:-the rise of the religious orders , the
blossoming of chivalry, the spirit of romance, bringing new sympathy for
women and poor, the crusades, widening European outlook, The
Renaissance
Features of the Age
•The transition
• Period of transition and of experiment
•The anonymous nature
Works are entirely without known authors
•The domination of poetry
surviving works of the period is poetry
Important Wokks
The vision of William concerning piers the plowman- William Langland
Brut- Lazamon
THE CHAUCEREAN PERIOD (1340-1400)
•The period includes the greater part of the rein of Edward III and the long
French wars associated with his name
•The accession of his grandson Richard II
•The revolution of 1399, the disposition of Richard, and the foundation of the
Lancastrian dynasty.
•The age of unrest and transition

The literary movement of the age clearly reflected by five famous poets
Langland:- voicing the social discontent, preaching the equality of men and
the dignity of labor.
Wycliffe:- giving the gospel to the people in their own tongue
Gower:- criticizing the vigorous life and plainly afraid of its consequences
Mandeville:- romancing about the wonders to be seen abroad
Chaucer:- sharing in all the stirring life of the times
•The first humanist
•The first novelist in verse
•The father of modern English language
Important works
. The Canterbury tales
. The book of the duchess
. The house of fame
. Anelida and Arcite
. The parliament of fowls
. Troilus and Criseyde
. The legend of good women
Shorter poems
. An ABC
. The complaint of mass
. The complaint to his lady
. The complaint of Venus
. Fortune
. truth
THE ELIZABETHAN PERIOD[1558-1603]
. The golden age of English history
. The Elizabethan era is perhaps more famous for
its theatre and the works of William Shakespeare
. Elizabethan Renaissance theatre begins with the
opening of the “the red lion” theatre in 1567
. Other famous theatres:-curtain theatre[1577]
- globe theatre[1599]
. Shakespeare is considered the greatest writer of
the English language
. Important genres of theatre are history plays , the
tragedy and the comedy
Important authors and works
Edmund Spencer[1552-1599]
•Poets poet and prince of poet- called by Charles lamb and Milton
•Poets poet and critic’s critic - T.S Eliot
Works
. The Faerie queen
. Shepherds calendar
. Prothalamion
. Epithalamion
Sir Philip Sydney [1554-1586]
. Father of English criticism
. He took a brilliant in the military-literary-courtly life.
Works
Astrophel and stella
Arcadia
Apology for poetry
Francis Bacon 1561-1526
Father of English essays
Bacon’s fame rests very largely on his essays
-the aphoristic style and epigrammatic brevity in his
essay
-the compact and condensed thought in his essay, are
very important
Works
•The history of Henry VII
•The new Atlantis
•The advancement of learning
Christopher Marlowe
•Dramatist and poet
•Works
•Doctor Faustus
William Shakespeare 1564-1616
•The greatest poet and dramatist in English literature
•Playwright, actor and shareholder in an acting company
•He wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets,2 long narrative poem and 3 poems
Works
•Poems:- The rape of Lucrene 1594
-Venus and Adonis 1593
-The Passionate Pilgrim 1599
•Tragedies :–Hamlet
-Othello
-King Lear
-Macbeth
•Comedies –The Midsummer Night’s Dream
-The Merchant of Venice
-As You Like it
-Twelfth Night
•Tragic comedies –Cymbeline
-The Winter’s Tale
-The Tempest
•Last play :- The Tempest (an autobiographical play)
University wits
•Group of young dramatists associated with
oxford and Cambridge
•They introduced Romantic drama into
English theatre
The university wits are:-
George peele1558-1598
Robert greene1558-1592
Thomas nash1567-1601
Thomas lodge1558-1625
Thomas kyd1558-1594
John Lyly
Christopher marlowe1564-1593
JACOBEAN PERIOD[1603-1625]
•James ascended the throne in 1603
•Court standards were lowered
•Development of English prose
•Decline of the drama after the death of
Shakespeare
Important events from Jacobean to restoration
period
•Caroline age
•Metaphysical age
•Puritan revolution
•Puritan age
•Period of commonwealth
Important authors and work
(The cavalier poets)
Robert Herrick:- Hesperides , noble numbers
Edmund Waller:-go lovely Rose
Richard Lovelace:- Lucasta , To Alter from Prison

(Metaphysical poets)
John Donne:-
Andrew Marvell:-the Rehearsal Transposed
Henry Vaughan:- Silex Saintillans
Abraham Cowley:- The Mistress
PURITAN PERIOD[1649-1660]
. Clash between Catholics and Protestants
. Extreme fundamentalism
. Rebellion began during the age of Charles I
. Civil war between Charles I and Puritans for 7 years
. 1649-1660-Rule of commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell
. Charles I ascended the throne after the death of Cromwell ; beginning
of Restoration period
Important authors and works
John Milton
•The first literary epic poet
•Poetry , mathematics and music were his main studies
Works
•Paradise Lost
•Paradise regained
•Comus
•On Blindness
•lycidas
RESTORATION POERIOD[1660-1700]
. Death of Cromwell in 1660
. Accession marked the beginning of the Restoration Age
. Influence of French culture
. Theatres came back to life
. Witty intellectual satirizing manners and fashions of a
particular time in society
Important works and Authors
. John Dryden:-The Rival Ladies Tyrannick Love, All for Love
•William Congreve:-The Old Bachelor , The Double Dealer ,
The Mourning Bride
•William Wycherley:-Love in a Wood, The Gentleman
Dancing-Master
•George Etherege:-The Comical Revenge , She Would If She
Could
AUGUSTAN AGE[1700-1785]
The main features
. Strong traditionalism
. Conceived literature primarily as an art
. To them poetry was an imitation of human life
. Rise and fall of satires
. New developments in science shattered man’s ego
. Rise of novels
Important writers and works
Alexander Pope:-An Essay on Criticism , The Rape of the Lock, Windsor
Forest
Oliver Goldsmith:-She Stoops to Conquer, The Deserted Village, The Man
in Black
Dr. Samuel Johnson:-Preface to Shakespeare ,London ,Rasellas
Daniel Defoe:-A True –born English man , Robinson Crusoe, Raxona
Henry Fielding:-Joseph Andrews, Tom Jones, Amelia
ROMANTIC AGE[1785-1830]
. Inaugurated with the publication of the Lyrical Ballads(1798)
. English Romanticism came from Germany
. Give importance to subjectivity
. Love for external nature
. Revival of lyricism
. Interest in medievalism
. The influence of French literature
Important writers and works
William Wordsworth:-The Prelude, The Excursion, Immortality
Ode
Samuel Taylor Coleridge:-Biographia Literaria , Kubla Khan ,
Scholar , Life of Nelson , Roderick
Lord Byron:-Child Harold’s Pilgrimage , House of Idleness Cain
Mercy Bysshe Shelly:-Ode to the West Wind ,Prometheus,
Unbound,
John Keats:-Isabella , Hyperion, Lamia , ode to Nightingale
Jane Austen:-Pride and Prejudice, Emma
VICTORIAN PERIOD[1830-1901]
. It extends to the death of Queen Victoria
. Industrial Revolution
. Mood of Nationalistic power
. Social stress
. Spiritual conf licts was evident
. Publication of Origin of Species

Important writers and works

Lord Tennyson:-Ulysses, Lotus Eaters , Idllus of the King

Robert Browning:-The Lady of Shallot ,Fra Lippo Lippi , Men and
Women
Mathew Arnold:-Dover Beach , Scholar Gypsy , Essays on Criticism

Charles Dickens:-David Copperfield ,Dickwide Papers, Hard times

Thomas Hardy:-Tess of D’Umbervilles ,Far from the Madding Crowd

THE MODERN PERIOD[1890-1918]
. Break with tradition
. Rejected Romantic conventions
. Traditional verse patterns were rejected
. The catastrophe of the world wars had shaken faith
in moral and spiritual life
Important writers and works
T . S. Eliot:- Ash Wednesday, The Hollow Man, The
Waste Land, Murder in the Cathedral
W . B .Yeats:- Sailing to Bysantium,September1913
Ezra Pound:- Cantos
. W .H . Auden:-Age of Anxiety , Look Stranger
. D .H . Lawrence:-Sons And Lovers , Rainbow ,Women
in Love