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The term Anglo-Saxon comes from two Germanic tribes: the Angles and the Saxons.
Much of the first half of this period—prior to the seventh century, at least—had oral literature. A lot of the prose during this time was a translation of something else or otherwise legal, medical, or religious in nature; however, some works, such as Beowulf and those by period poets Caedmon and Cynewulf, are important. -
This period sees a great transition in the language, culture and lifestyle of England and results in what we can recognize today as a "modern" (recognizable) form of English. As with the Old English period, much of the Middle English writing was religious in nature; However, from about 1350 onward, secular literature began to grow.
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Also called the "Early Modern Age" period, but we still retain the historical term "Renaissance". This period is subdivided into the Elizabethan age (1558-1603), the Jacobean age (1603-1625), the Carolina age (1625-1649), and the Commonwealth period (1649-1660). Its notable figures were: William Shakespeare, John Donne, the King James Translation of the Bible, Robert Burton and the period between the end of the English Civil War and the restoration of the Stuart monarchy.
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It is subdivided into ages, which include The Restoration (1660-1700), The Age of Augustus (1700-1745), and The Age of Sensitivity (1745-1785). represented by comedies, poetry, Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were defended during this time.
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When it comes to romanticism, it refers to this great and diverse era of British literature, perhaps the most popular and well-known of all literary eras. This era includes the works of such giants as Wordsworth, Coleridge, William Blake, John Keats, Charles Lamb, Mary Wollstonecraft, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Thomas De Quincey, Jane Austen, and Mary Shelley. There is also a quite popular period (1786-1800), called the Gothic era. Notable writers of this period were Matthew Lewis y Anne Radcliffe.
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This period is named after Queen Victoria, who ascended the throne in 1837 until her death in 1901. It was a time of great social, religious, intellectual and economic problems. The Victorian period is in dispute with the Romantic period for being the most popular, influential, and prolific in all of English literature. Poets of this era include Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti, and Matthew Arnold, among others.
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This period is named after King Edward VII and covers the period between Victoria's death and the outbreak of the First World War. Although it is a short period the era includes incredible classic novelists such as Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox. Ford, Rudyard Kipling, HG Wells, and Henry James (who was born in America but spent his writing career in England); notable poets such as Alfred Noyes and William Butler Yeats; and playwrights like James Barrie, George Bernard Shaw, and John Galsworthy.
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This period refers to the reign of George V (1910-1936), although it sometimes includes the four successive Georges from 1714-1830. Georgian poetry today is typically considered the works of minor poets anthologized by Edward Marsh. Themes and themes tended to be rural or pastoral in nature, treated delicately and traditionally rather than passionately.
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The modern period is traditionally applied to works written after the start of the First World War. Common characteristics include bold experimentation with theme, style, and form, encompassing narrative, verse, and drama. Some of the most notable writers of this period include the novelists James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley, DH Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, Dorothy Richardson, Graham Greene, EM Forster, and Doris Lessing; the poets WB Yeats, TS Eliot, WH Auden among others.
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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.
