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Also called Anglo-Saxon literature. Poetry and prose written in Old English. It consisted mainly of heroic poems, wisdom poetry, Christian poetry and Christian and secular prose. It was characterized for using alliterative verse and almost no similes.
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Epic poem written in West Saxon dialect. -
Also known as Anglo-Norman. After the Norman conquest, English literature didn't begin to regain strength until the 13th century. There were many romances based on the stories of Charlemagne, King Arthur, Robin Hood and Homer's Iliad. Drama in the form of mystery plays and morality plays were popular.
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Written by by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400, It is thought to be the work that popularized English literature as opposed to French, Italian or Latin. Chaucer died before completing it. -
Written by Thomas Mallory, is considered the height of prose in this period. It is still one of the best known works of Arthurian Literature. -
Also known as Elizabethan Age. Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard were the first big influences in this period. Thomas introduced Sonnets to Great Britain and the Earl of Surrey brought the use of blank verse which was later utilised by writers like Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow, John Milton. There was a famous group which was known as the ‘University Wits.’ John Lyly, Christopher Marlow, Thomas Nashe, George Peele were some of its more famous members.
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A poem by John Skelton. It was the first secular morality play in English.
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A play by Nicholas Udall. Considered as the first comedy written in English. -
is a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. Popularized the use of blank verse, it changed the way plays were written, focusing on vivid and fresh language. It's considered as one of the first successes of London theatre. -
Commonly known as Hamlet, it is a tragedy play by William Shakespeare. It is considered as one of the most influential works of world literature, and since its publishing, one of the most performed plays. -
Also known as Enlightenment Age or Restoration Age. It corresponds to the Stuart reign. It dealt with a great variety of themes, from sexual comedies to moral wisdom and essays. It also marked the beginning of textual criticism.
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an epic poem in blank verse by John Milton. Most famous work of Milton, and the one that helped solidify him as one of the greatest poets of the English language. -
satirical poem by John Dryden with heavy political themes. -
a work by John Locke. John Locke is considered the founder of British empiricism and one of the most famous defendants of political liberalism. -
a collection of illustrated poems by William Blake, in which he rethinks Milton's states of "paradise" and "fall", with childhood representing innocence, that is sullied by experience. -
A novel by Ann Radcliffe. Considered as one of the most influential works for the gothic novel. -
It focused in personal thoughts and feelings, and the longing for freedom. The best poetry was considered that in which the most intense feelings were expressed. It also valued imagination over mimicking. It also saw the birth of the gothic and romantic novels.
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an autobiographical poem in blank verse by William Wordsworth. It relates Wordsworth's love of nature and beauty and its importance in his life.
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Book by Jane Austen. One of the most popular works of English literature, inspiring countless of adaptations. -
a sonnet written by Percy Shelley. It is about how human power and grandeur are ephemeral and not even the biggest empire will last forever. -
Novel by Mary Shelley. Considered as the first science fiction novel, it has elements of both the gothic and romantic novel. It also gave birth to a new genre of horror and keeps being a big influence to this day.
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a satirical poem by Lord Byron,
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It's the literature during the reign of Queen Victoria. The novel became the main genre, mostly reflecting the changes English life was going through: from scientific, economic, and technological advances to changes in class structures and the role of religion in society.
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is a collection of 44 love sonnets written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. It is one of the best-known series of English love poems. -
a novel by Charlotte Brontë. It revolutionised prose fiction by being the first to focus on its protagonist's moral and spiritual development through an intimate first-person narrative
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a novel by Emily Brontë. Influenced by romantic and gothic elements, it was criticized at the time of publishing for its depictions of mental and physical cruelty, and for its challenges to Victorian morality and religious and societal values. -
a collection of three short stories by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), in which Eliot examines the effects of the religious reform and draws attention to social issues like poverty and domestic violence. -
A historical novel by Charles Dickens. One of the best selling novels of all times, it is set in Paris and London during the French Revolution. -
novel by H.G. Wells. Along with The Time Machine and The Island of Dr Moreau, it helped establish Wells as one of the first and best known science fiction authors.
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It was characterized by the breaking of the traditional ways of writing. It used a lot of symbolism and absurdity, and was mainly based on experimentation.
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novel by Joseph Conrad. It's a critique of colonial Europe in Africa, exploring how the "savages" have little difference with the "civilized people". -
poem by William Butler Yeats. It uses the Christian apocalypse as an allegory for post-war Europe.
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novel by James Joyce. The novel's stream of consciousness technique, careful structuring, and experimental prose—replete with puns, parodies, and allusions—as well as its rich characterisation and broad humour have led it to be regarded as one of the greatest literary works in history. -
novel by Virginia Woolf. It is an example of stream of consciousness storytelling: every scene closely tracks the momentary thoughts of a particular character. -
It begins with the ending of WWII to this day, it encompasses several genres and styles, including deconstruction, postmodernism, magical realism, postcolonialism, cyberpunk.
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a play by Samuel Beckett. -
is an epic high-fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien. One of the best-selling books ever written. -
poem written by poet Sylvia Plath. It employs controversial metaphors of the Holocaust to explain Plath's complex relationship with her father
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a dystopian science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. It reflects on a culture that is losing its own humanity. -
A semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut.
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a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was among the first books in the genre now known as feminist science fiction and is the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction. -
is a science fiction short story collection by James Tiptree, Jr (Alice Bradley Sheldon).