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The first literature of the Anglo-Saxons was poetry rather than prose. Because f the rhythm, poetry was easier to remember than prose. It was not written but recited or sung and passed down by word of mouth. The main topics were: Love or freedom, responsiveness to nature, strong religious convictions, reverence for womanhood, devotion to glory as of the ruling motive in every warrior’s life. The Anglo-Saxon poet was called scop, who wandered from place to place composing their poems.
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Caedmon Hymn -
These poems are The Fates of the Apostles,
Juliana, Elene, and Christ II -
The medieval English started when William the Conqueror invaded England from Normandy (France) in 1066. Literature written in English was found just 100 years after the Norman Invasion, Latin was the common language to write, as well French was also used by the aristocracy. The literature became refined and characterized by an air of courtliness, sentiment, and ornateness. The main literary genres were Romance (Arthur and Sir Gawain), Lyric, and Drama.
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The Canterbury Tales. -
Morall Fabillis -
Le Morte d'Arthur -
This period was subdivided into four: Elizabethan Age, The Jacobean Age, The Caroline Age, and The Commonwealth Period
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The Elizabethan Age, England experienced a revived interest in Greek and Roman literature, Bible became available to the people. Translations, Greek, Latin, writers flooded the literary market. The Italian sonnet was introduced to England by Wyatt, and also Lyric Poetry. The Romantic allegory by Edmund Spencer and the first piece of literary criticism were written. The Drama reached its Zenith, and became more secular than religious being William Shakespeare the most important ever.
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Tamburlaine -
Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. -
The Faerie Queene. -
Essays, The Advancement and Proficience of Learning Divine and Human (1605) -
The Jacobean Age is named after the reign of James I. The King James translation of the Bible also appeared during the Jacobean Age. During his age, it was the development of the extravagant courtly entertainment known as the masque, which reached its literary peak. In prose, Francis Bacon and Robert Burton were among the writers who displayed a new toughness and flexibility of style.
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The Alchemist. -
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions -
The Caroline Age covers the reign of Charles I (“Carolus”). The Caroline age is named after Charles I (1625-1649). Caroline is an adjective of Carolus, the Latin word for Charles. The age of Caroline is an age of poetry of three kinds or schools: Metaphysical, Cavalier, and Puritan schools of poetry. Let‘s see the characteristics of the Caroline Age.
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The Anatomy of Melancholy. -
The Temple, Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations. -
During the seventeenth century, the age of puritans, people who believed that Christians should live a pure and holy life, gained tremendous political, ecclesiastical, and social power. The Masterpieces during this term were produced by John Milton. Besides puritans other writers were included: Metaphysical poets, their topics were pleasures of this world, and women love. The prose of the period elevated particularly argument and controversy in government, philosophical and religious subjects.
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Leviathan. (The Caroline Age) -
This period is divided into three moments: The Restoration, The Augustan Age, The Age of Sensibility.
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The Restoration writers were influentied by the French literature of the court of Louis XIV.The subjects appealed to the cold intellect and were the most presented in satirical, didactic, and argumentative manner. “The last resort a man has recourse to in the conduct of himself is his understanding” Locke. This declaration embodies a tendency of the age.
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Paradise Lost. (The Caroline Age) -
The Tempest. -
Love for Love. -
This period is related to the reign of Queen Anne and King George. It was a literary epoch that let the development of the novel, produced an explosion of satire, the drama became melodrama, and poetry was about personal reflection. Writings on Phylosophy, economics, and science gave capitalism the basis for its foundational and development.
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Robinson Crusoe. 1 -
Gulliver's Travels. -
The Age of Sensibility (sometimes referred to as the Age of Johnson) was the time of Ideas such as neoclassicism, a critical and literary mode, and the Enlightenment, a particular worldview shared by many intellectuals, were championed during this age. Novelists to explore include.
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"Hudibras" (The Restoration) -
The Patriot. -
The Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. -
The Romantic Age began as a deliberate movement in 1798 with the publication of Lyric Ballads. Poets turned away the timeworn tradition of using nobility for their characters and turned to the common people and the simple things of field, home, and daily life. The Bible appeared again to refining and purifying the thoughts, giving people love for nature as the creation of God. The view of man was one of great respect for the individual and his liberty and strong faith in the common man.
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Lyrical Ballads. -
Pride and Prejudice. -
Prometheus. -
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. -
Victorian literature reflects all the crosscurrents of the era. There was an emphasis on realism, it was truthfulness in reflecting the practical problems and issues of daily life. It also reflects the moral earnestness of the time. Writers were moral teachers, presented love, truth, and brotherhood. It was an age of prose where magazines and newspapers flourished. Victorian poets were more concerned with contemporary issues of the society, it had a message as well as song.
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Oliver Twist -
Latter-Day Pamphlets -
Two Poems: "A Plea for the Ragged Schools of London" and "The Twins". -
The Jungle Book. (Edwardian) -
Edwardian literature was more intense, social, and political. Novels started a new style of writing. The questions about the order in society, political structures, institutions, and female emancipation dominated this age.
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Man and Superman. -
Walking Shadow. -
The War in the Air. -
The Georgian era is featured as a fictional time, in which long prose and satirical in nature were some of the issues. Novels expressed societal stigmas, using humor and hard-hitting messages.
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Dubliners -
The literature of the 20th century was characterized by realism. Writers dwelt on cruel, harsh realities of life which they experienced during the pre-war and war years. Literature was greatly influenced by psychological studies. New styles and techniques emerged in the literature as imagism, surrealism, and existentialism. Some topics were social protest and ridicule of society. It was also called the Age of Anxiety. The drama was affected by political decisions generating new conceptions.
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Sard Harker (Heinemann)
(Georgian) -
Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates. -
The Perennial Philosophy.
(Modern) -
Postmodernism expresses a shift on topics as the dehumanization of the post-second world war and the era of the onslaught of consumer capitalism. Postmodernism shares many features of modernism but mixes low and high art, past and future conceptions, one and another genre. It uses many stylistic resources such as parody, pastiche, fragmented think-way, ambiguity, and multiple interpretations. As well it considers fragmentation and disorientation as the only possible way of existence.
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The Third Man.
(Modern) -
Time for a Tiger. -
The Skylark
(Georgian) -
Catch-22 -
Wormholes - Essays and Occasional Writings -
Family Album.