ENGLISH

LITERATUR
EMade by
Rahila Khan
Lecturer English
I
INTRODUCTION
TO
ENGLISH
LITERATURE
 English literature
The literature which is distinctly written in the English language,
as opposed to differing languages. English literature includes
literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from
England nor primarily English-speaking nations. Until the early
19th century, this article deals with literature from Britain written
in English; then America starts to produce major writers and
works in literature. In the 20th century America and Ireland
produced many of the most significant works of literature in
English, and after World War II writers from the former British
Empire also began to challenge writers from Britain.
GEOGRAPHICAL
BACKGROUND
• Great Britain is the largest of the British Isles. On Great Britain
are located three constituent countries of the United Kingdom:
Scotland in the north, England in the south and east and Wales
in the west. There are also numerous smaller islands off the
coast of Great Britain.
• The British Isles is an archipelago consisting of the two large
islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and many smaller
surrounding islands.
• By tradition, it also includes the Channel Islands, although they
are physically closer to the continental mainland.
• The full list of islands in the British Isles includes over 6,000
islands, of which 51 have an area larger than 20 km².
HISTORY OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE
 THE
ANGLO-
SAXON
PERIOD
(449-1066 BC)
 The Anglo-Saxons

• Anglo-Saxon” is the term applied to the English-speaking

inhabitants of Britain from around the middle of the fifth
century until the time of the Norman Conquest, when the
Anglo-Saxon line of English kings came to an end.
• Bede tells us that the Anglo-Saxons came from Germania.
• The languages spoken by the inhabitants of Germania were
a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, which
linguists believe developed from a single language spoken
some five thousand years ago in an area that has never
been identified—perhaps, some say, the Caucasus.
 Anglo-Saxon Literature

Old English literature, or Anglo- Saxon literature, encompasses

literature written in Old English in Anglo-Saxon England, in the
period after the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic
tribes in England after the withdrawal of the Romans and "ending
soon after the Norman Conquest" in 1066.
The Anglo-Saxon influenced English Literature when they brought
with them a rich tradition of oral literature steeped in their
customs, pagan beliefs and rituals.
 The lyric and epic poetry they wrote told of the hardships of
survival and the importance of courage in performing heroic
deeds. It dignified the difficulties and dangers faced by the
warriors before they succeeded in their heroic feats.
 Old English Dialects

The language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons at the time of their

migration to Britain was probably more or less uniform. Over
time, however, Old English developed into four major dialects:
1. Northumbrian, spoken north of the river Humber
2. Mercian, spoken in the midlands
3. Kentish, spoken in Kent (in the far southeastern part of the
island);
4. West Saxon, spoken in the southwest.
 Some significant literary work in this period:

1. Ecclesiastical History of the English People and

Caedmon Hymn by Bede
2. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle by Alfred the Great
3. The Wonderer
4. Deor’s Lament
5. A Dream of the Rood
6. The Battle of Maldon
7. Beowulf (Lone Surviving Epic of English Literature)
 The significant literary genres were:

Chronicle

Formulaic Poetry

Epic Poem (Tribal Scop)

Some significant literary work
in this period are came from

ANONYMOUS
WRITERS
THE MEDIEVAL
PERIOD
(1066 B.C.-1485
A.D.)
The Medieval Period (1066 B.C.-1485 A.D.)
Celtic fancy, Anglo-Saxon solidity, and Norman
vivacity-these were the original ingredients of
English life and letters. The third of these was
brought into England from northern France by
William the Conqueror and his Norman knights
and churchmen. Castles and feudalism, joust and
duels, cathedral and monasteries, chivalry and
adventure were the contributions of these
aristocratic newcomers.
Middle English lasts up until the 1470s, when the
Chancery Standard, a form of London-based
English, became widespread and the printing press
regularized the language. The prolific Geoffrey
Chaucer, whose works were written in Chancery
Standard, was the first poet to have been buried in
Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. Among his
many works, which include The Book of the Duchess,
the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and
Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer is best known today
for The Canterbury Tales.
 Some Significant literary Works of
this period were:
1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
2. Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
3. The Vision of the Piers Plowman by
William Langland
4. The Owl and the Nightingale
5. Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
The Significant Literary Genres were:

1. Elegy
2. Religious Liturgy
3. Narrative Romance
4. Lay or Lais
5. Arthurian Romance
6. Fabliau
GEOFFREY
CHAUCER
(1343-1400)
Father of English
Literature
 Geoffrey Chaucer
Outstanding in English Poet before William
Shakespeare whose Canterbury Tales ranks as
one of the greatest poetic works in English.
Born in the middle class family. He was said to
be fluent in French, Latin and Italian.
His first important poem The Book of Duchess
a dream vision of elegy for Blanche, Duchess
of Lancaster who died for a plague.
 Geoffrey Chaucer
Literary works
 The Canterbury Tales, Short Poems
 Troilus and Criseyde  The Complaint of Chaucer to His
 Book of the Duchess.   Purse
 Truth
Other Major Poems  Gentilesse
 The House of Fame  Merciles Beaute
 The Parliament of Fowles  Lak of Stedfastnesse
 The Legend of Good Women  Against Women Unconstant. 
Prose
 Treatises
 Treatise on the astrolabe
ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
OR
THE ELIZABETHAN
PERIOD
(1485-1625)
 The Elizabethan Period (1485-1625)
The most splendid in the history of English literature.
Literary works were characterized by immense vitality and
richness.

The flowering of poetry and the golden age of drama. The

most noted poet of the period was William Shakespeare.
 The Elizabethan Period (1485-1625)

Queen Elizabeth the most regal monarch at the age of

monarchy was the key figure in influencing the life of her
constituents. She was a great advocate of peace and
order.

The high age of aristocracy.

The golden age of English literature.

 Significant Dates
1492 – The discovery of America; an
opening of entirely new world.
1534 – The Act of Supremacy; the
sundering of the English Church from Rome
1558 – The accession of Elizabeth I; the
beginning of an age of comparative
toleration.
Gradual Appearance of several literary features
There was an increase in the number of translation. Such
as the North’s translation of Plutarch’s Lives (1579);
Phaers (Virgil 1588); Golding’s Bird (1565) and Chapman’s
Homer (1595). These translation opened out new realms
of wonder and romance and provided models for the
creative writing of Englishmen.
A lyrical impulse, strong and sweet, began o pervade
English literature. Most of the greater poets contributed
to poetry of time.
Gradual Appearance of several literary features

The drama assumed a commanding position in

the writing of the day. William Shakespeare roll
to fame and honor.
The technique of poetry–the skill in the
management of meter show great
advancement.
The rise of prose writing. There was a vast travel
of body of travel literature. There was even an
approach to prose fiction.
Some significant literary works in this
period were:
1. Faerie Queene, Shepher’s Calendar by Edmund
Spenser
2. Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity by Richard Hooker
3. Book of Martyrs by John Foxe
4. Musophilus by Samuel Daniel
5. The Nymph’s Replied to the Shepherd by Sir Walter
Raleigh
6. William Shakespeare Works
 William
Shakespeare
• Born: Baptised 26 April
1564 (birth date unknown)
Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire, England
• Died: 23 April 1616 (aged
52)
Stratford-upon-Avon,
Warwickshire, England
• Occupation; Playwright,
poet, actor
Significant literary genre
1. Sonnet

2. Elizabethan Lyric

3. Elizabethan Drama

4. Historical Poems

5. Pastoral Romance
 THE 17
TH

CENTURY
OR THE
PURITAN PERIOD
(1625-1700)
 The 17th Century or the Puritan Period
(1625-1700)
Catastrophe struck Britain. The Civil War,
the Black Plague and the great fire of
London disrupted the otherwise orderly
existence of the English people.
Literature was permeated by the light
hearted cavalier of the solemn Puritans.
The Period of Dissension and Calamity
 Significant literary works during
this period
1. Areopaitica by John Milton
2. Devotions by John Done
3. Religio Medici by Thomas Brown
4. History of Henry VII by Francis Bacon
5. Works by Ben Johnson
6. The garden by Andrew Marvell
 Significant literary genre:

1. Restoration Comedy and Tragedy

2. Metaphysical Poetry

3. False Pindaric or Irregular Ode

4. Light Prose
THE 18 TH
CENTURY

OR
PERIOD OF
CLASSICISM
(1700-1800)
 The 18th Century or the Period of Classism
(1700-1800)
 Dawning of the age of reason
 The London become the the center of of the bustling city life.
 Literary mastered have their crafts and have written with
sophistication and finesse.
 Prose writing become popular.
 The periodical and novel gained popularity and public acceptance.
 The periodical became the origin of what we call now as clarity
and public acceptance.
Significant literary works during this period
1. The London Merchant by George Lillo
2. Conscious Lovers by Richard Steels
3. The Fair Penitent: The Tragedy of Jane Shore: The tragedy of Lady
Grey by Nicholas Rowe
4. The Distressed Mother by Ambrose Philip
5. Cato by Joseph Addison
6. The West Indian by Richard Cumberland
7. The Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith
8. The Rivals: School for Scandals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Significant  Opera

literary
 Ballad Opera
genre:
 Pantomime

 Prose Tragedy
 THE
ROMANTIC
PERIOD
(1800-1837)
 The Romantic Period (1800-
1837)
The Golden age of the lyric poetry belongs to the
youth.
A literature of vigor and courage, love and
wisdom, despair and hope.
Romantic poets pointed to the wild,
unfathomable beauties of nature, the elusive,
supernatural vision of mystics and the mysterious
atmosphere of religion that had east such celestial
light about the middle ages.
 The Romantic Period (1800-
1837)
• Queen Victoria came to the throne, this
romantic fever had somewhat burned itself
out.
• Men had turned their attention to the far
reaching implications of the industrial
revolution which was at last transforming
the entire surface and structure of England.
Significant literary works during this period

1. Society: Castle by Thomas W. Robertson

2. Widowers’ Houses by George Bernard Shaw
3. Lady Windermere’s Fan by Oscar Wilde
4. The Second Mrs. Tanqueray by Arthur Wind Pinero
5. Song of Innocence and of Experience by William
Blake
6. Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Significant literary works during this period

7. Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley

8. To Psyche; On a Grecian Ura; To a Nightingale
by John Keats
9. Childe Harold; Don Juan by Lord Byron
10. Sense and the Sensibility; Pride and
Prejudice; Mansfield Park;Persuasion by
Jane Austen
Significant • Heroic Couplet

literary
• Historical Novel
genre:
 THE
VICTORIAN
PERIOD
(1837-1900
The Victorian Period (1837-1900)
Victoria I became a Queen of England in 1817,
3 years after the death of Coleridge and
thirteen years before the death of Wordsworth.
She reigned until her own death in 1901.
The reign in England of comparable length is
that of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and like
Elizabeth Victoria had not only a political but a
literary epoch named for her.
 The Victorian Period (1837-
1900)
The keynote of the age was the 1851
Great Exhibition to London, a
triumphant display intended to
illustrate the superiority of England’s
scientific, social and technological
achievements.
 Significant literary works during this period

1. The Pickwick Papers; Oliver Twist: David Copperfield: A

Tale of Two Cities: Great Expectations by Charles
Dickens
2. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
3. Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan
4. The Last Chronicle of Barset; Barchester Towers; The
Warden by Anthony Trollope
5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront
 Significant literary works during this period

6. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

7. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
8. Silas Marner; Scenes of Clerical Life; The Mill on the Floss
Middlemach by George Elliot
9. The Lotos Eater; Ulysses; Lockley Hall; Idylle of the Kings;
In Memoriam by Alfred Lord
10. The Cry of the Children by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
 Significant literary works during this period

11.The Bishop Orders His Tome at St. Fraxed’s Church; The

Ring and the Book by Robert Browning
12. Culture and Anarchy by Matthw Arnold
13. Confession of an English Opium-Eater; On Knocking in
the Gate of Macbeth by Thomas DeQuincy
14. History of England by Thomas Babington Macaulay
 Significant literary works during this period

15. Sartor Resartus; The French Revolution; Heroes and

Hero-Worship; Past and Present by Thomas Carlyle
16. The Stones of Venice by John Ruskin
17. The Development of Christian Doctrine; The Idea of a
University; Grammar Assent by John Henry Newman
18. On Liberty; The Subjection of Women by John Stuart Mill
 Significant literary
genre:
 Novels

 Magazine Serial

 Dramatic Dialogue
 THE 20 CENTURY
TH

OR
THE MODERN
PERIOD
(1900 UP TO PRESENT)
 The 20th Century or The Modern
Period
(1900
Literature up periods
of this to Present)
exemplifies the
improved crafts of masters. The novel has
flourished and writers have risen not only
to popularity but to distinction as well.
The emerging values of the modern times
are embodied in the works of authors who
defy the conventions of the old world.
 The 20th Century or The Modern
Period
Science(1900 up to Present)
and technology became the
basis for advancement. While Orthodox
beliefs are considered standard criteria
for excellence, the emerging needs for
radical changes became the order of the
day.
 Significant literary works of this
1. Jude, the Obscure;period
Far From Maddening
crowd; The Dynasts; The Return of Native by
Thomas Hardy
2. The Tower; The Winding Stair by W.B. Yeats
3. The Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth
and Samuel Taylor Coleridge
4. The Almayer’s Folly; The Nigger of the
“Narcissus” by Joseph Conrad
 Significant literary works of this
period
5. Howard End; A Passage to India by E.M. Foster

6. The Voyage Out; Night and Day; Mrs.

Dalloway; To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
7. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by
James Joyce
8. Sons and Lovers; The Rainbow; Lady
Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
 Significant literary works of this period

9. Modern Comedy; Swan Song; The Man of

Property
10. The White Monkey; The Silver Spoon by John
Galsworthy
11. The Egoist; Beauchamp’s Career by George
Meredith
12. Captain Courageous; Jungle Book by Rudyard
Kipling
 Significant literary
genre:
 Novel

 Blank Verse
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