History of English Literature

450 - Old english (450 - 1066)

450

English literature begins with the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Romans withdrew from Britain.
It was influenced by concepts from Italian and French literature, but retaining its own style.
Literary works:
Beowful: This is a epic poem, it is the first great work of the germanic literature Authors:
Caedmon, Beda

Middle English

1066

This period of Old English ended with the Norman invasion of 1066, when the franaces became the language of the educated classes, and gradually merged with the Anglo-Saxon to produce the average English.Some literary works and authors are:
Counterbury tales of Geoffrey Chaucer.
God and creatures, autor Duns Scotus.

English renaissance

1500

The dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music.By the time of Elizabethan literature a vigorous literary culture in both drama and poetry included poets such as Edmund Spenser, whose verse epic The Faerie Queene had a strong influence on English literature but was eventually overshadowed by the lyrics of William Shakespeare, Thomas Wyatt and others.

Neoclassical period (1660 - 1785)

1660

During this period, the English literature was acquiring a greater theoretical base to which the works of literary critique of Dryden contributed significantly, between which An essay of dramatic poesy emphasizes (1668), in which the author showed the characteristics of English neoclassicism.

Romanticism (1798 - 1837)

1798

This period is divided in two parts: Augustan age; there was a fast develop to the novel, this period was characterizated for the satire, the politics, philosophy,poetry and melodrama. Age of the sensibility
were very important gothic and sensibility novels. Literary Works and authors:
The Castle of Otranto of Horace Walpole

(1837 - 1901)

1837

The Victorian period was based on long and prodigious novels, which lasted from the mid-nineteenth century until the beginning of the twentieth century. Some authors were:
Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities"
Emily Brontë "Wuthering Heights"

Modern literature (1901 - 1940)

1901

This period is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction.

Contemporary (centuries XVII – XXI)

2000

This period includes works, literary movements and authors of the twentieth century. it is a century marked by warlike conflicts that shook the conscience of writers, the influence of technology, the breaking of the strict limits between genders.