English Literary Periods Overview

English Literary Periods Overview

• English literature evolved from the Old English Period to the present day.
• Key events, authors, and works shaped the literary landscape and themes that engaged readers.

English Literary Periods

• Old English Period (450-1066): Marked by epic poems like Beowulf.
• Middle English Period (1066-1500): A period of transition featuring works like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
• The Renaissance (1500-1660): Flourishing of art and literature, including Shakespeare and Marlowe.
• Restoration and 18th Century (1660-1800): An era of reason and satire, including authors like Pope and Swift.
• Romantic Period (1785-1832): Emphasis on emotion, nature, and individualism, including poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge.
• Victorian Period (1837-1901): Time of social change and literary realism, featuring novelists like Dickens and Eliot.
• Modernist Period (1901-1945): Exploration and new perspectives, including writers like Joyce, Woolf, and Eliot.
• Postmodernist Period (1945-Present): Globalization and literature.

Defining Literary Periods

• Literary periods are specific times in literary history.
• These periods are characterized by writing styles, themes, genres, and cultural influences.
• Defining factors include the time period, cultural trends, and common themes.

Troy

• A legendary story of love, war, and betrayal.
• The Trojan War between the Greeks and Trojans.
• Key figures include Paris, Helen, Achilles, and Agamemnon.
• Explores themes of fate, honor, love, and war's destructiveness.
• Links the fall of Troy to the founding of Rome.

Characters and Plot of Troy

• Achilles: Legendary Greek warrior
• Hector: Trojan noble warrior
• Paris: Trojan prince who triggered the war
• Helen: Wife of Menelaus, whose abduction sparked the war
• Agamemnon: Greek king leading the expedition
• Priam: King of Troy
• Exposition: Paris abducts Helen.
• Rising Action: The Greeks lay siege; battles and conflict.
• Climax: Achilles kills Hector.
• Falling Action: The Greeks use the Trojan Horse.
• Resolution: Troy falls; surviving Trojans escape.

Classical Period (1200 BCE - 455 CE)

• Focuses on the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.
• Homer is credited with their composition.
• Emphasizes heroism, oral traditions, and the dawn of Greek identity.

Anglo-Saxon Period (428-1066 CE)

• The Germanic tribes formed the ruling class in England.
• Written works from the 7th century to the present are part of English Literature.
• The Jutes, Angles, and Saxons were the invaders.
• Authors include Beowulf, the poem about a hero's battles, with Grendel.

Medieval Period (1066-1450 CE)

• Norman Conquest merged Old English and French, forming Middle English.
• Church and feudalism played a central role.
• Key authors: Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales), William Langland (Piers Plowman), and anonymous authors like those in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Themes: Chivalry, courtly love, religious devotion.
• Language: Middle English, blending elements of Old English and Norman French.
• Geoffrey Chaucer considered the "Father of English Literature".
• Beowulf is an important work of English Literature.
• The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are popular works.

Medieval Period's Key Works and Authors

• Geoffrey Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales)
• William Langland (Piers Plowman)
• Anonymous authors (e.g., Sir Gawain and the Green Knight)
• The Canterbury Tales
• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
• Piers Plowman

Medieval Period's Themes

• Chivalry
• Courtly love
• Religious devotion
• Moral allegories

Romeo and Juliet (Renaissance Period 1500-1660 CE)

• A tragic tale of love between two young lovers from feuding families (Montagues and Capulets).
• Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly marry.
• Tybalt's death causes conflict, leading to Romeo's banishment.
• Juliet's parents arrange for her to marry Paris.
• Juliet fakes her death, which leads to Romeo taking his own life.
• Juliet discovers Romeo's death and then kills herself.
• Their deaths reconcile the warring families.

Renaissance Period (1500-1660 CE)

• Renaissance emphasizes human potential and artistic flourishing
• William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Edmund Spenser were popular authors
• Great authors and works included Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Doctor Faustus, among other works
• Themes included individualism, humanism, love, political intrigue, and metaphysical questions.

Restoration and 18th Century (1660-1800 CE)

• "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift
• A satirical novel following Lemuel Gulliver, a ship's surgeon, on fantastical voyages.

Romantic Period (1785-1832 CE)

• "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley
• A novel about Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a monster from body parts.

Victorian Period (1837-1901 CE)

• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
• A story about an orphan who dreams of rising above his humble beginnings.

Modernist Period (1901-1945 CE)

• World War I (1914-1918) drastically influenced the period
• Writers explore psychological exploration, scientific advances, and themes of alienation, such as The Waste Land
• Themes include alienation, fragmentation, and existential uncertainty.
• Notable authors: T.S. Eliot, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf.

Postmodernist Period (1945-Present)

• The period emerged after World War II, influenced by war, decolonization, and the digital revolution.
• Literature focused on embracing diversity, blurring boundaries between fiction and reality, and challenging readers' perceptions. Key themes include fragmented identities and global influences.
• Authors include Samuel Beckett, Salman Rushdie, and Margaret Atwood.