English Literature Historical Periods Quiz

Elizabethan Period (1558-1603)

• Queen Elizabeth saves England from Spanish invasion and internal squabbles
• Early works of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd, and Sidney emerge during this period

Jacobean Period (1603-1625)

• Later works of Shakespeare
• Writers like Aemilia Lanyer, Ben Jonson, and John Donne emerge during this period

Caroline Age (1625-1649)

• John Milton, George Herbert, Robert Herrick, and the "Sons of Ben" write during this period
• Reign of Charles I and his Cavaliers

Puritan Period (1649-1660)

• Under Cromwell's Puritan dictatorship
• John Milton continues to write, along with Andrew Marvell and Sir Thomas Browne

Characteristics of the Renaissance Age

• Reforms in institutions
• Reason dominates over religion
• Man-centered society
• Development of science and mathematics
• Era of renowned names in literature, including Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Milton

The Enlightenment (1660-1790)

• An intellectual movement in France and Europe
• Emphasized reason, progress, and liberty
• Associated with nonfiction writing, such as essays and philosophical treatises
• Major Enlightenment writers include Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and René Descartes

Romanticism (1798-1832)

• A literary and artistic movement that reacted against the Enlightenment
• Celebrated spontaneity, imagination, subjectivity, and nature
• Notable English Romantic writers include Jane Austen, William Blake, and Lord Byron
• Prominent figures in the American Romantic movement include Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville

Victorian Era (1832-1901)

• A period of English history between the passage of the first Reform Bill and the death of Queen Victoria
• Notable Victorian novelists include the Brontë sisters, Charles Dickens, and George Eliot
• Prominent poets include Matthew Arnold, Robert Browning, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Modernism (1890s-1940s)

• A literary and artistic movement that provided a radical break with traditional modes
• Major themes include the attack on notions of hierarchy, experimentation in new forms of narrative, and doubt about the existence of knowable reality

Metaphysical Poets

• A group of 17th-century poets whose works are marked by philosophical exploration and colloquial diction
• John Donne is the foremost figure, along with George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, and Abraham Cowley

Symbolist Movement

• A group of late 19th-century French writers who favored dreams, visions, and the associative powers of the imagination
• Believed that the purpose of art was not to represent reality but to access greater truths
• Influenced by Edgar Allan Poe's works

Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s)

• A period of musical, literary, and cultural proliferation in New York's African-American community
• Key to developing a new sense of Black identity and aesthetics
• Writing luminaries include Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and Zora Neale Hurston

The Beat Generation

• A literary movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era

Test your knowledge on the different historical periods in English literature from the Elizabethan Period to the Caroline Age. Explore the major writers and literary movements that flourished during each era.