(English Literature)

Important periods of English Literature

1. The Old English Period: (450-1066)

The another name of this period is The Anglo Saxon Period.

2. The Middle English Period: (1066-1500)

The Anglo Norman Period: (1066-1340)

The Age of Chaucer: (1340-1400) (14th century)
The Dark/ Barren Period: (1400-1485/1500)

3. The Renaissance: (1500-1660)

Its also called Early Modern Period.

Preparation for Renaissance: (1500-1558)
The Elizabethan Period: (1558-1603)
The Jacobean Period: (1603-1625)
King James
Age of Shakespeare: (1590-1615)
Puritan Period: (1620-1660)
The Caroline Period: (1625-1649)
King Charles
The Commonwealth Period: (1649-1660)

4. The Neo-Classical Period: (1660-1798)

The Restoration Period: (1660-1700)

Its also called poet John Drydens period.
The Augustan Period: (1700-1745)
The Age of Sensibility: (1745-1785/98)
Another name The Age of Reason/Transition.
Dr. Samuel Jhonson.
5.The Romantic Period: (1798-1832)

34 years (Early 19th Century)

6. The Victorian Period: (1832-1901)

The Pre-Raphaelites: (1848-1860)

Aestheticism and Decadence: (1880-1901)

7. The Modern Period: (1901-1939)

The Edwardian Period: (1901-1910)

The Georgian Period: (1910-1936)

8. The Post Modern Period: (1939-present)

 The Old English Period

Duration: (450-1066)

Another name of this period is The Anglo Saxon Period.

Literature was oral in this period.
King Alfred the Great spread educational institutions in this period.
According to Bede, the original Anglo-Saxon settlers came to England from
many of these continental locations: Roman Britain, Haywoods Dark, The
Northern Seas.

Some important Litterateur in Anglo Saxon Period:

1. Caedmon:
He is called earliest poet/ first known poet in English Literature.
He is also called Father of English Sacred Song.
Someone also called him Anglo-Saxon periods Milton.
His main literary work is Paraphrase.

2. Cynewulf:
He is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four
whose work is known to survive today.
His famous poem is Juliana.

3. Saint Venerable bede: (673-735)

His Titleis Doctor of the Church.
He is called Father of Learning and First historian in English language.

4. King alfred the great: (849- 899 )

His designation is The Law Governing.

He was Lord in England. (871-901)
He compiled the Anglo Saxon Chronicle.
Anglo Saxon Chronicleis called First monument in English prose.
For this reason he is also called Founder of English Prose.
 Beowulf:
Beowulf is called First Monument in English Literature.
It is also called The Earliest Epic in England.(650)
Its heros name is Beowulf.
Its main pandulipi in Landon British Museum.

The Middle English Period

Duration: (1066-1500)

Some important Litterateur inThe Middle English Period:

5.geoffrey ChauCer:
He was famous poet in 14th century (Representative Poet)
According to his name The Age of Chaucer: (1340-1400)
Many said him Morning Star of Renaissance.
Also called him
The first great modernist
Father of English Language
Father of English Literature
First Humorist in English Literature
Father of English Modern Poetry
The first great English story-teller.
Canterbury Tales:(1478) (17,000) His greatest poetry book. (a
collection of 24 stories)
There are three classification of Chaucers poetry literature-
The French Period
The Italian Period
The English Period
His famous poems are-
Legend of Good Women
Troilus and Criseyde
Nun Priests Tale
The House of Fame
The parliament of Fowls.
6. John wyCliff:(1324-1438)
His Titles-
Morning Star of Reformation
Reformer of English Church
Evening Star of English Scholasticism
Father of English prose/ First prose writer.
He was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, Biblical translator,
reformer, seminary professor at Oxford.
He was an influential dissident within the Roman Catholic priesthood during
the 14th century.
The followers of his introduced Lollards.

7. Sir thomaS malory:(1415-1471)

His famous prose book is Morte D Arthur
Morte D Arthuris first Romance in prose in English Literature

8. dantealighieri:(1265-1321)
His Titles-
The Father of the Italian Language
The Supreme Poet of Italy.
His famous Epics name is The Divine Comedy
Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio is called together The Three Crowns/ The
Three Fountains.

9. william langland:
His famous poetry book is Piers Plowman|

Drama: before staged

Play: after staged
 The Renaissance

Duration: (1500-1660)

Some important information about The Renaissance period:

Actually European Renaissance began in 14th Century in Italy.

Renaissance means- Revival/ Regeneration/ Rebirth of classical (ancient
Greek) learning, culture and free thinking.
Renaissance is an Italian word (French). It is considered the bridge
between the Middle ages and the Modern history.
It is first spread in Florence city and then spread in Venice and Rome cities.
But in Ingland Renaissance is start in 1500.
The Renaissance period is also called Rediscovery of Ancient Civilization
of Greece and Rome.
Its also called Early Modern Period. It started as a Cultural Movement in
Italy.
Father of Renaissance/ Father of Humanism are Italian poet Petrarch.
Raja Ram Mohan Royis regarded as the Father of the Bengal
Renaissance.
Special characteristics of Renaissance period: Humanism,
Free Thinking, Nationalism, Individualism etc.

Some important information aboutQueen elizabeth:

Henry (7): Queen Elizabeths grandfather.
Henry (8): Queen Elizabeths father.
Edward (6): Queen Elizabeths step brother.
Queen Mary: Queen Elizabeths step sister. (bloody mary)
o Queen Elizabeths father henry (8) married six:
1. Catherine of Aragon:mother of Mary 1.
2. Anne Boleyn:mother of Elizabeth 1.
3. Jane Seymour:mother of Edward (6).
4. Anne of Cleves:
5. Catherine Howard:
6. Catherine Parr:
 a. The Elizabethan Period:
Duration: (1558-1603)
Titles of the Age:
Golden/ Glorious Period of English Literature/ Drama.
A nest of singing birds.
Queen Elizabeth named
Queen Elizabeth quoted that A good face is the best letter of
recommendation.
Characteristics of Elizabeth Theatre:
There were no female writers in that period.
Women were not allowed to act.
The boys played the role of women.
Elizabethan tragedy..
a. Revenge b. love
First English Theatre was established in 1576.

Some important littrateurs inThe Elizabethan Period:

10. thomaS norton: thomaS SaCKVille:

Both were literary collaborator.
They are also called pioneers of English tragedy.
Firs Tragedy in English: The Tragedy of Gorboduc.
Its another name is Ferrex and Porrex.

11. ChriStopher marlowe: (1564-1593) only 29 yrs.

Birth in Canterbury of England.
He was a University Wit.
His title was Father of English Drama/ Tragedy.
He was Shakespeares predecessor.
He was the pioneer of Blank verse of play.
His famous lyric is The Passionate Shepherd to His Love and Hero
and Leader.
 Famous tragedies of Marlowe:
o Doctor Faustus:
Its called Morality play.
Full name: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus.
o The Jew of Malta:
Reading this play Shakespeare wrote his play The Merchant of
Venice.
o Tambeurlainethe Great:
o Edward (2):
Its a historical play.
o The Massacre of Paris:
o Dido, Queen of Carthage.

12. edmund SpenSer:

His titles:
The poet of poets.
The Child of Renaissance and Reformation.
Second Father of English Poetry.
Court Poet/ Divine Master/ The Prince of Poet.
He was the pioneer of Spenserian Sonnet.
His sonnet editions name Amortti.
His famous epic is The Faerie Queen.
It was written for Queen Elizabeths praise.
Its theme: Patriotism (unfinished epic)
This epics Hero is Red Cross Knight and Heroine was Una.
His famous books and poems:
The Shepherds Calendar.
The Ruins of Time.
Amoretti (collection of 89 sonnets)
Pastoral elegy: Astrophel (Sir Philip Sidney)
13. niCholaS udall: (1505-1556)
His title is Father of English Comedy.
First comedy in English is Ralph Roister Doister. (Hero - Ralph)
GammerGurtons Needle is written by John Still is also called first
comedy in English literature.

14. Sir thomaS wyatt: (1503-1542)

His title is Father of English sonnet.
First sonneteer in English literature.
Petrarch and Wyatt s poem Tottels Miscellany.(it is the first fruit of
Renaissance)

15. Sir philip Sidney: (1554-1586)

A famous critic and was also a poet and soldier.
Sidney was one of the leading members of Queen Elizabethan court.
His famous books:
The Lady of May.
An Apology for Poetry. (criticism book)
Arcadia. (it is called the embryo of English novel)

16. John webSter: (1580-1634)

His famous tragedies:
The White Devil.
The Devils Law Case.
The Duchess of Malfi.
It is a Revenge play.
Famous character of this play is Bosola.
Bosola said that Machiavellian/ selfish character.

17. riChard hooKer: (1554-1600)

The greatest prose writer of the Elizabethan period.
Influential theologian and clergy man.
18. george Chapman: (1559-1634)
He translates in English Homers Iliad and Odyssey.

19. ben JonSon: (1572-1637)

Titles:
Father of English Realistic Comedy.
Father of Comedy of Humours.
Famous plays of Ben Jonson:
Every Man in His Humour.
Every Man Out of His Humour.
The Silent Woman.
Volpone or the Foxes.
The Alchemist.

20. thomaS Kyd:

A famous university wit.
Titles: Father of English Revenge Tragedy.
Famous play of Kyd:
The Spanish Tragedy.
Its called Bloody Drama.

21. thomaS moore: ()

Famous book:
Utopia (a kingdom of no-where; an imaginary island where is no
problem)

22. thomaS deKKer:

Was an English Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer, a versatile and
prolific writer.

23. arthur golding:

An English translator of more than 30 works from Latin into English.
24. niCColo maChiaVelli:
Father of modern political science.
Famous book: The Prince.
In literature Machiavellian character means selfish character.
Belief of Machiavellian character: The end justifies the means.
During the Italian renaissance, Niccolo Machiavelli established the emphasis
of modern science on direct empirical observation of political institutions
and actors. Machiavelli was also a realist, arguing that even evil means
should be considered if they help to create and preserve a desired regime.

25.Cyril tourneur:
Famous plays:
The Revengers Tragedy
The Athelsts Tragedy.

26. migunl de CerVanteS:

Famous poet, dramatist, playmaker of Spain.
Famous book: Don Quixote
It is the first and most famous play in modern Europe.

27. franCiS baCon: (1561-1626)

Father of English Essay
Father of Modern Prose
Father of Empiricism
First essayist in English literature.
He was an English courtier (statesman), lawyer and natural philosopher.
He was an Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England.
His all books name start with Of.
Famous quotes of Francis Bacon:
Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; writing an
exact man. es was th.
Studies serve for delight, for ornament and for ability.
History makes man wise.
 Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to
be chewed and digested.
Wives are young mens mistresses, companions for the middle age
and old mens nurse.
A mixture of lie does ever add pleasure.
A good friend is another himself
It is impossible to love and be wise
Suspicions among thoughts are like bats among birds.
Opportunity makes a thief.
The secret of success is the constancy of purpose.
Revenge is a kind of wild justice.
Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom
Unmarried men are best friends, best master, best servants but not
always best subjects.
Old wood best to burns, old wine to drink, old friends to trust and
old author to read.
Famous books of Francis Bacon:
Advancement of learning
Novum Orgum
The wisdom of Ancients
Divine and humane.
The new Atlantis
28. galileo:
An Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher, and
mathematician.
Galileo has been called the, father of observational astronomy, the
father of modern physics and the, father of science.
He played a major role in the scientific revolution during the renaissance.
He discovered the telescopic.
His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic
confirmation of the phases of venus, the discovery of the four largest
satellites of Jupiter and the observation and analysis of sunspots.
The sun does not move round the earth otherwise the earth moves
round the sun.
29. william ShaKeSpeare: (1564-1616)
Birth: 23 April 1564. (26 April)
Death: 23 April 1616.
Birth place: Stratford-upon-Avon
It is stated in Warwickshire
Avon is the name of a river.
Titles:
National poet of England
The greatest dramatist
The greatest superstar of the world
King without crown
The bard of Avon.
Dr. Samuel Johnson called William Shakespeare is Poet of Human
Nature.
Father: John Shakespeare.
Mother: Mary Shakespeare
Wife: Anne Hathaway (8 years senior to Shakespeare)
Professionally he was an actor. He plays in Globe Theatre.
Shakespeare was famous for:
37 plays
154 sonnets
3 narrative poems
18 plays published in his lives.
He was called Elizabethan period dramatist
Shakespeare wrote four types of play:
a. Tragedy
b. Comedy
c. Tragic-comedy
d. Historical play
His each play consists of five (5) acts.
Soliloquy means a speech by an actor on a lonely stage.
Aside means a brief comment by a character addressing the audience,
unheard by other characters
Shakespeares sonnet:
He is the innovator of Shakespeare sonnet
He dedicated his many sonnet to his friend Earl of Southampton
Sonnet style: three quatrains and a couplet (4+4+4+2)
The rhyme scheme of his sonnet:
abab, cdcd, efef, gg
Quatrain: A stanza of four lines
Quintain: A stanza of five lines.
Some famous poems of Shakespeare:
The Rape of Lucrece (narrative poem)
A Lovers Complaint
The Passionate Pilgrim
The Phoenix and the Turtle (Phoenix is a mythological bird)
Venus and Adonis (narrative poem)
Some famous Tragi-comedy of Shakespeare:
The Merchant of Venice:
Some artist of this drama:
Antonio (hero)
Shylock (Jew userer)
Portia (heroine)
Some famous quotes of Merchant of Venice:
It is a wise father that knows his own child
All that glitters is not gold
Love is blind
In sooth, I know not why I am so sad
Alls well that Ends Well
Measure for Measure:
Its also called the Dark/ Black comedy/ problem play.
Measure for Measure is neither a pure tragedy nor a fair
comedy. It is a tragi-comedy because is ends with fored
marriages, not necessarily true love.
Some famous quotes of this play:
Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall
The miserable have no other medicine but only hope
 Historical play of Shakespeare:
He wrote 10 historical play about three kings.
King Henry
King John
King Richard
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. (Henry)
Min of few words are the best men.
Famous tragedies of Shakespeares:
a. Hamlet: (1602)
Hamlet means a small village that doesnt have its own
church
Some famous artist of Hamlet:
King Hamlet (king of Denmark)
Prince Hamlet (son+protagonist/ central character)
Gurtrude (Mother: die by poison)
Claudius (Uncle: )
Horatio (friends of Hamlet)
Ophelia (Heroine: die by sinking)
Laertes (a student in Paris. Laertes is Poloniuss son and
Ophelias brother)
Some famous quotes of Hamlet:
To be or not to be that is the question. (a soliloquy of
Hamlet) means indecisiveness of human mind.
Frailty, thy name is woman
The play is a thing, where I will catch the conscience of the
king
What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how
like a god!
Brevity is the soul of wit.
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are
dreamt of our philosophy.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be.
 There is divinity that shapes our ends
When sorrows come, they come not single spices but in
battalions.
b. Macbeth:
Some artist of Macbeth:
King Duncan (king of Scotland)
Three witches
Macbeth (a brave general + protagonist of the play)
Lady Macbeth (wife of Macbeth, she is also called super-witch)
Banquo (fellow fighter of Macbeth)
Some famous quotes of Macbeth:
Fair is foul, foul is fair.
Your face is a book,
Where man may read stranger matters.
Look like an innocent flower
But be the serpent under it
Here is still the smell of blood
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
Life is but a walking shadow
Life is a tale, told by an idiot.
Full of sound and fury
Signifying nothing.

c. Othello (The Moor):

A domestic tragedy
Theme fatal consequence of doubt.
Some famous artist of Othello:
Othello (a brave Moorish solder)
Desdemona (heroine)
Brabantio (father of Desdemona)
Lago ()
Cassio (assistant of Othello)
d. King Lear:
A tragedy of an arrogant king
Father of three daughters
Goneril (treacherous)
Regan (treacherous)
Cordelia (loyal)
Some famous quotes of King Lear:
I am a man more sinned against than sinning
According to King Lear, Thankless children are sharper than
poisonous.
My love is richer than my tongue.
Nothing will come of nothing.

e. Julius Caesar:
Was a ruler of Rome about 2000 years ago
Caesars betrayer friend: Brutus
Famous quotes of Caesar:
Veni, Vidi, Vici (I came, I saw, I conquered)
Cowards die many times before their death,
But the valiant never taste of death but once.
Brutus, you too!

f. Romeo and Juliet:

A tragedy of eternal love
Romeo and Juliet belong to
Two ever hostile families

g. Antonio and Cleopatra:

Cleopatra was a queen of Egypt
Queen Cleopatra is called Serpent of the Nile
h. Titus Andronicus:
It is tragedy
Titus Andronicus was a renowned Roman general

i. Timon of Athens:
Incomplete play
It is Shakespeares 38th play
Famous quote: life is an uncertain voyage.

Famous comedies of Shakespeare:

1. As You Like It:
Theme: Love at first sight
Famous artist of this play:
Orlando
Rosalind
Celia
Duke senior
Some famous quotes of this play:
All the worlds a stage
And all the man and women are merely players
Sweet are the usages of adversity.
The fool does think he is wise\
But the wise man knows himself to be a fool
Under the green wood tree
Blow, blow the winter wind
Thou are not so unkind
As mans ingratitude.

2. Comedy of Errors:
3. Twelfth Night:
Some famous quotes of this play:
Some are born great, some achieve greatness
And some have greatness thrust upon them.
If music be the fook of love, play on.
Love sought is good but given unsought is better.

4. The Taming of the Shrew:

5. Mid Summer Nights Dream:

A romantic comedy
Some famous quotes of this play:
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind
The course of true love never did run smooth.

6. The Tempest:
Means- violent storm
Famous artist of this play is Calliban
Its also called Shakespeares swan song (last work)

Other comedies of Shakespeare:

The Two Gentleman of Verona
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Winters Tale
Cymbeline
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
The Two Nobel Kinsman
Troilus and Cressida
Much Ado About Nothing
Loves Labours Lost
University wits:
Young dramatist and pamphleteers of Elizabethan period.
They were Oxford and Cambridge universitys scholar/ witty students.
University wits are seven:
1. Christopher Marlowe:
2. Thomas Kyd:
He was not the student of these two university otherwise he was an
university wits.
3. Thomas Nashe:
His famous play is summers last will and testament.
He is called the greatest of English Elizabethan pamphleteers.
4. Robert Green:
His famous comedy is Friar Bacon
5. George Peele:
The old wifes Tale
Famous Chronicle of King Edward.
6. John Lily:
King Midas and the woman in the Moon his famous play
His greatest book is The Anatomy of Wit

Name: Abdullah Al Masum

Studying at Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam
University.
Department of Human Resource Management (HRM)
Trishal, Mymensingh.
Mobile: 01764267457