WORLD

LITERATURE

Eddriane V. Magwari
Bsed IV-PE (Day)
Mr. Larry Fronda Jr.

TOPIC: English Literature

 ENGLISH LITERATURE
History

The Norman conquest of England, in the 11th century made a break in the natural growth of the
English language and literature. The old English or Anglo-Saxon had been a purely Germanic
speech, with a complicated grammar and a full set of infections. For three hundred years
following the battle of Hasting this native tounge was driven from the king’s court and the courts
of law, from parliament, school ,and university. During all this time there were two languages
spoken in England. Norman French was the birth –tounge of the upper classes and English of
the lower.

The old English period (1450 AD-1066)

- Defense against 2 mycenaries between

- Picts and scots
- Introduced the Christianization of the pagan
- English tribes
- Danish king establishment of dane law in English
Important works
Beowulf- theme of poems is continental Germanic the poem can be considered as the pagan
origin
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle- Inspired by king Alfred description of the horrors of Stephen reign
Anglo –Saxon Literature for old English literature

The Middle English Period (1066 AD- 1500)

- Norman and Angerin Dynasties

- Internal Struggle between King Clergy noble and people
- Rise of religious order

Important Works
The vision of William
-concerning piers the plowan
By William Langland Brat-Lazamon

The Chaucerean Period

- By George Chaucer
- this period includes the greater part of the reign of Edward III
- the Age of unrest and transition

5 Famous Poets
LANGLAND- voicing the social discontent preaching the equality of men and the dignity of
labor
WYCLIFFE –giving the gospel to the people in their own tounge
GOWER- criticizing the vigourous life and plainly afraid of it consequences
MANDEVILLE – romancing about the wonders to be seen abroad
CHAUCER- sharing in all string life of the time
Important Works
-the cantebury tales
The book of the duckness.

The Elizabethan Period (1558- 1603)

- the golden age of English history

- more famous work of William Shakespeare
- it begins with the opening of the ‘’red lion’’ theater in 1567
- Shakespeare is considered the Greatest writer of the English language
- Genre: History plays ,tragedy and the comedy
Important works
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
Prince of poets- called bu Charles lamb and Milton
Works
The Faerie Queen
Sir Philip Sydney
-Father of English Criticism
-He took a brilliant military literary –country life
Works: apology for poetry
Francis Bacon
-Father of English Essays
Works: the History of Henry VII
The New Atlantis

William Shakespeare- 1564-1616

-poets and dramatist English Literature
-playwright,actor,shareholder in acting company
He wrote 37 plays ,157 sonnets 2 long narrative poems and 3 poems
Works:
Poems: The passionate of Pilgrim 1599
Tragedies: Macheth
Comedies: the mid summer Night’s Dream
Tragic Comedies : the winter’s tale
Last Play : the tempest

Jacobean Period (1603-1625)

- Development of English Prose

- Decline of the drama after the death of Shakespeare
- Important Works
- Go Lovely Rose by Edmund Waller the mistress by Abraham Conley
 Puritan Period (1649-1660)
- Clash between catholics and protestants
- Rebellion during the age of the Charles I
- Civil war between Charles I and Purifan for 7 years.

John Milton
-First literary epic poet
Works:
Paradice Lost
Comus

Restorian Period

- Accession marked the beginning of the Restorian Age

- Influence by French culture
- Theaters came back to life of people

Importants Works and Authors

John Dryden- All for Love
William Congruenve – the old Bachelor
Geourge Ethrege- The Camical Revenge

Romantic Age

- Publication of the Lyrical Ballads

- Give importance to subjectivity
- Love for eternal nature
- Revival of Lyricism
Works:
William Wordsworth
-the Prelude
-Immortality ode

The Modern Period

- Break with tradition
- Rejected Romantic Conventions
- traditional verge patterns were rejected

Important Writer and Works

T-S Eliot –the Hollow Man,
W.H Auden – Age of Anxiety, Look Stranger
D. H Lawrence – son and Lovers, Rainbow