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AN OUTLINE OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
PERIOD
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
LITERARY WORKS/WRITERS
OLD ENGLISH
The period of Anglo Saxon: The Age of Settlement
(440-1066)
Before the arrival of Anglo Saxon, Britain was
under Roman Empire (55 BC – AD 440)
„Beowulf‟
- a poem
- 3,000 lines
- first English epic
- unknown name of author
MIDDLE ENGLISH
± 1150 - ± 1400
- The Duke of Normandy from France became the
king in Britain and gave influences to British
Kingdom.
- The use of French – high class of society
The use of English – common people
-Geoffrey Chaucer wrote „Canterbury Tales‟
-Initially plays were used in churches as the medium to explain
the preaching.
- Oral Literature: “Robin Hood”
TRANSITION
±1400 - ± 1550
- The period in literature to mark the transition
between two great literary figures, Chaucer and
Shakespeare.
- The transition to modern English
-Some poets, like Robert Henrison and William Dunbar were
called „Scottish Chaucerians.‟
-Sir Thomas Wyatt wrote sonnet and Earl of Surrey wrote
blank verse.
-Sir Thomas Malory wrote a romance, Morte d’Arthur.
-Two types of drama: moralities (about good or bad), e.g.
Everyman, and interlude (to entertain), e.g. Fulgen and Lucres.
ELIZABETHAN
± 1550 - ± 1620
- the period was marked by the influence of
Renaissance/enlightenment.
- Spirit of exploration/science/invention
- The fastest progress of drama.
- Shakespeare was the key figure.
- He wrote Richard II, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello,
Julius Caesar, Mid Summer Night’s Dreams, etc.
PURITAN
± 1620 - ± 1660
Religious → political movement
Charles I was sentenced to death.
Britain became republic under Oliver Cromwell.
-John Donne, a metaphysical poet
-John Milton wrote „Paradise Lost.‟
-King James Bible > a new version of translation
-Drama was forbidden.
