History of English Literature. 39 Literature

History of English Literature

1485–1660 3. The Renaissance

1918–1945 7. Modernism

409 -10661. Anglo-Saxon period

1798–1832 5. Romanticism

1660-17984. The Neoclassical period. The Enlightenment Age

1066–1485 2. Middle-English period

1830s-19186. Realism

1. Anglo-Saxon period (409 -1066 )

The Anglo-Saxon period in Britain called as "the Dark Ages" because the early Saxon invasion. Most historians called it "early middle ages" or "early medieval period".

Anglo-Saxon Age is the starting point of British literature. The original inhabitants of England were Britons &Celts until Germanic tribes arrived to England and bring the name, language & literature. Before their arrival, England was under the Roman Empire.

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The spirit of the time

The life of Anglo-Saxons was full of hardship. They were originally pagans, worshipping pagan gods and nature. They were great warriors, who hunted and sailed and spent life with energy and enthusiasm (a unique mix of savagery and sentiment, of emotion and action). They held great love for physical heroism, home, family, and personal freedom. It is this combination that finds expression in their literature.

Anglo- Saxon Period (Main Works and Authors)

Beowulf, Anonymus. It was written around 700/800 AD.

Judith, Anonymus. Dating from around 800/900 AD

The Dream of the Rood, Anonymus Christian poems of the Anglo-Saxon

The Seafarer, Anonymus. Around 900 AD

The Exeter Book Riddles, Anonymus. The 96 riddles that are found in the 10th century.

2. Middle-English period (1066 - 1485 )

It began with the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the new ruler was French so they installed his language and also Latin into the nobility, monarchy, etc... However, the majority of the town spoke English and acquired some of the elite words enriching their language. It had a feudal social structure. Where the monarchy and nobility were at the top and also the clergy had immense power over the people. The religion was mostly Catholic and played an important role in this period. The economy was agrarian, but it started to evolve, and trade and commerce emerge, rising a new class called the "middle class".

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The spirit of the time

The difference between the "elite" classes and the common people, brought by the Normans and their language, culture, and customs create tension and rivalry between them. As we said before, religion had an important impact on de society and they were deeply devoted to their prayers, beliefs, and practices. The creation of the "middle class," gave people a sense of ambition and the search for a better place in the social and economic status. This new chapter made crumble the traditional social order they had until then.

Main works and a authors

Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales

Julian of Norwich - Revelations of Divine Love

John Gower - Confessio Amantis

Thomas Malory - Le Morte d'Arthur

3. The Renaissance (1485–1660)

Movement in Europe from medieval until modern times(14th- 17th century). Humanistic revival of classical influence expressed in all type of art & literature

Started in Florence, due their political structure, the patronage( Medici family) and the migration of Greek scholars after the fall of Constantinople.Other centers were Venice, Genoa, Milan, Rome and Naples

From Italy, the Renaissance spread over Europe in Flanders, France, Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Hungary (with Beatrice of Naples)

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The spirit of the time

The revival of philosophical was represented by the affirmation of a liberation of Man in relation to God. Artistic creativity gave a new place to the individual (Humanism). It was no longer limited to religion and strict rules of representation. Artists felt and then affirmed that Man belongs to nature and his place is in the centre of the universe

The Renaissance got three successive periods: the Trecento (14th century), the Quattrocento (15th century) and the Cinquecento (16th century).

Main Works and Authors

William Shakespeare(1564- 1616).The most successful and famous english author and probably in the history

Ben Jonson(1572-1637). His better job was the "The Alchemist" (1610)

4. The Neoclassical period. The Enlightenment Age (1660-1798)

Neoclassicism was an artistic manifestation of aesthetic and cultural ideals, while the Enlightenment was a wider philosophical and political movement focusing on the human condition.

Enlightenment is when philosophers believed that we would be able to control our destinies by learning from and following the laws of nature

This period is broken down into three parts: the Restoration period, the Augustan period, and the Age of Johnson. Writers of the Neoclassical period tried to imitate the style of the Romans and Greeks

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The Spirit of the Time

Beginning around 1750, it was a time when the influence of philosophical theory and political revolution had unprecedented international significance

There was a great turning away from religion as the primary way of life

It was an increased reverence for logic and disdain for superstition. The period is marked by the rise of Deism, the intellectual backlash against earlier Puritanism

Main Works and Authors

Alexander Pope, In his long poem "An Essay on Criticism" (1711)

Jonathan Swift in "Gulliver’s Travels" (1726)

5.Romanticism (1798–1832)

Romanticism, attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography (late 18th to the mid-19th century).

The romantic movement derives, trends was a new appreciation of the medieval romance

Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified Classicism

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The Spirit of the Time

What are the 5 characteristics of romanticism?

• Focus on individualism

• An emphasis on nature

• Emotion over reason

• Freedom of form

• Exploration of the Gothic and unknown

Romanticism marks a shift to focusing on emotion over reason, as well as exploration of the individual in the face of nature.

Main Works and Authors

Lord Byron (1788-1824) was Romantic writer and politician. One of this best works is "Don Juan"(1819 to 1824 )

William Blake ( 1757 – 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker. His best work is "The Song of Los" (1795)

6.Realism (1830s-1918)

Realism is a literary movement that started in the late 19th century and has since had a profound influence on the written word today

It consist in a literary style focus on the accurate representation of life and their events.

Realism seeks to portray life as it actually is with all their settings and characters.

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The Spirit of the Time

What are the main characteristics of realism?

• Rejecting Romantic ideals

• Representing subjects “as they were”

• Focusing on everyday people, settings, and situations.

• Responding to a new national emphasis

This often focuses on middle and lower class members of society and places familiar to many people.

Main Works and Authors

Jane Austen (1775- 1817) social realism and the novel. Her best work is Pride & Prejudice (1813)

Most famous realistic author is Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Great Expetactions (1860) was his best novel .

Charlotte Brontë(1816-1855). Her famous novel was Jane Eyre(1847).

6.Modernism (1918-1945)

Modernism refers to a global movement in society &culture from the early 20th century with a new alignment with the experience and values of modern industrial life.

Rejected the ideology of realism and made use of the works of the past by the employment of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision, and parody

Their characteristics are : individualism, experimentation, absurdity, symbolism, and formalism.

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The Spirit of the Time

The idea that the world had to be rethought. First World War and the Russian Revolution led to utopian fervor, the human condition could be healed by new approaches to art and design

Modernist planning failed because was a popular idea used as a solution to these problems. The movement could not adequately adapt to the social dynamics of family and community and fell in the 70s.

Main Works and Authors

James Joyce (1882-1941). His modernist experimentation from the portrayal of everyday life

Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) her famously novel Mrs Dalloway (1925)

Bibliography

Definition of renaissance. (2023). En Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/renaissance The Renaissance. (s. f.). RMN - Grand Palais. https://www.grandpalais.fr/en/article/renaissance#:~:text=The%20Renaissance%20lasted%20for%20nearly,the%20Cinquecento%20(16th%20century).

Neoclassicism Curriculum (Education at the Getty). (s. f.). https://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/classroom_resources/curricula/neoclassicism/#:~:text=During%20this%20period%2C%20Neoclassicism%20and,focusing%20on%20the%20human%20condition.

Boteju, T. (s. f.). The Enlightenment (Neoclassical) Period (1660-1790 CE). https://englishliteratureaf.blogspot.com/p/iv.html The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2023, 25 abril). Romanticism | Definition, Characteristics, Artists, History, Art, Poetry, Literature, & Music. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/art/Romanticism British Library. (s. f.). The British Library. https://www.bl.uk/people/ben-jonson

Bibliography

Lee, Y. (2023, 10 enero). Realism And English Literature I Oxford Open Learning. Oxford Open Learning. https://www.ool.co.uk/english-literature-2/realism-and-english-literature/#:~:text=Realism%20is%20a%20literary%20movement,on%20its%20more%20mundane%20details. Lee, Y. (2023b, enero 10). Realism And English Literature I Oxford Open Learning. Oxford Open Learning. https://www.ool.co.uk/english-literature-2/realism-and-english-literature/#:~:text=Realism%20is%20a%20literary%20movement,on%20its%20more%20mundane%20details. British Library. (s. f.-b). The British Library. https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/realism British Library. (s. f.-d). The British Library. https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/virginia-woolfs-london British Library. (s. f.-e). The British Library. https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/an-introduction-to-ulysses Atherton, J. S. (2023, 18 mayo). James Joyce | Biography, Books, Wife, & Facts. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Joyce