HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN A TABLE

 

HISTORY   OF ENGLISH LITERATURE AT A GLANCE
OLD ENGLISH PERIOD(450 AD- 1100 AD)
Sl.No	PERIOD			MONARCHS	HISTORICAL REMARKS				LITERRAY REMARKS
1	Anglo-Saxon (450-1066)			Harold (last Saxon king)	Invasion of Celtic England by Romans, Germanic tribes (Angles (=hook men), Saxons (=sword men), Jutes), Vikings.   They renamed England as Angola land, this became Engole Land, later as England.   Remember: CRASJV -N- WSI Celts, Romans- Germanic tribes (Anglo-Saxons-Jutes), Vikings, -Normans- Wales, Scotland- Ireland   (Great Britain=England+ Wales+ Scotland) (UK=Great Britain+ Northern Ireland)				English is a “West Germanic Language’’ belongs Indo European Group (Note: Telugu- Dravidian Group, Hindi- Indo Aryan Group).   Heroic poetry: Major genre Heroic poetry. It is Accentual and alliterative.   Oral to written: written works started from pagan saga(oral).   Historical Anglo-Saxon chronicle started by King Alfred. (Chronicle=recorded history of events)   Northumbrian School of writers: i)Bede: known as father of English learning, wrote ‘Ecclesiastical History of English People’ ii)Cadman: known as Anglo-Saxon Milton, paraphrased entire Bible into Poetry. iii)Cynewulf: writer of “The Christ” poem   Beowulf- greatest epic poem. Widsith, Doer, The Seafearer are the other famous poems
MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD(1100 AD-1500 AD)
02	Anglo- Norman -Old French (1066-1340)		Norman Kings: William-I 1066-87 William-II 1087-00 Henry-I 1100-35 Stephen 1135-54   Plantagenet Kings: Henry II 1154-89 Richard I 1189-99 John 1199-16 Henry III 1219-72 Edward I 1272-07 Edward II 1307-27		Invasion of England by Normans under leadership of William the Conqueror in Battle of Hastings (1066) and defeated last Saxon king Harold.   Normans (Northman):  From Scandinavia, settled in North France, invaded England.   Feudalism was introduced, Church authority break down, King as supreme.				Major genre-Chivalric romances: Rhyming couplets, Chronicles, Breton lays (Brut), Hagiographic(biography) tradition introduced.   Meter and Rhyme: introduced into Anglo-Saxon verse. 10000 new words into English, Modification of Spellings   French domination: as a result, Old English Poetry disappeared. Clergy used Latin, Nobility French, Lower-class English   The Owl and the Nightingale, Cursor Mundi are famous poems
3	Age of Chaucer (1340-1400)		Edward-III 1327-77 Richard-II 1377-99		100 Years war 1337-1453: in 3 phases Edwardian, Caroline and Lancastrian. Resulted National Spirit, free from politics of France, church of Rome, language of France, Unjust taxation resulted unrest.    Black Death 1348-50: resulted 30-40% of deaths, increase in wages   Peasants Revolt 1381: Peasants demanded more wages under the leadership of Wyatt Taylor   Lollordy movement: church antiquity is questioned by John Wycliffe(Father of English Prose) & others.   Growth of Trade & commerce: Money economy started. New class (merchants) started along with other 3 classes who pray (church), who fight (nobility) and work (others). Break down of feudalism and church.				Alliterative poetry (repetition of consonant sounds) revived.  East midland dialect raised into a language. Middle English regained. Age of Anonymity has passed away, writers revealed their identity.   New meters introduced:  Iambic Pentameter(decasyllabic), Rhyme Royal, Ottawa Rima and Heroic Couplet introduced   Tale of Gamelyn, Sir Gawain are famous romances of this age.   The pearl (unknown poet) is a famous elegy on the death of a little girl.   Langland’s Piers Plowman probably encourages peasant revolt.   Geoffrey Chaucer is known as Father of English Literature and poetry. Canterbury Tales is the greatest writing of this age. He introduced Rhyme into English (from French poetry). He coined/ added many new words.   John Wycliff is the first person to translate Bible into vernacular. He is known as Father of Prose.   John Mandeville’s travel book (1356) is a famous prose work and major source of geographical information.   John Gower wrote Speculum Meditantis in French, Vox Clamntis in Latin, Confesso amantis in English.
4	Age of Revival (1400-1550)		House of Lancaster: Henry IV 1399-13 Henry V 1413-22 Henry VI 1422-61     House of York: Edward IV 1461-83 Edward V 1483 Richard III 1483-85     Tudor Dynasty: Henry VIII 1485-09 Henry VIIII 1509-47 Edward VI 1547-53 Mary 1553-58		War of Agincourt 1415: Henry V defeated the France 4 times of its size, for 3 things (French wife, revenue, crown) but 5 years later in   Treaty of Troy France accepted all the demands, but after the death of Henry V, France regained everything under the leadership of Joan of Arc.   Cade’s Rebellion: against the policies of Henry VI, led by Jack Cade (Irish).   War of Roses 1455-85:  series of civil wars b/w the York (white rose), Lancaster (red rose), war ended with victory of Lancaster’s Henry VII.    Act of Supremacy 1529: king Henry VIII as the head of the church, Breakdown with Roman catholic Church, Church of England Established.   Turks capture Constantinople 1453: Greeks flee to Italy, resulted renaissance, Greek ideas, culture was introduced to England. Discovery of America(1492)- by Columbus, India(1498) by Vascodagama;   Blood Mary (Queen Mary)- burnt nearly 300 Catholics.				First auto biography (1501)- The book of Margery Kempe.   Sonnet introduced into English by- Wyatt.   Blank verse introduced - by Surrey   Evolution of drama: Mystery, Miracle, Morality Play and Interludes.   First Printer – Caxton (1476), helped in standardization of language. Bible was published.   The Renaissance: rebirth of knowledge, enlightenment after the darkness of the middle ages, imitation of classical forms,   Focus on Classical Learning: this prevented the growth of native literature. Roger Ascham expressed his dissatisfaction in his book “Toxophilus”   Men thought truth was only authority, and in search of truth, they started adventures.   Imitation of Chaucer: writers imitated Chaucer’s verse but lack of genius. 1)      English Chaucerian: Hoccleve, Lydgate, Haws, Skelton, Barclay, Ashby, Bradshaw, Ripley, Norton etc. 2)      Scottish Chaucerian: James-I, Henry Son, Dunbar, Douglas, Lindsay   Malory’s D’Morte Arthur, More’s Utopia and Tottel’s Miscellany (collection of poems) are very famous in this age.
EARLY MODERN (1500 –  present)
5	Renaissance or Early Modern:  Elizabethan(Golden Age)-(1558-1625)		Elizabeth-I  1558-25   Stuart Dynasty: James-I 1603-25 (Jacobean)				Religious Settlement Acts 1559: Act of Uniformity: church services should base on book of prayer 1552, Attendance in church is compulsory &Act of supremacy: King as the supreme governor of the church.   Advances in Science,  Navigation& Exploration: Lead to industrialization and colonization    Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther and John Calvin protested the doctrines and Rituals of the church.   Spanish Armada 1588:  Spanish king Philip II was defeated by England’s strong naval power.		Major genre Drama: next dominant genre is lyric (ode, sonnet, song, pastoral, elegy, epithalamion).   First tragedy: Gurboduc or The Tragedie of Ferrex and Porrex(1561)- by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville   First comedy:  Ralph Roister Doister(1550s). –By Nicholas Udall.   First theatre in London named The Theatre (1576) by James Burbage, The Curtain(1577), The Rose (1587-8), The Swan (1594-6), The Globe(Shakespeare’s theatre ) 1599.   University wits: A group of highly educated dramatists. Lyly-Peele-Lodge- (Oxford); Marlowe- Greene-Nashe(Cambridge), Kyd-( not studied in any university)   Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist of the age.   Marlowe introduced Blank verse.   Spencer and Sydney-are famous poets.
6	PURITANS		Charles-I (1625-49) (Known as Caroline Age)   Common wealth interregnum. (1642-49)   Protectorate (1653-59)				English civil war (1642-51): conflict between: i)     cavaliers (supports of Charles-I) and ii)    Roundheads (supporters of Parliament)   Long Parliament in 1640.		Puritans Poetry is sad and pessimistic without romantic ideas.   Closure of theatres in 1642 since Puritans believed that the drama is immoral.   Poets of this age can be divided into 3 groups: 1. Spenserian poets (inspired by Spencer), 2. Cavalier poets (inspired by Ben Johnson), 3. Metaphysical Poets (inspired by Donne)   Thomas Hobbes' political treatise Leviathan- is famous   Milton is the greatest poet of Puritan Age.(Paradise Lost-epic poem)
7	NEO CLASSICAL AGE- 1600-1785 (i)Restoration 1600-1700 1660-1700	Charles-II 1660-85   James II 1685-88   William III and Mary 1689-02				Restoration of throne by Charles-II (1660).   Exclusion Crisis 1685: James-II was made king by dissolving parliament, Lead to opposition between Whigs (against king) and Tories (supporters)    Glorious Revolution 1688: William-III was made king by parliamentarians, by overthrowing James-II.   Establishment of ‘Royal Society” in 1662. Great Plague 1666- Closure of Theatres		Restoration of Church, theatres, bull and bear baiting, sports, music, dance.   In place of Latin, French influence started by William-III.   Restoration Comedy represented upper class society (comedy of Manners) started in place of Ben Johnson’s comedy of humors. William Wycherley and George Etherege are famous dramatists. Introduced First women actress on stage.   First heroic Drama- (Seize of Thebes- by D’Avenant)   Birth of English Prose: Pamphlet Literature Flourished. Diarists wrote dairies (John Evelyn, Samuel Pepys).
8	(ii) The Augustan (1700-1745)- Age of Pope (iii) The age of Sensibility (1745-1785)- Age of Johnson	Queen Anne 1702-14   House of Hanover: George I 1714-27 George II 1727-60				The 18th century was a great period for English prose.  Matthew Arnold called it as “age of prose and reason.   Enclosure Movement: Land owners closed lands which resulted in Urbanization.   Enlightenment Thinkers: Kant, Rousseau and Voltaire inspired this age. They advocated scientific rationality.   England changed from isolation to Internationalism, from mercantilism to Lassies faire capital. Trend of coffee houses, clubs, circulating libraries started.   Theatres Licensing Act-1737 started. This censorship was abolished after 230years by Theatres Act 1968.		Neo-Classical Age: Imitated Augustan (Roman) writers such as Virgil and Horace. Imitated classical forms such as ode, epic & epistle Writers believed that man is imperfect, he is limited.   New Prose Forms Started: such as Novel, Sentimental comedy, Satire and Heroic Couplet, Travelogues.   Periodical Essays, News Papers started. The Tatler (1709-11), The Spectator (1711-12), The Rambler (1751-52), The Idler (1758-60)   Graveyard Poetry: themes of death, sorrow and mortality.   Literature of Sensibility: focus upon instinct, feeling, imagination, empathy and sympathy. Best example for sentimental comedy is: Steele’s Conscious lovers(1722)   Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is regarded as the first English Novel.   Johnson’s dictionary 1755 is very famous.   Pope, Johnson, Goldsmith, Swift, Defoe, Fielding, Richardson, Addison, Steele are famous Writers
9	ROMANTIC  AGE   1798-1837 (1798-1837)	George III 1760-20 George IV 1820-30 William IV 1831-37				Age of revolutions: American Revolution against British (1775-83) and French Revolution against Louie-XVI (1789-93)   Luddite Riots (1811-12) Textile workers Revolt,   Battle of Waterloo (1815): Napoleon (French) was defeated by England   Peterloo Massacre 1819: demanding reformation in parliamentary system.   Reformation Act 1832: made changes in Electoral System.		Romanticism set against Neo-Classicism. It began with James Thomson’s “The Seasons (1730)”. Originally started with Lyrical Ballads (1798).   Romanticism: valued imagination. Heart rather than mind. (Emotion, passion & individuality are 3 importance aspects of Romanticism.)   Gothic Novel: stories of fear, horror and supernatural. HoraceWalpole’s ‘The Castle of Otranto’ is the first gothic novel.   Jacobin Novel: a French term or Radical revolutionary writings. Thomas Holcraft’s ‘Anna St. Eves (1792)’ is the first Jacobin Novel.   1st Gen Romantics: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey (inspired by French Revolution) 2nd Gen Romantics: Shelly Byron, Keats. (Inspired by Peterloo Massacre, all died at early age) Webster Dictionary (1828) became synonymous with dictionary in U.S.
10	VICTORIAN AGE 1837-1901   (1837-1901)	Victoria 1837-01   (i)  1848-1880- Pre-Raphaelites (ii) 1880-1901- Aestheticism and Decadence				Chartist Movement 1838: London working men’s association (LWMA) fights for electoral system    Reforms Act 1867, 1884: vote to all men and vote to men in Rural England. (Note: women got vote in 1928)   Great Exhibition: in 1851   Hungry 40’s: Potato blight   Acts: Slavery, Child Labor Act 1833,1842: Corn Laws 1846   Growth of Art, Science and Mechanical Inventions		Victorian Compromise: G.K.Chesterton : Conflict between Science and Religion; wealth and Poverty; faith and doubt. Darwinism Vs Biblical Writers.   Dramatic Monologue (started by Tennyson) is the mostly preferred, Novel the most chosen. Child literature flourished.   Readers increased due to spread of Education   Oxford Movement: by John Henry Newman, Keble   Pre-Raphaelites1848-60: by D.G.Rosetti, Hunt and Millas (group of Seven). Buchanan Coined the term “Fleshy School” to criticize this group   Aesthetic & Decadence1880-1901: by Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde.   Apostils: a group of poets Tennyson and A.H.Hallam.   Tennyson, Mr&Mrs Browning, Arnold, Dickens, Bronte sisters, Butler, Thackeary, Hopkins, George Eliot, and Hardy are famous writers of this age.
11	MODERN AGE The Edwardian (1901-1914)	Edward VII 1901-10				Imperialism: advocated by Kipling (White man’s burden –poem)		Modernism is break with past: new styles, genres, matter, plot, character, emphasis on mind, Focus on inner reality Avante Garde (=Make it new) a military term, new hallmark of literature. Imagism 1912:  free verse, common speech in poetry, From the ideas of T.E.Hulme, Ezra pound, HD, Ford, Aldington.
12	MODERN AGE The Georgian (1910-1936)	George V 1910-36   Edward VIII 1936-				World War-I: 1914-18   Social unrest demanded reforms by stage plays (since number of stages increased like mushrooms in every city) and through the songs o Rupert Brooke.   Universal Suffrage: Vote for all men in 1918, for all women in 1928   Feminist movement: 1928		Georgian poetry(1912-22): is deft and delicate, filled with rural life. Roopert Brooke, Walter-De-La-More, Drinkwater, Abercrombie, Chesterton, Davies, Sassoon, Marsh, Masefield, Lawrence etc. Dadaism 1916: (=hobby horse): is an Anti Art, ridicules nonsense. Began in Zurich, Switzer Land. Tzara, Duchamp, Earnest, Ray Surrealism 1920’s: in response to Dadaism, it is a psychic automation. Emerged in Paris. Howard, Breton, Kafka, S.Dali, Eluard, (Imagism+Realism=Surrealism) In 1922, Eliot’s Wasteland, Joyce’s Ulysses, Woolf’s  Jacob room was published.   Joseph Conrad, Kipling, HG Wells, Henry James and GB Shaw are very famous
13	MODERN AGE  (1914-1938)	George VI 1936-52				After WW-I (1914-18): Reaction against the Victorian culture, believed that cultural dead end has been reached. Oxford Dictionary(1928) : became famous		Emphasis to Human mind: through Freud’s Psychology, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Henry Bergson’s Concept of inner subjective time. Widespread experiments and innovations in subject matter, form, plot, style and character. Poets: WB Yeats, TS Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Seamus Heaney Novelists: James Joyce, DH Lawrence, Virginia Woolf Dramatists: Noel Coward, Samuel Becket
14	POST MODERN AGE   (1945-----)	Elizabeth II 1952----				After WW-II(1945-48): Departed from the belief of utopian society, so writings reflected social political and personal disillusionment.		Focused more on personal rather than social. New narrative techniques: Fragmentation, paradox, Unreliable narrator Angry young Men 1950’s: group of dramatists and novelists expressed their discontent through anti-establishment works (known as kitchen sink Realism)
Prepared By:  KESHAVA REDDY CHERAKU, DL in English, Cell: 9494363595, Email:  keshav9595@gmail.com , https://ugenglish.in/ CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE TABLE IN PDF FORMAT