An Outline of English Literature

The Early Period ( 45 - 1350 )

    The best known pieces of early  English Literature are " Beowulf ", an epic poem of dragons and knights which  received its written from about 450 A.D., and " Widsith " or " The Wanderer ",  of about 375 A.D. ( at least parts of it ), which narrates the life of wandering  bard; both these poems are anonymous. The Venerable Bede " ( 673-735 ) " Caedmon  " (seventh century), a religious poet, " Cynewolf " ( eighth century ), poet,  and " King Alfred " ( 848-901 ) are the most important Christians Writers of the  Anglo-Saxxon, or Old English Period ( 450 - 1066 )

    Old English was quite  different from Modern English in vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar, and  spelling. The Norman invasion, in 1066, brought about changes in the English  Language, but it is still remained very different from what we know as Modern  English.

    The Norman introduced the "  metrical romance " into England, the most important of which being the ones  about King Arthur ( a legendary Celtic King ) and the Knights of the round  table. ( Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot, etc. )

The Age of Chaucer ( 1350 - 1400 )

    By Chaucer's birth, Anglo-Saxxon  and Norman French had already mixed into what we call " Early Modern English ";  consequently, Geoffrey Chaucer ( 1340 - 1400 ) is considered as the first writer  in the English Language, as we know it today. His " Canterbury Tales " some in  verse and some in prose, are wonderful in poetic quality and humour. Chaucer was  an English Diplomat in Italy and Italian influence is obvious in his work.

    Other important writers of the  period are : William Langland ( 1332 - ? ), who emphasized Christian duties;  John Mandeville ( 14th century ), the author of the most fantastic books of  travels which seems to have been very popular at the time.

    The hundred and fifty years  which followed Chaucer's death did not produce any major literary work. Thomas  More, one of the most important scholars of the period, wrote his famous "  Utopia " in Latin, as was customary in those days.

The Elizabethan Age.  ( 1550 - 1620 )

    Enthusiasm is the chief note  of the Elizabethan Age. It was a at this time that England began her career as  one of the world's leading nations: her sailors such as Walter Raleigh and  Francis Drake, fought for their country and wealth, adventuresome English people  explored the Eastern Coast of the New World and opened the gates for the  settlement of one of today's most important nations. Francis Bacon and others,  explored the possibilities of the more complex World of Reason.

    We are chiefly concerned with  literature in this brief essay. Drama was the favourite form of literature in  this age of Elizabeth; in this connection the names of " Christopher Marlow " ,  " William Shakespeare " , and " Ben Jonson " are the most important. Lyrical  poetry, especially in its " Pastoral Variety ", became very important in the  hands of " Edmund Spenser " and others. Poetry was by far more exuberant in  Elizabethan literature, but excellent prose is to be found in Sir Francis  Bacon's essay, and also in the writings of some others writers.

    The greater Elizabethan  writers combined romantic and Classical elements.

The Puritan and  Restoration Periods. (1620-1660) (1660- 1700)

    Elizabethan gaiety degenerated  into vulgarity after the death of Jonson and Shakespeare.  When the Puritans  come to power, with Cromwell's revolution, they reacted fanatically against the  theatre, lyrical poetry and " ... anything which would drive men away from the  Lord."

    John Milton was the most  important author in the period and he also one of the greatest writers in  English Literature. Though Milton was religiously and politically a Puritan, he  combined the seriousness of Puritanism with the grace and sympathy of the  Renaissance, whose spirit he had acquired at Cambridge University and later in  Italy. His " Paradise Lost ", an epic poem of biblical inspiration, remain one  of the masterpieces of English Literature.

    John Bunyan's " The Pilgrim's  Progress", was one of the favourite religious novels in Britain for years.

    The Restoration, brought a  reaction against the Puritans as shown in Samuel Butler's " Hebrides " which  ridiculed them. The most important literary figure of the period was " John  Dryden " ( 1631 - 1700 ), lyrical poet and dramatist.

    The famous philosophers Thomas  Hobbes and John Lock, also belong to this period.

The Classical School.  ( 1700 - 1798 )

   The true Classical authors were  those of ancient Greece and Rome. Plato, particularly, gave several literary  rules aiming at perfection of form. These rules were, in later centuries,  complemented and modified in France, and they passed from there to Britain. Most  of the British authors of the eighteenth century wrote according to the  classical rules , but they usually emphasized at the expense of contents and  spontaneity. Poetry, particularly, was far too restrained and did not achieve  any greatness. Prose, on the other hand, benefited - on the whole - from  Classical influence.

    The only poet worth mentioning  in this period is Alexander Pope. The political, religious ,and literary  controversies of this period favoured the development of prose, particularly,  the essay, with Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. The satire with Jonathan  Swift, and the novel with Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding.

    Classical prose was  characterized by : realism, didactic purpose, and refinement of expression. The  leade4r of the Classical School were, first Alexander Pope ( many people call  this period the " Augustan Age " ) and later, Samuel Johnson, essayist, critic,  and author of the Dictionary of the English Language.

The Pre- Romantic  Poets. ( closing years of the 18th century )

   A group of poets reacted  against the classical poets by the eighteenth century. The most important of  these literary revolutionists were William Blake, Robert Burns, Oliver Goldsmith  ( who was also an important dramatist and novelist ), and William Cowper.

The Romantic Period.  ( 1798 - 1837 )

    The publication of " Lyrical  Ballads " , in 1798, marked the official beginning of the Romantic Movement in  Britain. Its authors, Williams Wordsworth and Samuel T. Coleridge, stated in its  preface that they thought the principles of a new school of poetry were that  poetry should be about simple people and simple things, and it should be written  in simple language.

    Only freedom of expression and  topic; however, became the general characteristic of English Romanticism. A "  general characteristic" of English Romanticism is ... that there are no general  characteristics. Thus, for example, Lord Byron and Percy Bisshe Shelley, thought  having liberty as the main subject of their poems, were very careful about  poetic form in most cases, and even more careful was John Keats, the Poet of  Beauty. Even Samuel T. Coleridge had his own idea of Romanticism, namely, that  of conveying beauty through horror.

    Sir Walter Scott made the past  alive with his poems, and later, with his novels. The other important novelist  of the period is Jane Austen, but her work, whose main characteristics are  honour and charm, are Victorian rather than Romantic in spirit.

    Charles Lamb and Thomas  Quincey were two of the most important essayist of the period.

    English Romanticism reminded,  on the whole, indifferent brought about ( at that time ) by the Industrial  Revolution.

The Victorian Age.  ( 1837 - 1901 )

    Unlike their predecessors,  practically all the Victorian writers fought the evil social and economic  conditions then exixting in Britain. In a way, the Victorian Age ia a big  battlefielf with industrialists and intellectuals, particularly writers, as the  conflicting forces. The working classes were still uneducated and unorganized,  and it is easy to understand the important role writers played in arousing  public opinion for better social conditions.

    Alfred Tennyson and Charles  Dickens were the most obvious critics of existing social conditions, but equally  influential though more subtle, were Samuel Butler, George Eliot ( Mary Anne  Evans ), William Thackeray and Thomas Hardy, novelists; John Ruskin, Thomas  Carlyle and Cardinal Lewman, essayist; Robert Browning, the greatest of the  Victorian poets ( together with Tennyson ) and Robert L. Stevenson, belong to  the more purely aesthetic side of literature.

    The great scientists,   Sir  Charles Lyell,  Charles Darwin, and Thomas Huxley, and the philosophers Herbert  Spencer and John Stuart Nill also belong to this period. Cardinal Jhon Henry  Newman was the most important religious writer in the Victorian Age.

    The nineteenth century may be  divided into two parts :

                a.- First Part     : The Romantic School or Romantic Revolution.

                                          The last author was Sir Walter Schott  ( died 1832 )

                b.- Second Part :   The Victorian Age.

    It practically coincides with  the long reign of Queen Victory ( 1837 - 1901 ). The leading features of this  ephoch are :

The Novel continued to be the    most popular kind of composition.

Extraordinary increase of    Periodical Literature.

Development of Historical    Writings.

Singular simplicity of words and    expressions. The style is musical.

Poor in Drama, at the beginning.    The closing years of the last century ( 19th ) saw a veritable dramatic    revival of the English Stage. This revival has been brought about by the    influence of some foreign writers, among whom we mention : Ibsen, Maeterlinck,    and Hauptmann.

The Melodrama was in vogue. It    was full of artificiality. Each melodrama contained a hero, a heroine, and a    villain. The hero and the heroine were always angelic. The villain was of the    worst kind. The play had always a happy ending.

Deep psychological analysis of    men and women.

Keen study of social problems    and vivid exposal of these problems.

Pictures of the suffering of the    Poor.

       But the different authors  do not offer any remedy to the bad organization of society. There is a note of  hopeless in their utterances. They seem to imagine that misery and sorrow are  inevitable. They are pessimistic.

The Twentieth Century.

    We have to  make an extremely arbitrary selection of twentieth century writers. On the other  hand, time alone can concentrate the true permanents values.

    The Novel has continued its  extraordinary development with Rudyard Kipling, who is also the poet of British  imperialism; Herbert George Wells, who was concerned with social problems and  modern science fiction ; John Galsworthhy, a critic of Victorian values; Joseph  Conrad ( Theodor Korzeniowski ), of Polish origin and education, a master of  impressionism; James Joyce, the master of introspective technique; Victoria  Woolf, who perfected considerably the " stream of consciousness " technique; and  more recently, Archibald J. Cronin, William Somerset Maugham , Gilbert K.  Chesterton, George Orwell, John B. Priestley, Robert Graves, Graham Greene,  Aldous Huxley , and Agatha Christie.

    In poetry, John Mansfield, A.E.  Houseman, William Butler Yeats, and T.S. Elliiot are some of the best known  names.

    The tentieth century has been  a revival of the drama with J. Barrie and Oscar Wilde, also a poet and a prose  writer; John Galsworthy, who was chiefly concerned with social problems; George  Bernard Shaw, who combined social criticism with irony; Terence Tattigan, Peter  Ustinov, John Osborn, H. Pinter , and many others.

    Among the many essayists, Sir  Bernard Russell, the distinguished philosopher and mathematician, deserves  special mention, and the same distinction must be given to Sir Winston  Churchill, for account of the II world war, and his " History of the English  Speaking People. "

Contemporary Writers

   Enormous development of Drama.  Study of Society. Study of Social Problems. The authors of this period see the  evil of sociaty and point out the roads that lead to the necessary remedies.  They hope to overcome the evils of mankind. They stand up for the cause of the  children and the weak, the outcasts and the opressed. Social reform is the key  note of their work. They are optimistic.

American Authors :

    Let us mention some of the  best known American historical and contemporary writers.

Novelists         : Jack London ,  Edward E. Hale, Washington Irving.

Philosophers   : Ralph Emerson,  Henry David Thoreau, William James.

Poets                : Edgar Allan  Poe, Henry W. Longfellow.

Historians         : Prescott,  Bancroft, Motley.

Humorists         : Mark Twain and  Bret Hart.