BRITISH LITERATURE
,HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
1. Old English (Anglo – Saxon) Period 450 - 1066 ----- Beowulf
2. Middle English Period 1066 – 1500 ----- Chaucer
3. The Renaissance 1500 – 1660 ----- Shakespeare
(i) Elizabethan Age 1558 – 1603
(ii) Jacobean Age 1603 – 1625
(iii) Caroline Age 1625 – 1649
(iv) Common Wealth Period 1649 - 1660
(Puritan Interregnum)
4. The Neo-Classical Period 1660 – 1785 ----- Dr. Johnson
(i) The Restoration 1660 – 1700
(ii) The Augustan Age (Pope) 1700 - 1745
(iii) The Age of Sensibility (Jonson) 1745 – 1785
5. The Romantic Period 1785 – 1830 ----- Wordsworth
6. The Victorian Period 1832 – 1901 ----- Dickens
(i) The Pre-Raphaelites 1848 - 1860
(ii) Aestheticism and Decadence 1880 – 1901
(iii) The Edwardian Period 1901 – 1914
(iv) The Georgian Period 1910 – 1936
7. The Modern Period 1914 --- ------ Eliot
(i) Post Modernism 1945
, LOCATING THE STARTING POINTS: THRE ANGLO SAXON PERIOD
The Beginnings: (C.R.A.V.N)
Celts (Brythons and Gales ) --- Upto 55 BC
Roman Conquest --- 55 BC - 407 AD
Anglo Saxon Invasion --- 407 AD – 787 AD
Viking Invasions --- 787 AD – 1066 AD
Norman conquest Begins --- 1066 AD
Celts and Romans: England Before English People
Fifth Century Onwards – Migration of Celts (Original Inhabitants) and Gales
Romans – Repeated Invasions
Julius Caesar (55 BC), Claudius (1AD) – Successful invasions - Camps – Towns –
Romanized with Goods – Infrastructure – Military Presence – maintained Peace
Implications: (i) Latin Influence on English Language
(ii)Christianity Replacing Paganism – St. Augustine converts King Athelbert in 597 AD
Beginning of the Anglo- Saxon Period:
Starts after the Romans
Got the name ( Angle-Land to England)
Visigoths (Germanic Invaders) attacks Romans – Roman forced to withdraw their regions
from England
AD 407 – Roman leaves – Romanised Britons left defenseless
England under attack of Picts (north) and Scots (Ireland)
Angles, Saxons and Jutes – Germanic Tribes Arrives as mercenaries from Eastern Coasts
(Europe) to defend against the Picts and Scots
Germanic Tribes Settled in England
--- Celts (originals) driven to mountains and wales
--- a national migration – part of invasion???
--- Cause England is fertile and safer than Europe
King Arthur: (5th and Early 16th century)
The historicity of him – much debated
Led the defense of Britain against the Anglo-Saxon invaders
Creator of the Literary Persona of Arthur
,HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE
1. Old English (Anglo – Saxon) Period 450 - 1066 ----- Beowulf
2. Middle English Period 1066 – 1500 ----- Chaucer
3. The Renaissance 1500 – 1660 ----- Shakespeare
(i) Elizabethan Age 1558 – 1603
(ii) Jacobean Age 1603 – 1625
(iii) Caroline Age 1625 – 1649
(iv) Common Wealth Period 1649 - 1660
(Puritan Interregnum)
4. The Neo-Classical Period 1660 – 1785 ----- Dr. Johnson
(i) The Restoration 1660 – 1700
(ii) The Augustan Age (Pope) 1700 - 1745
(iii) The Age of Sensibility (Jonson) 1745 – 1785
5. The Romantic Period 1785 – 1830 ----- Wordsworth
6. The Victorian Period 1832 – 1901 ----- Dickens
(i) The Pre-Raphaelites 1848 - 1860
(ii) Aestheticism and Decadence 1880 – 1901
(iii) The Edwardian Period 1901 – 1914
(iv) The Georgian Period 1910 – 1936
7. The Modern Period 1914 --- ------ Eliot
(i) Post Modernism 1945
, LOCATING THE STARTING POINTS: THRE ANGLO SAXON PERIOD
The Beginnings: (C.R.A.V.N)
Celts (Brythons and Gales ) --- Upto 55 BC
Roman Conquest --- 55 BC - 407 AD
Anglo Saxon Invasion --- 407 AD – 787 AD
Viking Invasions --- 787 AD – 1066 AD
Norman conquest Begins --- 1066 AD
Celts and Romans: England Before English People
Fifth Century Onwards – Migration of Celts (Original Inhabitants) and Gales
Romans – Repeated Invasions
Julius Caesar (55 BC), Claudius (1AD) – Successful invasions - Camps – Towns –
Romanized with Goods – Infrastructure – Military Presence – maintained Peace
Implications: (i) Latin Influence on English Language
(ii)Christianity Replacing Paganism – St. Augustine converts King Athelbert in 597 AD
Beginning of the Anglo- Saxon Period:
Starts after the Romans
Got the name ( Angle-Land to England)
Visigoths (Germanic Invaders) attacks Romans – Roman forced to withdraw their regions
from England
AD 407 – Roman leaves – Romanised Britons left defenseless
England under attack of Picts (north) and Scots (Ireland)
Angles, Saxons and Jutes – Germanic Tribes Arrives as mercenaries from Eastern Coasts
(Europe) to defend against the Picts and Scots
Germanic Tribes Settled in England
--- Celts (originals) driven to mountains and wales
--- a national migration – part of invasion???
--- Cause England is fertile and safer than Europe
King Arthur: (5th and Early 16th century)
The historicity of him – much debated
Led the defense of Britain against the Anglo-Saxon invaders
Creator of the Literary Persona of Arthur
