English Literature

Old English literature The earliest form of English literature developed after the settlement of the Saxons and other Germanic tribes in England after the withdrawal of the Romans. The most famous work in Old English is the epic poem Beowulf, which appeared probably in the 7th century. It tells how King Hrothgar built a great hall for his warriors. But a monster, Grendel, visited it for a period of twelve years, murdering the men asleep there. Beowulf, nephew of a king from Sweden, heard of this, crossed the sea to the hall, and in a struggle tore off Grendels arm. After having killed Grendel, Beowulf was attacked by Grendels mother and he killed her too. When he returned home, he became king. The oldest surviving text in English is Cdmon's Hymn. Caedmon, a monk and religious poet, is the earliest known English author. Venerable Bede (Ctihodn Beda), a Benedictine monk, was a historian, philosopher and scientist of the early 8th century. His works were written in Latin. He is called the father of English history. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of nine manuscripts in Old English, created in the late 9the century, narrates the history of Anglo-Saxons. Medieval literature in England In the later medieval period a new form of English now known as Middle English evolved. This is the earliest form which is comprehensible to modern readers and listeners. The most significant Middle English author was the poet Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 1400) , the father of English poetry, who was active in the late 14th century. His main work was The Canterbury Tales (Canterbursk povdky). Chaucer was deeply influenced by the Italian Renaissance novellas of Giovanni Boccacio, the author of Decameron. The tales are framed by a story of a group of thirty pilgrims heading to Canterbury. Among the pilgrims there are the Knight, the Monk, the Prioress, the Carpenter, the Miller, the Pardoner or the Wife of Bat all social levels are presented here. The pilgrims agree to tell two tales each on their way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Unfortunatelly, only twenty-three tales were written and the book stayed unfinished. Early Modern English literature

In the later 16th century English poetry was characterised by elaboration of language and allusion to classical myths. The most important poets of this era include Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney. The most important literary achievements of the English Renaissance were in drama. William Shakespeare (1564 1616), born in Stratford upon Avon, wrote over 35 plays in several genres, including tragedy, comedy, and historical plays. His most famous plays include Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, and many others. He also wrote love poetry in the form of sonnets. Other leading playwrights of the time included Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe, a very talented playwright, who was killed at the age of 29.

The major poets of the 17th century included John Donne and the other metaphysical poets, and John Milton, the author of the religious epic Paradise Lost (Ztracen rj). The early 18th century is known as the Augustan Age of English literature. The poetry of the time was highly formal, an example can be the works of Alexander Pope. The English novel developed during the 18th century, partly in response to an expansion of the middle-class reading public. One of the major early works in this genre was Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, a story of a shipwrecked man on a deserted island. Major novelists of the middle and later part of the century included Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, and Jonathan Swift with his satirical novel Gullivers Travels (Gulliverovy cesty).. Novelist Jane Austen was a good observer of peoples characters. She wrote about middle-class country aristocrats shose most urgent preoccupation is to find a suitable partner and to marry. Her most mature work Pride and Prejudice (Pcha a pedsudek) was filmed. Romanticism William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge brought emotionalism to English literature, with a new concentration on the individual and the common man. They explored natureand were called the Lake Poets. William Blake was a very original and creative poet, painter and printmaker. Scottish nationalist poet Robert Burns collected and adapted the folk songs of Scotland. George Gordon Byron, the author of Childe Harolds Pilgrimage (Childe Haroldova pou), Don Juan and others, was the son of a nobleman. His life was full of revolt against the society, religion and monarchy. Mary Shelley, who was married to poet Percy Byshe Shelley, wrote Frankenstein, an inspiration for modern horror stories. The 19th century novel Walter Scott's novel-writing career started in 1814 with Waverley, often called the first historical novel, and was followed by Ivanhoe. He wrote abou Scottish history and was the highest earning and most popular author up to that time. Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote about London life and the struggles of the poor, but in a good-humoured fashion which was accessible to readers of all classes. His early works such as The Pickwick Papers (Kronika Pickwickova klubu) are masterpieces of comedy. Later his works became darker. His most famous novels are probably Oliver Twist, Great Expectations (Nadjn vyhldky) and David Copperfield. It was in the Victorian era (1837-1901) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. The best known works of the era include the emotionally powerful works of the Bront sisters and the satire Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray. Charlotte Bront is famous for hel novel Jane Eyre and her sister Emily Bront is the author of Wuthering Heights (Na Vtrn hrce).

An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy. He depicted the tragedy of the common man in his struggle with the elements and the social system (Far from the Madding Crowd Daleko od hlucho davu). Literature for children was published during the Victorian period, some of which has become globally well-known, such as the work of Lewis Carroll (Alices Adventures in Wonderland Alenka v i div). Robert Louis Stevenson's short novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (Podivuhodnn ppad dr. Jekylla a pana Hyda) (1886) depicts the dual personality of a kind and intelligent physician who turns into a psychopathic monster after imbibing a drug. His Kidnapped (nos) is a fast-paced historical novel set in the aftermath of the '45 Jacobite Rising, and Treasure Island (Ostrov poklad) is the classic pirate adventure. Oscar Wilde is famous not only for his beautiful fairy tales, for example (The Happy Prince (astn princ), The Nightingale and the Rose (Slavk a re). The Canterville Ghost (Straidlo cantervillsk ) is a story of a ghost, driven mad by the tricks of naughty twins. It is released by the tears of a fair maiden and dies happily ever after. The Picture of Dorian Gray shows the ugly side of the supernatural.

Victorian poets Leading poetic figures of the Victorian era included Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The poetry of this period was heavily influenced by the Romantics. Most of Brownings poems were in the form of dramatic monologues. Nonsense verse by Edward Lear is regarded as a precursor of surrealism. He popularized limericks, short five-line poems, witty and humorous, sometimes even obscene. English language literature since 1900

The major lyric poet of the first decades of the 20th century was Thomas Hardy, who concentrated on poetry after the the public had refused his last novel, Jude the Obscure (Neblah Juda), for its frank treatment of sex. The most widely popular writer of the early years of the 20th century was probably Rudyard Kipling, a highly versatile writer of novels, short stories and poems, often based on his experiences in British India. Kipling was closely associated with imperialism and this has damaged his reputation in more recent times. He is best known for his work The Jungle Book (Kniha dungl). From around 1910, the Modernist Movement began to influence English literature. The major poets of this period included the American-born T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and the Irishman William Butler Yeats. Free verse and other stylistic innovations came to the forefront in this era. Important novelists between the two World Wars included the Irish writer James Joyce, David Herbert Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. Joyce's complex works included Ulysses (Odysseus), an interpretation of the Odyssey set in Dublin, and culminated in the famously obscure Finnegans Wake (Plaky nad Finneganem). This novel has not been translated into Czech yet (except short extracts), since it is extremely difficult to read and

almost impossible to translate. Lawrence wrote with understanding about the social life of the lower and middle classes, and the personal life of those who could not adapt to the social norms of his time. He attempted to explore human emotions more deeply than his contemporaries and wrote quite openly about sexual issues in Lady Chatterley's Lover (Milenec Lady Chatterleyov). Virginia Woolf was an influential feminist, and a major stylistic innovator. Her novels included To the Lighthouse (K majku), Mrs Dalloway (Pan Dallowayov), and The Waves (Vlny). She committed suicide. One of the most significant English writers of this period was George Orwell. Orwell's works are considered among the most important social and political commentaries of the 20th century. He dealt with issues such as poverty, totalitary regimes (in Nineteen Eighty-Four) and colonialism. William Golding came to literary success with his novel Lord of the Flies (Pn much), a story of a group of boys on a deserted island. In contrast to Jules Vernes novel Two Years Vacation (Dva roky przdnin), the boys do not create a harmonious society, they fight and even kill. Angry Young Men were a group of young writers named after John Osborne's iconic play Look Back in Anger (Ohldni se v hnvu). Kingsley Amis describes, in his novel Lucky Jim (astn Jim), a young man who tries to oppose the world round him. In the 1950s, the bleak absurdist play Waiting for Godot (ekn na Godota), by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett profoundly affected British drama. The Theatre of the Absurd influenced playwrights of the later decades of the 20th century, including Harold Pinter, whose works are often characterized by menace or claustrophobia, and Tom Stoppard (of Czech origin).