British Literature Timeline

British Literature Timeline
Old English Period
Medieval Period
The Renaissance
Neoclassical Period
Romantic Period
Modern Period
The Old English/Anglo-Saxon Period

Years: 449-1066
Content:
strong belief in fate
juxtaposition of church and pagan worlds
admiration of heroic warriors who prevail in battle
express religious faith and give moral instruction through

literature
Style/Genres:
oral tradition of literature
poetry dominant genre
unique verse form
caesura
alliteration
repetition
four-beat rhythm
Effect:
Christianity helps literacy to spread
introduces Roman alphabet to Britain
oral tradition helps unite diverse peoples and their myths
Historical Context:
life centered around ancestral tribes or clans that ruled

themselves
at first the people were warriors from invading outlying areas:

Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Danes
later they were agricultural
A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:
Beowulf
The Venerable Bede
Exeter Book
The Norman Conquest ended this period. The Bayeux Tapestry, a 20 inch by
23 foot-long embroidered cloth depicting scenes commemorating the Battle
of Hastings in 1066, was probably commissioned ca 1070 to tell the story of
William the Conqueror and Harold, Earl of Wessex, the men who led the
Norman and Saxon armies in 1066. William's defeat of Harold at the Battle of
Hastings ensured the success of the Norman invasion of England. Follow this
link to read the story and to see sections of the tapestry.
The Middle English Period (Medieval Period)

Years: 1066-1485 (roughly)
Content:
plays that instruct the illiterate masses in morals and religion
chivalric code of honor/romances
religious devotion
Style/Genres:
oral tradition continues
folk ballads
mystery and miracle plays
morality plays
tock epithets
kennings
frame stories
moral tales
Effect:
church instructs its people through the morality and miracle

plays
an illiterate population is able to hear and see the literature
Historical Context:
Crusades bring the development of a money economy for the

first time in Britain
trading increases dramatically as a result of the Crusades
William the Conqueror crowned king in 1066
Henry III crowned king in 1154 brings a judicial system, royal

courts, juries, and chivalry to Britain
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl Poet
Domesday Book
LMorte de Arthur
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Renaissance
Years: 1485-1660
The Elizabethan Period: the reign of Elizabeth I, 1586-1603
Jacobean Period: the reign of James I of England, 1603-1625
Content:
world view shifts from religion and after life to one stressing
the human life on earth
popular theme: development of human potential
popular theme: many aspects of love explored
unrequited love
constant love
timeless love
courtly love
love subject to change
Style/Genres:
poetry
the sonnet
metaphysical poetry
elaborate and unexpected metaphors called conceits
drama
written in verse
supported by royalty
tragedies, comedies, histories
Effect:
commoners welcomed at some play productions (like ones at

the Globe) while conservatives try to close the theaters on
grounds that they promote brazen behaviors
not all middle-class embrace the metaphysical poets and their

abstract conceits
Historical Context:
War of Roses ends in 1485 and political stability arrives
Printing press helps stabilize English as a language and allows

more people to read a variety of literature
Economy changes from farm-based to one of international

trade
William Shakespeare
Thomas Wyatt
Ben Jonson
Cavalier Poets
Metaphysical Poets
John Donne
Christopher Marlowe
Andrew Marvell
Robert Herrick
Katherine Phillips
The Neoclassical Period ;

Years: 1660-1798
The Restoration: the reign of Charles II, 1630 - 1660 (after his
restoration to the throne in 1630 following the English Civil War and
Cromwell)
The Age of Enlightenment (the Eighteenth Century)
Content:
emphasis on reason and logic
stresses harmony, stability, wisdom
Locke: a social contract exists between the government and

the people. The government governs guaranteeing natural
rights of life, liberty, and property
Style/Genres:
satire
poetry
essays
letters, diaries, biographies
novels
Effect:
emphasis on the individual
belief that humanity is basically evil
approach to life: the world as it should be
Historical Context:
50% of males are functionally literate (a dramatic rise)
Fenced enclosures of land cause demise of traditional village

life
Factories begin to spring up as industrial revolution begins
Impoverished masses begin to grow as farming life declines

and factories build
Coffee houseswhere educated men spend evenings with

literary and political associates
Alexander Pope
Daniel Defoe
Jonathan Swift,
Samuel Johnson
John Bunyan
John Milton
The Romantic Period

Years: 1798 1832
Content:
human knowledge consists of impressions and ideas formed in

the individuals mind
introduction of Gothic elements and terror/horror stories and

novels
in nature one can find comfort and peace that the man-made
urbanized towns and factory environments cannot offer
Style/Genres:
poetry
lyrical ballads
Effects:
evil attributed to society not to human nature
human beings are basically good
movement of protest: a desire for personal freedom
children seen as hapless victims of poverty and exploitation
Historical Context:
Napoleon rises to power in France and opposes England

militarily and economically
gas lamps developed
Tory philosophy that government should NOT interfere with

private enterprise
middle class gains representation in the British parliament
railroads begin to run
Key Literature/Authors:
Novelists
Jane Austen
Mary Shelley
Poets
Robert Burns
William Blake
William Wordsworth
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Lord Byron
Percy Shelley
John Keats
The Victorian Period
Years: 1832-1900
Content:
conflict between those in power and the common masses of

laborers and the poor
shocking life of sweatshops and urban poor is highlighted in

literature to insist on reform
country versus city life
sexual discretion (or lack of it)
strained coincidences
romantic triangles
heroines in physical danger
aristocratic villains
misdirected letters
bigamous marriages
Genres/Styles:
novel becomes popular for first time; mass produced for the
first time
bildungsroman
political novels
detective novels (Sherlock Holmes)
serialized novels (Charles Dickens)
elegies
poetry: easier to understand
dramatic monologues
drama: comedies of manners
magazines offer stories to the masses
Effect:
literature begins to reach the masses
Historical Context:
paper becomes cheap; magazines and novels cheap to mass

produce
unprecedented growth of industry and business in Britain
unparalleled dominance of nations, economies and trade
abroad
Key Literature/Authors:
Charles Dickens
Thomas Hardy
Rudyard Kipling
Robert Louis Stevenson
George Eliot
Oscar Wilde
Alfred Lord Tennyson
Charles Darwin
Charlotte Bronte
Robert Browning
The Modern Period

Years: 1900-(subject to debate)
Content:
Genres/Styles:
poetry: free verse
epiphanies begin to appear in literature
speeches
memoirs
novels
stream of consciousness
Effect:

Historical Context:
British Empire loses 1 million soldiers to World War I
Winston Churchill leads Britain through WW II, and the

Germans bomb England directly
British colonies demand independence
A Sampling of Key Literature and Authors:
James Joyce
Virginia Woolf
T. S. Eliot
Joseph Conrad
D. H. Lawrence
Graham Greene
Dylan Thomas
George Orwell
William Butler Yeats
Bernard Shaw

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British Literature Timeline

Old English Period

The Old English/Anglo-Saxon Period

strong belief in fate

juxtaposition of church and pagan worlds

admiration of heroic warriors who prevail in battle

express religious faith and give moral instruction through

oral tradition of literature

poetry dominant genre

unique verse form

Christianity helps literacy to spread

introduces Roman alphabet to Britain

oral tradition helps unite diverse peoples and their myths

life centered around ancestral tribes or clans that ruled

at first the people were warriors from invading outlying areas:

later they were agricultural

A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:

The Venerable Bede

The Middle English Period (Medieval Period)

plays that instruct the illiterate masses in morals and religion

chivalric code of honor/romances

oral tradition continues

mystery and miracle plays

church instructs its people through the morality and miracle

an illiterate population is able to hear and see the literature

Crusades bring the development of a money economy for the

trading increases dramatically as a result of the Crusades

William the Conqueror crowned king in 1066

Henry III crowned king in 1154 brings a judicial system, royal

A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl Poet

popular theme: development of human potential

popular theme: many aspects of love explored

love subject to change

elaborate and unexpected metaphors called conceits

tragedies, comedies, histories

commoners welcomed at some play productions (like ones at

not all middle-class embrace the metaphysical poets and their

War of Roses ends in 1485 and political stability arrives

Printing press helps stabilize English as a language and allows

Economy changes from farm-based to one of international

A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:

The Neoclassical Period ;

emphasis on reason and logic

stresses harmony, stability, wisdom

Locke: a social contract exists between the government and

letters, diaries, biographies

emphasis on the individual

belief that humanity is basically evil

approach to life: the world as it should be

50% of males are functionally literate (a dramatic rise)

Fenced enclosures of land cause demise of traditional village

Factories begin to spring up as industrial revolution begins

Impoverished masses begin to grow as farming life declines

Coffee houseswhere educated men spend evenings with

A Sampling of Key Literature & Authors:

The Romantic Period

human knowledge consists of impressions and ideas formed in

introduction of Gothic elements and terror/horror stories and