ENGLISH LITERATURE A Survey and Appreciation of English literature Introduction of English Literature Chapter One Old English Period The National Epic: Beowulf A Introduction of the Development Stages of English Literature      Latin literature Old English literature Late medieval (middle English) literature in Englan d Other medieval literatures Early Modern English literature *Elizabethan and Jacobean eras *1660 to 1800  Non English-language literatures from the 16th century t o the 19th century    19th century English language literature *Romanticism *The 19th century novel *Victorian poets *Ireland *Wales *Scotland English language literature since 1900 Non English language literatures since 1900  Latin literature in Britain Chroniclers such as Bede, with his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, and Gildas were figures in the development of indigenous Latin literature, mostly ecclesiastical, in the centuries following the withdrawal of the Roman Empire  Old English literature (Anglo-Saxon 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 and is known as Old English or AngloSaxon The most famous work in Old English is the epic poem Beowulf The only surviving manuscript is the Cotton manuscript The precise date of the manuscript is debated, but most estimates place it close to the year 1000.(The oldest surviving text in English is Cædmon's Hymn)  Late medieval literature in England circulated among the educated classes Following the Norman Conquest, the development of Anglo-Norman literature in the Anglo-Norman realm introduced literary trends from Continental Europe *Geoffrey Chaucer, father of English literature In the later medieval period a new form of English now known as Middle English evolved Latin literature This is the earliest form which is comprehensible to modern readers and listeners, albeit not easily The most significant Middle English author was the poet Geoffrey Chaucer who was active in the late 14th century His main works were The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde Early Modern English literature Elizabethan literature Shakespeare's career straddled the change of Tudor and Stuart dynasties and encompassed English history and the emerging imperial idea of the 17th century *The sonnet form and other Italian literary influences arrived in English literature The sonnet was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century  *In the later 16th century English poetry was characterised by elaboration of language and extensive 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, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, wrote 37 plays in several genres, including tragedy, comedy, and history On the turn of the 21st century, some of the major writers include Philip Pullman, Salman Rushdie, Neil Gaiman, Ian McEwan, Alan Moore, Terry Pratchett and JK Rowling  In drama, the drawing room plays of the post war period were challenged in the 1950s by the Angry Young Men, exemplified by as John Osborne's iconic play Look Back in Anger Also in the 1950s, the bleak absurdist play Waiting for Godot, by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett profoundly affected British drama Demands for the introduction   General idea of the development stages of English literature in England Major representatives on each stage Chapter The old English period  The National Epic: Beowulf  CONTENTS I The old English period *Historical background *Literature in this period II The National Epic: Beowulf The old English (Anglo-Saxon) period I Historical background The Celts or the Britons The Roman Conquest The English (Anglo-Saxon) Conquest The influence of Anglo-Saxons’ religious beliefs and Christianity on English literature II Literature in this period Representatives Literary masterwork in this period: Beowulf Historical background The Celts or the Britons: 1.The earliest settlers of the British Isles ; 2.About 600 B.C About 400 B.C., a branch of Celts, the Brythons (Bretons/Britons); 3.The island got its name Britain, the land of Britons    The Roman conquest About 55B.C, Britain was invaded by Julius Caesar, the great Roman conqueror In 43 A.D Claudius, another Roman conqueror conquered it and stayed there till the beginning of the 5th century The English (Anglo-Saxon) Conquest About 450 A.D., the tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes (later known simply as Anglo-Saxons) migrated from the continent, established many small kingdoms By the 7th century, there were larger kingdoms They themselves into a united kingdom called To settle down constant wars, the kingdoms England, or, the land of Angles, because the Angles were the most numerous of the three 4.These three tribes mixed into a whole people called English And the language they used was called Anglo-Saxon, or, Old English  The influence of Anglo-Saxons’ religious beliefs and Christianity on English literature The Anglo-Saxons were heathen people (pagan) They believed in the old mythology of Northern Europe 2.The Anglo-Saxons were heathen people (pagan) Pagan poetry and pagan spirit remained dominant in the poetic scene 3.Form of literature is orally passed on 4.In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent St Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons England was Christianized With the fast spread of Christian influence and classic learning, heathen poetry was slowly and steadily maneuvered out of the scene The earliest English books were written down by monks in monasteries They wrote down works passed on orally, they tinged them with some Christian color Literature in this period  There was a highlight in the development of the Anglo-Saxon literature, the Northumbrian School Its centre was the monasteries and abbeys (AngloSaxon literature) in the kingdom of Northumbria Representatives The Venerable Bede (673-735) A monk wrote in Latin and his work The Ecclesiastical History of England earned him for the title of “father of English history” Caedmon (670 AD_ ) He turned the stories in the Bible into verse form The title of the work is Paraphrase, for which he is called “Father of English Song” His other nine-line poem is called Hymn  Literary masterwork in this period: Beowulf Brief introduction of the epic: It probably existed in its oral form as early as the 6th century and was written down in the 7th or 8th century, though the manuscript of it now extant dated back to the 10th century It contains altogether 3182 lines and the story in it based on partly historical and partly legendary materials The story takes place in Scandinavia rather than in England The literary style: It is an Epic, or the Heroic *An epic (a term) is a long narrative poem, composed in an elevated style, dealing with the trials and achievements of a great hero or heroes The epic celebrates virtues of national, military, religious, cultural, political, or historical significance The literary position: It is the national epic of AngloSaxons and the English people Poetic features (device) • This poem is a mixture of paganism and Christian element • The use of alliteration • The use of assonance • The use of kenning Language used: Anglo-Saxon or Old English, very different from modern English Assignments Written work Famous authors, their title and their masterworks The poetic features of Beowulf Beowulf’s literary position Define the term: Epic  Doublestream of waterfall It is just like what we have learned today, a mixture of several different cultures THE END [...]... established John Bunyan as a notable writer of English literature  *The early 18th century is known as the Augustan Age of English literature The poetry of the time was highly formal, as exemplified by the works of Alexander Pope *Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who were two of the most successful playwrights on the London stage in the 18th century *The English novel developed during the 18th... Travels) and Oliver Goldsmith (especially The Vicar of Wakefield) 19th century English language literature  Major political and social changes at the end of the eighteenth century, particularly the French Revolution, prompted a new breed of writing now known as Romanticism William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge began the trend for bringing emotionalism and introspection to English literature,... Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan Another key poet of Romantic movement John Keats, his letters, which expound on his aesthetic theory of negative capability, are among the most celebrated by any writer  Percy Shelley famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron, was the third major romantic poet of the second generation Critically regarded among the finest lyric poets in the English. .. and others Wilkie Collins novel The Moonstone, is generally considered the first detective novel in the English language Victorian poets *Leading poetic figures of the Victorian era included Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, Robert Browning (and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning), and Matthew Arnold, whilst multi-disciplinary talents such as John Ruskin and Dante Gabriel Rossetti were also famous... end of the century, English poets began to take an interest in French symbolism and Victorian poetry entered a decadent phase Two groups of poets emerged, the Yellow Book poets who adhered to the tenets of Aestheticism, including Algernon Charles Swinburne, Oscar Wilde and Arthur Symons and the Rhymer's Club group that included Ernest Dowson, Lionel Johnson and William Butler Yeats English language literature... Dalloway, and The Waves *Novelists who wrote in a more traditional style, such as John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett continued to receive great acclaim in the interwar period At the same time the Georgian poets maintained a more conservative approach to poetry  George Orwell One of the most significant English writers of this period was George Orwell An acclaimed essayist and novelist, Orwell's works are... first decades of the 20th century was Thomas Hardy, who concentrated on poetry after the harsh response to his last novel, Jude the Obscure From around 1910, the Modernist Movement began to influence English literature Whereas their Victorian predecessors had usually been happy to cater to mainstream middle-class taste, 20th century writers often felt alienated from it, and responded by writing more... Papers are masterpieces of comedy Later his works became darker, without losing his genius for caricature *It was in the Victorian era (1837-1901) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English Most writers were now more concerned to meet the tastes of a large middle-class reading public than to please aristocratic patrons The best known works of the era include the emotionally powerful... totalitarianism in Nineteen Eighty-Four and colonialism in Burmese Days Orwell's works were often semiautobiographical and in the case of Homage to Catalonia, wholly autobiographical *Agatha Christie was an English crime writer of novels, short stories and plays, best remembered for her 80 detective novels and her successful West End theatre plays Her works, particularly featuring detectives Hercule Poirot... Heaney, who lived in the Republic of Ireland for much of his later life Major British novelists of the middle and later 20th century included satirist Evelyn Waugh, Henry Green, Anthony Powell, William Golding, Anthony Burgess, Kingsley Amis, V S Naipaul, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, Roald Dahl, Arthur C Clarke, JG Ballard and Iris Murdoch On the turn of the 21st century, some of the major writers