scholars during the Elizabethan Age who graduated from either Oxford or Cambridge. They came to London with the ambition to become professional writers. Some of them later became famous poets and playwrights. They were called "University Wits". Thomas Greene, Thomas Kyd, John Lily and Christopher Marlowe were among them. They paved the way, to some degree, for the coming of Shakespeare.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 1375-1400
Medieval Literature
Geoffrey Chaucer He is regarded as the father of English
poetry. The Canterbury Tales is his
3. 17th Century British Literature
John Bunyan He is a religious novelist whose
style was modeled after that of the English Bible. His language is concrete and vivid. His masterpiece, The Pilgrim's Progress, is the most successful religious allegory.
2. British Literature during Renaissance Period
William Shakespeare He is the greatest of all
Elizabethan dramatists. His literary career falls into four periods. He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. His sonnets represent the finest poetic craftsmanship of Elizabethan poetry. The themes of his sonnets are about love, friendship, the destructive effects of time, the quickness of physical decay, and the loss of beauty, vigor, and love.
Reading British literary works can enable us to gain deeper insights into its culture.
Different stages of British Literature
1. Medieval Literature (approximately from 500 BC to 1485)
Medieval Literature
Romance Romance is a popular literary
form in the medieval England. It sings knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Chivalry (such as bravery, honor, generosity, loyalty and kindness to the weak and poor) is the spirit of romance.
masterpiece is The Faerie Queene.
2. British Literature during Renaissance Period
Francis Bacon He is a philosopher, a scientist and
the first English essayist. He lays the foundation for modern science with his insistence on scientific way of thinking and fresh observation rather than authority as a basis for obtaining knowledge. He is best known for
General Introduction to British Literature
What does literature consists of?
Novel Poem Drama Prose
Literature works are all about beauty-appreciation.
Beowulf Beowulf, a typical example of Old English
poetry, is regarded as the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. The epic describes the heroic deeds of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, in fighting against the monster Grendel, his revengeful mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. The poem conveys a hope that the righteous will triumph over the evil.
meant the reintroduction into Western Europe of the full cultural heritage of Greece and Rome. The essence of the Renaissance is Humanism which emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to pey British Literature
John Milton As a real revolutionary, a
master poet and a great prose writer, Milton holds an important place in the history of English literature. He produced three epics: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.
masterpiece. He presents, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and creates a whole gallery of vivid characters from all works of life. It was Chaucer who made London dialect the foundation for modern English speech. His characterization is vivid.
with death. The Songs and Sonnets is probably his best-
known lyrics. Love is the basic theme. Donne holds that the nature of love is the union of soul and body.
4. British Literature during the Enlightenment Movement Period (late 17th century -- mid 18th century)
The Enlightenment Movement
Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through Western Europe in the 18th century. The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance from 14th century to the mid-17th century. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. It celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. It advocated universal education. Literature at the time became a very popular means of public education. Famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, the two pioneers of familiar essays, Jonathan Swift, Richard Bringsley Sheridan, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson, etc.