BRITISH LITERARY PERIODSFor details on each period, download

British Literature Periods www.typepad.com

Anglo-Saxon / 449-1066

Fast Facts Oral stories of

warriors Life centered around

independent tribes Strong belief in fate

and comitatus - commitment

Church and pagan world unite

Literary Focus Beowulf – recited by a

scop

Medieval 1066-1485

Fast Facts William the Conqueror

crowned first king of England

Crusades expand trade Oral literature continues Chivalric code of honor Eliot writes about the

death of Thomas Becket Literary Focus

Canterbury Tales - Chaucer Morte d’Arthur – Mallory

Renaissance 1485-1660

Fast Facts Civil wars Reign of Elizabeth I Growth of the theatre Printing press spreads

literacy and literature World view less on

afterlife and more on present life

Literary Focus Shakespeare’s plays Metaphysical poets Cavalier Poets

17-18th Centuries 1660-1798

Fast Facts Emphasis on reason

and logic Satiric look at society

through literature Growth of urban

factories and slums Creation of the novel Literary Focus

Gulliver’s Travels – Swift Rape of the Lock – Pope Pride and Prejudice –

Austen

ROMANTIC 1798-1832

Fast Facts Gothic becomes cool Evils of society exposed Nature = Good

Industry = Bad Imagination is key Rise of the dark

brooding hero Literary Focus:

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Coleridge

Frankenstein - Shelly

VICTORIAN 1832-1900

Fast Facts Britain becomes an

empire Conflicts of Haves and

Have Nots continue Novels and magazines

mass produced Literary Focus:

The Importance of Being Earnest – Wilde

Tale of Two Cities – Dickens

Pygmalion – Shaw

MODERN & POSTMODERN 1900-1950

Fast Facts Empire loses 1 million

soldiers in WWI Churchhill helps defeat

Hitler Loss of belief in the

goodness of humankind Utopian and dystopian

literature Literary Focus

Lord of the Flies – Golding The Once and Future King

- White

CONTEMPORARY 1950-PRESENT

Fast Facts World grows smaller Media interprets values

and events Technology replaces

personal interaction Autobiographical and

first person narrative writing

Experimental theatre Literary Focus - optional

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

QUICK QUIZ1. What era valued comitatus?2. Under what ruler did Shakespeare and the theatre flourish? 3. Name one of the two writers of satire in the 17-18th

centuries.4. Who was the first king of England?5. What era popularized the brooding, dark hero?6. What term is used for the oral story tellers of the Anglo-

Saxons?7. In what era did Charles Dickens write?8. Whose death is examined in Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral?9. What invention helped to spread literacy and literature?10. Which writer examined the social classes of the Medieval

age?Bonus – Who first authored the legend of King Arthur?