Writers
Of European History
Dante
 Wrote Divine
Comedy
 returned to the
vernacular
Boccaccio
 Wrote the Decameron
 It is about people trying to escape black
death.
Castiglione
 Wrote Book of the
Courtier
 Which is a how to
book about how to
behave in court
 Humanist loved this.
1st ‘how to’ book
Erasmus
 Concerned with studying the bible in its
original form.
 Wrote In Praise of Folly, which he uses to
comically expose the immoral behavior of
the clergy.
Sir Thomas More
 Wrote Utopia
 Describes the ideal
society, where
everyone shares
work and profit
 Also uses his book to
criticize the current
society.
Rabelais
 Published Gargantua and Pantagruel
 It was a fictional tale of two gentle giants
that roam countryside and get in trouble
 This writing was a return to fiction and
also a comedy.
Cervantes
 Wrote Don Quixote
 It is a story of a foolish but idealistic knight who
gets in trouble roaming countryside and his
serious friend, Sancho Panza, keeps him from
getting in trouble.
 Also a comedy and heavily Catholic.
Shakespeare
 Play writer who wrote for the masses
 Wrote fictional stories and to please the
crowd.
 Work known as Elizabethan Drama
because it was under Elizabeth’s reign.
Martin Luther
 Wrote Justification by Faith
 His writing says everything in life has no
consequence and just having faith is
enough.
 He attacks the indulgences of the
Catholic church.
 Posted the 95 Theses on church door
which led to the Protestant Reformation
John Milton
 English Puritan Poet
 Greatest 17th Century Literation
 Paradise Lost which is about satans
revolt against God
 Paradise Regained which is about Jesus'
temptation in the wilderness
Daniel Defoe
 English novelist
 He wrote for the massive audience enjoyment
 Most famous work is Robinson Crusoe which is
about a shipwreck sailor
 Also wrote Moll Flanders which is about a street
woman
Johnathon Swift
 Wrote Gulliver’s Travels
 The story is about a guy traveling around
the world
Denis Diderot
 Organized the first encyclopedia
 First one in 1751 then in 1772 with 17
volumes
 Combined effort of more than 100
authors
Coleridge
 Master of Gothic poems
 Wrote the “The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner”
 Also wrote “Kubla Khan” after a dream
Wordsworth
 Coleridge’s friend
 Published Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge
 Interested in children because they were
the closest to spiritual world
 Also interested in nature
Lord Byron & Percy Shelley
 One of the most
successful romantic
poets
 Had many works
based on the ancient
Greek plays and
Poems
Goethe
 Part of the Sturm und Drang movement
in Germany which emphasized emotion
 Published Faust, which is about a man
making a pact with the devil and
exchanges his soul for greater
knowledge.
Brothers Grimm and Dumas
 Collection of
German tradition
folk stories in
Grimm’s Fairy Tales
 Wrote exciting
tales like Count of
Monte Cristo and
the Three
Musketeers
Gustave Flaubert
 Wrote about the dull life of the
bourgeoisie
 Author of Madame Bovary which is about
the quest to find love and happiness
 He said women are bored with society
Emile Zola and Henrik Ibson
 Favorite topics were
alcoholism and
prostitution
 Author of Doll’s
House
 Story about a woman
who is depressed
and mad at husband
H. G. Wells
 Wrote Time Machine and War of Worlds
 Brought science fiction to the public
 Very popular and thrilling to people
D. H. Lawerence
 Wrote Lady
Chatterley’s Lover
 graphic novel about
a woman who had
lover outside of
marriage
Huxley and George Orwell
 Wrote Brave New
World
 His book was a grim
picture of the future
 Wrote Animal Farm
and 1984
 Famous for criticism
of totalitarian
Franz Kafka
 Wrote Metamorphosis
 Also wrote All Quiet on the Western Front
which is an antiwar novel written about
trench warfare in WWI.