BRITISH
LITERATURE
THROUGH
TIME
OLD ENGLISH
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
449 – 1066
CONTENT
Strong
belief in fate
Admiration of heroic warriors
who prevail in battle
Express religious faith and give
moral instruction through
literature
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
EFFECT
♠ Christianity helps literacy to
spread
♠ Introduces Roman
alphabet to Britain
♠ Oral tradition helps unite
diverse people and their
myths
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
Key Literature: Authors
Beowulf
Exeter
Book
The Venerable Bede
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD
(The MEDIEVAL Period)
1066 – 1485
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
CONTENT
♣ Plays that instruct the illiterate
masses in morals and religion
♣ Chivalric code of honor
♣ Religous devotion
♣ Romances
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
EFFECT
♣ Church
instructs its people
through the morality and
miracle plays
♣ An illiterate population is
able to hear and see the
literature
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
Key Literature: authors
♠
Domesday Book
♠ L’Morte de Arthur
Geoffrey Chaucer
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
The Renaissance
1485 – 1660
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
CONTENT
World view shifts from religion and afterlife to
one stressing the human life on earth.
development of human potential
Popular theme: exploding the many aspects of
love:
 Constant love
 Timeless love
 Courtly love
 Love subject to
change
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
STYLE / GENRES
 Poetry
sonnet
 Drama:
o Written in verse
o Supported by royalty
o Tragedies, comedies, historics
 Methaphysical poetry:
o Elaborate unexpected metaphors called
conceits
o
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
Key Literature: authors
 William
Shakespeare
 John Donne
 Cavalier poets
 Metaphysical poets
 Christopher Marlowe
 Andrew Marvel
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
Neoclassical Period
(The Restoration)
1660 – 1798
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
CONTENT
Emphasis on reason and logic
 Stresses harmony, stability and wisdom
Locke: a social contract exists between
the government and the people. The
government governs guaranteeing
«natural rights» of life, liberty, and
property

URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
STYLE / GENRE
 Satire: uses irony and exaggeration to
poke fun at human faults and
foolishness in order to correct human
behavior
 Poetry
 Essays
 Letters, diaries, biographies
 Novels
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE
EFFECT
 Emphasis on the individual
 Belief that man was basically evil
 Approach to life «the world as it
should be»
URSULA HUANCAS DONAYRE