English Literature Periods: From Anglo-Saxon to Contemporary

Old English Period (Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066)

Key themes: Fate (destino), religion vs. paganism, Christianity vs. Germanic traditions, heroic warriors, morality.

Authors: Bede, Exeter Book. Emphasis on oral tradition and poetry.

Anglo-Saxon Literature:

• Poetry: Loyalty to one's lord or king. Beowulf.
• Christian poetry: Saints' lives. The Dream of the Rood. Authors: Caedmon, Cynewulf.
• Prose: Translations of texts from Latin into English. Literature illuminates reality and destiny. Two traditions: English and German.

Middle English Period (1066-1485)

Key aspects: Plays (moral and religious instructions), chivalric code of honor, religious devotion.

Books: Domesday Book, Le Morte d'Arthur.

Author: Geoffrey Chaucer.

The Renaissance (1485-1660)

Key themes: Human life on earth, aspects of love (unrequited love, constant love, timeless love, courtly love, love subject to change).

Literary forms: Poetry (sonnet), drama.

Authors: Shakespeare, Cavalier poets, John Donne.

Neoclassical Period (The Restoration 1660-1789)

Key aspects: Logic and reason, harmony and stability, the construction of society (Locke). Poetry is important. Importance of the individual. The Industrial Revolution begins.

Authors: Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe.

Romantic Period (Romanticism 1789-1832)

Key aspects: Gothic elements related to terror, horror stories, and novels. Nature represents peace; the city represents corruption. Tory (conservatives), Whigs (liberal).

Authors: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Lyrical Ballads), Lord Byron.

Victorian Period (1832-1900)

Key themes: Conflict between power and society, opposition between country and city, sexuality, love triangles.

Literary forms: Drama (comedy of manners, dramatic and poetic monologues), novels (political, detective - Sherlock Holmes).

Authors: Dickens (conflicts between poor and rich), Oscar Wilde, Darwin (The Origin of Species).

Postmodern Period (1900-1980)

Key aspects: Absolute values no longer exist. Technology. Fantasy vs. reality / fiction vs. non-fiction. Main narrative technique: Importance of the political point of view, colonizers and war.

Contemporary Period (1980-Present)

Key aspects: Communications, connection between people, interpretation of the past, mixture of fiction and reality, storytelling.

Authors: John Berger, Ken Follett (The Pillars of the Earth).