The Age of Johnson (1744-1784)
A Critical History f of English Literature -LUL The later half of the eighteenth century, which was \ dominated by Dr. Samuel Johnson, is called the Age of \ Johnson. Johnson died in 1784, and from that time the j Classical spirit in English literature began to give place to the ’ Romantic spirit, though […]
<a></a><a>The Age of Pope (1700-1744</a>)
The earlier part of the eighteenth century or the Augustan Age in English literature is called the Age of Pope, because Pope was the dominating figure in that period. Though there were a number of other important writers like Addison and Swift, but Pope was the only one who devoted himself completely to literature. Moreover, […]
Eighteenth Century Literature
The Eighteenth Century in England is called the Classical Age or the Augustan Age in literature. It is also called the Age of Good Sense or the Age of Reason. Though Dryden belonged to the seventeenth century, he is .also included in the Classical or Augustan Age, as during his time the characteristics of his […]
<strong>The Restoration Period (1660-1700)</strong>
After the Restoration in 1660, when Charles II came to the throne, there was a complete repudiation of the Puritan ideals and way of living. In English literature the period from 1660 to 1700 is called the period of Restoration, because monarchy was restored in England, and Charles II, the son of Charles I who […]
<strong><em> The Puritan Age </em></strong><strong>(1600-1660)</strong>
The Literature of the Seventeenth Century may be divided into two periods-The Puritan Age or the Age of Milton (1600-1660), which is further divided into the Jacobean and Caroline periods after the names of the rulers James I and Charles I, who ruled from 1603 to 1625 and 1625 to 1649 respectively; and the Restoration […]
<strong>The Renaissance Period</strong>
The Renaissance Period in English literature is also called the Elizabethan Period or the Age of Shakespeare. The middle Ages in Europe were followed by the Renaissance. Renaissance means rebirth. From about 1500 to 1600 the world was reborn in many ways. The Renaissance began in Italy, especially in art and architecture, in the fifteenth […]
Middle-English or Anglo-Norman <strong>period (1100 -1500)</strong>
The Normans, who were residing in Normandy (France) defeated the Anglo-Saxon King at the Battle of Hastings (1066) and conquered England. The Norman Conquest inaugurated a distinctly new epoch in the literary as well as political history of England. The Anglo-Saxon authors were then as suddenly and permanently displaced as the Anglo-Saxon king. The literature […]
THE ANGLO-SAXON OR OLD-ENGLISH period (670-1100)
The earliest phase of English literature started with Anglo-Saxon literature of the Angles and Saxons (the ancestors of the English race) much before they occupied Britain. English was the common name and tongue of these tribes. Before they occupied Britain they lived along the coasts of Sweden and Denmark, and the land which they occupied […]
RELATION OF LITERATURE TO LIFE
There is an intimate connection between literature and life. It is, in fact, life which is the subject matter of literature. Life provides the raw material on which literature imposes an artistic form. Literature, as we defined in the previous section, is the communication of the writer’s experience of life. But this connection between literature […]
Romanticism and Classicism
There are two distinctive tendencies in the history of literature-Classic and Romantic. At some period in the history of Literature one tendency dominates, and then it is followed by the predominance of the other tendency, and in this manner they appear alternately, one following the other. In the history of English literature, the Elizabethan period […]