In this document you will find a brief summary of English literature history. The periods that are discussed are the; The medieval period, The Neoclassical period, the romantic period and The beaten generation. For each period the period itself is defined, described how the period originated, impor...
English Literature
Medieval period ( 500 – 1500 )
SUMMARY
The fall of Rome triggered a collapse in learning; most Medieval people could neither
read or write except fort he monks, nuns and scribes.
In the Middle Ages society was made up of three orders:
o The clergy – The first class, a well educated, powerful political class
o The nobility – The second class, an influential class with strong military power.
o The people – The third class, the tax paying bourgeoisie, peasants and serfs.
In the fourteenth century the new culture of reading and writing spread amon the
bourgeoisie. The nobility kept amusing themselves at hunting and dancing. Most
strories where however still told instead of read.
1440 – Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press and made it possible to
multiply books. He made it possible to print from movable metal types.
Before, books were made by writing down each letter in each copy seperately. This
was a very demanding process. In the fiftheenth century the so called block books
where made. Pages were engraved on a block of wood.
Geoffrey Chaucer set a new standard in which people should not write with a dialect
but English, with the English society as a topic.
TERMS
Repetition
A literary technique that writers use by repeating the same words or phrases a few
times to make an idea clearer or to add more power to a story.
Alliteration
The repetition of letters at the beginning of words – In prose words that are near each
other in a sentence and in poetry words that are near each other in poetry lines.
Advertisers use alliteration to create witty and memorable catchphrases and tag
lines.
Frame story
A narrative providing the unifying ( verenigde ) framework for connecting a series of
otherwise unrelated stories. In the frame story, the writer creates a context for
interprenting his narritve. It also gives the reader more information about the
characters.
, NOVELS & WRITERS
o Beowulf
o The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucher
The Neoclassical Period ( 1660 – 1800 )
SUMMARY
The period from 1660 to 1800 is known by various suggestive names:
o Neoclassical Period named after the great age of classicism where the
influence of ancient Rome and Greece is on its absolute authority.
Art and literature were the highest standards in life and writers should all
follow the rules that were created for the literature.
o The Augustan Age named after roman emperor Augustus and his reign of the
Roman empire with great prosperity. The classics found themselves in a
similar position of flourisment and wealth. Western civilization was on the
highest level.
o The age of Reason, intellectual ( intellectueel ) , common sense ( gezond
verstand ) and wisdom ( wijsheid ) became the highest standards. If the
reason was developed in the right way, not hindered by personal emotions,
the classics believed that the power of the human mind is infinite ( oneindig ).
o Enlightment
The optimistic view was mostly inspired by developments in for example science.
People believed that everything could be explained and solved with a rational way of
thinking. However, the world was too often guided by other things than reason.
Satire (= where social criticism or the criticism of persons is often given in a
humorous way.) became the most popular genre of the period. The eighteen century
shows a combination of high ideals and the awareness that the actual world falls
short to hem. This portrait was mostly found among the higher circles of society.
The middle class had no part in the classical tradition. They thought it was wicked
and sinful and often were dominated by trade, money and strict riligious views. They
only read religious works.
In the middle ages the society was static in character: Every member had his fixed
place in the social structure, with hardly any opportunity for improvement. The
ordinary people couldn’t reach the power and the money that the upper class had.
The rise of capitalism provided new opportunities to change one’s position on the
social ladder.
By the end of the seventh century the middle class’ prosperity grew and they had
time to read, they wanted a literature of their own because they didn’t share any
interests with the nobility. This can be seen as the rise of the first Novel. These works
were characterised by the following things:
o The novel needed to contain a moral / religious message
o The novel needed to be realistic or at least give an impression of the realism.
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