English Literature for Beginners !!
 

History is the base of English Literature. if you want full command over this subject you have to understand the literary periods. No doubt this is the most confusing task, however if one can remember little details.
The concept of literary period involves a grouping through time. Although a work, rather than being "placed" within the entire sweep of literary history, is "placed" within a much more restricted time frame. The period concept provides the system of classification, ordering literary and cultural data chronologically, within certain discrete time periods. It assumes every age has its characteristic special features, which are reflected in its representative artifacts or creations, literary terms, genres and stylistic qualities of literature. The kind of coherence displayed is not accidental, for literary works participate in the culture of their times !

[B][I][U]What is the concept of Period?[/U][/I][/B]

It suggests,
[I](1) Literary works can be grouped according to what they share with each other within a given time span,
(2) That this grouping can be differentiated from other such chronological groupings.[/I]

Literary works share the [I]“system of norms”[/I] which includes conventions, styles, themes, and philosophies, as well as the social, political and economic perspective of specific era.

Finally, the attentive student may note that even the labeling of literary periods and movements does not always appear to be consistent. This has come about because the traditional names derive from a variety of sources. "Humanism" came from the history of ideas, and the "Renaissance" from art historians; "Restoration" came from political history, and "The Eighteenth Century" is strictly chronological; "Neoclassic" and "Romantic" came from literary theory, while both "Elizabethan" and "Victorian" came from the names of reigning monarchs.

[B][B][I][U]Period Descriptors[/U][/I][/B][/B]

The literary periods and movements following the classical period are usually labeled as follows:

• medieval (from the fall of Rome through the fourteenth or fifteenth century);
• Renaissance (from its earliest beginnings in Italy in the fourteenth century through the sixteenth century elsewhere in Europe, with a shift in some countries to "Baroque" in its last phase);
• the neoclassical (starting in the mid-seventeenth century, with its subsequent eighteenth-century development as the "Age of Enlightenment");
• the Romantic period (beginning in the last decades of the eighteenth century and continuing at least through the middle of the nineteenth);
• the Realist movement and its late nineteenth century extension into "naturalism";
• and finally, the modern period, which has been given many names, all of them, so far, provisional.

[B][I][U]600-1200 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)[/U][/I][/B]
Beowulf

[B][I][U]1200-1500 Middle English[/U][/I][/B]
Geoffrey Chaucer

[B][I][U]1500-1660 The English Renaissance[/U][/I][/B]
1500-1558 Tudor Period
Humanist Era[LIST][*]Thomas More[*]John Skelton[/LIST]

1558-1603 Elizabethan Period
High Renaissance[LIST][*]Edmund Spenser,[*]Sir Philip Sidney,[*]William Shakespeare[/LIST]
1603-1625 Jacobean Period
Mannerist Style (1590-1640) other styles: Metaphysical Poets; Devotional Poets[LIST][*]Shakespeare[*]John Donne[*]George Herbert,[*]Emilia Lanyer[/LIST]
1625-1649 Caroline Period
John Ford
John Milton

1649-1660 The Commonwealth & The Protectorate
Baroque Style, and later, Rococo Style[LIST][*]Milton[*]Andrew Marvell[*]Thomas Hobbes[/LIST]
[B][I][U]1660-1700 The Restoration[/U][/I][/B]
John Dryden

1700-1800 The Eighteenth Century
The Enlightenment;
Neoclassical Period;
The Augustan Age[LIST][*]Alexander Pope,[*]Jonathan Swift,[*]Samuel Johnson[/LIST]
1785-1830 Romanticism
The Age of Revolution[LIST][*]William Wordsworth,[*]S.T. Coleridge[*]Jane Austen,[*]the Brontës[/LIST]
1830-1901 Victorian Period
Early, Middle and Late Victorian[LIST][*]Charles Dickens[*]George Eliot[*]Robert Browning[*]Alfred[*]Lord Tennyson[/LIST]
1901-1960 Modern Period
The Edwardian Era
(1901-1910);
The Georgian Era
(1910-1914)[LIST][*]G.M. Hopkins[*]H.G. Wells[*]James Joyce[*]D.H. Lawrence[*]T.S. Eliot[/LIST]
1960- Postmodern and Contemporary Period
Ted Hughes
Doris Lessing
John Fowles
Don DeLillo
A.S. Byatt

[B][I][U]Old English Period[/U][/I][/B]

Old English(O.E) or Anglo Saxon was the language spoken in England in widely differing dialects c.450, when Britain was invaded by various Germanic tribes including the Angles and Saxons, till the invasion of the Normans from France under William the Conqueror in 1066. After conversion to Christainity became general in the seventh century, some of the Anglo Saxon poems, till then part of an Oral culture, were written down, no doubt being modified by monks in the process. Only a handful survive, but they include vigorous ALLITERATIVE LAMENTS like [I][U]"The Wanderer" [/U][/I]and [I][U]"The Seafarer"[/U][/I] and also the great Epic [U][I]Beowulf[/I][/U]. Some Anglo Saxon poems are explicitly Christian like [I][U]"The Dream of the Rood"[/U][/I]. the prose of the period is also lively and various: [U][I]Alred the Great, King of the West Saxons(817-899)[/I][/U], was himself a writer and a patron of the arts. The great scholar of the age was [U][I]Bede[/I][/U](8th century), who wrote in [U][I]Latin[/I][/U].

[B][I][U]Middle English Period[/U][/I][/B]

A crucial time in the history of the English language and literature. Middle English was the language in a variety of different dialect forms which resulted from the modification of Anglo Saxons after the norman conquest in 1066, and which was spoken and used as a vehical for literature until about 1500 when the London dialect(used by Chaucer) became the standard literary language, and therefore recognisably the basis for 'modren English'. An Anglo Norman period, in which French dialect dominated non Latin literature, lasted until about 1350. After that date, especially during the reign of Richard II (1377-1399), Middle English literature burgeoned.

[B][I][U][U]Chaucer[/U][/U][/I][/B] was the leading poet. His [B][I][U]Canterbury Tales[/U][/I][/B] and [B][I][U]Troilus[/U][/I][/B] and [B][I][U]Criseyde[/U][/I][/B] rank amongst the greatest works in English literature.

His contemporaries include [B][I][U]John Gower[/U][/I][/B], who wrote the [B][I][U]Confessio Amantis[/U][/I][/B], [B][I][U]Willain Langland[/U][/I][/B], author of the religious dream satire [B][I][U]Piers Plowman[/U][/I][/B], and the anonymous poet who wrote [B][I][U]Sir Gawain[/U][/I][/B] [B][I][U]and the[/U][/I][/B] [B][I][U]Green Knight[/U][/I][/B] and [B][I][U]Pearl.[/U][/I][/B]

In the fifteenth century several [B][I][U]Middle Scots poets[/U][/I][/B], sometimes called the [B][I][U]SCOTTISH CHAUSERIANS[/U][/I][/B], including [B][I][U]King James I of Scotland[/U][/I][/B], [B][I][U]Robert Henryson, Gavin Douglas and William Dunbar,[/U][/I][/B] represented a flowering of poetic talent in Scotland.

The fifteeth century was also the age of medieval drama, the [B][I][U]MIRACLE[/U][/I][/B] and [B][I][U]MORALITY PLAYS[/U][/I][/B], of popular lyrics and BALLADS, and of [B][I][U]Sir Thomas Malory's great Authurian prose ROMANCE Le Morte d' Arthur.[/U][/I][/B]

[B][I][U]Renaissance[/U][/I][/B]

In French it means 'rebirth'. The period following the Middle ages in European History. A vital flowering of the arts and sciences, accompained by thrilling changes in religious and philosophical thought, the Renaissance started in Italy in the late fourteenth century and spread throughout the Europe, reaching England during the reigns of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and James I (1603-1625).

Naturally such a widely diffused shift in values and ideas is conceptually rather vague, and, not surprisingly, some historians doubt whether the label 'Renaissance' is useful, or describes an identifiable phenomenon. Some aspects of the intellectual changes are worth nothing, however. Religion changed redically with the new Protestant reforms (Reformation). The revival of interest in Greek Literature leads to a new breed of Classical scholars called [B][I]HUMANISTS[/I][/B], of whom Erasmus is one of the most famous. In 1543 [B][I]Nicolas Copernicus[/I][/B] put forward his new and accurate astronomical view of the solar system. Displacing eventually the old [B][I]PTOLEMAIC SYSTEM[/I][/B], according to which the stars and the sun revolved around the earth. Scientists like [B][I]Galileo Galilei[/I][/B] and [B][I]Willaim Harvey[/I][/B] explored the arold about them and man's physiology, in such a way as to discredit forever the astrological and semi-magical pseudo-sciences which had prevailed in the medieval world. Last, but very significant, the new technology of printing with movable type, developed in the fifteenth century, facilitated and quickened the spread of new ideas and knowledge.

The [I]'term'[/I] Renaissance was a nineteenth century invention, coined by looking back at the period. It is doubtful whether those participants in the burgeoning of arts and ideas had such a clear view of the significance of their own intellectual endeavours, although they were conscious of the intellectual ferment around them.

The word Renaissance can be applied to any equivalent flowering of the arts and scholarship, as occured, for instance, in twelfth century Europe; the revival of Scottish literature in the early twentieth century is called the Scotish Renaissance.

[B][I][U]The major literary figures in the English Renaissance include:[/U][/I][/B]

[B][I]Francis Bacon
Thomas Dekker
John Donne
John Fletcher
John Ford
Ben Jonson
Thomas Kyd
Christopher Marlowe
Philip Massinger
Thomas Middleton
Thomas More
Thomas Nashe
William Rowley
William Shakespeare
James Shirley
Philip Sidney
Edmund Spenser
John Webster
Thomas Wyatt[/I][/B]

sir can you please arrange the notes of M.A English literature part 2. i need them because my exams are starting from 14 june. i will be highly greatfull for this.

[QUOTE=RabiaAfzal;427267]sir can you please arrange the notes of M.A English literature part 2. i need them because my exams are starting from 14 june. i will be highly greatfull for this.[/QUOTE]

From which university you are doing Masters and for which topics you need notes?

I haven't prepared notes but i'll definitely help you.... :)

[B][I][U]Tudor period[/U][/I][/B]


The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII (1457 – 1509). The term can be used more broadly to include Elizabeth I's reign (1558 – 1603), although this is often treated separately as the Elizabethan era.
In terms of the entire century, Guy (1988) argues that "England was economically healthier, more expansive, and more optimistic under the Tudors" than at any time in a thousand years.
The House of Tudor produced six monarchs who ruled during this period.
 [B][I]Henry VII (1485 to 1509)
 Henry VIII (1509 to 1547)
 Edward VI (1547 to 1553)
 Lady Jane Grey (1553) –[/I][/B] Nominal queen for nine days in failed bid to prevent accession of Mary I. Not a member of the House of Tudor.

 [B][I]Mary I (1553 to 1558)
 Elizabeth I (1558 to 1603)[/I][/B]


[B][I][U]The Tudors and the Elizabethan Age[/U][/I][/B]

The beginning of the Tudor dynasty coincided with the first dissemination of printed matter. William Caxton's press was established in 1476, only nine years before the beginning of Henry VII's reign. Caxton's achievement encouraged writing of all kinds and also influenced the standardization of the English language. The early Tudor period, particularly the reign of Henry VIII, was marked by a break with the Roman Catholic Church and a weakening of feudal ties, which brought about a vast increase in the power of the monarchy.
 Stronger political relationships with the Continent were also developed, increasing England's exposure to Renaissance culture. Humanism became the most important force in English literary and intellectual life, both in its narrow sense—the study and imitation of the Latin classics—and in its broad sense—the affirmation of the secular, in addition to the otherworldly, concerns of people. These forces produced during the reign (1558–1603) of Elizabeth I one of the most fruitful eras in literary history.
 The energy of England's writers matched that of its mariners and merchants. Accounts by men such as Richard Hakluyt, Samuel Purchas, and Sir Walter Raleigh were eagerly read. The activities and literature of the Elizabethans reflected a new nationalism, which expressed itself also in the works of chroniclers (John Stow, Raphael Holinshed, and others), historians, and translators and even in political and religious tracts. A myriad of new genres, themes, and ideas were incorporated into English literature. Italian poetic forms, especially the sonnet, became models for English poets.
 Sir Thomas Wyatt was the most successful sonneteer among early Tudor poets, and was, with Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, a seminal influence. Tottel's Miscellany (1557) was the first and most popular of many collections of experimental poetry by different, often anonymous, hands. A common goal of these poets was to make English as flexible a poetic instrument as Italian. Among the most prominent of this group were Thomas Churchyard, George Gascoigne, and Edward de Vere, earl of Oxford. An ambitious and influential work was A Mirror for Magistrates (1559), a historical verse narrative by several poets that updated the medieval view of history and the morals to be drawn from it.
 The poet who best synthesized the ideas and tendencies of the English Renaissance was Edmund Spenser. His unfinished epic poem The Faerie Queen (1596) is a treasure house of romance, allegory, adventure, Neoplatonic ideas, patriotism, and Protestant morality, all presented in a variety of literary styles. The ideal English Renaissance man was Sir Philip Sidney—scholar, poet, critic, courtier, diplomat, and soldier—who died in battle at the age of 32. His best poetry is contained in the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591) and his Defence of Poesie is among the most important works of literary criticism in the tradition.
 Many others in a historical era when poetic talents were highly valued were skilled poets. Important late Tudor sonneteers include Spenser and Shakespeare, Michael Drayton, Samuel Daniel, and Fulke Greville. More versatile even than Sidney was Sir Walter Raleigh—poet, historian, courtier, explorer, and soldier—, who wrote strong, spare poetry.
 Early Tudor drama owed much to both medieval morality plays and classical models. Ralph Roister Doister (c.1545) by Nicholas Udall and Gammer Gurton's Needle (c.1552) are considered the first English comedies, combining elements of classical Roman comedy with native burlesque. During the late 16th and early 17th cent., drama flourished in England as never before or since. It came of age with the work of the University Wits, whose sophisticated plays set the course of Renaissance drama and paved the way for Shakespeare.
 The Wits included John Lyly, famed for the highly artificial and much imitated prose work Euphues (1578); Robert Greene, the first to write romantic comedy; the versatile Thomas Lodge and Thomas Nashe; Thomas Kyd, who popularized neo-Senecan tragedy; and Christopher Marlowe, the greatest dramatist of the group. Focusing on heroes whose very greatness leads to their downfall, Marlowe wrote in blank verse with a rhetorical brilliance and eloquence superbly equal to the demands of high drama. William Shakespeare, of course, fulfilled the promise of the Elizabethan age. His history plays, comedies, and tragedies set a standard never again equaled, and he is universally regarded as the greatest dramatist and one of the greatest poets of all time.

[QUOTE=kiyani;427290]From which university you are doing Masters and for which topics you need notes?

I haven't prepared notes but i'll definitely help you.... :)[/QUOTE]

PUNJAB UNIVERSITY LAHORE. ill be greatfull if you guide me with some outlines and material.

[QUOTE=RabiaAfzal;427319]PUNJAB UNIVERSITY LAHORE. ill be greatfull if you guide me with some outlines and material.[/QUOTE]

:) Now tell me the topics, as i'm doing masters from NUML so i don't know PU's outline.......

ap apna e mail bata dein me course mail kar don gi. yaha type karne me time lage ga.