The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad, Vladimir Nabokov was Russian. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States A writer is anyone who creates a written work although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally as well as those who have written in many different forms England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924 was a Polish-born English novelist Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796 (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953 was a Welsh poet who wrote exclusively in English Edgar Allan Poe (January 19 1809 – October 7 1849 was an American poet, short-story Writer, editor and Literary critic, Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie Kt (born 19 June 1947 is an Indian - British novelist and essayist Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul Kt, TC (born August 17, 1932 in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago) better known This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. In other words, English literature is as diverse as the varieties and dialects of English spoken around the world. In academia, the term often labels departments and programmes practising English studies in secondary and tertiary educational systems. English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U
This article primarily deals with literature from Britain written in English. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For literature from specific English-speaking regions, see the see also section at the bottom of the page.
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Old English
The first works in English, written in Old English, appeared in the early Middle Ages (the oldest surviving text is Cædmon's Hymn). Anglo-Saxon literature (or Old English literature) encompasses Literature written in Anglo-Saxon (Old English during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon Cædmon (ˈkædmɒn is the earliest English poet whose name is known Cædmon (ˈkædmɒn is the earliest English poet whose name is known The oral tradition was very strong in early British culture and most literary works were written to be performed. Oral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken (oral word to Literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word Epic poems were thus very popular and many, including Beowulf, have survived to the present day in the rich corpus of Anglo-Saxon literature that closely resemble today's Norwegian or, better yet, Icelandic. An epic is a lengthy Narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between Anglo-Saxon literature (or Old English literature) encompasses Literature written in Anglo-Saxon (Old English during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon Much Anglo-Saxon verse in the extant manuscripts is probably a "milder" adaptation of the earlier Viking and German war poems from the continent. When such poetry was brought to England it was still being handed down orally from one generation to another, and the constant presence of alliterative verse, or consonant rhyme (today's newspaper headlines and marketing abundantly use this technique such as in Big is Better) helped the Anglo-Saxon peoples remember it. In prosody, alliterative verse is a form of verse that uses Alliteration as the principal structuring device to unify lines of poetry as opposed to Such rhyme is a feature of Germanic languages and is opposed to vocalic or end-rhyme of Romance languages. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all But the first written literature dates to the early Christian monasteries founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury and his disciples and it is reasonable to believe that it was somehow adapted to suit to needs of Christian readers. Augustine of Canterbury OSB (born c first third of the 6th century - died 26 May 604 was a Benedictine Monk who became the first Archbishop Even without their crudest lines, Viking war poems still smell of blood feuds and their consonant rhymes sound like the smashing of swords under the gloomy northern sky: there is always a sense of imminent danger in the narratives. Sooner or later, all things must come to an end, as Beowulf eventually dies at the hands of the monsters he spends the tale fighting. The feelings of Beowulf that nothing lasts, that youth and joy will turn to death and sorrow entered Christianity and were to dominate the future landscape of English fiction.
Renaissance literature
Following the introduction of a printing press into England by William Caxton in 1476, vernacular literature flourished. The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the early 17th century Vernacular literature is Literature written in the Vernacular - the speech of the "common people" The Reformation inspired the production of vernacular liturgy which led to the Book of Common Prayer, a lasting influence on literary English language. The Protestant Reformation was a reform movement in Europe that began in 1517 though its roots lie further back in time Vernacular refers to the Native language of a country or a locality A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions The Book of Common Prayer is the common title of a number of prayer books of the Church of England and used throughout the Anglican Communion. The poetry, drama, and prose produced under both Queen Elizabeth I and King James I constitute what is today labelled as Early modern (or Renaissance).
Early Modern period
- Further information: Early Modern English and Early Modern Britain
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing of literature, especially in the field of drama. Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 15th century to 1650 Early Modern Britain is the History of the island of Great Britain roughly corresponding to the 16th 17th and 18th centuries The term Elizabethan literature refers to the English literature produced during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558 - 1603 Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. The Italian Renaissance had rediscovered the ancient Greek and Roman theatre, and this was instrumental in the development of the new drama, which was then beginning to evolve apart from the old mystery and miracle plays of the Middle Ages. The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th Mystery plays and Miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in Medieval Europe. The Italians were particularly inspired by Seneca (a major tragic playwright and philosopher, the tutor of Nero) and Plautus (its comic clichés, especially that of the boasting soldier had a powerful influence on the Renaissance and after). Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger; Σένεκας in Ancient Greek literature (c Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( December 15, 37 – June 9, 68) born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Titus Maccius Plautus (c 254–184 BCE commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman Playwright. However, the Italian tragedies embraced a principle contrary to Seneca's ethics: showing blood and violence on the stage. In Seneca's plays such scenes were only acted by the characters. But the English playwrights were intrigued by Italian model: a conspicuous community of Italian actors had settled in London and Giovanni Florio had brought much of the Italian language and culture to England. John Florio (1553 - 1625 known in Italian as Giovanni Florio was an accomplished linguist and Lexicographer, a royal language tutor at the Court of James Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. It is also true that the Elizabethan Era was a very violent age and that the high incidence of political assassinations in Renaissance Italy (embodied by Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince) did little to calm fears of popish plots. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Il Principe ( The Prince) is a political Treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist As a result, representing that kind of violence on the stage was probably more cathartic for the Elizabethan spectator. Following earlier Elizabethan plays such as Gorboduc by Sackville & Norton and The Spanish Tragedy by Kyd that was to provide much material for Hamlet, William Shakespeare stands out in this period as a poet and playwright as yet unsurpassed. Gorboduc, also titled Ferrex and Porrex, was an English play from 1561. Sir Thomas Sackville 1st Earl of Dorset (1536 &ndash April 19, 1608) was an English Statesman and poet son of Richard Sackville Thomas Norton (1532 &ndash March 10, 1584) was an English lawyer politician writer of verse &mdash but not as has been claimed the chief interrogator The Spanish Tragedie or Hieronimo is mad againe is an Elizabethan Tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 &ndash 92 Thomas Kyd ( 3 November 1558 – 16 July 1594) was an English Dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 William Shakespeare ( baptised A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. Shakespeare was not a man of letters by profession, and probably had only some grammar school education. He was neither a lawyer, nor an aristocrat as the "university wits" that had monopolised the English stage when he started writing. But he was very gifted and incredibly versatile, and he surpassed "professionals" as Robert Greene who mocked this "shake-scene" of low origins. Though most dramas met with great success, it is in his later years (marked by the early reign of James I) that he wrote what have been considered his greatest plays: Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest, a tragicomedy that inscribes within the main drama a brilliant pageant to the new king. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James Hamlet is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601 Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606 and is considered one of his greatest works Macbeth is among the best-known of William Shakespeare 's plays, and is his shortest tragedy, believed to have been written some time between Antony and Cleopatra is a Tragedy by William Shakespeare. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623 The Tempest is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It is generally dated to 1610-11 and accepted as the last play written solely by him although Tragicomedy is Fictional work that blend aspects of the Genres of Tragedy and Comedy. This 'play within a play' takes the form of a masque, an interlude with music and dance coloured by the novel special effects of the new indoor theatres. The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in sixteenth and early seventeenth century Europe though it was developed earlier in Italy Critics have shown that this masterpiece, which can be considered a dramatic work in its own right, was written for James's court, if not for the monarch himself. The magic arts of Prospero, on which depend the outcome of the plot, hint at the fine relationship between art and nature in poetry. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual Nature, in the broadest sense is equivalent to the natural world, physical universe, material world or material universe. Significantly for those times (the arrival of the first colonists in America), The Tempest is (though not apparently) set on a Bermudan island, as research on the Bermuda Pamphlets (1609) has shown, linking Shakespeare to the Virginia Company itself. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The "News from the New World", as Frank Kermode points out, were already out and Shakespeare's interest in this respect is remarkable. Shakespeare also popularized the English sonnet which made significant changes to Petrarch's model. The sonnet is one of the poetic forms that can be found in Lyric poetry from Europe. Francesco Petrarca ( July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374) known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar
The sonnet was introduced into English by Thomas Wyatt in the early 16th century. Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503 &ndash October 11, 1542) was a 16th century English lyrical Poet. Poems intended to be set to music as songs, such as by Thomas Campion, became popular as printed literature was disseminated more widely in households. Thomas Campion, (sometimes Campian) (12 February 1567 &ndash 1 March 1620 was an English Composer, poet and Physician. See English Madrigal School. The English Madrigal School was the brief but intense flowering of the musical madrigal in England mostly from 1588 to 1627, along with the composers who Other important figures in Elizabethan theatre include Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. Thomas Dekker is the name of Thomas Dekker (writer (1572&ndash1632 Elizabethan poet and dramatist Thomas Dekker (actor (born 1987 John Fletcher (1579 &ndash 1625 was a Jacobean Playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was Francis Beaumont (1584 &ndash March 6 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Had Marlowe (1564-1593) not been stabbed at twenty-nine in a tavern brawl, says Anthony Burgess, he might have rivalled, if not equalled Shakespeare himself for his poetic gifts. Anthony Burgess (February 25 1917 — November 22 1993 was an English Novelist, Critic, Composer, Librettist, Poet Remarkably, he was born only a few weeks before Shakespeare and must have known him well. Marlowe's subject matter, though, is different: it focuses more on the moral drama of the renaissance man than any other thing. Marlowe was fascinated and terrified by the new frontiers opened by modern science. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Drawing on German lore, he introduced Dr. Faustus to England, a scientist and magician who is obsessed by the thirst of knowledge and the desire to push man's technological power to its limits. He acquires supernatural gifts that even allow him to go back in time and wed Helen of Troy, but at the end of his twenty-four years' covenant with the devil he has to surrender his soul to him. Troy ( Greek: grc Τροία Troia, also, Ilion; Latin: Trōia, Īlium, Hittite: Wilusa or The Devil is the The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living His dark heroes may have something of Marlowe himself, whose untimely death remains a mystery. He was known for being an atheist, leading a lawless life, keeping many mistresses, consorting with ruffians: living the 'high life' of London's underworld. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. But many suspect that this might have been a cover-up for his activities as a secret agent for Elizabeth I, hinting that the 'accidental stabbing' might have been a premeditated assassination by the enemies of The Crown. Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government Beaumont and Fletcher are less-known, but it is almost sure that they helped Shakespeare write some of his best dramas, and were quite popular at the time. It is also at this time that the city comedy genre develops. City comedy, also called Citizen Comedy is a common genre of Elizabethan drama. In the later 16th century English poetry was characterised by elaboration of language and extensive allusion to classical myths. The most important poets of this era include Edmund Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney. Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The Sir Philip Sidney ( November 30, 1554 &ndash October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age's most prominent figures Elizabeth herself, a product of Renaissance humanism, produced occasional poems such as On Monsieur’s Departure. Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century On Monsieur’s Departure is an Elizabethan poem by Elizabeth I of England herself
Jacobean literature
After Shakespeare's death, the poet and dramatist Ben Jonson was the leading literary figure of the Jacobean era (The reign of James I). This article is about changing canons of Renaissance English poetry (i Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist Highlights of the Jacobean Era The practical if not formal unification of England and Scotland under one ruler was a development of the first order of importance for both James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625 was King of Scotland as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James However, Jonson's aesthetics hark back to the Middle Ages rather than to the Tudor Era: his characters embody the theory of humours. Humorism, or humoralism, was a theory of the makeup and workings of the human body adopted by Greek and Roman physicians and philosophers According to this contemporary medical theory, behavioral differences result from a prevalence of one of the body's four "humours" (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) over the other three; these humours correspond with the four elements of the universe: air, water, fire, and earth. This leads Jonson to exemplify such differences to the point of creating types, or clichés.
Jonson is a master of style, and a brilliant satirist. His Volpone shows how a group of scammers are fooled by a top con-artist, vice being punished by vice, virtue meting out its reward.
Others who followed Jonson's style include Beaumont and Fletcher, who wrote the brilliant comedy, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, a mockery of the rising middle class and especially of those nouveaux riches who pretend to dictate literary taste without knowing much literature at all. Beaumont and Fletcher were the English Dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I The Knight of the Burning Pestle is a play by Francis Beaumont, first performed in 1607 and first published in a quarto in 1613. In the story, a couple of grocers wrangle with professional actors to have their illiterate son play a leading role in a drama. He becomes a knight-errant wearing, appropriately, a burning pestle on his shield. Seeking to win a princess' heart, the young man is ridiculed much in the way Don Quixote was. es '''''Don Quixote''''' (, see spelling and pronunciation below fully titled es '''''El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha''''' ("The Ingenious Hidalgo Don One of Beaumont and Fletcher's chief merits was that of realising how feudalism and chivalry had turned into snobbery and make-believe and that new social classes were on the rise.
Another popular style of theatre during Jacobean times was the revenge play, popularized by John Webster and Thomas Kyd. The revenge play or revenge tragedy is a form of Tragedy which was extremely popular in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras The best-known of these John Webster (c 1580 &ndash c 1634 was an English Jacobean Dramatist, and a late contemporary of William Shakespeare. Thomas Kyd ( 3 November 1558 – 16 July 1594) was an English Dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy George Chapman wrote a couple of subtle revenge tragedies, but must be remembered chiefly on account of his famous translation of Homer, one that had a profound influence on all future English literature, even inspiring John Keats to write one of his best sonnets. George Chapman (c 1559 &ndash May 12 1634) was an English Dramatist, Translator, and Poet. Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the
The King James Bible, one of the most massive translation projects in the history of English up to this time, was started in 1604 and completed in 1611. It represents the culmination of a tradition of Bible translation into English that began with the work of William Tyndale. The efforts of translating the Bible from its original languages into over 2000 others have spanned more than two millennia. Tyndale redirects here For the English family see Tyndall. For other uses see Tyndale (disambiguation. It became the standard Bible of the Church of England, and some consider it one of the greatest literary works of all time. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican This project was headed by James I himself, who supervised the work of forty-seven scholars. Although many other translations into English have been made, some of which are widely considered more accurate, many aesthetically prefer the King James Bible, whose meter is made to mimic the original Hebrew verse.
Besides Shakespeare, whose figure towers over the early 1600s, the major poets of the early 17th century included John Donne and the other Metaphysical poets. John Donne (pronounced like done, dʌn 1572 – 31 March 1631 was a Jacobean poet preacher and a major representative of the Metaphysical poets The metaphysical poets were a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them Influenced by continental Baroque, and taking as his subject matter both Christian mysticism and eroticism, metaphysical poetry uses unconventional or "unpoetic" figures, such as a compass or a mosquito, to reach surprise effects. Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc For example, in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning", one of Donne's Songs and Sonnets, the points of a compass represent two lovers, the woman who is home, waiting, being the centre, the farther point being her lover sailing away from her. But the larger the distance, the more the hands of the compass lean to each other: separation makes love grow fonder. The paradox or the oxymoron is a constant in this poetry whose fears and anxieties also speak of a world of spiritual certainties shaken by the modern discoveries of geography and science, one that is no longer the centre of the universe. A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a Contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or inversely Apart from the metaphysical poetry of Donne, the 17th century is also celebrated for its Baroque poetry. Baroque poetry served the same ends as the art of the period; the Baroque style is lofty, sweeping, epic, and religious. Many of these poets have an overtly Catholic sensibility (namely Richard Crashaw) and wrote poetry for the Catholic counter-Reformation in order to establish a feeling of supremacy and mysticism that would ideally persuade newly emerging Protestant groups back toward Catholicism.
Caroline and Cromwellian literature
The turbulent years of the mid-17th century, during the reign of Charles I and the subsequent Commonwealth and Protectorate, saw a flourishing of political literature in English. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. The Commonwealth of England was the Republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland In British history, the Protectorate was the period 1653&ndash1659 during which the Commonwealth of England Scotland and Ireland was governed by a Lord Pamphlets written by sympathisers of every faction in the English civil war ran from vicious personal attacks and polemics, through many forms of propaganda, to high-minded schemes to reform the nation. A pamphlet is an unbound Booklet (that is without a hard cover or binding) The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people Of the latter type, Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes would prove to be one of the most important works of British political philosophy. Leviathan ( is a Biblical Sea monster referred to in the Old Testament ( Psalm 74:13-14 Job 41 Isaiah 271 Thomas Hobbes (born 5 April 1588died 4 December 1679 was an English philosopher, whose famous 1651 book Leviathan established the foundation Political philosophy is the study of questions about the City, Government, Politics, Liberty, Justice, Property, Rights Hobbes's writings are some of the few political works from the era which are still regularly published while John Bramhall, who was Hobbes's chief critic, is largely forgotten. John Bramhall ( 1594 &mdash June 25 1663) was an Archbishop of Armagh, and an Anglican theologian and Apologist. The period also saw a flourishing of news books, the precursors to the British newspaper, with journalists such as Henry Muddiman, Marchamont Needham, and John Birkenhead representing the views and activities of the contending parties. During the 17th century, there were many kinds of publications that told both news and rumours Henry Muddiman (1629&ndash1692 was an English Journalist and Publisher active after the restoration of the monarchy. Marchamont Needham (1620 &ndash 1678 was a Journalist, publisher and Pamphleteer during the English Civil War, who wrote official news and Propaganda Sir John Birkenhead or Berkenhead ( March 24, 1616 &ndash 4 December, 1679) was a British Political writer and The frequent arrests of authors and the suppression of their works, with the consequence of foreign or underground printing, led to the proposal of a licensing system. The Areopagitica, a political pamphlet by John Milton, was written in opposition to licensing and is regarded as one of the most eloquent defenses of press freedom ever written. Areopagitica A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England is a Prose tract or Polemic by John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and Freedom Constitutional or statutory protections pertaining to freedom of the press
Specifically in the reign of Charles I (1625 – 42), English Renaissance theatre experienced its concluding efflorescence. English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. The last works of Ben Jonson appeared on stage and in print, along with the final generation of major voices in the drama of the age: John Ford, Philip Massinger, James Shirley, and Richard Brome. Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist John Ford ( baptised April 17, 1586 &ndash c 1640? was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington Philip Massinger (1583 &ndash March 17, 1640) was an English Dramatist. James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 &ndash October 1666 was an English Dramatist. Richard Brome (c 1590? &ndash 1653 (pronounced "Broom" was an English dramatist of the Caroline era With the closure of the theatres at the start of the English Civil War in 1642, drama was suppressed for a generation, to resume only in the altered society of the English Restoration in 1660. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The English Restoration, or simply The Restoration began in 1660 when the English monarchy, Scottish monarchy and Irish monarchy were restored
Other forms of literature written during this period are usually ascribed political subtexts, or their authors are grouped along political lines. Subtext is content of a book play musical work film video game or television series which is not announced explicitly by the characters (or author but is implicit or becomes The cavalier poets, active mainly before the civil war, owed much to the earlier school of metaphysical poets. Cavalier poets is a broad description of a school of English Poets of the 17th century who came from the classes that supported King Charles I during the English The metaphysical poets were a loose group of British lyric poets of the 17th century who shared an interest in metaphysical concerns and a common way of investigating them The forced retirement of royalist officials after the execution of Charles I was a good thing in the case of Izaak Walton, as it gave him time to work on his book The Compleat Angler. Izaak Walton ( August 9, 1593 - December 15, 1683) was an English writer, author of The Compleat Angler. Izaak Walton ( August 9, 1593 - December 15, 1683) was an English writer, author of The Compleat Angler. Published in 1653, the book, ostensibly a guide to fishing, is much more: a meditation on life, leisure, and contentment. The two most important poets of Oliver Cromwell's England were Andrew Marvell and John Milton, with both producing works praising the new government; such as Marvell's An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland. Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known Andrew Marvell ( 31 March 1621 &ndash 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, and the son of a Church of Despite their republican beliefs they escaped punishment upon the Restoration of Charles II, after which Milton wrote some of his greatest poetical works (with any possible political message hidden under allegory). Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Thomas Browne was another writer of the period; a learned man with an extensive library, he wrote prolifically on science, religion, medicine and the esoteric. Sir Thomas Browne ( October 19, 1605 &ndash October 19, 1682) was an English author of varied works which disclose his wide learning
Restoration literature
Restoration literature includes both Paradise Lost and the Earl of Rochester's Sodom, the high spirited sexual comedy of The Country Wife and the moral wisdom of Pilgrim's Progress. Restoration literature is the English literature written during the historical period commonly referred to as the English Restoration (1660&ndash1689 which corresponds The Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published February 1678) is a Christian Allegory It saw Locke's Treatises on Government, the founding of the Royal Society, the experiments of Robert Boyle and the holy meditations of Boyle, the hysterical attacks on theatres from Jeremy Collier, the pioneering of literary criticism from Dryden, and the first newspapers. The Royal Society of London for the Improvement of Natural Knowledge, known simply as The Royal Society, is a Learned society for science that was founded in 1660 Robert Boyle was a Natural philosopher, chemist physicist inventor and early Gentleman scientist, noted for his work in Physics and Chemistry Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage is an anti-theatre pamphlet written in 1698 by the Non-juror bishop and divine Jeremy Jeremy Collier ( 23 September 1650 - 26 April 1726) was an English theatre critic non-juror The official break in literary culture caused by censorship and radically moralist standards under Cromwell's Puritan regime created a gap in literary tradition, allowing a seemingly fresh start for all forms of literature after the Restoration. During the Interregnum, the royalist forces attached to the court of Charles I went into exile with the twenty-year old Charles II. Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. The nobility who travelled with Charles II were therefore lodged for over a decade in the midst of the continent's literary scene. Charles spent his time attending plays in France, and he developed a taste for Spanish plays. Those nobles living in Holland began to learn about mercantile exchange as well as the tolerant, rationalist prose debates that circulated in that officially tolerant nation. In Epistemology and in its broadest sense rationalism is "any view appealing to Reason as a source of knowledge or justification" (Lacey 286
The largest and most important poetic form of the era was satire. In general, publication of satire was done anonymously. There were great dangers in being associated with a satire. On the one hand, defamation law was a wide net, and it was difficult for a satirist to avoid prosecution if he were proven to have written a piece that seemed to criticize a noble. On the other hand, wealthy individuals would respond to satire as often as not by having the suspected poet physically attacked by ruffians. John Dryden was set upon for being merely suspected of having written the Satire on Mankind. A consequence of this anonymity is that a great many poems, some of them of merit, are unpublished and largely unknown.
Prose in the Restoration period is dominated by Christian religious writing, but the Restoration also saw the beginnings of two genres that would dominate later periods: fiction and journalism. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Fiction is the telling of stories which are not real More specifically fiction is an imaginative form of Narrative, one of the four basic Rhetorical modes. Religious writing often strayed into political and economic writing, just as political and economic writing implied or directly addressed religion. The Restoration was also the time when John Locke wrote many of his philosophical works. John Locke (29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704 was an English Philosopher. Locke's empiricism was an attempt at understanding the basis of human understanding itself and thereby devising a proper manner for making sound decisions. These same scientific methods led Locke to his three Treatises on Government, which later inspired the thinkers in the American Revolution. In this article the inhabitants of the thirteen colonies that supported the American Revolution are primarily referred to as "Americans" with occasional references to "Patriots" As with his work on understanding, Locke moves from the most basic units of society toward the more elaborate, and, like Thomas Hobbes, he emphasizes the plastic nature of the social contract. For an age that had seen absolute monarchy overthrown, democracy attempted, democracy corrupted, and limited monarchy restored, only a flexible basis for government could be satisfying. The Restoration moderated most of the more strident sectarian writing, but radicalism persisted after the Restoration. Puritan authors such as John Milton were forced to retire from public life or adapt, and those Digger, Fifth Monarchist, Leveller, Quaker, and Anabaptist authors who had preached against monarchy and who had participated directly in the regicide of Charles I were partially suppressed. John Milton ( 9 December, 1608 – 8 November, 1674) was an English Poet, Prose Polemicist and The Diggers were an English group begun by Gerrard Winstanley as True Levellers in 1649, who became known as "Diggers" The Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men were active from 1649 to 1661 during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century See Levellers (disambiguation for alternative meanings. The Levellers were members of a mid 17th century English Political movement Anabaptists ( Greek ανα (again twice + βαπτιζω (baptize thus "re-baptizers" are Christians of the Radical Reformation The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a Monarch, or the person responsible for it Charles I, (19 November 1600 &ndash 30 January 1649 was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution. Consequently, violent writings were forced underground, and many of those who had served in the Interregnum attenuated their positions in the Restoration. John Bunyan stands out beyond other religious authors of the period. John Bunyan (28 November 1628 &ndash 31 August 1688 a Christian writer and Preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory of personal salvation and a guide to the Christian life. The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published February 1678) is a Christian Allegory An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Instead of any focus on eschatology or divine retribution, Bunyan instead writes about how the individual saint can prevail against the temptations of mind and body that threaten damnation. Eschatology (from the Greek, Eschatos meaning "last" and -logy meaning "the study of" is a part of Theology A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity The book is written in a straightforward narrative and shows influence from both drama and biography, and yet it also shows an awareness of the grand allegorical tradition found in Edmund Spenser. Drama is the specific mode of Fiction represented in Performance. A biography (from the Greek words bíos (βίος meaning "life" and gráphein (γράφειν meaning "to write" is an account Edmund Spenser (c 1552 &ndash 13 January, 1599) was an important English Poet and Poet Laureate best known for The During the Restoration period, the most common manner of getting news would have been a broadsheet publication. Broadsheet is the largest of the various Newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches or more A single, large sheet of paper might have a written, usually partisan, account of an event. However, the period saw the beginnings of the first professional and periodical (meaning that the publication was regular) journalism in England. Journalism develops late, generally around the time of William of Orange's claiming the throne in 1689. William III or William of Orange (14 November 1650 &ndash 8 March 1702 He is informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy" Coincidentally or by design, England began to have newspapers just when William came to court from Amsterdam, where there were already newspapers being published. Amsterdam (pronounced) is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west
It is impossible to satisfactorily date the beginning of the novel in English. However, long fiction and fictional biographies began to distinguish themselves from other forms in England during the Restoration period. An existing tradition of Romance fiction in France and Spain was popular in England. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The "Romance" was considered a feminine form, and women were taxed with reading "novels" as a vice. One of the most significant figures in the rise of the novel in the Restoration period is Aphra Behn. She was not only the first professional female novelist, but she may be among the first professional novelists of either sex in England. Behn's most famous novel was Oroonoko in 1688. Oroonoko is a short Novel by Aphra Behn ( June 10 1640 &ndash April 16 1689) published in 1688 This was a biography of an entirely fictional African king who had been enslaved in Suriname. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by Behn's novels show the influence of tragedy and her experiences as a dramatist.
As soon as the previous Puritan regime's ban on public stage representations was lifted, the drama recreated itself quickly and abundantly. The most famous plays of the early Restoration period are the unsentimental or "hard" comedies of John Dryden, William Wycherley, and George Etherege, which reflect the atmosphere at Court, and celebrate an aristocratic macho lifestyle of unremitting sexual intrigue and conquest. John Dryden (– was an influential English poet Literary critic, Translator and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England William Wycherley ( c 1640 – 31 December 1715) was an English Dramatist of the Restoration period Sir George Etherege (1635? Maidenhead, Berkshire &ndashc May 10, 1692, Paris) was an English Dramatist. Machismo is a prominently exhibited or excessive Masculinity. After a sharp drop in both quality and quantity in the 1680s, the mid-90s saw a brief second flowering of the drama, especially comedy. Comedies like William Congreve's Love For Love (1695) and The Way of the World (1700), and John Vanbrugh's The Relapse (1696) and The Provoked Wife (1697) were "softer" and more middle-class in ethos, very different from the aristocratic extravaganza twenty years earlier, and aimed at a wider audience. William Congreve ( 24 January 1670 &ndash 19 January 1729) was an English Playwright and Poet. The Way of the World is a play written by British Playwright William Congreve. Sir John Vanbrugh (pronounced "Van'-bru" (24 January 1664? – 26 March 1726 was an English Architect and Dramatist, perhaps best known The Relapse or Virtue in Danger is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The Provoked Wife is the second original comedy written by John Vanbrugh. Extravaganza refers to a literary or musical work (often Musical theatre) characterized by freedom of style and structure and usually containing elements of burlesque The playwrights of the 1690s set out to appeal to more socially mixed audiences with a strong middle-class element, and to female spectators, for instance by moving the war between the sexes from the arena of intrigue into that of marriage. The middle class, in colloquial usage consists of those who have some economic independence but not a great deal of social Influence or power. The focus in comedy is less on young lovers outwitting the older generation, more on marital relations after the wedding bells.
Diarists John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys depicted everyday London life and the cultural scene of the times. John Evelyn ( 31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was an English writer gardener and diarist Samuel Pepys, FRS (23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703 was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for
Augustan literature
The term Augustan literature derives from authors of the 1720s and 1730's themselves, who responded to a term that George I of England preferred for himself. Augustan literature is a style of English literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the Augustan literature is a style of English literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II in the George I (George Louis German Georg Ludwig; 28 May 1660 &ndash 11 June 1727 For the first year of his life George was the only heir to his father's and three childless While George I meant the title to reflect his might, they instead saw in it a reflection of Ancient Rome's transition from rough and ready literature to highly political and highly polished literature. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Because of the aptness of the metaphor, the period from 1689 - 1750 was called "the Augustan Age" by critics throughout the 18th century (including Voltaire and Oliver Goldsmith). François-Marie Arouet ( 21 November 1694 30 May 1778) better known by the Pen name Voltaire, was a French Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar The literature of the period is overtly political and thoroughly aware of critical dictates for literature. It is an age of exuberance and scandal, of enormous energy and inventiveness and outrage, that reflected an era when English, Scottish, and Irish people found themselves in the midst of an expanding economy, lowering barriers to education, and the stirrings of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the
The most outstanding poet of the age is Alexander Pope, but Pope's excellence is partially in his constant battle with other poets, and his serene, seemingly neo-Classical approach to poetry is in competition with highly idiosyncratic verse and strong competition from such poets as Ambrose Philips. Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744 is generally regarded as the greatest English Poet of the eighteenth century best known for his Satirical Ambrose Philips, (1674 &ndash 18 June 1749) was an English Poet. It was during this time that James Thomson produced his melancholy The Seasons and Edward Young wrote Night Thoughts. James Thomson ( 11 September, 1700 &ndash 27 August, 1748) was a Scottish Poet and playwright known for his masterpiece Edward Young ( June, 1681(As stated in Rev J Mitford's Biography of Young - April 5, 1765) was an English Poet, best remembered It is also the era that saw a serious competition over the proper model for the pastoral. Pastoral, as an adjective refers to the lifestyle of Shepherds and Pastoralists moving livestock around larger areas of land according to seasons and availability In criticism, poets struggled with a doctrine of decorum, of matching proper words with proper sense and of achieving a diction that matched the gravity of a subject. At the same time, the mock-heroic was at its zenith. Mock-heroic or heroi-comic works are typically Satires or Parodies that mock common Classical stereotypes of Heroes and heroic literature Pope's Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad are still the greatest mock-heroic poems ever written. The Rape of the Lock is a Mock-heroic Narrative poem written by Alexander Pope, first published anonymously in Lintot's Miscellany The Dunciad (ˈdʌnsiˌæd is a landmark literary Satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times
In prose, the earlier part of the period was overshadowed by the development of the English essay. Joseph Addison and Richard Steele's The Spectator established the form of the British periodical essay, inventing the pose of the detached observer of human life who can meditate upon the world without advocating any specific changes in it. Joseph Addison (May 1 1672 – June 17 1719 was an English essayist and Poet. This is about Richard Steele Irish writer and politician for others see Richard Steele (disambiguation page The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711 &ndash 12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at However, this was also the time when the English novel, first emerging in the Restoration, developed into a major artform. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Daniel Defoe turned from journalism and writing criminal lives for the press to writing fictional criminal lives with Roxana and Moll Flanders. Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 — April 24, 1731 was an English Writer, Journalist, and Pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating formally employed by publications and broadcasters for the benefit of a particular Community of people Roxana The Fortunate Mistress is a 1724 novel by Daniel Defoe. The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (commonly known as simply "Moll Flanders") is a Novel written by He also wrote a fictional treatment of the travels of Alexander Selkirk called Robinson Crusoe (1719). Alexander Selkirk, born Alexander Selcraig (1676 &ndash 13 December 1721 was a Scottish sailor who spent four years as a Castaway on an uninhabited The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (of York Mariner Who lived Eight and Twenty Years all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America near the Mouth The novel would benefit indirectly from a tragedy of the stage, and in mid-century many more authors would begin to write novels.
If Addison and Steele overawed one type of prose, then Jonathan Swift did another. Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 Swift's prose style is unmannered and direct, with a clarity that few contemporaries matched. He was a profound skeptic about the modern world, but he was similarly profoundly distrustful of nostalgia. He saw in history a record of lies and vanity, and he saw in the present a madness of vanity and lies. Core Christian values were essential, but these values had to be muscular and assertive and developed by constant rejection of the games of confidence men and their gullies. A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Swift's A Tale of a Tub announced his skeptical analysis of the claims of the modern world, and his later prose works, such as his war with Patridge the astrologer, and most of all his derision of pride in Gulliver's Travels left only the individual in constant fear and humility safe. A Tale of a Tub was the first major work written by Jonathan Swift, composed between 1694 and 1697 and published in 1704 Gulliver's Travels (1726 amended 1735 officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts After his "exile" to Ireland, Swift reluctantly began defending the Irish people from the predations of colonialism. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism His A Modest Proposal and the Drapier Letters provoked riots and arrests, but Swift, who had no love of Irish Roman Catholics, was outraged by the abuses and barbarity he saw around him. A Modest Proposal For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public,
Drama in the early part of the period featured the last plays of John Vanbrugh and William Congreve, both of whom carried on the Restoration comedy with some alterations. Sir John Vanbrugh (pronounced "Van'-bru" (24 January 1664? – 26 March 1726 was an English Architect and Dramatist, perhaps best known William Congreve ( 24 January 1670 &ndash 19 January 1729) was an English Playwright and Poet. However, the majority of stagings were of lower farces and much more serious and domestic tragedies. A farce is a Comedy written for the stage or film which aims to Entertain the audience by means of unlikely extravagant and improbable situations disguise and mistaken George Lillo and Richard Steele both produced highly moral forms of tragedy, where the characters and the concerns of the characters were wholly middle class or working class. George Lillo ( February 4 1693 - September 4 1739) was a British Playwright and tragedian This is about Richard Steele Irish writer and politician for others see Richard Steele (disambiguation page This reflected a marked change in the audience for plays, as royal patronage was no longer the important part of theatrical success. Additionally, Colley Cibber and John Rich began to battle each other for greater and greater spectacles to present on stage. Colley Cibber (ˈkɒli ˈsɪbɚ (11 June 1671 &ndash 12 November 1757 was a British actor-manager playwright and Poet Laureate. John Rich (1692 - 1761 was an important director and theatre manager in 18th century London. The figure of Harlequin was introduced, and pantomime theatre began to be staged. Harlequin ( Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French) is the most popular of the Zanni or comic servant characters from Pantomime (informally panto) (not to be confused with a Mime artist, referring to a theatrical performer of mime is a performance genre traditionally found This "low" comedy was quite popular, and the plays became tertiary to the staging. Opera also began to be popular in London, and there was significant literary resistance to this Italian incursion. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto This trend was broken only by a few attempts at a new type of comedy. Pope and John Arbuthnot and John Gay attempted a play entitled Three Hours After Marriage that failed. John Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr Arbuthnot, ( baptised 29 April, 1667 &ndash 27 February, 1735) was a physician John Gay ( 30 June, 1685 - 4 December, 1732) was an English Poet and Dramatist. In 1728, however, John Gay returned to the playhouse with The Beggar's Opera. The Beggar's Opera is a Ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay. Gay's opera was in English and retold the story of Jack Sheppard and Jonathan Wild. Jack Sheppard (4 March 1702 – 16 November 1724 was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Jonathan Wild ( baptised 6 May 1683 – 24 May 1725) was perhaps the most famous criminal of London &mdash and However, it seemed to be an allegory for Robert Walpole and the directors of the South Sea Company, and so Gay's follow up opera was banned without performance. Robert Walpole 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 &ndash 18 March 1745 known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a The licensing act of 1737 brought an abrupt halt to much of the period's drama, as the theatres were once again brought under state control.
An effect of the Licensing Act was to cause more than one aspiring playwright to switch over to writing novels. Henry Fielding began to write prose satire and novels after his plays could not pass the censors. Henry Fielding ( April 22, 1707 &ndash October 8, 1754) was an English Novelist and Dramatist known for his Henry Brooke also turned to novels. Henry Brooke may refer to Henry Brooke 11th Baron Cobham, English nobleman and plotter against James I Henry Brooke (writer, novelist and In the interim, Samuel Richardson had produced a novel intended to counter the deleterious effects of novels in Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1749). Samuel Richardson (19 August 1689 &ndash 4 July 1761 was an 18th-century English Writer and printer. Pamela or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary Novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. Henry Fielding attacked the absurdity of this novel with two of his own works, Joseph Andrews and Shamela, and then countered Richardson's Clarissa with Tom Jones. Joseph Andrews, or The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr An Apology for the Life of Mrs Shamela Andrews, or Shamela, as it is more commonly known is a satirical Novel written by Henry Fielding Samuel Richardson 's Clarissa or the History of a Young Lady Epistolary novel, published in 1748, tells the tragic story of a heroine whose The History of Tom Jones a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a Comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Brooke wrote The Man of Feeling and indirectly began the sentimental novel. The Man of Feeling is a 1771 Picaresque novel by Scottish author Henry Mackenzie. The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th century literary genre which celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of Sentiment Laurence Sterne attempted a Swiftian novel with a unique perspective on the impossibility of biography (the model for most novels up to that point) and understanding with Tristram Shandy, even as his detractor Tobias Smollett elevated the picaresque novel with his works. Laurence Sterne ( November 24, 1713 &ndash March 18, 1768) was an Irish -born English Novelist and an Anglican The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman (or more briefly Tristram Shandy) is a novel by Laurence Sterne. Tobias George Smollett (bapt 19 March, 1721 &ndash 17 September, 1771) was a Scottish author best known for his Picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: "picaresca", from "pícaro", for " Rogue " or " Rascal " is a Each of these novels represents a formal and thematic divergence from the others. Each novelist was in dialogue and competition with the others, and, in a sense, the novel established itself as a diverse and open-formed genre in this explosion of creativity. The most lasting effects of the experimentation would be the psychological realism of Richardson, the bemused narrative voice of Fielding, and the sentimentality of Brooke.
18th century
- Further information: 18th century literature
During the Age of Sensibility, literature reflected the worldview of the Age of Enlightenment (or Age of Reason) – a rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues that promoted a secular view of the world and a general sense of progress and perfectibility. See also 17th century in literature, other events of the 18th century, 19th century in literature, List of years in literature. Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something such as the Emotions of another The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century Led by the philosophers who were inspired by the discoveries of the previous century (Newton) and the writings of Descartes, Locke and Bacon. They sought to discover and to act upon universally valid principles governing humanity, nature, and society. They variously attacked spiritual and scientific authority, dogmatism, intolerance, censorship, and economic and social restraints. They considered the state the proper and rational instrument of progress. The extreme rationalism and skepticism of the age led naturally to deism; the same qualities played a part in bringing the later reaction of romanticism.
The Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot epitomized the spirit of the age. Encyclopédie ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences des arts et des métiers (Encyclopedia or a systematic dictionary of the sciences arts and crafts was a general
Increased emphasis on instinct and feeling, rather than judgment and restraint. A growing sympathy for the Middle Ages during the Age of Sensibility sparked an interest in medieval ballads and folk literature.
Romanticism
The changing landscape of Britain brought about by the steam engine has two major outcomes: the boom of industrialism with the expansion of the city, and the consequent depopulation of the countryside as a result of the enclosures, or privatisation of pastures. The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the Enclosure or inclosure (the latter is used in Legal documents and Place names is the term used in England and Wales Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of business from the Public sector (government to the Private sector (business Most peasants poured into the city to work in the new factories.
This abrupt change is revealed by the change of meaning in five key words: industry (once meaning "creativity"), democracy (once disparagingly used as "mob rule"), class (from now also used with a social connotation), art (once just meaning "craft"), culture (once only belonging to farming). Ochlocracy ( Greek: οχλοκρατία or okhlokratía; Latin: ochlocratia) is government by mob or a mass of people
But the poor condition of workers, the new class-conflicts and the pollution of the environment causes a reaction to urbanism and industrialisation prompting poets to rediscover the beauty and value of nature. Urbanism is the study of cities &mdash their Geographic, Economic, Political, Social and Cultural environment Mother earth is seen as the only source of wisdom, the only solution to the ugliness caused by machines. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001
The superiority of nature and instinct over civilisation had been preached by Jean Jacques Rousseau and his message was picked by almost all European poets. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements The first in England were the Lake Poets, a small group of friends including William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Lake Poets all lived in the Lake District of England at the turn of the nineteenth century Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 &ndash 25 July 1834) was an English Poet, Critic and philosopher These early Romantic Poets brought a new emotionalism and introspection, and their emergence is marked by the first romantic Manifesto in English literature, the "Preface to the Lyrical Ballads". Romanticism largely began as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day Lyrical Ballads with a Few Other Poems is a collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, first published in 1798 it is typically This collection was mostly contributed by Wordsworth, although Coleridge must be credited for his long and impressive Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a tragic ballad about the survival of one sailor through a series of supernatural events on his voyage through the south seas which involves the slaying of an albatross, the death of the rest of the crew, a visit from Death and his mate, Life-in-Death, and the eventual redemption of the Mariner. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (original The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major Poem by the English Poet
Coleridge and Wordsworth, however, understood romanticism in two entirely different ways: while Coleridge sought to make the supernatural "real" (much like sci-fi movies use special effects to make unlikely plots believable), Wordsworth sought to stir the imagination of readers through his down-to-earth characters taken from real life (for eg. in "The Idiot Boy"), or the beauty of the Lake District that largely inspired his production (as in "Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey"). The Lake District, also known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a rural area in North West England.
The "Second generation" of Romantic poets includes Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley and John Keats. Percy Bysshe Shelley (August 4 1792 – July 8 1822 ˈpɝːsɪ ˈbɪʃ ˈʃɛlɪ was one of the major English Romantic poets and is widely considered to be among Mary Shelley ( Née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August Byron, however, was still influenced by 18th-century satirists and was, perhaps the least 'romantic' of the three. His amours with a number of prominent but married ladies was also a way to voice his dissent on the hypocrisy of a high society that was only apparently religious but in fact largely libertine, the same that had derided him for being physically impaired. His first trip to Europe resulted in the first two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a mock-heroic epic of a young man's adventures in Europe but also a sharp satire against London society. Childe Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy Narrative poem written by the poet George Gordon Lord Byron when at Kinsham. Despite Childe Harold's success on his return to England, accompanied by the publication of The Giaour and The Corsair his alleged incestuous affair with his half-sister Augusta Leigh in 1816 actually forced him to leave England for good and seek asylum on the continent. The Giaour is a Poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and the first in the series of his Oriental romances The Corsair was a semi-autobiographical tale about a pirate written by Lord Byron in 1814, which was extremely popular and influential in its day selling Here he joined Percy Bysshe Shelley, his wife Mary, with his secretary Dr. John Polidori on the shores of Lake Geneva during the 'year without a summer' of 1816. Lake Geneva or Lake Léman (Lac Léman Léman Lac de Genève is the second largest freshwater Lake in Central Europe in terms of surface area (after
Although his is just a short story, Polidori must be credited for introducing The Vampyre, conceived from the same competition which spawned Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, to English literature. " The Vampyre " is a short story written by John William Polidori and is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of Fantasy Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley Percy, like Mary, had much in common with Byron: he was an aristocrat from a famous and ancient family, had embraced atheism and free-thinking and, like him, was fleeing from scandal in England. Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that Beliefs should be formed on the basis of Science and Logic and should not be influenced
Shelley had been expelled from college for openly declaring his atheism. Atheism He had married a 16-year-old girl, Harriet Westbrook whom he had abandoned soon after for Mary (Harriet took her own life after that). Harriet did not embrace his ideals of free love and anarchism, and was not as educated as to contribute to literary debate. The term free love has been used since at least the nineteenth century to describe a Social movement that rejects Marriage, which is seen as a form Anarchism is a Political philosophy encompassing theories and attitudes which support the elimination of all compulsory Government, i Mary was different: the daughter of philosopher and revolutionary William Godwin, she was intellectually more of an equal, shared some of his ideals and was a feminist like her late mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, author of Vindication of the Rights of Women. William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist Mary Wollstonecraft (ˈwʊlstənkrɑːft 27 April 1759 – 10 September
One of Percy Shelley's most prominent works is the Ode to the West Wind. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed the Poem "Ode to the West Wind" in 1819 near Florence Italy it was published in 1820. Despite his apparent refusal to believe in God, this poem is considered a homage to pantheism, the recognition of a spiritual presence in nature. God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All
Mary Shelley did not go down in history for her poetry, but for giving birth to science fiction: the plot for the novel is said to have come from a nightmare during stormy nights on Lake Geneva in the company of Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Her idea of making a body with human parts stolen from different corpses and then animating it with electricity was perhaps influenced by Alessandro Volta's invention and Luigi Galvani's experiments with dead frogs. Count Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio Volta was a Lombard physicist known especially for the development of the first electric cell in Luigi Galvani was an Italian Physician and Physicist who lived and died in Bologna. Frankenstein's chilling tale also suggests modern organ transplants, tissue regeneration, reminding us of the moral issues raised by today's medicine. Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, generally known as Frankenstein, is a Novel written by the British author Mary Shelley But the creature of Frankenstein is incredibly romantic as well. Although "the monster" is intelligent, good and loving, he is shunned by everyone because of his ugliness and deformity, and the desperation and envy that result from social exclusion turn him against the very man who created him.
John Keats did not share Byron's and Shelley's extremely revolutionary ideals, but his cult of pantheism is as important as Shelley's. Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All Keats was in love with the ancient stones of the Parthenon that Lord Elgin had brought to England from Greece, also known as the Elgin Marbles). The Parthenon ( Ancient Greek:) is a temple of the Greek goddess Athena, built in the 5th century BC on the Athenian Acropolis England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The Elgin Marbles, also known as the Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of Classical Greek Marble sculptures inscriptions and architectural members He celebrates ancient Greece: the beauty of free, youthful love couples here with that of classical art. Keats's great attention to art, especially in his Ode on a Grecian Urn is quite new in romanticism, and it will inspire Walter Pater's and then Oscar Wilde's belief in the absolute value of art as independent from aesthetics. Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual " Ode on a Grecian Urn " is a Poem by John Keats, written in 1819 and first published in January 1820 Walter Horatio Pater ( August 4 1839 - July 30 1894) was an English Essayist and art and Literary critic. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called
The most popular novelist of the era was Sir Walter Scott, whose grand historical romances inspired a generation of painters, composers, and writers throughout Europe. Sir Walter Scott 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 &ndash 21 September 1832 was a prolific Scottish Historical novelist and Poet popular throughout By contrast, Jane Austen wrote novels about the life of the landed gentry, seen from a woman's point of view, and wryly focused on practical social issues, especially marriage and money. Jane Austen (16
Poet, painter and printmaker William Blake is usually included among the English Romanticists, though his visionary work is much different from that of the others discussed in this section. William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 was an English poet, painter, and Printmaker.
Victorian literature
It was in the Victorian era (1837-1901) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. Victorian literature is the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901 and corresponds to the Victorian era. Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities Most writers were now more concerned to meet the tastes of a large middle class reading public than to please aristocratic patrons. The best known works of the era include the emotionally powerful works of the Brontë sisters; the satire Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray; the realist novels of George Eliot; and Anthony Trollope's insightful portrayals of the lives of the landowning and professional classes. The Brontë sisters (ˈbrɒnte Charlotte (21 April 1816 &ndash 31 March 1855 Emily (30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848 and Anne (17 January 1820 Vanity Fair A Novel without a Hero is a Novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1847-48 that satirizes society in early William Makepeace Thackeray (ˈθækərɪ 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863 was an English Novelist of the 19th century Mary Ann (Marian Evans ( 22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880) better known by her Pen name George Eliot, was an Anthony Trollope (April 24 1815 – December 6 1882 became one of the most successful prolific and respected English Novelists of the Victorian era.
Charles Dickens emerged on the literary scene in the 1830s, confirming the trend for serial publication. The term " serial " refers to the intrinsic property of a series &mdash namely its order. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and the struggles of the poor, but in a good-humoured fashion which was acceptable to readers of all classes. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. His early works such as the Pickwick Papers are masterpieces of comedy. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. Later his works became darker, without losing his genius for caricature. A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description
An interest in rural matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, and others. Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928 was an English novelist Short story writer and poet of the naturalist movement though he saw Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (née Stevenson 29 September 1810 &ndash 12 November 1865 often referred to simply as Mrs
Leading poetic figures included Alfred Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Matthew Arnold, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Christina Rossetti. Alfred Tennyson 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892 was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets Robert Browning (7 May 1812 - 12 December 1889 was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of Dramatic verse, especially Dramatic monologues made him one of Elizabeth Barrett Browning ( March 6, 1806 &ndash June 29, 1861) was one of the most respected Poets of the Victorian era Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 &ndash 15 April 1888 was an English Poet, and Cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools Dante Gabriel Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882 was an English poet Illustrator, painter and Translator. Christina Georgina Rossetti ( December 5, 1830 &ndash December 29, 1894) was an English Poet, who wrote a variety of romantic devotional
Literature for children developed as a separate genre. Children's literature is an age category of literature written for published for or marketed to Children roughly through age 12 Some works become globally well-known, such as those of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear, both of whom used nonsense verse. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (ˈdɒdsən (27 January 1832 &ndash 14 January 1898 better known by the Pen name Lewis Carroll (/ˈkærəl/ was an English Edward Lear ( 12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English Artist, Illustrator and Writer known Nonsense verse is the poetic form of Literary nonsense, normally composed for humorous effect which is intentionally and overtly paradoxical silly witty whimsical or otherwise Adventure novels, such as those of Anthony Hope and Robert Louis Stevenson, were written for adults but are now generally classified as for children. The adventure novel is a Literary genre of novels that has Adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger as its main theme Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933 was an English novelist and playwright Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894 was a Scottish novelist poet and travel writer, and a representative of Neo-romanticism in
Modernism
The movement known as English literary modernism grew out of a general sense of disillusionment with Victorian era attitudes of certainty, conservatism, and objective truth. Modernist literature is the literary form of Modernism and especially High modernism; it should not be confused with modern literature, which is the history Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities The movement was greatly influenced by the ideas of Romanticism, Karl Marx's political writings, and the psychoanalytic theories of subconscious - Sigmund Freud. Romanticism is a complex artistic literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Sigmund Freud (ˈziːkmʊnt ˈfʁɔʏt born Sigismund Shlomo Freud (May 6 1856 &ndash September 23 1939 was an Austrian Psychiatrist who founded The continental art movements of Impressionism, and later Cubism, were also important inspirations for modernist writers. Impressionism was a 19th-century Art movement that began as a loose association of Paris -based Artists exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s Cubism was a 20th century Avant-garde Art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European
Although literary modernism reached its peak between the First and Second World Wars, the earliest examples of the movement's attitudes appeared in the mid to late nineteenth century. A world war is a War affecting the majority of the world's most powerful and populous nations Gerard Manley Hopkins, A. E. Housman, and the poet and novelist Thomas Hardy represented a few of the major early modernists writing in England during the Victorian period. Gerard Manley Hopkins ( 28 July 1844 – 8 June, 1889) was an English Poet, Roman Catholic convert and Alfred Edward Housman (ˈhaʊsmən 26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936 usually known as A Thomas Hardy OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928 was an English novelist Short story writer and poet of the naturalist movement though he saw Culture The Victorian fascination with novelty resulted in a deep interest in the relationship between modernity and cultural continuities
The first decades of the twentieth century saw several major works of modernism published, including the seminal short story collection Dubliners by James Joyce, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and the poetry and drama of William Butler Yeats. Dubliners is a collection of 15 short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914 James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924 was a Polish-born English novelist Heart of Darkness is a Novella written by Polish-born writer Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski)
Important novelists between the World Wars included Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse and D. H. Lawrence. (Adeline Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 25 January 1882 – 28 March 1941 was an English Novelist and Essayist, regarded as one of the foremost Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH (1 January 1879–7 June 1970 was an English novelist Short story writer Essayist, and Librettist Arthur Evelyn St John Waugh (ˈiːvlɪn ˈwɔː (28 October 1903 &ndash 10 April 1966 was an English Writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE (15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975 (ˈwʊdhaʊs was an English Comic novelist who enjoyed enormous popular success David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930 was an English writer of the 20th century whose prolific and diverse output included Novels short T. S. Eliot was the preeminent English poet of the period. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. Across the Atlantic writers like William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, and the poets Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost developed a more American take on the modernist aesthetic in their work. William Faulkner (born William Cuthbert Falkner) ( September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American Author Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. Wallace Stevens ( October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was a major American Modernist Poet. Robert Lee Frost (March 26 1874 &ndash January 29 1963 was an American Poet.
Perhaps the most contentiously important figure in the development of the modernist movement was the American poet Ezra Pound. Ezra Weston Loomis Pound ( Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States October 30 1885 – Venice, Italy November 1 1972 was an American Expatriate Credited with "discovering" both T. S. Eliot and James Joyce, whose stream of consciousness novel Ulysses is considered to be one of the century's greatest literary achievements, Pound also advanced the cause of imagism and free verse, forms which would dominate English poetry into the twenty-first century. Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of Imagery, and clear sharp language Free verse is a term describing various styles of Poetry that are written without using strict meter or Rhyme, but that still are recognizable as poetry
Gertrude Stein, an American expat, was also an enormous literary force during this time period, famous for her line "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. Gertrude Stein ( February 3, 1874 &ndash July 27, 1946) was an American Writer who spent most of her life in France The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily, which appeared in the "
Other notable writers of this period included H.D., Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, W. H. Auden, Vladimir Nabokov, William Carlos Williams, Ralph Ellison, Dylan Thomas, R.S. Thomas and Graham Greene. HD (September 10 1886 – September 27 1961 born Hilda Doolittle, was an American poet, Novelist and Memoirist She is best known Marianne Moore ( November 15, 1887 – February 5, 1972) was a Modernist American Poet and Writer Elizabeth Bishop ( February 8, 1911 &ndash October 6, 1979) was an American Poet and Writer from Worcester Wystan Hugh Auden (21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973 ˈwɪstən ˈhjuː ˈɔːdən who signed his works W This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. William Carlos Williams ( 17 September 1883 &ndash 4 March 1963) was an American poet closely associated with modernism Ralph Waldo Ellison ( March 1, 1914 &ndash April 16, 1994) was a Scholar and Writer. Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953 was a Welsh poet who wrote exclusively in English Ronald Stuart Thomas (29 March 1913 – 25 September 2000 (published as R Henry Graham Greene OM, CH (2 October 1904 &ndash 3 April 1991 was an English writer best known as a novelist but who also produced Short stories However, some of these writers are more closely associated with what has become known as post-modernism, a term often used to encompass the diverse range of writers who succeeded the modernists. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism
Post-modern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post-World War II literature. Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement' While " Modern " itself refers to something "related to the present" the movement of modernism The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain tendencies in post- World War II literature It is both a continuation of the experimentation championed by writers of the modernist period (relying heavily, for example, on fragmentation, paradox, questionable narrators, etc. ) and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is difficult to define and there is little agreement on the exact characteristics, scope, and importance of postmodern literature. Henry Miller, William S. Burroughs, Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut, Hunter S. Thompson, Truman Capote, Thomas Pynchon
Views of English literature
"I had always thought of English literature as the richest in the world; the discovery now of a secret chamber (sc. Henry Valentine Miller (December 26 1891 &ndash June 7 1980 was an American writer and painter. William Seward Burroughs II ( – ˈbʌroʊz was an American Novelist, Essayist, Social critic, painter and Spoken word Joseph Heller (May 1 1923 – December 12 1999 was an American Satirical novelist Short story writer and playwright Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black Hunter Stockton Thompson ( July 18, 1937 &ndash February 20, 2005) was an American Journalist and Author, most Truman Capote (ˈtruːmən kəˈpoʊti ( 30 September, 1924, New Orleans Louisiana – 25 August, 1984, Los Angeles Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr (born May 8 1937 is an American writer based in New York City, noted for his dense and complex works of Fiction. Old English literature) at the very threshold of that literature came to me as an additional gift. " - Jorge Luis Borges, 'An Autobiographical Essay', The Aleph & Other Stories
See also
- American literature
- Anglo-Welsh literature
- Australian literature
- British literature
- Canadian literature
- Early English Jewish literature
- Indian English literature
- Irish literature
- List of English language poets
- Literature of South Africa
- New Zealand literature
- Postcolonial literature
External links
- Luminarium: Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350-1485)
- Luminarium: 16th Century Renaissance English Literature (1485-1603)
- Luminarium: Seventeenth Century English Literature (1603-1660)
- Norton Anthology of English Literature
- A Website of the Romantic Movement in English Literature
- A Bibliography of Literary Theory, Criticism and Philology Ed. American literature refers to written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and Colonial America. Anglo-Welsh literature is a term used to describe works written in the English language by Welsh writers especially if they either have subject matter relating to Wales Australian literature began soon after the settlement of the country by Europeans Common themes include indigenous and settler identity alienation exile and relationship British literature refers to Literature associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as to literature Criticism of Canadian literature has focused on nationalistic and regional themes English Jewish Literature (This page is part of the History of the Jews in England) Effects of restrictions The increasing degradation of Indian English Literature (IEL refers to the body of work by writers in India who write in the English language and whose native or co-native language could be one For a comparatively small island Ireland has made a disproportionate contribution to World literature in all its branches Poets who wrote or write much of their Poetry in the English language. Elleke Boehmer (cf Cullhed 2006 79 writes “Nationalism like patriarchy favours singleness—one identity one growth pattern one birth and blood for all. New Zealand claims as its own many writers even those immigrants born overseas like South African-born Robin Hyde, or those emigrants who went into Exile but Post-colonial literature (or "Postcolonial literature" sometimes called "New English literature(s" is a body of literary writings that reacts to the discourse José Ángel García Landa, (University of Zaragoza, Spain)
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