Comprehensive History of English Literature

English Literature History in Focus: Inchoateness to Sublimity

Introduction

“Literature changes and develops; it does not improve” (Alexander 13). Exploring and presenting a compact history of Literature is a vast horizon, and it would take to dedicate one’s whole life to the recto and verso to do some justice to the subject matter. The earliest known genre of Literature is believed to be Epic poems initially written by the Sumerians[1], foundations of which have been ascertained to a preliterate heroic age, not later than 3000 BCE (Appendix I). What is Literature? Why is Literature imperative to our lives? Literature engenders universality. Anything that has been written, fiction or non-fiction, science, philosophy, religion, anthropology or any such restraint falls under the category of Literature. However, for our convenience and better understanding, the history of Literature has been delineated into the Ages.

Literature of Angles and Saxons

English Literature being the Literature of the great nation, which though inhibited a small island off the west coast of Europe, has made its mark in the world on her spirit of adventure, perseverance and tenacity. The earliest English Literature Age started with Anglo-Saxon Literature of Angles and Saxons[2] or the Old English[3] Period, much before they occupied Britain. Before these tribes occupied Britain, they lived along the coasts of Sweden and Denmark, and the land they occupied was called Engle-Land. These tribes were brave, and during the later years of Roman occupation, they kept the British coast in terror. Like other nations, they sang about battles, gods and ancestral heroes at their feasts, and some of their chiefs were bards[4]. In these songs of religion, wars and agriculture, English poetry began in the ancient engle-Land while British was still a Roman province. Although much of Anglo-Saxon poetry is lost, some fragments are still left. “Shakespeare wrote that “So long as men can read and eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee”. The belief that Literature outlives the circumstances of its origin, illuminating as these can be, guides the selection” (Alexander 3).

Much of the first half of this Period—had oral Literature. Therefore, Literature or conventional epic poems were transferred orally from one generation to the next. However, the Prose during this time was a translation of something else or otherwise legal, medical, or religious; but, some works, such as Beowulf and those by period poets Caedmon and Cynewulf, are central and envisage the grandeur of the Literature written in that Age. The famous English poem, Beowulf, is the first English epic. The author of Beowulf is unknown. It is a story of a fearless young man Beowulf composed of 3182 lines. There was no rhyming scheme in Old English poems; instead, they used extensive alliteration. Two well-known figures in Old English poetry are Cynewulf and Caedmon. Cynewulf wrote ecclesiastical poems, and the four poems, Juliana, The Fates of the Apostles, Christ and Elene, are accredited to him. Caedmon is famous for his Hymn.

Besides poetry, the Anglo-Saxon Period was also marked by the inception of English prose. Unlike the poetry of this Age, there was no break in the Prose of the Anglo-Saxon Period and the Anglo-Norman or Middle English Period. Even the later Prose in England was the continuation of the Anglo-Saxon Prose. Through the Chronicles, which probably began in King Alfred’s time and through his contribution to the translation of commonly available Prose from Latin. Alfred developed Old English prose with his translations, especially Bede’s Ecclesiastical History; Aelfric is another influential prose writer during the Old English period. He is celebrated for his Grammar, Homilies and Lives of the Saints. Aelfric’s Prose is ordinary and easy and is very often alliterative. Anglo-Saxon Literature is characterised by opposing traits of their characters—savagery and sentiment, rough living and deep feeling, splendid courage and deep melancholy resulting from and thinking about the unanswered problem of death. Anglo-Saxons followed five great principles in their lives, which are deeply reflected in their Literature: love of personal freedom, responsiveness to nature, religion, love for womanhood, and struggle for glory. They were full of emotions and objectives and loved music. As quoted in Beowulf, “Music and song where the heroes sat— / The glee—wood rang, a song uprose / When Hrothgar’s scop gave the hall good cheer” (Beowulf).

The Norman Conquest and the inception of Anglo-Norman Age

The celebrated Age of the Old English literature of Angles and Saxons lasted till 1100; succeeded by the Normans, who were residing in Normandy[5] and defeated the Anglo-Saxon King at the battle of Hastings[6] (1066), marking the beginning of a new era by conquering the Engle-Land. The Norman conquest inaugurated a new epoch in England’s literary and political history. The Literature in this era also transitioned as the rulers and the regime shifted. It is critical to note that the political, social, and other factors directly influence the subjectivity of the Literature produced in that era. English thought, and subjectivity transitioned and was primarily fashioned in the manners of French. Throughout the Medival Period, Latin dominated the artistic expressions and religious services. Although the Literature they produced was believed to be superior to any other European vernacular during the Anglo-Saxon Period, it is patent that they somehow needed an external stimulus. The Normans not only brought with them available human resources, but they also invited academics to stimulate knowledge, historians or chroniclers to record unforgettable events, and minstrels[7] to celebrate victories or sing songs of bravery and love.

The Anglo-Norman Period[8] is marked by the disappearance of the old English Poetry. Anglo-Saxon Poetry is either derived from heathendom[9], ecclesiastical at large, or has ideas of its own. Poetry in Anglo-Saxon or Old times developed from inchoateness to a state of sublimity, and then it died away; just like that, it shares nothing with the poetry of Anglo-Norman Poetry. Another notable change is marked by the disregarding of English vernacular, and it established the French as the natural speech of the civilised and the nobles. The conflict pertinent to the acclimatisation of Latin or French vernacular between the nobles and the clergies overshadowed their native language, i.e. English, in the Literature they produced, for over three centuries.

The most popular type of Literature during the Medival Ages was Romances[10]. Romances were famous for their stories rather than poetry. Just as Drama became the chief entertainment of the people in later ages, Romances were popular with the people in the Middle Ages. These Romances were majorly borrowed from the Latin and the French language. Geoffrey Chaucer’s[11] Canterbury Tales are the most important and widely read Romances. Besides Romances, Miracles and Morality Plays[12] were also popular.

Some of the most prominent and famous poets in the Middle Age were; William Langland (1330-1400)[13], John Gower (1325-1408)[14], and Geoffery Chaucer (1340-1400)[15]. For the most part, substantially, Chaucer’s role in developing poetry specifically and the Literature in general in the Middle Ages cannot be ignored. His works fall into three periods. During the First Period of writing the poetry (1360-1373),[16] Chaucer imitated French models, as the French were the supreme arbiter back in those days. His particularly famous and long poem Le Roman de la Rose was translated as Romaunt of the Rose. Surviving in some 300 manuscripts dating from the late 13th to early 16th century, Le Roman de la Rose is also found in numerous printed editions from the 15th and 16th centuries. He also wrote the Book of Duchess, an Elegy, Complaint unto Pity, and ABC, a series of stanzas religious in tone. Each stanza opens with the letter in the respective order of the title.

The poems of the second Period (1373-84) illustrate Italian Literature’s weight. His famous Dante’s Divine Comedy and Boccaccio’s poems were written. Other important poems he wrote during this time were; The Parliament of Fowls, Troilus and Criseyde, The Story of Griselda, and The House of Fame. The third Period (1384-1390) may be called the English Period, as Chaucer disregarded the foreign influences and embraced the originality. Notably, he made the first use of the heroic couplet in Legend of Good Woman during this Period. He wrote his famous and the most celebrated The Canterbury Tales during this Period. After Chaucer died in 1400, there was a significant decline in English Poetry for over a hundred years.

Renaissance Age (1500-1600)

Hundred years later, the inception of the Renaissance Age[17] (1500-1600) marks the transition in knowledge and Literature. It marked the revival of learning in English Literature history in a broader sense. “In 1550, the painter Georgio Vasari wrote of a rinascità[18] in the arts in his native Florence…” (Alexander 75). What prompted the revival of learning in Europe? Essentially, the origins of the Renaissance movement can be traced back to Florance, Italy. In 1453, with the fall of Constantinopole by the invasion of Turks, the Greek Scholars residing there at that time spread all over Europe. They bought the valuable manuscripts of their works, which were discovered later, resulting in the Revival of Learning and the inception of the Renaissance Period of English Literature. With the invention of the printing press[19] in 1440, there was a rapid and mass production of Literature, and the printing press enabled the mass printing and distribution of Literature produced. The Renaissance Period is characterised by its emphasis on Humanism[20]. With the revival of Greek Classical Antiquity, the new spirit of Humanism impacted the Western World. The first author to write under the Greek influence was Sir Thomas More. His Utopia, written in Latin, was suggested by Plato in his Republic. In his Defence of Poesie, Sir Philip Sydney accepted and advocated the critical rules of ancient Greek.

Essay as a literary genre was introduced in this Age, and Francis Bacon was the proponent of Essays in English Literature. Christopher Marlowe wrote only four dramas[21] and died at the age of 29, but it is argued that without Marlowe—there would have been no Shakespeare, or at least not in the sense we know him. Shakespeare carried the spirit of Humanism to its perfection. His genius left marks in the Renaissance Age; for this reason, this Age is sometimes remembered as the Shakespearean Age or The Age of Shakespeare. Ideally, Drama flourished during the Elizabethan Age. The Elizabethan plays are usually divided into four groups and illustrate the broad scope of Elizabethan theatre in general. They fall under the following categories; comedies, romances, histories, and tragedies. The last 15 years of the 16th century marked the impact of University Wits[22] on Elizabethan Drama. Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespearean dramas dominated British Literature history. His genius wrote about 37 plays; 17 are comedies, ten are labelled as history plays, and the rest are his world-famous tragedies. Ben Johnson introduced the “Comedy of Humors” in the Renaissance Age, portraying the individual as a subject of one discernible characteristic. Ben Johnson is best known for his Every Man in his Humour. Other important plays by Jonson are Every Man out of His Humour, Volpone or the Fox, and The Alchemist.

Besides Drama, poetry in Elizabethan Period is worth mentioning too. Poetry in the Renaissance age is characterised by discovery, enthusiasm, and excitement. During the Renaissance Age, the people of England were infused with exuberance and vigour, reflected in their poetry. Some of the poets who deserve to be mentioned here are; Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-42), Earl of Surrey (1577-47), Thomas Sackville (1536-1608), and not forgetting Sir Philip Sydney (1554-1586). John Donne’s works add majesty to the grandeur of Elizabethan Literature; Metaphysical Poetry is highly attributed to his genius. Donne’s poems are celebrated for their originality, being ornate and conceited[23]. Besides poetry, Elizabethan Age is also the period of modern Prose’s origin in English Literature. The invention of the printing press increased the popularity of Prose. English prose was employed as a vehicle of amusement and information. Famous prose writers of the Renaissance Age were; John Lyly (1554-1606) and Sir Philip Sydney.

The seventeenth-century Literature may be further divided into the Puritan Age or The Age of Milton (1600-60) and The Restoration Period or the Age of Dryden (1660-1700). 

The decline of the Renaissance spirit marks the seventeenth century in the history of English Literature, and mostly, the writers are seen impersonating and imitating the Renaissance spirit or following and discovering new paths. As noted earlier, political and social change in society affects the discourse adopted in that period, and there is a marked difference in the disposition, which may be essentially labelled as modern. This change in the discourse is best manifested in Literature in the form of Literary Criticism. Apart from Literary Criticism, the Art of biography and autobiography was also popularised in this Period. Later on, keeping diaries[24] and writing journals[25] also became popular.

Puritanism mainly dominated the Seventeenth Century up to 1660[26] , and it is also remembered as the Puritan Age or Age of Milton as Milton was the proponent of Puritanism. Though with the Restoration[27], the Puritans began to be looked upon as narrow-minded, gloomy, dogmatists who were allegedly against recreation and amusement; substantially, this was a wrong perception. While discussing the Literature in the Puritan Age, the puritan poetry would be a good start. Puritan poetry is also sometimes recalled as the Jacobean Poetry[28] and Caroline Poetry[29]. The poetry in Puritan Age can be further classified into three parts; Poetry of School of Spenser, Poetry of the Metaphysical School, and Poetry of the Cavalier Poets. Spensearen’s followers wrote under the influence of Edmund Spenser. Chief characteristics of Spenser’s poetry were; a perfect melody, a rare sense of beauty, and a splendid imagination. Metaphysical poets are not called so because their poetry was philosophical but highly characterised by conceit, exaggerations, quibbling about the meaning of words, far-fetched similes and metaphors. Metaphysical poetry, led by John Donne, faced prejudice from Dr Johnson, who did not overlook the originality beneath the superficial novelty of metaphysical poetry. Lastly, the Cavalier Poets, who followed Dr Johnson. Dr Johnson followed the classical method in his poetry as he did in his Drama. Dr Johnson imitated Horace[30] by writing elegies, satires, epistles, and complimentary verses. Puritan Age cannot be discussed to its fullest if John Milton is not mentioned. For most of the part, John Milton was a great scholar of classical and Hebrew Literature. His famous Paradise Lost and Paradise Regain is celebrated to date and highly interpreted by scholars worldwide.

After Shakespeare, Drama lost its artistic sublimity and ornate form. Years later, the dramatists of the Caroline Age invigorated Drama and gave it a new-fangled form. The Jacobean and Caroline dramatists portrayed passive suffering and lack of mental and physical vigour. The Jacobean plays could not imitate Shakespearean romantic love as Shakespeare’s plays but instead were grim satires of contemporary society and contained a great deal of realism. The Jacobean plays were predominantly sadistic, cynical, and pessimistic and frequently dealt with the theme of society’s moral corruption. The dramatists of the Jacobean Period cared less for men in the street and women in the kitchen. They delighted the court and king. After Shakespeare, no other dramatist could fill his space, which naturally marked the decline of the Jacobean Drama. However, in 1642, when Puritans closed the theatre, Jacobean and Caroline Drama died its natural death. The true spirit of the Elizabethan Drama disappeared, and only the outward show and trappings remained. Ben Johnson was the best dramatist of the Jacobean period; other dramatists were John Marston (1575-1634) and Thomas Dekker (1570-1632).

However, the Jacobean and Caroline Period was rich in Prose. The Prose of this age was refined in style, very different from the Prose of the previous centuries. The prose writers employed a grand style that Bacon & Hooker never guessed. It was loose structured, over-coloured & sophisticated. However, despite the drawbacks, as mentioned earlier, the Prose Jacobean and Caroline period have many qualities, i.e. freshness of form, and the Latin words of classical construction were freely adopted. The Prose of this age also possesses strongly religious & philosophical characteristics. Moreover, the elements of biography, autobiography, history & personal essays are also identified. The critical prose writers of this age were Robert Burton, Sir Thomas Browne, Taylor, Fuller & John Milton.

Restoration Age

The ascension of Charles II (1660) marks the beginning of the Restoration Age[31] in English literary history. The Restoration age was characterised by the Period of political instability, sharp wit, and personal contention that contributed to the development of satire as a genre and a writing style. Restoration writers mastered the Art of writing satire; Dryden’s Mac Flecknoe, written in a heroic couplet, is considered the best satire. The writers in this age imitated French models[32] instead of Latin, Shakespearean or Elizabethan influence. Dramas were popularised in the Restoration Age. Significant themes of the Restoration Comedy were marriage and the game of love. Generally, two significant advancements are seen; the Comedy of Manners and the Heroic plays. Heroic plays portrayed the epic virtues of noblemen and described women as magnificent. The Tragic Drama of this age was Heroic Plays composed in “heroic couplets”. The protagonists in these plays were torn between patriotism and personal emotions. A relatively new genre of comedy called the Comedy of Manners was introduced in the last part of the seventeenth century. This comedy was unique; written in Prose, these plays were witty, challenging, bright and heartless. They pictured the life and manners of the aristocratic society of that time. They poked fun at the upper-class, humorous and high-end conversation, and morally wrong behaviours. Comedy of Manners was introduced by Sir George Etherege and was mainly confined to London’s rich, courtly and noble class.

One of the renowned dramatists who produced Comedy of Manners was William Congreve. His comedies are not as typical as the last plays; Old Bachelor portrayed a perfect witty picture of the deceitful society; The Double Dealer is another legendary play. However, his best and most refined play is The Way of the World, which genuinely symbolises the comedy of manners written in the Restoration period. However, when this play was not well-received, Congreve gave up writing.

Poetry in the Restoration Age is connected chiefly to Dryden. Dryden’s poetry is pragmatic, satirical, and modest like the rest of Restoration poetry. It is composed of heroic couplets and rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines, also characteristic of Epic poetry. Dryden’s most significant contribution to English poetry was his skilful use of heroic couplets, which became the accepted measure of English poetry for many years. Dryden, however, also wrote Fables during the last years of his life.

The Restoration Period marks the inception of modern Prose. The spread of the spirit of common sense and the critical temper of mind, the love of definiteness and clarity, and the hatred of the pedantic and obscure have contributed to the development of English prose. The Prose before the Restoration is characterised by prolixity, involvedness, complexity, and diffuseness, but the Prose after the Restoration has the modern qualities of clarity, precision, and simplicity. With the Restoration, English prose moved toward being strictly functional. However, the Restoration Period might be deficient in Poetry and Drama is marked by the high-end, enriched Prose. John Dryden, John Bunyan and Sir William Temple are some renowned prose writers of the Age.

Eighteenth Century Literature

The eighteenth century[33] in England is also called the Classical Age of Literature. This was the age when the Novel as a literary genre was born. Samuel Richardson (1689-1761) is considered the father of English novels. He published his first Novel Pamela, also known as Virtue Rewarded, in 1740. Written in the form of letters, the Novel is classified as an ‘epistolary novel’[34]. The eighteenth-century is also called the Classical Age of Literature because the writers reverted to the ‘classicism’ of the ancient writers, which was narrowly used to imply fine polish and external elegance. The Age stressed rationalism, intellect, logic and humour. It was disparate to unwarranted “emotionalism, sentimentalism, enthusiasm and even imagination”. The belief that got recognition during the 18th century was the Pope’s “Nature”, not the “nature” of Romantics, but it was “human nature”.

Eighteenth-Century is marked by the dominance and importance of Literary Prose. The 18th Century was the age of social, political, religious and literary controversies in which the prominent writers took an active part; hence Prose got an active front in the history of Literature as poetry was considered inadequate for this task. Poetry also became prosaic in the 18th century mainly because its subject matter also started to focus on criticism, satire, and controversy, and it was also written in the form of an essay, a common literary form. Although poetry became witty, polished and artificial, it lacked fire, fine feelings and fervour, the poetic “glow of the Elizabethan Age, and Puritanism’s moral earnestness” (Naeem). Nevertheless, the eighteenth century was deficient in Drama because of the established prejudice of Puritanism against Drama. The eighteenth-century is a very long period, and for our convenience, it is divided into—The Age of Pope, The Age of Johnson, Eighteenth-Century Novel and Eighteenth-Century Drama.

The earlier part of the eighteenth century, sometimes also known as the Augustan Age in English Literature, is celebrated as the Age of Pope; for Alexender Pope, being the dominating figure in the Literary Period, represented in himself all the main characteristics of his age, and his poetry served as a model to others. Poets in the Age of Pope imitated the classical model of Poetry and Literature; hence they are sometimes remembered as Neoclassical Poets. Addison and Swift are worth mentioning, but Pope remained loyal to Literature. However, poetry in this age lacked emotion and imagination. Dominated by intellect, the poetry of this age is commonly didactic and satirical. The subject matter no longer revolved around natural themes, and though the preached virtuous life, no enthusiasm or earnestness was displayed. The poets of the Classical School advocated perfect form; hence, the poetry of this Period could not reflect the warmth of feeling. Their rational approach resulted in a balanced tone. Therefore, it is structured like Prose, although its range is strictly limited. It is the Literature of town and fashionable upper strata of the city of London. So, It was almost a town poetry made out of the interest of society. Therefore, we find artificiality and lack of spontaneity in the poetry of this age. Satire was popularised as a vehicle of expression in this particular period. The heroic couplet was the most suitable medium for poetic ideals. Dryden and Pope were the best poets for satiric composition, argumentative in tone and reflective in nature. London was the centre of attraction. It may be called coffee house culture. There were neither lyrics nor sonnets. The most prominent and critical figure in the neoclassical age of poetry is Alexender Pope. However, a few minor poets in this age were; Mathew Prior, John Gay, Edward Young, Thomas Pernell, and Lady Winchelsea.

Besides poetry, Prose in the Age of Pope is also worth mentioning. Some of the chief prose writers of the Age of Pope are; Defoe, Addison, Steele, and Swift. The eighteenth century was doubtlessly an age of great prose, but not great poetry. When Matthew Arnold calls it an age of prose, he suggests that even the poetry in this was of the nature of prose, or versified prose. It: is he who observed that Dryden and Pope are the classics not of our poetry but prose. They took English prose from the antiquity of Burton, Browne, and others to the modern times’ balance, clarity, and simplicity. They made prose functional, using it not for impressing but enlightening the reader. In the field of prose, the reaction against romantic extravagance and involvedness, started by Dryden, was brought to a logical conclusion by the prose writers of the age of Queen Anne[35].

The latter half of the eighteenth century is remembered as The Age of Johnson (1744-1784). Dr Samuel Johnson is a critical figure of this age; this was when the classic spirit of English Literature began to give space to the Romantic spirit. The prominent poets in the Age of Johnson are also sometimes labelled as the precursors of the Romantic Revival, which is why the Age of Johnson is also called the Age of Transition in English Literature[36]. Dr Johnson writes about the poetry Life of Milton; he quotes, "poetry is the art of uniting pleasure with truth by calling imagination to the help of reason”. Poetry in the Age of Johnson is highly characterised by the appearance of the theme of death. Dr Johnson held onto the classical model while the Literature was transitioning to the Romantic model; however, Romanticism was not entirely acknowledged until the publication of Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and S. T Coleridge. Some chief figures in the age of Johnson are; William Blake (1757-1827)[37] and Thomas Gray (1716-1771)[38] , among others. Johnson’s two chief poems, London and The Vanity of Human Wishes are classical because of their didacticism, formal, rhetorical style, and adherence to the closed couplet.

The 18th century is remembered as the age of aristocracy; this aristocracy was political and literary in the sense that there were observed certain rules and the literary class formed itself into a group, and the established literary style was deemed eloquent and logical in terms of literary thought. Johnson[39], Burke[40] and Gibbon[41] are chief critical figures of the prose writers of this age. Apart from the poetry in the Age of Johnson, Prose in the former part of the 18th century sustained the conventions time-honoured by Addison and Steele. As opposed to triviality, slackness and inaccuracy, the prose of this age avoided all impetus gusto and upheld an attitude of aloofness and detachment that contributed much to its mood of cynical humour.

Eighteenth-century marks the discovery of the modern novel, which is undoubtedly the most widely read and most influential genre of Literature. The breakthrough of the modern novel is the typical growth of the 18th century. It is the original contribution of England to the world of Literature. The novel as a popular genre began with Richardson’s Pamela in 1740. However, the origin of the English novel plunges deep throughout the centuries. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the novel was in the process of formation. In those early days, the novel was in the form of romantic tales based upon adventures and romantic episodes. A certain amount of prose fiction also existed in the 16th and 17th centuries—the English novel, in its most valid form, developed in the 18th century. The “Democratic Movement” fueled the rise of the novel. The general literacy rate increased, and so did the number of readers. With the innovation of the Printing Press in the 18th century, mass printing of newspapers, books, magazines, and journals induced the love of reading. The adoption of a new prose style and the decline of Drama; made way for the 18’th century novel. The English novel marked its early development with the publication of Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe. Defoe was the first great novelist who introduced a new technique in pragmatism. According to Baker, Robinson Crusoe is considered the first critical Modern English novel. However, according to some critics, the elements of crime and adventure are so highlighted in Defoe’s works that they should be categorised as romances, not novels. Defoe came very near to the innovation of the novel, but some critics are of the view that Addison and Steele threw in much to the inchoation of the modern novel.

Samuel Richardson, undisputedly, was the first great novelist of the 18th century. The novel as an accepted genre began with Richardson’s Pamela in 1740, the first true novel that appeared in any literature. Consequently, Richardson introduced sentimentality into English fiction and popularised it perpetually. His Clarissa is also worth noting.

The 18th century marks the golden age of the novel, and this is accredited to four geniuses; Richardson, Fielding, Smollett and Stern. These four geniuses took the novel to the highest point of its glory. They are sometimes also remembered as “The Four Wheels of Novel”. Henry Fielding, the father of the English novel, wrote Joseph Andrews, Jonathan Wild, Tom Jones and Amelia. His craftsmanship and pragmaticism are unforgettable. Smollett broadened the horizon of the novel by introducing some new elements. His famous discourse includes Humphry Clinker. Sterne’s Tristram Shandy is the epitome of modern impressionism.

Contrary to the remarkable development of the novel in the 18th century, the eighteenth century Drama is seen deteriorating. Licensing Act of 1737[42] truncated the freedom of expression of the dramatists, and as a result, writers like Fielding, who could have made their mark on the theatre, left the theatre and retreated to the novel. In tragedy, Romantic and Classical Models exercised the influence on the Dramatists. The romantic tradition was originally the Elizabethan way of writing the tragedy. Followers of this tradition used intricate plots and divulged horror and violence on stage. On the contrary, Classical tradition, the French way of writing tragedy, was characterised by unfolding a single action without any sub-plot and long melodramatic monologues delivered by the actors on stage. In comedy, the same disintegration was observed; comedy was deteriorating into a farce. Sentimentality replaced the authority of reason and occupied an important place in comedy[43]. Steele was the first exponent of Sentimental Comedy. His plays include; The Funeral, The Lying Lover, The Tender Husband, The Conscious Lover etc.; Steele extolled the domestic values in his dramas. Other dramatists who wrote Sentimental Comedies were Colley Ciber, Hugh Kelley and Richard Cumberland. However, Sentimental Comedies faced criticism from the dramatists who also led the revolt against the sentimental comedies were; Oliver Goldsmith[44] and Richard Sheridan[45].

The Romantic Period (1798-1824)

The Romantic Period (1798-1824) is the most productive in English literary history. Officially, the Romantic Age started after the publication of The Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge—although its influence continues to this day. Marked by a focus on the individual’s exceptional standpoint of a person, often guided by absurd sentiments, a respect for nature and the primitive, and a celebration of the commoner, Romanticism can be seen as a reaction to the profound developments in society that took place all through this period, counting the revolutions that burned through countries like France and the United States, ushering in grand experiments in democracy. Romanticism did not stem from the concept of love but rather from the French word “romaunt”, meaning a romantic story told in verse. Unlike traditional Literature, Romanticism focused on emotions and the writer’s inner life and frequently used autobiographical material to inform the work or even offer a pattern. Romanticism popularised the primitive and elevated “regular people” as deserving of celebration, remembrance, and innovation. Romanticism also engrossed in nature as a primordial force and encouraged the concept of isolation as necessary for spiritual and artistic development. Six primary characteristics mark romantic Literature: the celebration of nature[46], focus on the individual and spirituality[47], the celebration of isolation and melancholy[48], interest in the commoner[49], idealisation of women[50], and personification and pathetic fallacy[51]. Romanticism persists in exercising its influence on Literature even today; Stephenie Meyers’ Twilight novels are clear descendants of the Movement, incorporating most of the characteristics of classic Romanticism despite being published more than a century after the end of the Movement’s active movement life.

Poetry in the Romantic Age was the antithesis of classicism; more precisely, it was the revolt against the classical model of poetry. Romantic Poetry is characterised as being highly subjective. As Wordsworth quotes, “spontaneous overflow of emotions”. Although Romantic Poetry is pessimistic, its critical themes aptly extract optimism from the love of nature, wonder, mystery, and beauty of the universe. Enthusiasm for the exquisiteness of the external world characterises all romantic poetry. Some of the chief exponents of Romantic Poetry are; Wordsworth, Coleridge, Blake, Byron, Keats, and Kelley.

Although Romantic Poetry is the most remarkable feature of Romanticism, there were renowned prose writers in the age who produced fine prose—Lamb[52], Hazlitt[53] and De Quincey[54]. However, there was no such revolt against prose compared to that of the poets; but the sublimity of the prose style was manifested. There was a decline in the grand style, and writers were more concerned with the subject matter and emotional expression than with appropriate style. There was seen Romantic preference for spontaneity rather than formality and contrivance.

Besides prose and poetry, novelists in the Romantic Age were Jane Austin and Sir Walter Scott. However, some novelists came under the spell of medievalism and wrote novels of ‘terror’ or the ‘Gothic novels’[55]. The famous Gothic Novel of all ages is Marry Shelley’s Frankenstein. However, Jane Austen[56] brought good sense and balance to the English novel, which had become too emotional and undisciplined during the Romantic age. Her famous novel Pride and Prejudice is the perfect epitome of Romantic discourse produced in that age. On the contrary, Sir Walter Scott’s[57] qualities as a novelist differed from Jane Austen’s. Whereas Jane Austin painted domestic miniatures, Scott depicted pageantry of history on broader canvases. Jane Austen is precise in her writing; Scott is diffusive and digressive. Jane Austen deals with the quiet intimacies of English rural life free from high passions, struggles and significant actions; Scott, on the other hand, deals with the chivalric, exciting, romantic and adventurous life of the Highlanders—people living on the border of England and Scotland, among whom he spent much of his youth, or with glorious scenes of history.

Inception of Victorian Age

The splendid age of Romanticism ended, and the Victorian age marked its beginning. The death of Edward VII in 1910 and the ascension of Queen Victoria technically mark the inception of the Victorian age; however, this is not precisely the case as the Victorian Age roughly corresponds with the reign of Queen Victoria[58]. After the publication of The Lyrical Ballads, 1820 marks the heyday of Romanticism, but a year later, there was a sudden decline. Wordsworth, the chief exponent of the Movement, also relapsed into conservatism and favourable opposition to social and political reforms and produced nothing critical after publishing his White Doe of Rylstone in 1815 though he lived till 1850. On the other hand, Coleridge wrote no poem of merit after 1817. Sir Walter Scott was still writing after 1820, but his work lacked the fire and originality of his early years. Furthermore, alas, the romantic poets of the younger generations died young—Keats in 1820, Shelley in 1822 and Byron in 1824.

As preceded by Romanticism and followed by modernism or realism, Literature produced in the Victorian Period is a fusion of Romanticism and realism. Even though the Victorian Age produced two critical poets, Tennyson and Browning, the age is also notable for the superiority of its prose. Victorian poetry is highly characterised by realism and less idealised[59] than romantic age poetry. With a note of pessimism, Victorian poets used language and metropolitan themes of life and thus wrote about the commoners and for the commoners. As the Victorian Age marks the industrial revolution, its effects can be seen in the poetry produced during that age. Besides, the common practice was the rise of atheism and questioning God and rationalism, and radicalism forced the people to eschew spirituality and be more sceptic. Alfred Lord Tennyson[60], Robert Browing[61] and his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning[62] are some noteworthy poets of the age.

In the Victorian Period, the novel made a critical development. With the invention of the printing press and the industrial revolution in the Victorian Age, the love for reading was drastically increased, increasing the demand for the novel. The two most exceptional novelists of the period were Dickens and Thackeray. Dickens is the most popular of all English novelists so far. At the age of twenty-five, with the publication of Pickwick Papers, Dickens, out of the blue, sprang into the limelight and was considered the most admired among the English novelists. Some critical accredited to Dickinson are; Pickwick (1837) and Nickolas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit (1843), Domby and Son (1846-48), David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Dorrit (1855-57), A Tale of Two Cities (1864-65), and the unfinished Edwin Drood.

William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) was Dickenson’s contemporary. He was more engrossed in the manners and morals of the aristocracy than in the great upheavals of the age. After the publication of Vanity Fair in 1846, the English reading public realised that a star had risen in English skies. Pendennis succeeded Vanity Fair in 1849, which, as an autobiography, holds the same place among his works as David Copperfield does among those of Dickens. In 1852, the marvellous historical novel of Henry Esmond appeared, the most remarkable novel of its particular kind ever written. In Newcomes (1853-8), he reverts to modern times and portrays his skill in portraying present-day manners. To critics, Newcomes is considered to be his best novel. His next novel, The Virginians, a sequel to Esmond, paints the third quarter of the 18th Century. In all these novels, Thackeray has presented life most realistically.

The Victorian Prose has specifically marked the uniqueness of the age. Predominantly, it was marked by an explicit moral purpose. Carlyle, Newman, Ruskin, Macaulay, Pater, Darwin, Arnold and others were primarily engrossed in imparting a message to their compatriots; to them, Literature was an instrument of social reform and social misinformation. Hence, they symbolised their age predicament with realism and impartiality. The Victorian prose writers were against the worldly tendencies of the age as a result of the industrial revolution and found a haven in the overcharged ambience of the Middle Age; however, a note of pessimism, uncertainty and dejection courses through the Victorian prose. Critical essayists like Macaulay, Carlyle and Ruskin placed great faith in humanists. The impact of science as a result of the industrial revolution and the questioning spirit of the people is apparent in Victorian prose, predominantly in the prose writings of Darwin.

The Pre-Raphaelite School of Poetry, Aesthetic Movement and the Oxford Movement are noteworthy in the later Victorian period. The Pre-Raphaelite Movement, which Dante Gabriel Rossetti initiated in the mid-nineteenth century, was originally not a literary but an artistic movement. Rossetti, a painter (and a poet), felt that contemporary paintings had become too formal, academic, and unrealistic. Rossetti, being the guiding star and some painters, formed a group in London in 1848 which came to be called the “Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.” Apart from Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, John Millais, Thomas Woolner, and James Collinson were the critical members. On canvas, they broke the shackles of stereotyped traditions. Founded in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite School of poetry poets were William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James Collinson, and Frederic George Stephens and Thomas Woolner. The poetry was characterised by breaking stereotypes, medievalism, Sensuousness, devotion to the details, and Metre and Music.

The Aesthetic Movement was the Movement that championed pure beauty and ‘Art For Art’s Sake’, emphasised art and designs visual and sensual qualities over practical, moral or narrative considerations. Aestheticism focused on the aesthetic value of art, music, writing, and other creative pursuits, over their practical value and asserted that Art has to be taken for the sake of Art. The most critical writer associated with the Aesthetic Movement was Oscar Wilde (1854-1900). Oscar Wilde is best known for, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) and his masterfully orchestrated Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892)[63] and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Wilde is best known for his wit, flamboyance, trials, and jail sentence.

Oxford Movement[64] was a movement to recover the lost tradition in England, and predominantly, this Movement was a religious movement. The Oxford Movement was initiated in the early 1830s by members of the University of Oxford, notably Oriel College. As Moody and Lovett put it, the Oxford Movement stood for “the restoration of the poetry, the mystic ritual and service which had characterised the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.” John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was the spirit behind the Movement. This medievalism was probably responsible for the ultimate entry of Newman into the Roman Catholic fold. His best work is Apologia pro-Vita Sua (1864). He wrote in self-defence in reply to Charles Kingsley’s charge of dishonesty against himself and his new Church. Newman’s other works, like the Essay of the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845), The Idea of a University Defined (1873), and religious novels Loss and Gain (1848) and Callista (1856), also have the same qualities of style. Mention may also be made of Newman’s verse. He wrote well, but the only memorable poem written by him is the famous prayer poem “Lead Kindly Light.”

Modern Age literature

Modern Age literature is characterised by its opposition to the general attitude to life. During the first decades of the century, there was rebellion or revolt against Victorian Literature, and young people regarded the Victorian age as hypocritical and the Victorian ideals as mean, superficial, and stupid. The victorian age roughly ends around the 1900s, and from 1900 onwards till 1961-5 marks the Modern Age in the history of Literature. There was a radical change in artistic workmanship standards and aesthetic appreciation. Paradoxically, the art Victorians had considered honourable and beautiful, their children and grandchildren considered mean and ugly. The people in the 20th century never took anything for granted; they questioned everything. The younger generation was irate by the Victorian trait of self-complacency[65]. The indictment of self-complacency cannot be precisely levelled against a lot of Victorian writers[66]. However, the need for a change in the sphere of Literature was also felt because the Victorian writers were aptly stale and seemed slowly but surely to be losing the fire[67]. A reaction was even otherwise overdue in the field of Literature because art has to be transformed to revitalise it. Victorian Literature had lost its originality, and it relapsed into being ordinary, lacking spirit and fire, and failed to give the reader a jolt of innovation. At the end of the Victorian era, it was felt that the ideas, experiences, moods, and attitudes had changed, so the freshness lacking in Literature had to be supplied on another level.

T. S. Eliot revived and revitalised modern poetry. He is rightfully declared to be the father of Modern Poetry. The development of poetry in the Modern Age is divided into three phases; first, second and third. During the first phase, the poetry is seen under the influence of the school of imagism, the style of French symbolist poetry influenced by Dome, and the dominance of war. Poetry was a different manifestation of modernism in the modern age (1909-16). During the flowering of Modernist poetry between 1917 and 1929, the 2nd phase of the Movement, all these initial manifestations of modernism combined to find a full nature expression in the poetry of T.S. Eliot, Edith Sitwell and later Yeats, most notable of which is, Eliot’s The Waste Land, Sitwell’s Gold Coast Customs and Yeats’s Michael Robartes and the Dances. Modernist’s 3rd and final phase is primarily the decade of the 30s marked by the Marxed (Non-Marxist) poets such as Auden, Louis McNiece, C. Day-Lewis and Stephen Spender.

Drama suffered a sharp decline for about two centuries after the death of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. However, Drama was revived in the last decade of the 19th century. Two important factors contributed to the growth of modern Drama in England, Ibsen and secondly, the cynical environment prevailing in that era. Ibsen created and popularised the idea of the Comedy of Ideas or Purpose, while the latter contributed to popularising the idea of Comedy of Manners or the Artificial Comedy. Some of the critical dramatists under the influence of Henrik Ibsen were; Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, and John Galsworthy, among many others. One of the critical dramatic Movements was Irish Dramatic Revival. It was the reaction against the new realistic dramas of Bernard Shaw and Oscar Wilde. Lady Gregory, W. B. Yeats and J. M. Synge were the Irish who wanted to introduce their flavour of richness in Drama and poetry. They tried to exploit Irish peasant culture in their plays. In the 20th century, there was also a revival in poetic Drama and Yeats and Eliot wrote some famous Poetic plays. Poetic Dramas were a reaction to the prose plays of Bernard Shaw and others. Historical and Imaginative plays were also popularised in the modern age. Historical and Imaginative plays were an attempt to escape from naturalism.

The Postmodern Age

The Postmodern Age in Literature’s history is a fusion of a multitude of advancements and innovations. From 1965 onwards, the era and the developments that come under this era constitute Postmodern Literature. “It has often been said that postmodernism is a continuation of and a break away from the modernist stance,” says Nasrullah Mambrol of “Literariness.” The notable literary devices of postmodern Literature are paradox, unreliable narrators, unrealistic narratives, parody and dark humour. Most postmodern Literature also rejects the idea of a single theme or meaning, choosing to have many meanings or forgo them entirely. This rejection of theme and meaning is often because many of its authors and artists fail to see a singular meaning in the broken, disastrous world around them. Instead, it often enjoys poking fun at those trying to find meaning. Additionally, postmodern Literature blurs the line between high and low art and genre, as literary works frequently use intertextuality (referencing other Literature, real or imagined, within the work), metafiction (making readers aware of the fact that they are reading fiction) and magical realism (a realistic narrative with an implausible supernatural or magical element thrown in).

Literary theorists that crystalised postmodernity in the Literature include Roland Barthes, Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, Jorge Luis Borges, Fredric Jameson, Michel Foucault, and Jean-François Lyotard. Many different authors have been labelled postmodernists. These writers include Thomas Berger, Richard Brautigan, Don DeLillo, William Gaddis, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon, Peter Ackroyd, Angela Carter, Salman Rushdie, and Umberto Eco. Postmodern Literature is a form of Literature characterised by metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, and intertextuality and often thematises both historical and political issues. Postmodern Literature is a style of Literature headed after world war II, including the multicultural aspect of society. Postmodernism is usually marked as a reaction against modernism. For numerous postmodern writers, the multiple disasters in the last half of the 20th century left a fraction of writers with a deep sense of fright. Postmodern Literature is a reaction to the deemed rhetorical and profound constraints of modernist Literature and, therefore, the progressive changes the world experienced after the end of World War II. While the modernist writers portrayed the world as fragmented, wounded and on the prick of disaster, that is best displayed within the stories and novels of such modernist authors as Albert Camus, Virginia Wulf, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott.

On the other hand Post - Modern writers tend to describe the world as having already undergone unnumbered disasters and being on the far side of redemption or understanding. The Postmodern theory contends that experience and details are always applicable to particular circumstances and that it is both impractical and impossible to strive to locate any definite meaning to any idea, thought or effect.

Most importantly, in Drama, Samuel Beckett pioneered the Absurd Plays. His masterpiece is Waiting for Godot, which the literary critics have highly interpreted to date. A kind of Drama which highlighted the absurdity of human presence by using rambling, repeated, and unreasoning dialogues. The idea of Absurdism goes back many centuries and can be found even in Greek culture. The writer of Absurd Drama entered this breaking of regular opening, central also ending arrangements. Absurd Drama twirled throughout purposeless and complex ideas and areas that required much realistic and coherent improvement. The theatre of Absurd is not at all a positive drama. A literary drift in Drama rife everywhere in Europe from the 1940s is noted as the Theatre of the Absurd. The Absurdist theatre skilled the elimination and concerns of the twentieth century by questioning the sense of truth and vision. Absurdist playwrights focus on the theories of French-Algerian thinker Camus. A fraction of the leading significant figures within the Theatre of the Absurd were presented by Apostle Dickson, collectively with playwrights Martin Esslin and Samuel Beckett. Waiting for Godot, Happy Days and Endgame by Samuel Beckett The Just Assassins by Albert Camus are some of the absurd writings.

Lastly, the idea of The Stream of Consciousness[68] was popularised. It depicts the multiple thoughts and feelings crossing the reader’s mind. The stream of consciousness was used to show the thinking of a personality and to replicate the sense of thinking, enabling the reader to access the mind and world of the personality more wholly. In ‘Ulysses’ (1922), James Joyce held that this work took this method to an excellent level. Since the 1970s, many authors have acquired from James Joyce, but Virginia Wulf and William Faulkner are the two prominent authors to develop Strem of Consciousness to a far level. To the Lighthouse (1927) and The Sound and the Fury (1931) are works with the stream of consciousness.

In a nutshell, the history of Literature is a vast horizon. Reproducing history takes a volume of books to do some justice to the people who contributed to it. However, in this blog, an attempt has been made to briefly and critically analyse and trace the inchoateness to the sublimity of English Literature.

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Works Cited

Alexander, Michael. A History of English Literature. London: MACMILLAN PRESS LTD, 2000.

Naeem, Professor. The Eighteenth Century—an Age of Prose and Reason. December 27 2010. 2022 May 28 <https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/the-eighteenth-century%E2%80%94an-age-of-prose-and-reason/>.

Endnotes

[1] The Ancient Sumerians Created One Of Humanity's First Great Civilizations. Their Homeland In Mesopotamia, Called Sumer, Emerged Roughly 6,000 Years Ago Along The Floodplains Between The Tigris And Euphrates Rivers In Present-Day Iraq And Syria. Sumerian Civilisation Was Very Long Lived, Lasting From C5300 BC To C1940 BC – From The Late Neolithic Stone Age To Early Bronze Age Periods.

[2] Angles Are Germanic People, Originally Inhabitants Of Schleswig-Holstein, Who Settled In Mercia, Northumbria, And East Anglia While Saxons Are A Germanic Tribe That Conquered And Settled In Southern England In The 5th–6th Centuries.

[3] 670-1100

[4] Bards Were Originally Celtic Composers Of Eulogy And Satire; The Word Came To Mean More Generally A Tribal Poet-Singer Gifted In Composing And Reciting Verses On Heroes And Their Deeds.

[5] Present Day France

[6] The Battle Finally Ended With All The Remaining Saxons Killed. The Battle Of Hastings Was A Bloody, All-Day Battle Fought On October 14, 1066 Between English And Norman Forces. Battle Ended In The Defeat Of Harold II Of England By William, Duke Of Normandy

[7] (From Latin Ministerium, “Service”), Between The 12th And 17th Centuries, A Professional Entertainer Of Any Kind, Including Jugglers, Acrobats, And Storytellers; More Specifically, A Secular Musician, Usually An Instrumentalist.

[8] As Anglo-Saxons Lost Their Initial Hostility And Were Inspired By The Vision Of A Greater Future And United With The Normans And Became A Part Of A Greater Cause Together As A Nation.

[9] Heathen An Adherent Of A Neopagan Religion That Seeks To Revive The Religious Beliefs And Practices Of The Ancient Germanic Peoples.

[10] A Literary Genre Comprised Of Fictional Works Of Chivalry And Adventures From The Middle Ages. Stories Like The Knight With The Lion Were The First Ones To Be Called 'Romances'. This Was Because They Were Written In 'Romanz', Which Meant French, Rather Than Latin.

[11] Rightfully Called The Father Of English Poetry

[12] Morality Plays Taught Lessons Of Morality Through The Use Of Allegorical Characters. Miracle Plays Told The Stories Of The Saint's Lives, Sometimes True And Sometimes Fictional.

[13] His Poem A Vision Of Piers The Plowman; Holds An Important Place In English Literature.

[14] His Important Work Confession Amantis Holds An Important Place In English Literature. It Is In The Form Of Conversation; Between The Poet And The Divine Interpreter.

[15] Canterbury Tales; Which Is The Collection Of Stories Related By The Pilgrims On Their Way To The Shrine Of Thomas Becket At Canterbury.

[16] This Is The Rough Estimate. There Is No Substantial Proof Regarding; When Did Chaucer Actually Begun Translating From Roman.

[17] Also Called The Elizabethan Period Or The Age Of Shakespeare.

[18] Rinascità (Italian: Rebirth) Was An Italian Political And Cultural Magazine Published In Rome, Italy Between 1944 And March 1991.

[19] Johannes Gutenberg Is Famous For Having Designed And Built The First Printing Press To Incorporate Movable Type And Mechanized Inking And For Using His Invention To Produce The Gutenberg Bible.

[20] Renaissance Humanism Was An Intellectual Movement Typified By A Revived Interest In The Classical World And Studies Which Focussed Not On Religion But On What It Is To Be Human. Its Origins Went Back To 14th-Century Italy And Such Authors As Petrarch (1304-1374) Who Searched Out 'Lost' Ancient Manuscripts.

[21] Christopher Marlowe: Four Plays: Tamburlaine, Parts One And Two, The Jew Of Malta, Edward II And Dr Faustus.

[22] The Group Of University Wits Consist Of John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Thomas Lodge, Robot Greene, Thomas Nash And Christopher Marlowe; They Were All Educated At Oxford Or Cambridge University.

[23] Satires, Songs And Sonnets, Elegies, The Flea, A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning, A Valediction: Of Weeping Etc. Are His Famous Works.

[24] Pepy’s Diary.

[25] Fox’s Journal.

[26] Puritanism Was A Religious Reformation Movement That Began In England In The Late 1500s. Its Initial Goal Was Removing Any Remaining Links To Catholicism Within The Church Of England After Its Separation From The Catholic Church. To Do This, Puritans Sought To Change The Structure And Ceremonies Of The Church.

[27] Restoration Of Monarchy In England As Charles II Returned England From Exile And Assumed Throne.

[28] During James I Reign.

[29] During Charles I Reign.

[30] Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Known In The English-Speaking World As Horace, Was The Leading Roman Lyric Poet During The Time Of Augustus.

[31] 1660-1700; This Age Is Also Sometimes Called Age Of Dryden As Dryden Was The Most Prominent Figure Of This Literary Age.

[32] During His Exile In France, Charles II Became Accustomed To The French Style And Demanded That The English Drama Should Follow A Style He Has Become Accustomed To.

[33] The Eighteenth Century In England Is Called The Classical Age Or The Augustan Age In Literature. It Is Also Called The Age Of Good Sense Or The Age Of Reason.

[34] An Epistolary Novel Is A Novel Written As A Series Of Documents. The Usual Form Is Letters, Although Diary Entries, Newspaper Clippings And Other Documents Are Sometimes Used, As Are Electronic Documents Such As Recordings And Radio, Blogs, And E-Mails.

[35] Anne (6 February 1665 – 1 August 1714) Was Queen Of England, Scotland And Ireland From 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, Under The Acts Of Union, The Kingdoms Of England And Scotland United As A Single Sovereign State Known As Great Britain.

[36] Also As Age Of Sensibility; The Period In British Literature Between Roughly 1740 And 1800 Is Sometimes Called “The Age Of Sensibility,” In Recognition Of The High Value That Many Britons Came To Place On Explorations Of Feeling And Emotion In Literature And The Other Arts.

[37] Wrote Famous Lyrics; Songs Of Innocence And Songs Of Experience Which Contain The Famous Poems—Little Lamb Who Made Thee? And Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright

[38] Famous As The Author Of Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard, “The Best-Known Elegy In The English Language.”

[39] Literary Dictator Of His Age, He Was An Intellectual Giant, And A Man Of Sterling Character, On Account Of All These Qualities He Was Honoured And Loved By All, And In His Poor House Gathered The Foremost Artists, Scholars, Actors, And Literary Men Of London, Who Looked Upon Him As Their Leader. Johnson’s Best-Known Works Are His Dictionary And Lives Of Poets.

[40] A Member Of The Parliament For Thirty Years And A Great Political Philosopher; Burke’s Chief Contributions To Literature Are The Speeches And Writings Of His Public Career. The Earliest Of Them Were Thoughts On The Present Discontent (1770). The Political Speeches And Writings Of Burke Belong To The Sphere Of Literature Of A High Order Because Of Their Universality.

[41] First Historian Of England Who Wrote In A Literary Manner. His Greatest Historical Work—The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire.

[42] The Licensing Act Of 1737 Is A Defunct Act Of Parliament In The Kingdom Of Great Britain, And A Pivotal Moment In Theatrical History. Its Purpose Was To Control And Censor What Was Being Said About The British Government Through Theatre.

[43] Sentimental Comedy. Which Goldsmith Criticise As, “A New Species Of Dramatic Composition Has Been Introduced…Touching Our Passions Without The Power Of Being Truly Pathetic.”

[44] Ridiculed Sentimental Comedies.

[45] Brought Back The Brilliant Of Witty And Elegant Restoration Comedy.

[46] Romantic Writers Saw Nature As A Teacher And A Source Of Infinite Beauty. One Of The Most Famous Works Of Romanticism Is John Keats’ To Autumn (1820)

[47] The Work Of Edgar Allan Poe Exemplifies This Aspect Of The Movement; For Example, The Raven Tells The Story Of A Man Grieving For His Dead Love (An Idealized Woman In The Romantic Tradition) When A Seemingly Sentient Raven Arrives And Torments Him, Which Can Be Interpreted Literally Or Seen As A Manifestation Of His Mental Instability.

[48] Ralph Waldo Emerson; His 1841 Essay Self-Reliance Is A Seminal Work Of Romantic Writing In Which He Exhorts The Value Of Looking Inward And Determining Your Own Path, And Relying On Only Your Own Resources.

[49] William Wordsworth Was One Of The First Poets To Embrace The Concept Of Writing That Could Be Read, Enjoyed, And Understood By Anyone. He Eschewed Overly Stylized Language And References To Classical Works In Favor Of Emotional Imagery Conveyed In Simple, Elegant Language, Consider His Most Famous Poem I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud.

[50] In Works Such As Poe’s The Raven, Women Were Always Presented As Idealized Love Interests, Pure And Beautiful, But Usually Without Anything Else To Offer. Ironically, The Most Notable Novels Of The Period Were Written By Women (Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, And Mary Shelley, For Example), But Had To Be Initially Published Under Male Pseudonyms Because Of These Attitudes. Much Romantic Literature Is Infused With The Concept Of Women Being Perfect Innocent Beings To Be Adored, Mourned, And Respected—But Never Touched Or Relied Upon.

[51] Romantic Literature’s Fixation On Nature Is Characterized By The Heavy Use Of Both Personification And Pathetic Fallacy. Mary Shelley Used These Techniques To Great Effect In Frankenstein

[52] Essays Of Elia (1823) And Last Essays (1833)

[53] The Spirit Of The Age (1825)

[54] De Quincey Is Famous As The Writer Of ‘Impassioned Prose’. Confessions Of An English Opium-Eater, On The Knocking At The Gate In Macbeth, The Caerars.

[55] Horace Walpole’s (1717-97) The Castle Of Otranto (1746). The Story Is Set In Medieval Italy And It Includes A Gigantic Helmet That Can Strike Dead Its Victims, Tyrants, Supernatural Intrusions, Mysteries And Secrets. There Were A Number Of Imitators Of Such A Type Of Novel During The Eighteenth Century As Well As In The Romantic Period.

[56] In All Jane Austen Wrote Six Novels—Pride And Prejudice, Sense And Sensibility, Emma, Mansefield Park, Northanger Abbey And Persuasion.

[57] Guy Mannering, The Antiquary, Old Mortality And The Heart Of Midlothian. His First Attempt At A Historical Novel Was Ivanhoe (1819) Followed By Kenilworth (1821), Quentin Durward (1823), And The Talisman (1825). He Returned To Scottish Antiquity From Time To Time As In The Monastery (1820) And St. Ronan’s Well (1823).

[58] 1837-1901

[59] Promoted Art For Art’s Sake

[60] The Best-Known Poems By Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Included The Charge Of The Light Brigade And Crossing The Bar. His Longer Works Included In Memoriam, Inspired By His Grief Over The Untimely Death Of A Friend, And Idylls Of The King, Based On Arthurian Legend.

[61] Best Poems: Robert Browning; A Great Victorian Poet, Some Of His Famous Poems Include: My Last Duchess, The Pied Piper Of Hamelin, Porphyria's Lover, Hilde Roland To The Dark Tower, The Lost Leader, Meeting At Night, Fra Lippo Lippi, And The Laboratory.

[62] She Is Remembered For Such Poems As How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43, 1845) And Aurora Leigh (1856).

[63] Comedies Of Manners

[64] The Oxford Movement- A Religious Movement in English Literature. The Oxford movement in English literature started during the Victorian Era. It was the movement of High Church members who wanted to reinstate some older Christian traditions. Indeed, it was fundamentally religious in nature.

[65] The social and religious reformers at first raised this complaint, and they were followed by literary people, because they spread the voice.

[66] especially the authors of Vanity Fair, David Copperfield, Maud, Past and Present, Bishop Blouhram, Culture and Anarchy, Richard Feveral and Tess.

[67] Idiom, the manner of presentment, the play of imagination, and the rhythm and structure of the verse, of the Victorian writers were becoming stale, and their words failed to evoke the spirit.

[68] A method where the writer is allowed to describe the emotional status of a persona in a more powerful and possible way. Here the writer takes the reader in the thought of the personality. the term was coined by William James to denote the flow of inner experiences in his book "Principles of Psychology"(1890).