British Eras

Middle Ages: Anglo-Saxon Period (Old English) (c. 450-1150)

• Heroism

• Loyalty

• Struggle between good and evil

• Fate

• Religious Elements

Middle Ages: Notable Works

• Beowulf

• The Seafarer

• The Wanderer

The Renaissance (c.1500-1600)

• Humanism

• Individualism

• Classical Antiquity

• Exploration of human nature

• Religious conflict -----> Rise of Protestantism

Renaissance: Notable Works

• William Shakespeare

• Christopher Marlowe

• John Milton

The Restoration and the 18th Century (1660-1800)

• Wit

• Satire

• Reason

• Order

• Rise of the novel

Restoration and the 18th Century (1660-1800)

• Focus on Society and its instutions

• Satire

• Return to classical forms

• Reason

• Rise of the Novel

The Restoration and the 18th Century: Notable Works

• John Dryden

• Alexander Pope

• Jonathan Swift

• Samuel Richardson

• Daniel Defoe

The Romantic Period (c. 1798-1837)

• Emotion over reason

• Nature

• Sublime

• Individualism

• Freedom

The Romantic Period (c. 1798 - 1837)

• Idealization of the past

• Reaction against industrialization

• Enlightements emphasis on reason

• Emotion over Reason

• Individualism

The Romantic Period: Notable Works

• William Wordsworth

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Mary Shelley / Percy Bysshe Shelley

• Lord Byron

• John Keats