English Literature - Ages or Periods

 

English Literature

Ages or Periods

Literary study involves not only the reading of books but also a study of the spirit of the ages. For better understanding and better study, many historians have categorised the entire History of English literature in certain periods. The History of English literature is very closely related to the history of the English people. It began with the emergence of the English nation and then onward kept on developing with the social development of the nation. In the history of the English there had been several religious and political changes. Several scientific discoveries and inventions also changed the mode of life. Each of those changes reflected a change in its literature. As in the history of English people, so in the history of English literature, there were different phases of progress. Each of those phases, known "Age“ or "Period", has been given a particular name; sometimes according to the name of the king or queen, sometimes after the name of a great writer, and sometimes according to the spirit of the time. Some of the ages have get more than one name because different historians have given them different names. Similarly, the duration of a particular age also differs according to the choice of the historians. Apart from these, some of the ages are subdivided into smaller ages. Though the names and time-span of the ages of English literature differ from historian to historian. They may vary in terms of dates, names and periods. The following list follows the widespread practice of listing:

1.       Old English (O.E) or Anglo-Saxon Period. - 450-1066 A.D.

2.       Anglo-Norman Period - 1066-1350 A.D.

3.       The Age of Chaucer - 1350-1400 A.D.

4.       Middle English Period - 1066-1500 A.D.

5.       The Renaissance or the Early Modern Period - 1500-1600 A.D.

6.       The Elizabethan Age - 1558-1603 A.D.

7.       The Jacobean Age - 1603-1625 A.D.

8.       The Caroline Age - 1625-1649 A.D.

9.       The Commonwealth Age - 1649-1660 A.D.

10.  The Puritan Age or The Age of Milton - 1620-1660 A.D.

11.  The Neo-classical Period - 1600-1785 A.D.

12.  The Restoration Period or The Age of Dryden - 1660-1700 A.D.

13.  The Age of Pope - 1700-1750 A.D.

14.  The Augustan Age or The Classic Age - 1700-1745 A.D.

15.  The Age of Sensibility - 1745-1783 A.D.

16.  The Age of Transition - 1740-1800 A.D.

17.  The Romantic Period - 1785-1830 A.D. or 1800-1850 A.D.

18.  The Victorian Period - 1832-1901 A.D.

19.  The Pre-Raphaelites - 1848-1860 A.D.

20.  Aestheticism and Decadence - 1880-1901 A.D.

21.  The Edwardian Period - 1901-1910 A.D.

22.  The Georgian Period - 1910-1914 A.D.

23.  The Modern Period - 1914-1945 A.D. or 1890-Onwards

24.  The Post-Modern Period - 1945- Present Day