The Renaissance Period:

Though renaissance began in 1453, its effect on English life and literature was felt after 1500. For that
reason it is generally accepted that the renaissance period began with the beginning of the 16th century
and continued till the Restoration in 1660. This period is called the Renaissance Period because
renaissance spirit was the main force that characterized the literature of this time. This period of 160
years is subdivided into four shorter ages according to the names of the political rulers.

a.The Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

This age is named after Queen Elizabeth I who reigned over England from 1558 to 1603. This is the most
glorious age of English literature. The important events of the age were:

1.With the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, dynastic problems and political chaos came to an end.
Stability was attained and national prosperity began.

2.Elizabeth 1 introduced Anglicanism to settle religious problems. It has a long history. In the 16th
century Martin Luther of Germany and Zwingli and Calvin of Switzerland protested against the autocracy
of the then Pope. Those who supported them were called Protestants and those who still supported the
Pope were called the Papist or Catholics. Henry VIII who was the king of England during those years
supported Protestantism for personal advantage. He wanted to divorce his first wife, Catherine and
marry Anne Boleyn, his fiancée, but the Pope did not approve it. So he denied Pope’s authority and
introduced Protestantism in England. Some of the people accepted king’s religious authority but the rest
followed the Pope’s rule. This caused a bloody civil war which continued till Elizabeth came to power in
1558. She understood the problem and introduced Anglicanism, England’s own church. This religious
settlement brought stability and prosperity to England in the second half of the 16th century.

3.Geographical and astronomical discoveries of the previous decades brought unlimited fortune during
this period.

4.Renaissance that had started earlier was now very strongly felt in England. Erasmus reached England,
and with Colet, taught humanism and other ideals of renaissance.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Thomas Moore (1478-1535): Utopia (or Kingdom of Nowhere). The book was originally written in Latin
in 1516.

2.Edmund Spenser (1552-1599): The poet of the poets. He is called the poet of the poets because after
his death many later English poets followed his art of poetry. ‘The Faerie Queene’(1590),’The Shepherd’s
Calendar’ (1579).

3.Nicholas Udall: ‘Ralph Roister Doister’ (1553), the first English comedy.

4.Norton and Sackville (1536-1608): Gorboduc (1562), the first English tragedy.

5.Thomas Kyd (1557-1595): a university wit: ‘The Spanish Tragedy (1585).

6.Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586): An Apologie for Poetrie (1595), a critical treatise. Arcadia (1590), a book
that bears the embryo of English novel.
7.Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), a university wit: Tamburlaine the Great (1587), Dr. Faustas (1592),
The Jew of Malta (1589), Edward II (1591).

8.William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Famous for the objective representation of his deep knowledge
about human psychology. He wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets. Of the total 37 plays he wrote the
following 25 before the death of Queen Elizabeth I: 1. Henry VI (1st Part) 2. Henry VI (2nd Part),3. Henry
VI (3rd Part) (1591-92), 4. Richard III (1593), 5. The Comedy of Errors (1593),6.Titus Andronicus (1594), 7.
The Taming of the Shrew (1594), 8. Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594), 9. Romeo and Juliet (1594), 10. A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595), 11. The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1995), 12. King John (1595), 13.
Richard II (1596), 14. The Merchant of Venice (1596), 15. Henry IV (1st Part. 1597), 16. Henry IV (2nd
Part. 1598), 17. Much Ado about Nothing (1598), 18. Henry V (1599), 19. Julius Caesar (1599), 20. The
Merry Wives of Windsor (1600), 21. As You Like It (1600), 22. Hamlet (1601), 23. Twelfth Night (1601),
24. Troilus and Cressida (1602), 25. All’s Well that Ends Well (1602).

9.Francis Bacon (1561-1626), the natural philosopher, the father of English Essay. Essays (1597).

10. Ben Jonson (1573-1637), a neo-classicist though he wrote in the time when romanticism was the
main mode of expression. He is called a neo-classicist because he followed the classical rules of drama:
Every Man in His Humour (1599), Every Man Out of His Humour, Volpone.

11. John Lyly (1554-1606): Campaspe (1584), Sapho and Phao (1584), Midas (1589), Euphues (1579), a
book that bears the embryo of English novel.

12. Robert Greene (1558-1592): Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1589), James-VI (1591).

13. George Peele (1558-98): David and Bethsabe (1599), Arraignment of Paris (1584).

14. Thomas Nashe (1567-1601): The Unfortunate Traveller (1594).

15. Beaumont (1584-1616) and Fletcher (1579-1625): Philaster (1611), A King and No King (1611), The
Maid’s Tragedy (1610).

Literary Features of the Period:

The Elizabethan Age is regarded as the Golden Age in the history of English literature. The renaissance
brought ancient Greek and Roman wisdom to England. The religious Reformation taught religious
tolerance and secularism. The geographical and astronomical explorations brought affluence and power.
In other words, the social life of England was marked by a strong national spirit, humanism, religious
broad-mindedness, scientific curiosity, social content, intellectual progress and unlimited enthusiasm.
All these aspects of the social life are reflected in the writings of this period. The literature of this age
shows a quest for ‘’the remote, the wonderful and the beautiful’’. It is the age of original romanticism.
This romanticism revived again, after a long time in 1798 in the poetry of Wordsworth, Coleridge,
Shelley, Keats and Byron.
b.The Jacobean Age (1603-1625):

This age is named after James I who reigned England from 1603 to 1625. The word ‘’Jacobean’’ is
derived from ‘’Jacobus’’, the Latin version of James. Some historians like to call the last five years of this
age as a part of another age which they call The Puritan Age (1620-1660). They call it so because in
between 1620 and 1660 Puritanism became the driving force in the life and literature of England. The
important elements of this age were:

1.Colonial territories were expanded.

2.Religious conflict that subsided in the Elizabethan age, revived in this period. Protestants were divided
into three sects: 1. Anglicans, 2. Presbyterians, 3. Puritans.

3.Renaissance’s influence continued.

4.Scotland was brought under the rule of the king of England.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Shakespeare, who had started in the Elizabethan Period, wrote twelve serious plays in this period.
Those plays are: 1. Measure for Measure (1604), 2. Othello (1604), 3. Macbeth (1605), 4. King Lear
(1605), 5. Antony and Cleopatra (1606), 6. Coriolanus (1606), 7. Timon of Athens (unfinished-1608), 8.
Pericles (in part-1608), 9. Cymbeline (1609), 10. The Winter’s Tale (1610), 11. The Tempest (1611), 12.
Henry VIII (in part-1613).

Though Shakespeare had written his serious plays in the Jacobean Age, he is called an Elizabethan
dramatist and never the Jacobean. The period (1590-1616) in which he wrote is also called
Shakespearean Age.

2.Ben Jonson, who had started in the Elizabethan period, wrote his famous plays in this period: Volpone
(1605), The Silent Woman (1609), The Alchemist (1610).

3.Francis Bacon also continued to write in this period: Advancement of Learning, Novum Orgum. Some
new essays were added to the new edition of his Essays (1625).

4.King James I, known as the Wisest Fool, instituted the translation of the Bible into English in 1611. Its
language became the standard of English prose.

5.John Webster (1580-1625): The White Devil (1612), The Duchess of Malfi (1614).

6.Cyril Tourneur (1575-1626): The Revenger’s Tragedy (1600), The Atheist’s Tragedy (1611).

7.John Donne (1572-1632) and George Herbert (1593-1633), the metaphysical poets, started writing in
this period.

Literary Features of the Period:

Drama still remained the main mode of expression. The dramatists practiced classical rules of drama.
Elizabethan idealization of love and romance almost died out. Poetry took a new and startling turn.
c.Caroline Age (1625-1649):

This age is named after Charles I, who reigned over England from 1625 to 1649. ‘’Caroline’’ is derived
from ‘’Carolus’’, the Latin version of ‘’Charles’’. This age is also a part of the Puritan Age (1620-1660).
The important events of this period were:

1.There was a long civil war between ‘’Cavaliers’’ and ‘’Roundheads’’. Those who supported the king
were called ‘’Cavaliers’’. Most of them were lords and their dependants. ‘’Roundheads’’ were those who
supported parliament. Most of them were puritans. A group of lyric poets associated with the
‘’Cavaliers’’ are called ‘’Cavalier poets’’. Richard Lovelace, Sir John Suckling, Robert Herrick and Thomas
Carew were the members of this group. Those poets were also called Sons of Ben as they were the
admirers and followers of Ben Jonson. Their lyrics are trivial, gay, witty and often licentious.

2.In 1642 English theatre was officially closed. On 14 June 1643 Licensing Order for printing was passed.

3.The Cavaliers were defeated, the king was caught and publicly beheaded on 30th January, 1649. His
death marked the dissolution of monarchy for the time being.

4.English colonies were further expanded.

5.Oliver Cromwell emerged as a puritan leader and came to power in 1649.

Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Donne and Herbert continued to write their metaphysical poetry. Henry Vaughan and Andrew Marvell
also wrote metaphysical poetry.

2.John Milton (1608-74) started writing in this period and wrote—‘’ Of Education’’, ‘’Areopagitica’’,
‘’Comus’’, ‘’Lycidas’’.

Literary Features:

This age is not an age of drama. Drama collapsed because of the civil war and puritanical attack.
Metaphysical poetry was the main literary product of the age.

d.Commonwealth Period (1649-1660):

This is the period when there was no monarch in England. After the death of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell,
the puritan leader, came to power. In this period Puritanism became gradually unpopular. The English
people realized that monarchy was essential for them.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.John Milton who was still alive had not written anything important in this period.

2.Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), a political philosopher: ‘’Leviathan’’.

3.Jeremy Taylor (1613-67): ‘’Holy Living’’, ‘’Holy Dying’’.

4.Vaughan (1621-95) and Marvell (1621-78) continued.

The Neoclassical Period (1660-1785):

This age is called Neoclassical or Pseudo-Classical Age to mean the artificiality of the writers of this age.
They imitated the ancient Greek and Roman literary tradition but lacked the originality of the writers of
that period. The general features of this age are:

1.The writers of this age lacked originality and followed ancient Greek and Roman tradition.

2.Much attention is paid to technical perfection rather than innovation

3.Human beings are given most importance. The literary ideal of the age is ‘’art for humanity’s sake, not
‘’art for art’s sake.’’

4.General rather than the individual qualities of human beings are given more importance

5.Sophistication in thought and style is emphasized.

The Neoclassical Age has three shorter ages within it which are discussed here separately:

a.The Restoration Period (1660-1700):

This period is called the Restoration Period because in this period, with the restoration of monarchy, the
English literary tradition was restored. The important events of this period were:

1.A general reaction against puritanical restraints became very strong.

2.Two political parties—the Whig and the Troy—were formed. The Whigs were against the king for the
Protestants. The Tories supported the king and the Catholics.

3.In 1690 there was Jacobite Rising. The Catholics of Ireland who were led by James-II, fought against
William’s soldiers and were defeated.

4.In 1662 the Royal Society was founded to promote scientific research. Sir Isaac Newton was a member
of it.

5.Industrialization began in England.

6.In 1695 the press was made free. Everyone was given liberty to express his or her views.

7.The Bill of Rights was adopted in 1689. It restricted monarch’s power and enhanced parliament’s
power.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Milton wrote his great epics in this period. He remained almost unaffected by the liberal ideals of the
Restoration period.

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes

2.Samuel Butler (1612-80): Hudibras, a satire in verse.

3. John Bunyan (1628-88): ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ the famous allegory in prose, ‘The Holy War’ an allegory in
prose.

4. John Dryden (1631-1700): All for Love, The Indian Emperor, Aureg-Zebe, Absalom and Achitophel,
MacFlecknoe, The Essay of Dramatic Poesy.

5. William Congreve (1670-1729): Love for Love, The Way of the World, The Double Dealer.

6. George Farquhar (1678-1707): The Recruiting Officer, The Beaux’ Stratagem.

7.John Locke (1632-1704): An Essay Concerning Human, Understanding.

Literary Features of the Period:

This age encouraged literary freedom and wild pleasures of the world. Realistic drama was predominant.
Writers widely used heroic couplet instead of blank verse. Mechanical perfection was the chief concern
of the poets. The writers were more artificial than original. The age experienced a transition from
renaissance ideals to neoclassical ideals. The main spirit of the age was satiric.

(b) The Augustan Age (1702-1745):

This age is called Augustan Age because the writers of this period imitated the style and elegance of the
writers who wrote in Italy during the reign of the Emperor Augustus. This span of time is also called The
Age of Pope because Alexander Pope was the best exponent of imitating Augustan literature. The
important events of the period are:

1.Scotland was annexed to England.

2.Jacobite Rising continued.

3.The first Cabinet of England was formed.

4.The first English daily newspaper, The Daily Courant, appeared in London in 1702.

5.People learned the art of living together.

6.A number of literary associations started. Of them the most famous was The Scriblerus Club. The other
clubs of this period were Kit Cat Club and The Spectator Club.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1) Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Rape of the Lock, Dunciad, Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot, An Essay on
Criticism.

2.Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): The Battle of the Books, A Tale of a Tub, Gulliver’s Travels.

3.Daniel Defoe (1659-1731): Robinson Crusoe.

4.Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Pamela or Virtue Rewarded (1740), the first modern novel.

5.Henry Fielding (1707-54): Joseph Andrews.

Literary Features of the age:

The ideals of neoclassicism which originated in the previous age became obvious. Most of the writings of
this age were satires in prose. The literature of the period suggests a political awareness of the people.

The Age of Sensibility (1745-1785):

This age is called The Age of Sensibility because in this age a sense that prefers instinct, feeling and
‘’original genius’’ to neoclassical balance, restraint and perfection became dominant. It is also called The
Age of Johnson after the name of Dr. Samuel Johnson who dominated this period. This age started after
Pope’s death and ended with the first edition of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. The important events of this
period were:

1.Inventions of this period contributed to the Industrial Revolution.

2.Industrial towns appeared.

3.French Revolution started in 1789 and continued till 1799. The slogan of the revolution was ‘’Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity.’’ The king along with his queen was overthrown by the common people. This
revolution had tremendous effect on the life and literature of the people of England.

4.There was revolution in agricultural production.

5.The British founded its empire in India in 1757 and lost its American colony in 1776.

6.In 1764 Dr. Johnson founded his famous literary club known as Johnson’s Literary Club.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Samuel Johnson (1709-84): Dictionary (1755), Preface to Shakespeare.

2.Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Started his career as a novelist in the previous age wrote ‘’Clarissa
Harlowe’’ (1748) and ‘’Sir Charles Grandison’’ (1754) in this period.

3.Henry Fielding (1707-54): Tom Jones, Amelia.

4.Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74): The Citizen of the World, The Vicar of the Wakefield.

5.Thomas Grey (1716-71): ‘’Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’’.

6.William Blake (1757-1827): Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience.

7.Edward Gibbon (1737-94): The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

8.Edmund Burke (1729-97): On American Taxation, Speech on Conciliation with America.

Literary Features of the Age:

With the death of Alexander Pope the heroic couplet declined and the ballad and lyric revived. Pendaric
ode became popular. There was predominance of prose. The novel took a definite form in this period.
Imitation of classicism came to an end towards the end of this period.
The Romantic Period (1798-1832):

This age began in 1798 with the first edition of Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads and ended with the first
Reformation Act of 1832. This period is also called The Revival of Romanticism because the romantic
ideals of the Elizabethan period revived during these years. Lyrical Ballads brought a great change in
literature—both in subject and style. The important events of the age were:

1.After French Revolution it was accepted that every individual was free and equally important.

2.Small industries disappeared and large industries with huge capital developed.

3.Machines were widely introduced in coal and iron mines which multiplied productions.

4.Steam-engines were used in ships and trains. The train was first introduced in 1830.

5.Industrialization created lots of slums, child labor and labor problems.

6.Ireland was united with England in 1801.

7.Catholic Emancipation Act was passed in 1829 and religious equity was ensured.

8.In 1840 the Penny Post was introduced.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.William Wordsworth (1770-1850), is known as Poet of Nature. Lyrical Ballads, The Prelude and other
poems.

2.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), is known as Super Natural Poet. Biographia Literaria, ‘The Rime
of the Ancient Mariner’ and some other poems.

3.Lord Byron (1788-1824): Don Juan, The Vision of Judgment.

4. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): Prometheus Unbound, Adonais and other poems, A Defence of
poetry.

5.John Keats (1795-1821), is known as the Poet of Beauty. Endymion, Hyperion, Odes and other poems,
Letters.

6.Jane Austen (1775-1817), an anti romantic novelist in the Romantic Age. She is called so because of
her stern attitude against youthful passion. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park,
Emma.

7.Charles Lamb (1775-1834): The Essays of Elia, The Last Essays of Elia.

8.William Hazlitt (1778-1830), a critic. The Spirit of the Age, The Dramatic Literature of the Age of
Elizabeth.
Literary Features of the Period:

This Period is known as the second creative period of English literature, the Elizabethan Age being the
first. The literature of this age is largely poetical. It is the golden age of the lyric. The characteristics of
this period are: (1) high imagination, (2) subjectivity, (3) medievalism, (4) supernaturalism, (5)
revolutionary zeal, (6) primitivism or spontaneity, (7) excessive interest in Nature.

The Victorian Period (1832-1901):

This age is named after Queen Victoria who reigned over England from 1837-1901. It should be noticed
that though Queen Victoria came to power in 1837, the Victorian Period began in 1832. The 12 years,
from 1848-1860, of this age is called the Age of the Pre-Raphaelites. Medievalism, symbolism,
sensuousness, truthfulness and simplicity are the main features of the Pre-Raphaelites. The last few
decades of this period is called the Age of Aestheticism and Decadence. The important events of the age
were:

1.The First Reformation Act in 1832, the Second Reformation Act in 1867 and the Third Reformation Act
in 1884 gave voting rights to every male.

2.Slaves were declared free in 1833.

3.Chimney Sweeps Act and Factory Act prohibited child labour.

4.There was a significance progress of women during this time.

5.Agricultural based society was disintegrated as the result of the development of industry.

6.The theory of evolution and the concept of communism charged the traditional view of life.

7.The Fabian Society was founded in 1883.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92), best known for his melodious language. Poems, In Memoriam, Maud
and other Poems.

2.Robert Browning (1812-89), famous for his dramatic monologues. Dramatic Lyrics, Men and Women,
Dramatis Personae.

3.Matthew Arnold (1822-88), a poet and a critic, known for his meditative and melancholic attitude.
‘’Essays in Criticism’’, ‘’Culture and Anarchy’’ and some poems.

4.Edward Fitzgerald (1809-83): Translated ‘Rubaiyat’ in 1859.

5.Charles Dickens (1812-1870): The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Coperfield, Bleak House, A Tale
of Two Cities, Great Expectations.

6.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63): Vanity Fair, The Virginians.

7.Emily Bronte (1818-48): Wuthering Heights.

8.George Eliot (1819-80): The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe.

9.Thomas Hardy (1840-1924), a novelist and a poet. The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Caster
bridge, Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

10.John Stuart Mill (1806-73): On Liberty.

11.Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59): History of England.

12.Charles Robert Darwin (1809-82): The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man.

13.Karl Marx (1818-83): Das Capital.

14.Cardinal Newman (1801-1890): The Idea of a University, Loss and Gain.

Literary Features of this Period:

The literary features of this period reflect peace, order and stability. The ideals are ‘’compromise’’ and
‘’construction’’. The literature of this period bears the influence of romanticism, and thus, there is a
marked fusion of romanticism and intellectualism. Morality and prudery are at the centre of all thoughts.
A new movement known as Decadence started. Its slogan was ‘’art for art’s sake’’.

The Modern (1901-1939) and The Postmodern (1939--)Periods:

The span from the death of Queen Victoria to the beginning of the Second World War (1939) is called
the Modern Period and from 1939 onward is called the Postmodern Period. The first decade of the
Modern Period is called the Edwardian Period. The years between 1910-1936 of this period is called the
Georgian Period. The important events of these periods were:

1.Unrest and violence became very common.

2.Socialism had great influence on the English life and thought. Class feeling became dominant.

3.Imperialism became a disturbing factor in the world. German became rival of England that led to the
First World War.

4.The movement for women’s right of vote became strong.

5.The two World Wars and their aftermath changed the traditional way of life.

6.Frustration and discontent engulfed life.

7.The Rhymers’ Club was formed.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), known as a pessimist, wrote most of his novels in the earlier period. In
this period he wrote his poems and short stories.

2.Henry James (1843-1916): The Wings of the Dove, The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl.
3.Joseph Conrad (1857-1924): Lord Jim: A Tale, The Nigger of the Narcissus, Under Western Eyes, Heart
of Darkness, Nostromo.

4.George Robert Gissing (1857-1903): The Nether World, The Whirlpool, Born in Exile.

5.Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936): Plain Tales from the Hills, Kim, Puck of Pook’s Hill, Limits and Renewals.

6.George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), a modern dramatist, famous for his ‘’drama of ideas’’. The
Philanderer, Arms and the Man, Man and Superman, Pygmalion, Heartbreak House, St. Joan.

7.John Millington Synge (1871-1909), a modern dramatist. The Shadow of the Glen, Riders to the Sea,
The Playboy of the Western World.

8.Oscar Wilde (1856-1900), a poet, novelist and dramatist. Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No
Importance, An Ideal Husband, The Ideal of Being Earnest.

9.William Butler Yeats (1865-1939), a poet, dramatist and critic, famous for his use of symbolism and
mysticism. The Wild Swans at Coole, The Tower, The Winding Stair and Other Poems, The Resurrection,
The Cat and the Moon.

10.Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), a philosopher. Mysticism and Logic, The Analysis of Mind, History of
Western Philosophy, Authority and the Individual.

11.David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930), a novelist. The White Peacock, Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow,
Women in Love, Lady Chatterley’s Lover.

12.Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), a novelist known for her presentation of inner realities. The Voyage Out,
Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, The Waves, Flush, The Years.

13.James Joyce (1882-1941), a novelist famous for his narrative technique known as ‘streams of
consciousness’. A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, Exiles, Ulysses, Finnegan’s Wake.

14.Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970): Howards End, A Passage to India, Aspects of Novel, The
Celestial Omnibus (a collection of short stories).

15.T.S. Eliot (1888-1965), a poet, dramatist and critic, famous for his theory of ‘objective co-relative’.
Prufrock and Other Observations, The Waste Land, Poems, Ash Wednesday, Four Quartets, Murder in
the Cathedral, The Family Reunion, The Cocktail Party, Selected Essays 1917-1932.

16.Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973): Poems, The Age of Anxiety, The Oxford Book of Light Verse.

17.William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965), a novelist and short story writer. Lady Frederick, The
Sacred Flame, Cakes and Ale, The Razor’s Edge.

18.George Orwell (Eric Hugh Blair) (1903-50): Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-Four.

19.Samuel Beckett (1906-89), a French dramatist. Waiting for Godot, Endgame.

20.William Gerald Golding (1911-1994), a novelist. Lord of the Flies, The Scorpion God.
Literary Features of the Period:

The Modern Period is dominated by novels. The novel evolved to an art form in this period. It became
realistic and dealt with social problems with a view to educating the readers. The poets started using
free verse. Symbols and conceits were used so frequently that poetry became tough to understand.

ইংরেজি সাজিরযেে জিছু গুরুত্বপূর্ণ শব্দ

Alliteration – repetition of the initial consonant sounds of words: “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled
peppers”

Allusion – a reference to something well-known that exists outside the literary work

Antagonist- character that is the source of conflict in a literary work

Aside – a dramatic device in which a character makes a short speech intended for the audience but not
heard by the other characters on stage

Assonance – repetition of vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds: “Anna’s apples,” “the
pond is long gone”

Characterization- The manner in which an author develops characters and their personalities

Conflict - struggle between two or more opposing forces (person vs. person; nature; society; self;
fate/God)

Climax- the turning point in a literary work

Dialogue - direct speech between characters in a literary work

Diction - word choice to create a specific effect

Figurative Language –language that represents one thing in terms of something dissimilar (non-literal
language). Includes simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, symbol)

Flashback- the method of returning to an earlier point in time for the purpose of making the present
clearer

Foreshadowing- hint of what is to come in a literary work

Falling action- results or effects of the climax of a literary work

Genre – type or category to which a literary work belongs

Hyperbole – extreme exaggeration to add meaning

Imagery – language that appeals to the five senses

Irony - Dramatic… when the reader or audience knows something a character does not

Metaphor – an implied comparison between dissimilar objects: “Her talents blossomed”

Motif- a recurring feature of a literary work that is related to the theme

Onomatopoeia – use of a word whose sound imitates its meaning: “hiss”

Oxymoron – phrase that consists of two words that are contradictory: “living dead” or “Microsoft works”

Personification – figure of speech in which non-human things are given human characteristics

Plot- The sequence of events in a literary work

Point of view- the vantage point or perspective from which a literary work is told…story (use of ‘he’ ‘she’
‘they’)

Resolution/denouement- end of a literary work when loose ends are tied up and questions are
answered

Rhyme – repetition of similar or identical sounds: “look and crook”

Rhyme Scheme – pattern of rhyme among lines of poetry [denoted using letters, as in ABAB CDCD EE]

Situational… when there is a disparity between what is expected and what actually occurs

Setting- The time and place of a literary work

Simile – a direct comparison of dissimilar objects, usually using like or as: “I wandered lonely as a cloud”

Soliloquy - a dramatic device in which a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud

Speaker – voice in a poem; the person or thing that is speaking

Stanza – group of lines forming a unit in a poem

Stereotype- standardized, conventional ideas about characters, plots and settings

Suspense – technique that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next

Symbol/symbolism – one thing (object, person, place) used to represent something else

Theme – the underlying main idea of a literary work. Theme differs from the subject of a literary work in
that it involves a statement or opinion about the subject.

Tone– the author’s attitude toward the subject of a work.

Verbal… when the speaker says one thing but means the opposite

1st person point of view- the narrator is a character in the story (use of ‘I’)

3rd person point of view- the narrator is outside of the Protagonist- the main character in a literary work
Periods of English Literature:

1. Anglo-Sanox / Old English Period 450-1066

2. Middle English Period. 1066-1500

a) Anglo Nonman Period. 1066-1350

b) The Age of Chaucer. 1350-1400

c) Barren Age. 1400-1485

3. The Renaissance 1500-1660

a) Preparation for the Renaissance. 1500-1558

b) Elizabethan Age. 1558-1603

c) Jacobean Age. 1603-1625

d) Caroline Age 1625-1649

e) Common Wealth Period 1649-1660

4. The Neoclassical Period 1660-1798

a) The Restoration Period. 1660-1700

b) The Augustan Age. 1700-1745

c) The Age of Sensibility. 1745-1798

5. The Romantic Period 1798-1832

6. The Victorian Period 1832-1901

7. The Modern Period. 1901-1939

8. Postmodernism. 1945-

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Father of English Novel: Henry Fielding.

Father of English Poem: Geoffery Chaucer

Poet of poets: Edmund Spenser

Famous mock-heroic poet in English literature: AlexanderPope.

English 'Epic' poet: John Milton

Both a poet and painter: Blake

The poet of nature in English literature: William Wordsworth

Poet of beauty in English literature: Johan Keats

Rebel poet in English Literature:Lord Byron

Father of Modern English literature: G.B.Shaw

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Author & Book

The Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

The golden age of English literature – the Elizabethan age

Elizabethan tragedy is centered on – revenge

The Elizabethan age was replete with songs & lyrics. This is why; this age is called ‘a nest of singing birds’.

The first English tragedy – Ferrex & Porrex.

University Wits – Those playwrights who were highly educated in Oxford & Cambridge University. 5 of
them born same year 1558. Thomas Kyd, Bacon, Marlowe etc.

Edmund Spenser.

The poet of poets

Works –The Ruins of Time

Christopher Marlowe

Was an English playwright & poet. The greatest dramatist of English literature before Shakespeare.

Works – Doctor Faustus, Edward-II

Thomas Kyd (playwright)

The Spanish Tragedy(1st revenged tragedy),

William Shakespeare (23rd April 1564-1616)

Is famous for English playwright of sixteenth century. (37 plays)

Tragedy – ‘Romeo & Juliet’, ‘Julius Caesar’ , ‘King Lear’, Othello, Macbeth, Hamlet,

Comedy – Love’s Labour Lost, The Tempest(last plays), All’s well that Ends well*, As you like it*, The
Merchant of Venice*, Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the shrew*,

Historical- Anthony & Cleopatra,

Poem – Venus & Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece.

‘To be or not to be, that is a question’ a quotation from – Hamlet. *

There are more things in haven & earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy - Hamlet. *

There is a divinity that shapes our ends’ is expressed from – Hamlet. *

Fair is foul, & foul is fair’ is quoted by – Macbeth (1606).

Calliban is a character in - Tempest

Cowards die many times before their death – is quoted from Julius Caesar.

A Shakespearean plays consists of five acts.

‘Brevity is the soul of wit’ is quoted by Shakespeare

Called ‘The bird of Avon’

Ben Johnson(1573-1637)

Comedy - The Silent Woman*, The Alchemist

Francis Bacon(1561-1626) (essayist)

Works- Novum Organum, The advancement of Learning

Considered to be the father of English prose. *

Robert Herrick (1592-1674)(poet)

To Daffodils, Hesperides,

In the poem ‘To Daffodils’ the poet weeps over – short-lived human life. *

c. Puritan period (1620-1660)

John Milton (1620-1674) (epic poet)

‘Paradise Lost’ attempted to – justify the ways of God to man.(14th BCS)

He was called the ‘great master of verse,

Works- On the Blindness (sonnets), Paradise Regained* (epic), Lycidas*, Areopagitica(prose)

John Bunyan (1628-1688)

works – The pilgrims Progress

Neo-Classical period (1660-1798)

a. Restoration period (1660-1700)

1) Milton wrote his great epics in this period. He remained almost unaffected by the liberal ideals of
the Restoration period.

Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Samson Agonistes

2) Samuel Butler (1612-80): Hudibras, a satire in verse.

3) John Bunyan (1628-88): ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ the famous allegory in prose, ‘The Holy War’ an
allegory in prose.

4) John Dryden (1631-1700): All for Love, The Indian Emperor, Aureg-Zebe, Absalom and Achitophel,
MacFlecknoe, The Essay of Dramatic Poesy. Known as ‘Father of modern English criticism’

5) William Congreve (1670-1729): Love for Love, The Way of the World, The Double Dealer.

6) George Farquhar (1678-1707): The Recruiting Officer, The Beaux’ Stratagem.

7) John Locke (1632-1704): An Essay Concerning Human, Understanding.

Literary Features of the Period:

This age encouraged literary freedom and wild pleasures of the world. Realistic drama was predominant.
Writers widely used heroic couplet instead of blank verse. Mechanical perfection was the chief concern
of the poets. The writers were more artificial than original. The age experienced a transition from
renaissance ideals to neoclassical ideals. The main spirit of the age was satiric.

b. Augustan period (1700-1745)

Daniel Defoe (1661-1731)

The father of English novel

works - Robinson Crusoe

Alexander pope (1688-1744)

Fools rush in where angels fear to treat’ is quoted by – Alexander pope.

To err is human, to forgive is diving - Alexander pope. *

A little learning is a dangerous thing.

Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.

He was called ‘Mock heroic poet’*

works – The Rape of the Lock*,

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)

Most famous satirist in English literature**

works – Gulliver’s Travels

Samuel Richardson (1681-1761)

The first English novel ‘Pamela’ has been written by him

Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

Tom Jones’ was first published in – 1st half of 19 century. **Considered to be the father of English Novel.
*

Literary Features of the age:

The ideals of neoclassicism which originated in the previous age became obvious. Most of the writings of
this age were satires in prose. The literature of the period suggests a political awareness of the people.

(c) The Age of Sensibility (1745-1785):

This age is called The Age of Sensibility because in this age a sense that prefers instinct, feeling and
‘’original genius’’ to neoclassical balance, restraint and perfection became dominant. It is also called The
Age of Johnson after the name of Dr. Samuel Johnson who dominated this period. This age started after
Pope’s death and ended with the first edition of Lyrical Ballads in 1798. The important events of this
period were:

1.Inventions of this period contributed to the Industrial Revolution.

2.Industrial towns appeared.

3.French Revolution started in 1789 and continued till 1799. The slogan of the revolution was ‘’Liberty,
Equality and Fraternity.’’ The king along with his queen was overthrown by the common people. This
revolution had tremendous effect on the life and literature of the people of England.

4.There was revolution in agricultural production.

5.The British founded its empire in India in 1757 and lost its American colony in 1776.

6.In 1764 Dr. Johnson founded his famous literary club known as Johnson’s Literary Club.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Samuel Johnson (1709-84): Dictionary (1755), Preface to Shakespeare.

2.Samuel Richardson (1689-1761): Started his career as a novelist in the previous age wrote ‘’Clarissa
Harlowe’’ (1748) and ‘’Sir Charles Grandison’’ (1754) in this period.

3.Henry Fielding (1707-54): Tom Jones, Amelia.

4.Oliver Goldsmith (1728-74): The Citizen of the World, The Vicar of the Wakefield.
5.Thomas Grey (1716-71): ‘’Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’’.

6.William Blake (1757-1827): Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience.

7.Edward Gibbon (1737-94): The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

8.Edmund Burke (1729-97): On American Taxation, Speech on Conciliation with America.

Romantic period (1798-1832)

This age began in 1798 with the first edition of Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads and ended with the first
Reformation Act of 1832. This period is also called The Revival of Romanticism because the romantic
ideals of the Elizabethan period revived during these years. Lyrical Ballads brought a great change in
literature—both in subject and style. The important events of the age were:

1.After French Revolution it was accepted that every individual was free and equally important.

2.Small industries disappeared and large industries with huge capital developed.

3.Machines were widely introduced in coal and iron mines which multiplied productions.

4.Steam-engines were used in ships and trains. The train was first introduced in 1830.

5.Industrialization created lots of slums, child labor and labor problems.

6.Ireland was united with England in 1801.

7.Catholic Emancipation Act was passed in 1829 and religious equity was ensured.

8.In 1840 the Penny Post was introduced

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.William Wordsworth (1770-1850), is known as Poet of Nature. Lyrical Ballads, The Prelude and other
poems.

2.Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), is known as Super Natural Poet. Biographia Literaria, ‘The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ and some other poems.

3.Lord Byron (1788-1824): Don Juan, The Vision of Judgment.

4. Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822): Prometheus Unbound, Adonais and other poems, A Defence of
poetry.
5.John Keats (1795-1821), is known as the Poet of Beauty. Endymion, Hyperion, Odes and other poems,
Letters.

6.Jane Austen (1775-1817), an anti romantic novelist in the Romantic Age. She is called so because of
her stern attitude against youthful passion. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park,
Emma.

7.Charles Lamb (1775-1834): The Essays of Elia, The Last Essays of Elia.

8.William Hazlitt (1778-1830), a critic. The Spirit of the Age, The Dramatic Literature of the Age of
Elizabeth.

Literary Features of the Period:

This Period is known as the second creative period of English literature, the Elizabethan Age being the
first. The literature of this age is largely poetical. It is the golden age of the lyric. The characteristics of
this period are: (1) high imagination, (2) subjectivity, (3) medievalism, (4) supernaturalism, (5)
revolutionary zeal, (6) primitivism or spontaneity, (7) excessive interest in Nature.

William Blake (1757-1828)

both a poet & painter**

Works - Marriage of Heaven & Hell

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

He is called ‘Poet of Nature’*, ‘Poet of Childhood’ , ‘Lake poet’

Wordsworth was inspired by – the French Revolution

Works - The Solitary Reaper(romantic poem), The Daffodils(poem), The Escursion,

The child is father of a man’ is taken from his writings

Ten thousand saw at a glance tossing their heads in sprightly dance - Daffodils

S.T. Coleridge (1772-1834)

He is also called ‘Lake poet’ , poet of Supernaturalism, Opium Eater

The English poet who addicted to opium

He prayeth best who loveth best*

Works - Kubla Khan(a verse)**

Water, water everywhere... not a drop to drink occurs in – The Ancient Mariner. *
Lord Byron (1788-1824)

The Rebel poet in English literature. *

Death is ‘a short sleep’*

Percy Byssi Shelley’s (1792-1822)

He was called the ‘Revolutionary poet’ , ‘Poet of Hope & Regeneration’

Works –The Revolt of Islam,

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts’ quotation from – To a Skylark*

We look before & after & pine for what is not – To a Skylark*

Oh lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud; I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed.’ – Ode to the west wind. *

If winter comes can spring be far behind - Ode to the west wind. *

Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world*

John Keats (1795-1821)

Is called the ‘poet of beauty’.

Was the poet of Romantic Age. Died of Tuberculosis.

A famous English poet who was professionally known as a man of medicine.

A thing is joy for ever’ was state by – John Keats.

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter’ is quoted by – Keats.

Works – Ode on a Grecian Urn , ‘Beauty is truth, truth is beauty’

My heart aches, & a drowsy numbness pains. My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk’ – Ode to a
Nightingale.

Jane Austen (1775-1832), Novelist

Sense & Sensibility, Pride & prejudice,

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Novelist

Patriotism, Ivan Hoe*

Charles Lamb (1775-1834), British essayist

Some books are to be tested, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed & digested – Charles
Lamb
Victorian period (1832-1901)

The Victorian Period (1832-1901):

This age is named after Queen Victoria who reigned over England from 1837-1901. It should be
noticed that though Queen Victoria came to power in 1837, the Victorian Period began in 1832. The 12
years, from 1848-1860, of this age is called the Age of the Pre-Raphaelites. Medievalism, symbolism,
sensuousness, truthfulness and simplicity are the main features of the Pre-Raphaelites. The last few
decades of this period is called the Age of Aestheticism and Decadence. The important events of the age
were:

1.The First Reformation Act in 1832, the Second Reformation Act in 1867 and the Third Reformation Act
in 1884 gave voting rights to every male.

2.Slaves were declared free in 1833.

3.Chimney Sweeps Act and Factory Act prohibited child labour.

4.There was a significance progress of women during this time.

5.Agricultural based society was disintegrated as the result of the development of industry.

6.The theory of evolution and the concept of communism charged the traditional view of life.

7.The Fabian Society was founded in 1883.

Major Writers and Their Major Works:

1.Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-92), best known for his melodious language. Poems, In Memoriam,
Maud and other Poems.Ulysses*, In Memoriam(poem)(an elegy)

2.Robert Browning (1812-89), famous for his dramatic monologues. Dramatic Lyrics, Men and Women,
Dramatis Personae.Robert Browning was the composer of – Andrea Del Sarto. *

3.Matthew Arnold (1822-88), a poet and a critic, known for his meditative and melancholic attitude.
‘’Essays in Criticism’’, ‘’Culture and Anarchy’’ and some poems.

4.Edward Fitzgerald (1809-83): Translated ‘Rubaiyat’ in 1859.

5.Charles Dickens (1812-1870): The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, David Coperfield, Bleak House, A
Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations.

6.William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-63): Vanity Fair, The Virginians.

7.Emily Bronte (1818-48): Wuthering Heights.

8.George Eliot (1819-80): The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe.

9.Thomas Hardy (1840-1924), a novelist and a poet. The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Caster
bridge, Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

10.John Stuart Mill (1806-73): On Liberty.

11.Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-59): History of England.

12.Charles Robert Darwin (1809-82): The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man.

13.Karl Marx (1818-83): Das Capital.

14.Cardinal Newman (1801-1890): The Idea of a University, Loss and Gain.

Literary Features of this Period:

The literary features of this period reflect peace, order and stability. The ideals are ‘’compromise’’ and
‘’construction’’. The literature of this period bears the influence of romanticism, and thus, there is a
marked fusion of romanticism and intellectualism. Morality and prudery are at the centre of all thoughts.
A new movement known as Decadence started. Its slogan was ‘’art for art’s sake’’.

Modern Age (1901- )

Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) (Novelist) (born in India)

The Jungle Book

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Novelist

Lord Jim

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) Novelist

The time Machine (science fiction)

E.M. Forster (1879-1924) Novelist

A passage to India

Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) Novelist

The Luncheon(short story), Of Human Bondage,

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930) (Novelist)

Lady Chatterley’s Lover(novel), The Rainbow(novel)**, Son & Lovers,

Bertrand Russell (1872 –1970)

Road to Freedom,

The modern British Philosopher who was awarded Novel Prize for literature. **

Gorge Orwell (1903-1950) (Novelist)

Real name Eric Arthur Blair

works – Animal Farm** , Nineteen Eighty Four,

William Golding (1911-1993) (Novelist)

Lord of the Flies(novel)

Winston Churchill (Novelist)

The statesman but awarded novel prize (1953) in literature. *

England expects every man to do his duty. *

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) (Modern poet)

Murder in the Cathedral, The Waste Land*(novel prize),

Born in USA**

Is famous for the theory of ‘Objective Co-relative’.

George Bernard Shaw (1850-1950)

Works – Caesar & Cleopatra(play) **, Man & Superman

Who is the greatest modern English Dramatist/ Playwright **

O’Henry

Real name William Sydney Porter. **

The Gift of the Magi

Famous for short story.

Ernest Hemingway (Novelist) (1899 – 1961)

works - A Farewell to Arms**, For whom the Bell Tolls **, The Old Man & the Sea*, Indian Camp

William Faulkner

American*

Her Man Melville

‘Moby Dick’ deals with – a whale*

Mrs. Harriet Stowe (1811-1896)

Uncle Tom’s Cabin*

Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) American

The Good Earth

Alex Haley (1921 – 1992)

Novel – Roots,

French

Alexander Dumas* 1829–1870

Three Musketeers*

Rousseau (1712 – 1778)

“Man was born free, but everywhere hi is in chains’ is quoted from - The Social Contract

works - Émile: or, on Education

Russian

Leo Tolstoy 1828- 1910),

Works - war & Peace*, Anna Karenina

Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), Novelist

works - Cancer Word*

Author & Book

Name of the Writers and their Books:

“India Wins Freedom” (Autobiography) writtern by “Abul Kalam Azad”

“Rape of the Lock” (Poem) written by“Alexandar Pope”

“The Alchemist” (Story) and “Silent Woman” (Story) written by “Ben Jonson”

“David Copperfield” (Novel), “A Tale of Two Cities” (Novel), “The Old Curiosity Shop” (Novel), “Oliver
Twist” (Novel), “Great Expectation” (Novel),' The Pickwick Paper' written by“Charles Dickens”

“Tamburlaine the Great” (Play), “The Jew of Malta” (Play) and “Doctor Faustus” (Play) written by
“Christopher Marlowe”
“A Farewell to Arms” (Novel), “The Old Man and The Sea” (Novel), “The Sun also Rises” (Novel) and “For
Whom the Bell Tolls” (Novel) written by “Ernest Hemingway”

“Caeser and Cleopatra” (Play), “Arms and the Man” (Play), “Man and Superman” (Play) and “Doctor’s
Dilema” (Play) written by “G. B. Shaw”

“Animal Farm” (Novel) and “Ninteen Eighty Four” (Novel) written by “George Orwell”

“Ode to Nightmare” (Ode), “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (Ode) and “Ode to Autumn” (Ode) written by “John
Keats”

“Gulliver’s Travel” (Satire) written by“Jonathon Swift”

“Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (Poem), “Don Juan” (Poem), “The Vision of Judgment” (Poem) and
“Heaven and Earth” (Poem) written by “Lord Byron”

“The Patriot” (Poem) written by “Robert Browning”

“The Jungle Book” (Novel) written by “Rudyard Kipling”

“Mid Summer Night’s Dream”, “The Tempest”, “As You Like It”,“Merchant of Venice”, “Julius
Caeser”,“Comedy of Errors”, “The Taming of the Shrew” andTragedy Play: “Othello”, “Macbeth”, “King
Lear”, “Romeo and Juliet”,“Hamlet”

written by “William Shakespeare”

“Pamela” (Novel) written by “Samuel Richardson”

“The Gift of the Magi” (Short Story),“Cabbage and Kings” (Short Story), “Roads of Destiny” (Short Story)
and “Sixes and Seven” (Short Story) written by “Sidney William Porter”

“Ivanhoe” (Novel), “Heart of Midlothian” (Novel), “The lay of Last Minstrel” (Poem) and “Patriotism”
(Poem) written by “Sir Wlater Scott”

“The Waste Land” (Poem) and “Four Quarters” (Poem) written by “T. S. Eliot”

“Of Human Bondage” (Novel) and “The Moon and Sixpence” (Novel) written by “Somerset Maugham ”

“Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience” (Poem) written by “William Blake”

Tennyson English Poet In Memoriam, Ulysses, The Lady of shalott

Andrew Marvell English Poet The Peace, The clouds

Aristotle Greak Philosopher Politics

Bertrand Russel British Philosopher Marriage and Morals

Charles Darwin English Writer Origin of Species

D.H. Lawrence Eng. Novelist & Poet Lady Chatterleys lover

Defoe Eng. Journalist and Novelist Robinson crusoe, Moll Flanders.

Dylan Thomas English Poet and Journalist Eighteen Poems, Under Milk wood
E.M. Foster English novelist A passage to India, Longest Journey

Edger Allan Poe American short story writer The Raven

Francis Bacon Essayist Novum Organum

Geoffrey Chaucer Father of English Poetry Canterbury Tales, The legend of Good women.

George Barned shaw Irish Dramatist Man and Superman, Candida, Arms and the Man.

George Eliot Author/Novelist Silas Marner, Adam Bede.

Homer Greek Epic poet Odessey, Iliad.

Jane Austen Woman Novelist Pride and Prijudice, Sense and Sensibility.

John Milton English poet Paradise lost, Paradise Regained.

Leo Tolstoy Russian Author War and Peace

Lord Byron Romantic Poet Don Juan

Maxim Gorky Russian Author Mother, My childhood

Oscar Wilde Poet and Novelist An Ideal husband.

P.B. Shelley English Poet Ozymandias, Ode to the west wind, To a skylark, Prometheus unbound,
Adonais

Robert Herrick English Poet To Daffodils.

S.T. Coleridge Romantic Poet Kubla Khan, Ancient Mariner, Biographia Literaria

T.S. Eliot Poet and Play wright Murder in the Cathedral.

Thomas Carlyle English writer Past and President

Thomas Gray English Poet Ode to Adversity

Thomas Kyd Play wright The spanish Tragedy

W.B. Yeats Irish Poet The Tower

William Blake English Poet Songs of Innocence and Experience

W.M. Thackery English Novelist Vanity Fair

William Wordsworth Romantic poet, Poet of Nature. Lyrical Ballads, The prelude, The Daffodils, Michael,
Tintern Abbey.

ইংরেিী সাজিযে ( বই এবং লেখি )

1) David Copperfield-Charles Dickens

2)Hamlet-William Shakespeare
3)The Rime of the Ancient Mariner-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

4)Das Capital-Karl Mark

5)Animal Farm-George Orwell

6)Dialogues-Plato

7)Tempest-William Shakespeare

8)Main Kemp-Ad loaf Hitler

9)Mother-Maxim Gorky

10)As You Like it-William Shakespeare

11)Paradise Lost-John Milton

12)The Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens

13)The Merchant of Venice-William Shakespeare

14)Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen

15)All’s Well that Ends Well-William Shakespeare

16)Anna Karenina-Leo Tolstoy

17)Origin of Species-Charles Darwin

18)Discovery of India-Johor Lal Nehru

19)Asian Drama-Gunner Myrdal

20)The Old Man and The Sea-Earnest Hemingway

21)Julius Caesar-William Shakespeare

22)Man and Superman-George Bernard Shaw

23)War and Peace-Leo Tolstoy

24)Gulliver’s Travels-Jonathan Swift

25)Heaven and Earth-Lord Byron

26)Blue Bird-Lord Alfred Tennyson

27)Othello-William Shakespeare

28)India Wins Freedom-Abul Kalam Azad

29)Marriage and Moral-Bertrand Russell

30)God of the Small Things-Arundhuty Roy

31)Caesar and Cleopatra-George Bernard Shaw

32)Romeo and Juliet-William Shakespeare

33)Jungle Book-Rudyard Kipling

34)Lycidas-John Milton

35)Emma-Jane Austen

36)A pair of Blue Eyes-Thomas Hardy

37)Odyssey-Homer

38)Memories of the Second World War-Winston Churchill

39)For Whom the Bell Tolls-Earnest Hemingway

40)Wealth and Nation-Adam Smith

41)West Land-T.S Eliot

42)Vanity Fair-W.M Thackeray

43)Prince-Machiavelli

44)Republic-Plato

45)Freedom-Bertrand Russell

46)A Long Walk to Freedom-Nelson Mandela

47)Robinson Crusoe-Daniel Defoe

48)Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow-D.H Lawrence

49)Ulysses-Lord Alfred Tennyson

50)Sense and Sensibility-Jane Austen

51)Roots-Alex Haley

52)To Skylark-P. B Shelly

53)Time Machine-H. W Wells

54)Try and Try Again-W.E Hick son

55)Seven Seas-Rudyard Kipling

56)Around the World in Eighty Days→ Jules Verne

57)Waiting For Goddot-Samuel Becket

58)Things Fall Apart-Chinua Achebe

59)Silent Women-Ben Johnson

60)Wuthering Heights-Emile Bronte

61)The Way of the World-William Congreve

62)Voyage of Lilliput-Jonathon Swift

63)Top Secret-Henry Fielding

64)Twelfth Night-William Shakespeare

65)Utopia-Sir Thomas Moore

66)Tom Jones-Henry Fielding

67)The Return of the Native-Thomas Hardy

68)The Alchemist-Ben Jonson

69)Tess of the D’Urbervilles-Thomas Hardy

70)Scholar Gipsy-Matthew Arnold

71)The Rape of the Lock-Alexander Pope

72)Prelude-William Wordsworth

73)Ode to the West Wind-P.B Shelly

74)Great Expectations-Charles Dickens

75)King Lear-William Shakespeare

76)Kublai Khan-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

77)Isabella-John Keats

78)Measure and Measure-William Shakespeare

79)In Memoriam-Lord Alfred Tennyson

80)Pilgrim’s Progress-John Bunyan

81)Oliver Twist-Charles Dickens

82)Paradise Regained-John Milton

83)Iliad-Homer

84)Divine Comedy-Dante

85)Crime and Punishment-Dostoevsky

86)A Brief History Of Time-Stephen Hawking

87)A Farewell to Arms-Earnest Hemingway

88) A Midsummer’s Nights Dream-William Shakespeare

89)AdonisP. B Shelly

90)Akbar Nama-Abul Fazal

91)Canterbury Tales-Geoffrey Chaucer

92)Comedy of Errors-William Shakespeare

93)Don Juan-Lord Byron

94)Dr. Faustus-Christopher Marlowe

95)Politics-Aristotle

96)Volpone-Ben Jonson

97)Dictionary-Samuel Johnson

98)A Passage to India-E. M. Forster

99)Macbeth-William Shakespeare

100)Samson Agonists-John Milton Das

Shortcut-

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●Age/Years :

----------------------

Victorian : 1832-1901

Anglo Saxon : 450-1066

Elizabethan : 1558-1603

Renaissance : 1500-1660

Romantic age : 1798-1830

Romantic : 1798-1832

Modern : 1901-1939

Post Modern : 1939

Shakespeare: Elizabeth age (1564-1616)

Churchill got Nobel: 1953

Novel award introduced in Literature: 1901

TS Eliot born : 1888

-------------------------

●Age/Period:

------------------------

Golden age: Elizabeth I age

Mid English Period: 1066-1500

Modern Poet: TS Eliot

Oldest Period: Anglo Saxon

Romantic Age Poet: J Keats, Wordsworth

Romantic Period: 1798-1830

Shakespeare lived: Elizabeth Reign

Victorian age Poet: Robert Browning

Victorian period: 19th century

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●Types:

---------------------

Shakespeare : Plays/Drama

Bertrand Russel : Philosopher(UK)

Charles Dickens : Novelist

Goethe (Poet) : Germany

O Henry famous : Short history

Same period belong : ST Colidge + Wordworth

Epic Poet :John Milton, Lord Tennyson

William Hazlitit : Essayist

Francis Bacon : Essayist

Lucy Poem : Wordsworth

Charles Lamb : Essayist

Lyciday : J Milton

George Barnard Shaw : Play Writer

--------------------------------------------

●English Literary Terms:

--------------------------------------------

A Fantasy: Imaginary Story

Achilles: Greek Fighter

Ballad: Short narrative poem

Catastrophe: The tragic end of dramatic events

Lexicographer: Dictionary Writers

Limerick: Short form of light verse

Melodrama: Play: Violent & Sensational themes

Novel: Latin word

Ode - a lyric poem, often in the form of an address.

Opera – a musical drama.

Parody – imitation of a poem or a writing.

Penny dreadful – blood and thunder tales.

Plagiarism – act of stealing from the writing of others.

Protagonist – the leading character in a play / novel.

Rhetoric – the art of persuasive impressive speaking / writing.

Rhyme – short poem in same sound.

Satire - The literary art that uses honour and wit to attack and expose human folly and weakness.

Sonnet – a poem of fourteen lines.

Thrillers – sensational stories

Renaissance: The revival of life

Romantic Poetry feature: Subjectivity

Romanticism: Love & Beauty

To Daffodils: Short lived human life

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●Books & writers Name:

-------------------------------------

A Brief History of Time-Stephen Hawking

A Farewell to Arms-Earnest Hemingway

A Long Walk to Freedom-Nelson Mandela

A Midsummer’s Nights Dream-William Shakespeare

A pair of Blue Eyes-Thomas Hardy

A Passage to India-E. M. Forster

Adonis-P. B Shelly

Akbar Nama-Abul Fazal

All’s Well that Ends Well-William Shakespeare

Andrea Del Sarto (Poem)-Browning

Animal Farm-George Orwell

Anna Karenina-Leo Tolstoy

Around the World in Eighty Days→ Jules Verne

As You Like it-William Shakespeare

Asian Drama-Gunner Myrdal

Blue Bird-Lord Alfred Tennyson

Caesar and Cleopatra-George Bernard Shaw

Canterbury Tales-Geoffrey Chaucer

Cesar and Cleopatra (Play)-G.B Shaw

Comedy of errors-Shakespeare

Crime and Punishment-Dostoevsky

Das Capital-Karl Mark

David Copperfield-Charles Dickens

Dialogues-Plato

Dictionary-Samuel Johnson

Discovery of India-Johor Lal Nehru

Divine Comedy-Dante

Don Juan-Lord Byron

Dr. Faustus-Christopher Marlowe

Emma-Jane Austen

For Whom the Bell Tolls-Earnest Hemingway

Freedom-Bertrand Russell

Friends not Masters- Gen Ayub Khan

God of the Small Things-Arundhuty Roy

Great Expectations-Charles Dickens

Gulliver’s Travels-Jonathan Swift

Hamlet- Shakespeare

Hamlet-William Shakespeare

Heaven and Earth-Lord Byron

If Winter comes (Poem)- Shelley

Iliad-Homer

In Memoriam-Lord Alfred Tennyson

India Wins Freedom-Abul Kalam Azad

Isabella-John Keats

Julias Caesar (Tragedy)- Shakespeare

Jungle Book-Rudyard Kipling

King Lear- Shakespeare (tragedy)

Kubla Khan- ST Coleridge

Leaves of Grass- Walt Whitman

Lycidas-John Milton

Macbeth-William Shakespeare

Main Kemp-Ad loaf Hitler

Man and Superman-George Bernard Shaw

Marriage and Moral-Bertrand Russell

Measure and Measure-William Shakespeare

Memories of the Second World War-Winston Churchill

Merchant of Venice (Comedy)- Shakespeare

Mother-Maxim Gorky

Ode to the West Wind-P.B Shelly

Odyssey-Homer

Of human bondage- Somerset Maugham

Oliver Twist-Charles Dickens

Origin of Species-Charles Darwin

Othello-William Shakespeare

Paradise Lost- J. Milton

Paradise Regained- Milton

Passage to India-E.M Forster

Pilgrim’s Progress-John Bunyan

Politics-Aristotle

Prelude-William Wordsworth

Pride and Prejudice- John Austin

Prince-Machiavelli

Rape of the Lock-Alexander Pope

Republic-Plato

Robinson Crusoe-Daniel Defoe

Romeo and Juliet-William Shakespeare

Roots-Alex Haley

Samson Agonists-John Milton Das

Scholar Gipsy-Matthew Arnold

Sense and Sensibility-Jane Austen

Seven Seas-Rudyard Kipling

Silent Women-Ben Jonson

Solitary Reaper- William Wordsworth

Songs of innocence- William Blake

Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow-D.H Lawrence

Tempest-William Shakespeare

Tess of the D’Urbervilles-Thomas Hardy

The 2nd world- Winston Churchill

The Alchemist-Ben Jonson

The diamond necklace (Short story)- Maupassant

The God of Small things- Arundhuti Roy

The Good Earth- Pearl S Buch (USA)

The Iliad- Homer

The Merchant of Venice-William Shakespeare

The new testament- John Wycliffe

The Old Man and The Sea-Earnest Hemingway

The picture of Dorain Gray- Oscar Wild

The Rainbow (Novel)- Lawrence

The Rape of the Lock-Alexander Pope

The Return of the Native-Thomas Hardy

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Animal Farm-George Orwell

The sacred flame- William Somerset Mengham

The Tale of Two Cities-Charles Dickens

The Taming of shrew- Shakespeare

The Time Machine- H.G Wells

The Waste Land (Poem)- TS Eliot

The Way of the World-William Congreve

Things Fall Apart-Chinua Achebe

Time Machine-H. W Wells

To Skylark-P. B Shelly

Tom Jones-Henry Fielding

Top Secret-Henry Fielding

Try and Try Again-W.E Hick son

Twelfth Night-William Shakespeare

Ulysses (Novel)- Jmaes Joyces

Utopia-Sir Thomas Moore

Vanity Fair-W.M Thackeray

Volpone-Ben Jonson

Voyage of Lilliput-Jonathon Swift

Waiting For Goddot-Samuel Becket

War and Peace-Leo Tolstoy

Wealth and Nation-Adam Smith

West Land-T.S Eliot

Wuthering Heights-Emile Bronte

-------------------------
●Character:

-------------------------

Adam - Paradise Lost - J Milton (Epic)

Alice - Lewis Carrol

Ancient Mariner - ST Colridge.

Cleopatra - Othello (Tragedy) - Shakespeare

Hctor - Illiard (Epic) - Homer

Ivanhoc - Ivanhoe - Walter Scott

James Bond - Ian Fleming

Jeeves - Woodhouse

Kim - Kipling

Machbeth - Machbeth (Tragedy) - Shakespeare

Micawber - David Coperfield - Charles Dickens

Oliver Twist - Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Sherlock Homes - Conan Doyle (Novel)s

Shylock - The Merchant of Venice (Comedy ) - Shakespeare

--------------------------

●Quotations:

---------------------------

A thing of beauty is joy forever =Jonh Keats = Endymion

Beauty is truth-=Jonh Keats=Ode on a greacion keats

Behold her…single in the field=W. Wordsworth

Blow blow the winter wind=W shakespeare

Come live with me and be my love=Christopher marlow

Cowards die many time before their death = Shakespeare=Julias Caesar

England expects every man to do his duty=Nelson

Give me a good mother, I will give u a good nation=Nepoleon

Good face is the best letter of recommendation=Queen Elizabeth

He prayeth best who loveth best=ST Colridge =The Anci Marine

If winter comes can spring befar behind=PB Shelley=Ode to the west wind

If winter comes=PB Shelley=Ode to west wind

Justice delayed is justice denied=Gladstone

Oh lift me as a wave a leaf a cloud I blees=PB S.Shelley=Ode to the wesr wind

Our sweetest songs are those that tell of a saddesr thought=

Some book are to be tasted=Princess Bacon=of study

There are more thing in heaven and earth=Shakespaere=Hamlet ar charater

There is a divinity that shapes our ends= shakespeare=hamlet

To be or not to be that is the question= shakespeare=Hamlet

To err is human to forgive is divine=Alexander Pope

We look before and after=PB Shelley

●লি লিান যুরেে সাজিজযেি? এি নিরে-

=======================

∎∎Romantic Period:

"Australia ও Scotland এে Blake Keats ো Shelley লি Wordsworth বরে Call িরে"।

∎জবস্তাজেয :

Australia= Austen

Scotland = Walter Scott

Blake = William Blake

Keats = John Keats

Shelley = P.B Shelley

Wordsworth = William Wordsworth

Call = ST Coleridge

∎∎Modern Period:

"Lawrence এে Maugham Forster বরে, Yes (Yeats), Hemingway Well keeping িরে।"

∎জবস্তাজেয :

Lawrence = D.H Lawrence

Maugham = Somerset Maugham

Forster = E.M Forster

Yes (Yeats) = W. B. Yeats

Hemingway = Earnest Hemingway

keeping = Rudyard Kipling

∎∎Renaissance Period:

Henry Wife (Wyatt) Moore Swovy ডারি।

∎জবস্তাজেয :

Henry = O Henry

Wife (Wyatt)

∎∎It's interesting !

1789 : French Revolution

1798 : Romantic period of English Literature started

1879 : Birth of Edward Forster

1888 : Birth of T.S Eliot

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