HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

1. History of English Literature Medieval to
Romantic Times
Kinnaird College For Women
B.ED (Hons) Department of Education
For queries contact maham.muzamil@kinnaird.edu.pk

2. WHAT IS LITERATURE?
1. The term “literature” is usually used to refer to works of drama,
poetry, fiction (novels), and nonfiction (prose).
2. Literature is a term that is used to describe writing which is
creative.
3. Literature is considered as a mirror that reflects life in a social
context.
4. Literature depicts society in all its kinds and colors.
5. Literature is a source or means through which a community
defines, describes, and identifies itself.
6. Literature means novels, short stories, plays and poems which
convey message through language which is rich and multi-
layered.

3. INTRODUCTION
English literature primarily emerged from Literature produced in
England. England was created in 449 AD*. The three tribes that created
were known as Angles, Saxon and Jutes. The language they adopted
becomes known as English language. The literature created in different
ages or time periods became associated with those ages. This course deals
with the history and ages of literature. Following time periods would remain
focus of this course.
1. Medieval Literature (Old Age Middle Ages)
2. Renaissance and Elizabethan period
3. The Age of Neo-Classicism (Puritan, Augustan)
4. Victorian Age
5. Romantic (Modern, Post-Modern age)
**A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for “year of our Lord,” and it means the number of years since the

4. Unit 1 Medieval
Literature
 Language and voice.
 Heroes and heroines
 Gender
 Myths, monsters and the imagination.
 Faith and religion.
 Form and genre.

5. Video links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0eLomcjt6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1R7_qqQ-lI&t=139s

6. Old age
It is the time period during 449 to 1066 AD. Literature produced at that time was mostly
oral and was sung and recited in large gatherings. War poetry is the most prominent of
them. War heroes were praised and appreciated. Oral literature incorporated public
matters instead of personal or private life.
Earlier literature was more pagan in nature whereas literature produced later centuries
incorporated elements and stories from Bible and Christian traditions after the arrival of
Christian missionary in England from Rome. Much of the literature produced at that time
has been lost and the existing literature from that age is only found in pieces. The best
piece and representative work of literature produced in this age is Beowulf.
Salient Features of Old Age
 War Themes
 Oral Literature
 Tribal legends
 Verse form

7. Beowulf
Beowulf is the only surviving Anglo-Saxon or Germanic epic poem, in the oral form of recitation,
incorporating heroic stories. This long poem was composed for recitation, perhaps in the 6thC. The
author of this poem is unknown. It was handed down through generations of musicians until it was
transcribed by a monk. The length of the epic is 3,000-line, in a narrative form and is divided into
two parts of equal length.
Beowulf the hero of the epic belongs to Great, a member of the then Swedish tribe. He is a furious
warrior, destined to be the king.
The first part of the epic, Beowulf showcases the setting of Denmark where Beowulf helps the king
of the Scyldings, Hrothgar whose country has been threatened for 12 years by a monster named as
Grendel. Beowulf with his wit and bravery defeats both the monster Grendel and his monster
mother as well. After this begins the season of eating, drinking, and treasure giving to Beowulf who
sails back to his own country.
The second section of the epic takes place after several years when Beowulf has become the king of
the Geats. At this time Beowulf’s kingdom becomes victim to the terror of a dragon. Beowulf
bravely slays the dragon but is also mortally wounded; and at the end of the poem Beowulf’s kingly
funeral is shown.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrm3PJjD7gU&ab_channel=CourseHero

8. MIDDLE AGES
Middle ages in English literature is remembered as the dark ages. This age has
fewer creative works as compared to the following ages. The middle age is the
transition from the Old Age. It started at the time of Norman Conquest in 1066
when Normandy known as William the Defeater and later William 1 of England
attacked and invaded England. William ended the opposition and rejected the
Anglo-Saxon Earls of England from property.
The land and wealth was among the Normans and supporters of new regime. The
language that Normans adopted was French instead of Old Norse and therefore
these descendants of Vikings adopted French lifestyle and culture. When Normans
settled in England after the war, they also promoted the French language and
culture. Thus, French became the language of nobility in England as well after the
Norman influence.

9. ROMANCE
Romance in English literature originally came from languages French and Latin, later
came to be known as something written in French. The basic theme of romance of middle
ages is actions and adventures of knights in the honor of the Queen. Medieval romance
can be defined as a story of adventure—fictional in nature and having supernatural
elements depicted in verse or prose form. Earlier romances in English are in verse; those
in prose (Malory, for example) are generally late.
Structurally, the romance of medieval age usually incorporates the loose pattern of the
quest in the form of episodes. The romance like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight of
course follows more than the typical artificial structure and combines the plots to explain
the "double structure". It is the best-known Arthurian stories of the literature of middle
ages. The “Green Knight” is interpreted by some as a representation of the “Green Man”
of legends and some others consider him as a reference to Christ.
This romance is composed in stanzas of poetic verse, and also draws on English stories,
along with the French medieval tradition. It is a significant poem in the romance genre and
has retained its popularity to this day.

10. Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer, born in 1340 at London,
England, became a public servant to Countess
Elizabeth of Ulster in 1357 and continued
working with the British court throughout his lifetime.
Middle English is divided into three parts: Before Chaucer (1066 to 1300), Age of Chaucer (1300 to
1400) and Age of Revival (1400 to 1550).
He is known as the father of English literature. The Canterbury Tales became his best known and
most acclaimed work in the history and field of literature. He died October 25, 1400, in London,
England.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PsIgqnX0eI&ab_channel=ArpitaKarwa

11. Geoffrey Chaucer
 This man was such a big impact in the field of English Literature that the entire age was named after him.
We know this particular age from 1343 to 1400 as the Age of Chaucer because it was around 1343, Chaucer
was born. Chaucer was the man who participated in the 100 years war, and he went on so many exploration
around Europe. He travelled extensively and that is the reason why he was able to meet so many new people.
He was able to look at their perspective and finally he was able to pull all those experiences together in one
book for which he is known and that is Canterbury Tales. There has been some fine works written by him.
 A movie “A Knight’s Tale” was based on Chaucer’s life, and it is also based on knight’s tale that is in the
Canterbury Tales.
 Two important works of Chaucer.
1. The first one being the Parliament of Fowles. Fowles is stand for birds, so it is basically a story where all
these birds are sitting and discussing with each other.
2. The second work is Troilus and Cressida. Troilus and Cressida is a story which was later written by
Shakespeare too, but then the original story was retold first by Chaucer and then by Shakespeare. It is a
very interesting story.

12. The Prologue to Canterbury Tales
Canterbury Tales as it is said to be tales, but it’s not prose. It is a poetry, and it is collection of
poetry in which there are different pilgrims who are coming together and going to shrine of
Thomas Becket and while they are going, they are narrating stories and when they are coming
back, they have to narrate one, one story too.
Chaucer died before he could complete the work, originally, he wanted to write 120 stories
together, there was 30 pilgrims so two stories every pilgrim is going to tell on their way to
Thomas Becket shrine and two on the way back from Thomas Becket shrine. In total l4 stories
and 30 pilgrims so calculation is 120 stories, but he died before, he complete it. He only wrote
24 stories of them.
Chaucer inspired a lot of other writers in the ages to come and bunch of few writers were so
much inspired by Chaucer, that they were known as “Scottish Chaucerians”. These were
writers who were writing after Chaucer so somewhere around 1400 to 1500 A.D., they were
writing, and they were imitating Chaucer in exact form and that is the reason as we called
them “Scottish Chaucerians”.

13. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 ww.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_middle.html
 https://www.biography.com/people/geoffrey-chaucer-9245691
 https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/CT-prolog-para.html
 http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/section1/
 http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/film-and-lit/great-chain-ofbeing.hnd.pdf
 http://www.marlowe-society.org/marlowe/work/work.html
 David Bevington, Terence John, Bew Spencer, John Russell Brown.
 https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Shakespeare
 https://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/plays.php
 https://www.bachelorandmaster.com/englishperiods/age-of-milton.html#.WrdH3i5ubIV
 https://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/text.shtml
 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44131/a-valediction-forbidding-mourning
 https://www.biography.com/people/alexander-pope-9444371
 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45554/the-solitary-reaper
 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43588/dover-beach