Old
English/Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066)
Content:
Ø strong belief in fate
Ø juxtaposition of church and pagan
worlds
Ø admiration of heroic warriors who
prevail in battle
Ø express religious faith and give moral
instruction through literature
Style/Genres:
Ø oral tradition of literature
Ø poetry dominant genre
Ø unique verse form
•caesura; alliteration;
repetition; four-beat rhythm
Effect:
Ø Christianity helps literacy to spread
Ø introduces Roman alphabet to Britain
Ø oral tradition helps unite diverse
peoples and their myths
Historical
Context:
Ø life centered on ancestral tribes
or clans that ruled themselves
Ø at first the people were warriors
from invading outlying areas: Angles,
Saxons, Jutes, and Danes
Ø later they were agricultural
Key Literature/Authors:
Ø Beowulf
Ø Bede
Ø Exeter Book
Middle
English Period (1066-1485)
Content:
Ø plays that instruct the illiterate
masses in morals and religion
Ø chivalric code of honor
Ø romances
Ø religious devotion
Style/Genres:
Ø oral tradition continues
Ø folk ballads
Ø mystery and miracle plays
Ø morality plays
Ø stock epithets
Ø kennings
Ø frame stories
Ø moral tales
Effect:
Ø church instructs its people through
the morality and miracle plays
Ø an illiterate population is able to
hear and see the literature
Historical Context:
Ø Crusades bring the development of
a money economy for the first time in
Britain
Ø trading increases dramatically as
a result of the Crusades
Ø William the Conqueror crowned king
in 1066
Ø Henry III crowned king in 1154 brings
a judicial system, royal courts, juries,
and chivalry to Britain
Key Literature/Authors:
Ø Domesday Book
Ø L’Morte de Arthur
Ø Geoffrey Chaucer
The
Renaissance (1485-1660)
Content:
Ø world view shifts from religion and
after life to one stressing the human
life on earth
Ø popular theme: development of human
potential
Ø popular theme: many aspects of love
explored
• unrequited
love; constant love; timeless love;
courtly love; love subject to change
Style/Genres:
Ø poetry (sonnet)
Ø drama
Ø written in verse
Ø supported by royalty
Ø tragedies, comedies, histories
Ø metaphysical poetry
Ø elaborate and unexpected metaphors
called conceits
Effect:
Ø commoners welcomed at some play productions
while conservatives try to..
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