1) Old and Middle English Literature Beowulf Old English heroic epic poem; unknown poet - Beowulf, a hero

o of the Geats (North Germanic tribe), comes to help the king of Danes, Hrothgar, whose kingdom has been under attacks by a being, Grendel. Beowulf defeats it, then its mother who wanted revenge. Then he goes home to Geatland in Sweden, where he later becomes a king. After 50 years, he fights with a dragon, defeats it as well, but is mortally wounded and dies. Old English 5th 11th century - Britainn attacked by the angles, the Saxons and the jutes and is conquered by the anglo-saxons over an extended period of time Vikings (the danes) - Vikings begin to invade in the 9th cent - This inspires The Battle of Maldon, the last Old English heroic poem o told from the perspective of the English; nothing is known about the author Battle of Maldon (AD 1000?) - Has been called the greatest battle poem in English - It is an Anglo-Saxon poem by an unknown poet. It describes a battle between the English and Vikings warriors from Denmark in AD 991 at Maldon in Essex on the River Blackwater, then called the River Panthan Saxon invasion was stopped by King Arthur Another influence aside from Anglo-Saxon: Latin, later also Scandinavian Vikings English as a literary language by the end of 10th cent Old English period Dark ages - religion influence romans Catholicism, Christianity accepted at 6th cent, obedience to God - styles no clear distinction between prose and poetry - genres epic poems, legends, fairy-tales, chronicles, historical records, religious verse, sermons, translations (e.g. bible) - drama in churches, short scenes, sketches, which later developed in full-length plays Old English language - heavily inflected language - words change form to indicate changes in usage, such as person, place, number, tense, case, mood - vocabulary is almost entirely Germanic - earliest record of English language is preserved in manuscripts in monasteries beginning in the seventh century Caedmon Song of Creation (ca 670) he was a humble unlearned man who heard voices telling him to compose the poem; lived and composed in Whitby Abbey; little is known about his life, the only source is Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede (written in Latin) Cynewulfs poems Juliana, The Fate of the Apostles, Christ, Elene; 2nd half of 8th century, literate, educated man, most likely a man in holy orders Caedmon and Cynewulf among the only 12 Anglo-Saxon poets known by name today King Alfred the Great translated many works from Latin; King of Wessex, youngest son of Ethelwulf, Legal reform Book of Laws (120 chapters; own laws + jewish + celtic; common law); translator

Middle English (1066 ca 1450) - French came to power, influenced the language; War with France, then War of the Roses (Lancaster vs York L.won) - Religious literature the majority of literature during this period is still religious in nature o Medieval Latin flourishes in the universities developing in Paris, Oxford and Cambridge o Education was taught in Latin with the focus of becoming a cleric - Non-religious themes, poems, romances - Drama 3 kind of plays morality, miracle, mystery plays o Mystery plays usually dealt with Gospel events - their main subject was the redemption of man o Miracle plays were concerned with episodes from the lives of saints o Moralities were religious plays, too, but focused on the conflict between good and evil; their aim was to improve people o miracle plays grouped in 4 cycles, known by the names of the towns where they were performed; Chester, York, Coventry, Wakefield Robin Hood unknown author, originally spreads by a word of mouth (Sherwood, supporter of the Richard, the Lionheart, killed by Mother Superior) o morality plays didactic, fight between good and evil, rhymed; soul at the end saved; to more educated people o mystery plays appealed to all different classes Everyman unknown author examines the question of Christian salvation by use of allegorical characters and what man must do to attain it
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Secular literature Geoffrey Monmouth ca 1140 writes The History of the Kings of Britain o Cleric, teacher, later bishop; his work significant influence on understanding whole BR history Emergence of great poets o unknown author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight o William Langland The Visions of Piers the Ploughman 14th century; almost nothing is known about his life, historians only judge on his work that was sort of biographical; had sth in connectin with clergy, described himself as loller o Geoffrey Chaucer ca 1343 1400 his works are a milestone in the transition from Middle English to Modern English; author, alchemist, astronomer crucial figure in developing vernacular, middle English; Father of English literature, greatest poet of the middle ages first who wrote in English, page at royal family; first who was buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey influenced by Dante, Boccaccio Canterbury Tales talked by pilgrims Romance Comprises a large fraction of secular Middle English: o Often involves fighting among men and monsters o Often uses supernatural elements o Usually deals with a romantic love, often a married woman o Often uses the formula of a knights service to lord, lady and God o Sir Thomas Mallory ca 1405 1471 only a little is known about his life, not even his origin and name are hundred percent certain; committed a lot of crimes; 2x elected to parliament Le Morte dArthur romance tales about King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table; interprets existing stories about these figures, with some of Malorys own original material Medieval drama o Miracle plays, mystery p., morality p., interlude

developed out of liturgical ceremonies: the origin of medieval plays can be found in the Church and in its rituals - first in churches, later moved to courtyards, after than in theatres (in Shakesp. Period)

kenning type of literary trope instead of sun candle of a sky

2) Elizabethan period, its poetry, prose and drama

1485 end of war of Roses - William Coxton printed 1st Imaginative (fiction) book in England; first printer in Eng, first book retailer of printed books came from Italy Chrisopher Columbus, other explorers spiritual, intelectual expansion Henry VIII- problems with seccession, rule of the queen o departed from Roman Catholics reforamation king = defender of the faith Individualism human life, development of science Protestantism M.L. King, J. Calvin, Erasmus brought new ideas into Bitain

simple scenery in form of verse, blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter) elements of drama 5 parts corresponding to plays acts o exposition (introduction) establishing tone, setting main characters o rising action (complicated action) o climax (crisis) turning point, changes development of a drama o falling action o denouement (catastrophe or resolution) actors only boys and men audience 2-3 thousand people drama became the national literary manifestation of the time: the theatres were open to everybody sonnets immortal topics theatre a mirror of society new hero, full of passions and doubts, replaced the old allegorical character audience were involved in the performance, since they were in direct comunication with the actors William Shakespeare o Types of plays historical (Richard II, III, Henry IV, VIII, Julius Caesar), tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbath), comedies (The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummers Night Dream, The Commedy of Errors, As You Like It, The Merchant of Venice, The merry Wives of Windsor) o 37 plays, 152 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems o At 18 married woman 26, 3 children, oldest son of twins died; with his playing company (later known as Kings Men) founded Globe in 1599; 1613 destroyed by fire, rebuild a year later, closed in 1642 o Use about 20.000 words while author at his time used about 7.000 o Invented a lot of new words shaped language o Use of puns Words with more than one meaning Words with similar sounds o Soliloquy Speech of moderate to long length Spoken by on actor alone on stage (or not heard by other actors) o Aside Direct address by actor to audience not supposed to be overheard by other characters o Still popular because The topics are still current, contemporary His attitude to language approachable to everybody, each class everybody can enjoy the play The language itself new language

Not being exact about the time period People can associate themselves with the characters theres so many of them Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593) o Dramatist; studied in Cambridge, belonged to University Wits group; after Shakespeare the greatest o Use of blank verse; his plays depicts titans who are destroyed by their own ambitiousness and passionatteness o Tamburlane the Great o Doctor Faustus o The Jew of Malta Ben Jonson (1572-1637) o Dramatist, poet, actor; satirical plays o Volpone o Bartholomew Fair Restoration drama o Restoration literature 1660-1689, after Eng civil war o Restoration of Cnglish Church and House of Stuart monarchy: Charles II o restore to start sth again; after the monarchy was restored o John Dryden (1631-1700) o The Conquest of Granada (deals with Spanish conquest of Granada) Poet, literary critic, translator, playwright Dominated literary life of restoration Studied Westminster School rhetoriecs and Trinity College Cambridge Celebrated restoration of House of Stuart; after Restoration quickly got into position of leading poet and was loyal to the new rulers o William Congreve (1670-1729) o The Mourning Bride (tragic drama), The Way of the World (comedy) Playwright and poet; Trinity College in Dublin; friend with J.Swift, disciple of J.Dryden; buried in poets corner
o

Poetry John Milton (1608-1674) Poet, polemicist; argued for legality of divorces, wrote in Latin, Italian, English, could speak also Dutch, studied Hebrew; considered the most educated Eng poet; 3x married Earl of Rochester The Disabled Debauchee, Ramble in St. James Park Thomas Sprat (1635-1713) History of the Royal Society Theologist, later canon, chaplain to Charles II; fought for objectivity and comprehensiveness in writing

Prose
o

Fiction Aphrea Behn (1640-1689) Oronooko First woman to earn her livelihood by authorship Firmly dedicated to restored King Charles II o women on stage o imagination was replaced by reason o three main genres: heroic play, tragedy and comedy o theatres were indoor and smaller than the Elizabethan ones o audience was sitting in the dark, separated from the stage that was brightly lit Comedy of manners o deals with morals of higher class, obsessed with sex
o

o theatre on decline but popular (not serious topic - remained musical plays, farces, live entertainment) o 1737 censorship was introduced Journalism became popular

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Britain in the 18th century and its literature The Age of the Enlightenment or, Age of Reason cultural movement of intellectuals, reasoning, attempt to advance knowledge; promoted science and opposed superstition and intolerance heavily didactic and moralizing, became a very popular means of public education Development of the novel Political satire Drama actors more popular than the plays o Gothic fiction subgenre o used to describe type of fiction which inspires terror, horror set in Gothic castles Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) o Robinson Crusoe (shipwreck, gamble lose, cpt.Dubbley paid Robs debts, pirate attack, Rob sold to slavery, escaped, another shipwreck only survivor deserted island, over 28years, English ship (rebellion), return to England, disappointment by the changes is public (mainly slavery), 7years return to the island developed civilization); first novel to have realistic components Writer, journalist, ne Foe of a low birth, not proud of it, thus add De For pamphlets sentenced to pillory, later worked as a secret agent Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) o Gullivers Swift, Modest Proposal (satirical essay attitudes towards the poor, the Irish policy in general) Writer, satirist, essayist, pamphleteer; became Dean of St.Patricks Cathedral in Dublin Studied Trinity College in Dublin Affairs with women; last years of his life marked with a disease, he lost hearing, ability to speak and eventually ends with madness Henry Fielding (1707-1754) o Tom Jones (biting social commentary (criticism of class friction) a bastard, foundling Tom in love with Sophia whose father oppose their love because of Toms origin) Novelist, dramatist, satirist; considered one of the most important novelist of 18th century Together with his brother founded 1st police force Laurence Stern (1713-1768) o The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman nine volumes Novelist, clergyman; first decade of life spent moving from place to place, nowhere longer than a year Jesus School in Cambridge; died on tuberculosis Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) Prodigy child of poor health but stunning abilities; Pembroke College Oxford Master of Arts o poet, essayist, moralist, lexicographer; A Dictionary of English Language, The Life of Richard Savage, poem The Vanity of Human Wishes

4)

Romantic literature

Pre-romantism mid 18th century - William Blake (1757-1827) o Songs of Innocence and Experience; The Tiger; The Marriage of Heaven and Hell; Painter, poet; developed illuminative printing; had an idiosyncratic views considered mad Romanticism movement across the arts, not only literature; late 18th century, early 19th Typical for romanticism 5I - Imagination emphasized over reason - Intuition feelings, instincts over reason - Idealism mind(spirit over the matter; Immanuel Kant German philosopher, decisive impact on romantic idealists) o Concept, that we can make the world a better place - Inspiration going with the moment rather than getting it precise - Individualism fights for Womens Right and Abolitionsim; Walt Whitman Song of Myself (starting I celebrate myself) - Supernatural and gothic themes - strengthened in reaction to the industrial revolution - revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment - Shakespeare back in vogue
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George Gordon Byron (1788-1824) o Childe Harolds Pilgrimage (child is here as a young noble man), Don Juan (satiric poetry, lighthearted, comic, mixture of various styles) Poet, satirist; Trinity College Cambridge; one of greatest BR poets Percy Byshhe Shelley (1792-1822) o Prometheus Unbound (elements of Greek mytology) Poet, idealist, indibidualist; more revolutionary Matriculated at University College Oxford, Because of pamphlet Necessity of Atheism expelled; Bullied at School Marry Shelley his 2nd wife (because of her abandoned his 1st wife, pregnant at that time) Mary Shelley (1797-1851) o Frankenstein Novelist, dramatist; daughter of feminist teacher and anarchist philosopher William Wordsworth (1770-1850) o The Tables Turned Romantic poet, Lake poet; co-operate with Samuel Coleridge Brnte Anne, Charlotte, Emily (19th century) All of them teachers or governess A novelist and poet, sharp ironic style (29) o Ch novelist, Jane Eyre (39) o E The Wuthering Heights (30) Bram Stoker (1847-1912) o Dracula Horror writer, Irish Until he turned 8, he suffered identifiable illness couldnt stand, walk, then, as a miracle, recovered Married girlfriend of Oscar Wilde Lewis Carroll (1831-1898) o Alice in Wonderland and through Looking Glass Writer, mathematician, photographer; illustrated his own works Suffer from statter Ne Charles Dodgson

Jane Austen (1775-1817) o Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility Stayed unmarried whole life; her heroines always end married in her novels Had great education Charles Dickens (1812-1870) o Oliver Twist, David Copperfield Considered one of the greatest of Victorian Tough childhood David Copperfield sort of biographical Reflected changing social situation

5)

Victorian period and literature

Queen Victoria 64 years of ruling - Colonies spread all over the world the empire on which the sun never sets - London the most important city in Europe o Victorian qualities earnestness, moral responsibility, domestic propriety - Time of change o London becomes most important city in Europe o Population of London expands from two million to six million
o o o o o

Shift from ownership of land to modern urban economy Impact of industrialism Increase in wealth Worlds foremost imperial power Victorian people suffered from anxiety, a sense of being displaced persons in an age of technological advances Queen Victoria and the Victorian Temper o Ruled England 1837- 1901 o Exemplifies Victorian qualities: earnestness, moral responsibility, domestic propriety o The Victorian Period was an age of transition o An age characterized by energy and high moral purpose The Early Victorian Period (1830-1848) o 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, the first public railway line in the world o By 1850, railway lines connected Englands major cities o By 1900, England had 15,195 lines of railroad and an underground rail system beneath London o The train transformed Englands landscape, supported the growth of commerce and shrank the distance between cities The Time of Troubles 1830s and 1840s o Unemployment o Poverty o Rioting o Slums in large cities o Working conditions for women and children were terrible The Mid-Victorian Period (1848-1870) o a time of prosperity, improvement, stability, optimism The Crystal Palace o Erected to display the exhibits of modern industry and science at the 1851 Great Exhibiton o One of the first buildings constructed according to modern architectural principles o The building symbolized the triumphs of Victorian industry The British Empire o Many between 1853 and 1880, large scale immigration to British colonies o In 1857, Parliamet took over the government of India and Queen Victoria became empress of India o Many British people saw the expansion of empire as a moral responsibility o Missionaries spread Christianity in India, Asia and Africa First womans college established in 1848 in London

Oscar Wilde criticism of society Irish poet, writer; was homosexual and imprison for it Studied filology, get acquainted with decadence influence on his work Hedonism Married to rich lady which ensured him living Graduated from Oxford

imprisoned for homosexuality The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray

REALISM faithfull representation of reality, base on dogma objective reality, focus on everyday activities and life, primarily middle and lower class society w/o romantic idealization OR dramatization

6)

Development in British and Irish Drama in the 20th century

Theatre of the Absurd - second half of 20th cent Waiting for Godot, Krapps Last Tape Samuel Beckett Harold Pinter Edward Albee Whos Afraid of Virginia Wolf Tom Stoppard (CZ Vclav Havel) -

began in post WWII Europe grew out of the existentialist viewpoint Ernest Hemingway Soldiers Home (short story) - Prominent existentialist thinkers Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus - Theatre of absurd o view life as meaningless o believe in an absence of values and Christian absolutes o emphasize personal feelings over moral values o breakdown of language empty phrases that prevent communication o no timeline o deliberately baffles the audience usually lacks dramatic conflict and sequential plot o shows the human condition as one of confusion and chaos o explores the barrenness (=emptiness) of life o shows man without a basis for meaning in life o gives an accurate picture of 20th century life without God !!!Form of play - interruption - discontinuity - incongruity - senseless logic - senseless repetition In-yer-face theatre [slap] in your face should evoke an unpleasant surprise, sth discomforting - describes drama that emerged in GB in 1990s - first appeared by British theatre critic Aleks Sierz in the title of his book In-Yer-Face Theatre - Sierz uses i-y-f th. to describe work by young playwrights who present vulgar, shocking and confrontational material on stage as a means of involving and affecting their audiences Sarah Kane (1971-1999) o Blasted youtube The Death of Sarah Kane - playwright - her plays deal with theme of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture both physical and psychological and death, full of poetic intensity - they are characterised by a poetic intensity, exploration of theatrical form and, I her earlier work, the use of extreme and violent stage action - Kanes published work consists of 5 plays, one short film, Skin, and two newspaper articles for The Guardian Mark Ravenhill (*1966) - an English playwright and journalist - criticises mass consumer society - literary director of a new writing company Paines Plough o his most famous plays include Shopping and Fucking, Some Explicit Polaroids, Mother Claps Molly House - he made his debut in his monologue Product, at the Edinburg Festival in 2005

existentialism assumes that people are entirely free and thus responsible for what they make of themselves

often writes for The Guardian arts section

Anthony Neilson (*1967) - is a Scottish playwright and director commonly associated with the i-y-f th. movement - began his career at the Finborough Theatre, London - Normal: The Dsseldorf Ripper; made into a film Angels Gone - The Wonderful World of Dissocia o Peter Krten (1883-1931) was a German serial killer dubbed The Vampire of Dsseldorf by the contemporary; he committed a series of sex crimes, assaults and murders against adults and children, most notoriously from February to November 1929 in Dsseldorf G.B.Shaw (1856 1950) Pygmalion

Samuel Beckett o Krapps Last Tape Prestigious schools, Trinity College Dublin NOBEL Prize anti-fascist resistance fighter

7)

Colonial themes in British Literature

Establishment and expansion of colonies. Symbolism E.M.Forster A Room with a View view on life J. Conrad - criticism of colonialism Rudyard Kipling (1865-1941) - poet, novelist; born in India - NOBEL Prize 1st to gain it in literature - supported colonialism (R. Kipling, J. Conrad, E. M. Forster) Required reading: R. Kipling If (poem) Mandalay (poem) E. M. Forster A Room with a View (Part I, Chapter I, The Bertollini) Recommended reading: J. Conrad Heart of Darkness E. M. Forster Passage to India, Howards End

8)

Realistic novel and the short story of the 1st half of the 20th century A. Bennett, J. Galsworthy, G. H. Wells, W. S. Maugham Required reading: H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds (at least chapters 7 9) John Galsworthy The Forsyte Saga (Part II, Chapter X, Diagnoses of a Forsyte)

9)

Modernism novel and poetry (J. Joyce, J. Conrad, V. Woolf, K. Mansfield, D. H. Lawrence, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats)

Causes of the modernist temper - Wars, industrialization, crisis, world-time introduced, industrialization, immigration, technological evolution, growth of modern science - Influences: Austrian Sigmun Freud, German, Karl Marx Shifts in the modern nation - From country to city - From farm to factory - From native born to new citizen - Introduction to mass culture (pop culture) - Continual movement - Split between science and the literary tradition (science vs. letters) Techniques in modernist works The modernists were highly conscious that they were being modern that they were making it new and this consciousness is manifest in the modernists radical use of a kind of formlessness - Collapsed plots difficult to follow - Fragmentary techniques o More notable for what is not there, what is omitted (no explanations) - Shifts in perspective, voice and tone not one view, several of them - Stream-of-consciousness point of view - Associative techniques hard for reader philosophical, historical, religion allusions James Joyce Ulyses - whole in 24h Virginia Woolf o Mrs. Dolloway - Bloomsbury Group (founded with her sister) - Psychical problems incest abuse by her step-brother - Analysed own behaviour inflected by bad childhood, hospitalized many times in asylum but never get over the depresions - stream of consciousness internal feelings/monolog unfinished, disorganised sentences, not homogenous D.H.Lawrence poet, essayist Stream of consciousness technique - developed by J.Joyce and V.Woolf in their later novels - attempted to capture in words what is happening in our minds when the half-formed thoughts flow constantly, freely, uninterrupted by the central of our mind - a new type of language connected with the new developments in psycho-analysis (Sigmund Freud) - based on free flow of associations, ideas and reflections 1930s: The Depression

Required reading: V. Woolf Mrs. Dalloway (extract pp.1-20)

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Novel between the wars (G. Greene, E. Waugh, E. Bowen, A. Powell, A. Huxley, G. Orwell)

The years between the outbreak of the 1st WW and the beginning of the 2nd WW (1914-1918; 1939-1945). Its main feature is the appearance of the lit. school modernism. Modernists wanted to show a new view on a human which had emerged due to deep social changes and discoveries in physics, philosophy, and psychology. 1st WW was a terrible shock to the Br. Society who had not expected such destruction of property and life. The war made people wonder if Western civilization and culture would continue to exist. Modernism rejected the naturalistic point of view on man in which man is shaped by environment. It rejected the socialist point of view that man is determined by the society. A change is society would change people who live in it. Modernism rejected the Christian notion of man who can be saved only by God. Required reading: George Orwell Animal Farm George Orwell (1903-1950) - Ne Eric Blair - Sympathised with democratic socialism - Work marked with his intelligent, wit, awareness of social injustice - Considered best chronicler of Eng culture - his influence on literature lasts decades after his death o Animal Farm, 1984
11)

Angry Young Men (J. Osborne, K. Amis, J. Braine, A. Sillitoe)

The "angry young men" were a group of mostly working and middle class British playwrights and novelists who became prominent in the 1950s. Their impatience and resentment were especially aroused by what they perceived as the hypocrisy and mediocrity of the upper and middle classes. *Recommended reading: K. Amis Lucky Jim University novel (M. Bradbury, D. Lodge); Post-War literature (W. Golding, L. Durrell, M. Spark, D. Lessing, C. P. Snow, J. Fowles, R. Dahl, J.R.R. Tolkien) Required reading: William Golding Lord of the Flies William Golding (1911-1993) - NOBEL; Oxford; English and philosophy teacher - Take part in Normandy landing (serve at Royal Navy) *campus novel (university n.) humorous novel from university setting; main character from middle-class gets opportunity to work here but is dissatisfied by the hypocrisy of the uni staff
12)

Contemporary British writers (Ian McEwan, Angela Carter, Terry Pratchett, Nick Hornby etc.). Required reading: Ian McEwan - Atonement

Ian McEwan *1948 - Awarded Shakespeare prize, OBE Order of British Empire (order of chivalry) - Very open-minded spoke against Islamism for its views on women and homosexuality - Childhood spent in East Asia, Gemrany and North Africa (his father a Scottish army officer) - University of Sussex degree in English Literature in 1970 - In 2002 found his 6y older brother who had been adopted Terry Pratchet *1948 - OBE; first short story published at 13 (The Hades Business) in school magazine, commercially came out at his 15 - Alzheimers disease