1.

The Renaissance (1485 – 1649)

Shakespeare lived and wrote during a remarkable period of English history, a time of relative
political stability and great development, 1485 – 1649= the Renaissance.
The Renaissance in England coincided with the reign of Elizabeth I, so it is often referred to as the
Elizabethan period.
She was a powerful, resolute monarch who returned England to Protestantism, quelled a great
deal of internal turmoil, and unified the nation. When she came to the throne, the queen declared that
the content of the play could no longer be religious. Yet, new theaters were built and new forms of
drama emerged, such as romance.
At the time, all parts of the play were played by men. The Elizabethan society was strongly
patriarchal, the father having the right to treat his daughters as saleable goods, whereas marriage was a
business agreement.
Historical developments which shaped the Elizabethan Literature include: the growth of a
wealthy middle class of people who had the time to write and read and the invention of the printing
press which encouraged authors to write in their local vernacular rather than in Greek or Latin.
The ideas of the Renaissance are strongly influenced by the concept of humanism. The aim was
to restore human values from antiquity by reintroducing the philosophies, language and literature of
ancient Greece and Rome.

2. Enlightenment (1660 – 1798)

(Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift)

The end of the 17th century marked the beginning of an intellectual movement in
Europe known as the Enlightenment. Enabled by the Scientific Revolution, it opened a path for
independent thought and the fields of Mathematics, Physics, Politics, Medicine, Astronomy were
updated and expanded. Egalitarianism was the promise of the century, together with fair treatment for
everyone, regardless of the background. At the time, Britain was as powerful as France, had the
strongest navy in the world which controlled Britain's own trade routes. It made Britain the most
advanced economy in the world.
The first half of the 18th century in English literature became known as the Augustan age, an
epoch ruled by Queen Anne, King George I and King George II, that featured the rapid development of
the novel. Literature in that century became highly instructive whereas the fiction of the day reflected
an interest in travelling; Characters change their lives by voyaging. The hero in the novel is no longer a
prince but a representative of the middle class.
This was also a time when the first political parties were created (the Whigs and the Tories).
Swift resented the Whigs so he began to write satires on the political and religious corruption
surrounding him.
 3. Romanticism (1789-1832)

(S. Coleridge , J. Austen, J. Keats, W. Whitman, Hawthorne, Dickinson, Melville)

 
A. Austen, Coleridge, Keats.

The author belongs to British Romanticism, the literary period between 1789 – 1832,
approximately. It was an age greatly marked by the industrial development and the French Revolution
of 1789, the focus of which was to create political and social freedom, equality, brotherhood and
democracy. As a result, Romantics were enthusiastic about nature and especially appreciated areas in
nature which had not been touched by human intervention. Simple rural life, which had not been
influenced or ruined by the Industrial Revolution and in which man still lived in harmony with nature,
was seen as ideal.
Poetry and novels are the most common genres. For the romantics, poetry was believed to be
the highest form of literature, while novels were the lower form, often as sensationalistic.
The industrial Revolution had transformed the social landscape, enabling manufacturers and
capitalists to amass huge fortunes.
Although the Industrial Revolution increased social mobility, the gap between the rich and the
poor remained wide. More people moved from the country to the city. Yet, the migration overpopulated
the already crowded cities and poverty, disease and hazardous factory conditions became widespread.

Unlike the other Romantic-era writers (e.g.Wordsworth and Coleridge), Austen’s works are very
little impacted by the French Revolution and revolutionary rhetoric. On the other hand, a preoccupation
of her novels is English Regency Society, a time that’s often described as being very focused on civility
and good manners between people. 

B.Melville, Whitman, Hawthorne, Dickinson.

The author belongs to American Romanticism, the period that dominated the literary scene
from around 1830 to 1865 that marks the end of the Civil War and the rise of Realism.
American Romanticism developed later than British Romanticism.
Industry bloomed as the 19th century began, with many technological innovations coming to
fruition. There was also an abundance of historical events, starting with the War of 1812 between the
U. S and the Great Britain; The White House was burned; in 1831 there was a huge slave rebellion; large
population gains with an influx of immigrants from Europe and Asia; the expansion of America's
territorial holdings with the Mississippi River; the development of hundreds of miles of railroads and the
continual transformation from a nation of farmers to an industrial and urban setting.
Idealists championed human rights, especially the abolition of slavery, improvements were
made to the printing press.
In literature it was America's first great creative period. Because of the historical events during
the romanticism period the literary themes were: imagination, emotional intensity, escapism,
individuality, common man as hero, nature as a source of spirituality and looking to the past for wisdom.
 4.Victorian Age (1837-1901)
(Dickens, L. Carroll, Hardy)

The author belongs to Victorian age, a period starting when the reign of Queen Victoria began.
The early Victorian era marked the emergence of a large middle-class society for the first time in the
history of the Western world. Along with it, came a spread of so-called “family values” and an elaborate
code of manners to distinguish one class from another.
The Industrial Revolution had transformed the social landscape, enabling manufacturers and
capitalists to amass huge fortunes. New factories were built and various mechanical means of producing
goods more quickly and cheaply than those made by hand were invented. Although the Industrial
Revolution increased social mobility, the gap between the rich and the poor remained wide. More
people moved from the country to the city in search of the opportunities that technological innovation
promised. Yet, the migration overpopulated the already crowded cities and poverty, disease and
hazardous factory conditions became widespread. At the time, only few children went to school as most
poor children worked in factories.
Religious ideas were challenged by Darwin’s theory of evolutionism.
It was the period when the novel began its rise in popularity. The availability of cheap paper
made mass publication possible.
Socialized novels and magazines were popular with the mases. Contrived plot twists such as strained
coincidences and romantic triangles were often utilized.

5.Realism (1861 – 1914 , 60 – 90 pt Am.)

(H. James 1881; M. Twain)

Born at the end of the Civil war, the literary period in which …………… wrote, aimed to recreate
reality in literature and was characterized by its attention to details. The years following the war
symbolized a time of healing and rebuilding. In the United States, Industry flourished with many
technological innovations coming to fruition. A few industries were growing (coal, iron, gold, silver); the
intercontinental railway and the telegraph gave access not only to new markets but also to an influx of
immigrants from Europe and Asia. The nation was transforming from a small, agricultural colony to a
huge, modern, industrial nation, becoming a major world power. Improvements were made to the
printing press, more people became literate and the popularity of the novel exploded. The plot was no
longer the focus of the author but the focus was on creating complex characters with emphasize on
accurate descriptions of setting, clothes, speech, everyday activities.
 Modernism (1914 – 1950)
(J. Conrad, J. Joyce, G.B. Shaw, V. Woolf, F.S. Fitzgerald am, E. Hemingway am, E. O’Neill am, W.
Faulkner am, T.S. Elliot am)

Modernism was a literary movement that lasted approximately from 1914-1950. Modernism
began the breaking of traditional writing styles that we know today. During this period, artists began to
develop their own individual styles.
WWI was one of the greatest shocks that ever ravaged the world. By the time it was officially
over, millions of people were dead. The young generation who came of age during or after the war
became hopeless about their future. One of the symptomatic features of this disillusionment was the
protest against the patriarchal concept of the family and the rebellion against the values and customs of
their elders. After the war, poverty, economic instability, unemployment were at its highest points.
Veterans returned from different parts of the country broken both in body and mind, women had to
struggle to provide for their children without the help of their men.
Modernist fiction spoke of the inner self and consciousness. Instead of progress, the Modernist
writer saw a decline of civilization. Instead of new technology, the Modernist writer saw cold machinery
and increased capitalism, which alienated the individual and led to loneliness. To achieve the emotions
described above, most Modernist fiction was cast in first person. Whereas earlier, most literature had a
clear beginning, middle, and end, the Modernist story was often more of a stream of consciousness,
creating the feeling that the story is going nowhere. Irony, satire, and comparisons were often employed
to point out society's ills.

Post modernism (1950 - )

(Golding 1954, Vonegutt, John Fowles)

Golding's novel was published in a time when the world was still living in the shadow of the
horrors of WWII. By the time it was officially ended, an estimated sixty million people were killed. The
entire city of Dresden was destroyed in only one night due to firebombing. Atomic bombings destroyed
two other Japanese cities as well: Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Ethnic groups like the Jewish and the Gypsy
were deliberately killed.
Economically, Great Britain was devastated by the war as homes, factories, railroads, docks and
other facilities had been destroyed by the German force. Formerly a leading nation, Great Britain
became for the first time in history a debtor nation.
The main post war events of the 1950s, the era which produced the Lord of the Flies included
the beginning of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U. S., the rise of the Communist Party
and the Civil Rights Movement in the U. S. The general atmosphere of the decade was one of suspicion,
distrust and threats among the big powers of the world. An atomic war such as the one suggested in the
novel did not seem out of the realm of possibility.
The year when both James Joyce and Virginia Woolf died (1941) is sometimes used as a
boundary for post modernism's start.

Vonegutt, Fowles

………….. novel was published in a time when the world was still living in the shadow of the
horrors of WWII. By the time it was officially ended, an estimated sixty million people were killed. The
entire city of Dresden was destroyed in only one night due to firebombing. Atomic bombings destroyed
two other Japanese cities as well: Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Ethnic groups like the Jewish and the Gypsy
were deliberately killed.

The 1960s, the era which produced …………… was a time of international upheaval. Soviet
astronauts had become the first humans to venture into space; the TV and the computer were invented;
the Civil Rights Act was passed in the U.S. A., making racial discrimination illegal; the world was
struggling with consumerism and the LSD drug; the death penalty was abolished; Britain appointed its
first female judge; abortion and homosexuality were nearly legalised; the extraterrestrial hypothesis
became a common matter of discussion; the feminist movement began to take hold.

The year when both James Joyce and Virginia Woolf died (1941) is sometimes used as a
boundary for post modernism's start.