I N T R O D U C T I O N TO

L I T E R AT U R E
• Literature broadly refers to any collection of
written or oral work, but it more commonly and
narrowly refers to writings specifically
considered to be an art form, especially prose
fiction, drama, and poetry.
 G E N R E S O F L I T E R AT U R E

• . The two main categories separating the different genres

of literature are fiction and nonfiction.
• The genre of Fiction can be defined as narrative literary
works whose content is produced by imagination.
• The genre of Nonfiction literature offers opinions or
conjectures on facts and reality.
 B R I T I S H L I T E R AT U R E

• British literature is literature from
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and
the Channel Islands.
 THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
OF ENGLISH DRAMA

• The origin of English drama seems vague.

• Traced back from century of succeeding Norman
Conquest to England on 1066.
A M P H I T H E AT R E
 CONTI…

• Miracle plays or Mystery plays – sacred narratives

• Morality plays – personified abstractions
• Eg: Everyman, Good and Bad Angels, The Seven
Deadly Sins
 INTERLUDES
• Later product of Morality play.
• Short dramatic piece of a satiric rather than directly religious
or ethical character.
• Form grew in the early 16th century – associated with John
Heywood
• Eg: Four P’s
 COMEDY
• Men went back to the Classics for inspiration.
• Comedies of Plautus and Terence were acted out in
universities.
• Later English writers learned valuable lessons in the
principles of dramatic construction and technique.
• Eg: Roister and Doister by Nicholas Udall.
 TRAGEDY
• The Tragedie of Gorboduc, also titled Ferrex and Porrex, is
an English play from 1561.

• Reproduced the form and spirit of Senecan tragedy.

• Written by Thomas Sackville, Lord Buckhurst and Thomas

Norton.
E N G L I S H R E N A I S S A N C E T H E AT R E

• English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance

English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre
of England between 1562 and 1642.

• Under Elizabeth, the drama was a unified expression as far

as social class was concerned.
The Court watched the same plays the commoners saw in the
public playhouses. With the development of the private
theatres, drama became more oriented towards the tastes and
values of an upper-class audience.