Periods and

Movements
in Literature
 Medieval
 Renaissance
 Reformation
Course Code : 2S2021-SEM115-3SEDE-A
Course Description: LITERARY CRITICISM
Instructor: : Kier John A. Maginang, LPT, MAEd
Section: : 3 SEDE-A

Members: Anievas, Wilson A.

De Leon, Angelica D.
Fernandez, Apple Joy L.
Librado, Yesel Charity F.
Seña, Grace P.
Salvacion Aiah P.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
0
1
Medieval

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2
Renaissance
3
Reformation
Medieval
Old English or
Anglo-saxon Period
 “Dark Ages”
 Significant for historical study
 Anglo-Saxon
oLiterature
Multilingual
o Almost all surviving texts were written by monks or nuns
o orally transmitted and all poems were intended for oral
performance.
Manuscript – a term that means “written by hand.” 
o Codex/Codicies – Latin for “book” ; Books were rare and
precious things. They were sometimes covered in gold and
jewels.  
• vellum
• scribes
• only monasteries, cathedrals, or high ranking church or
noble officials possessed any books. 
Old English Poetry
o Alliterative and accentual
o Poetic Diction
o Variation 
o Unique system of alliteration
- Syllables are not counted as they are in traditional
European meters, but instead the length of the line
is determined by a pattern of stressed syllables that
begin with the same consonant cluster. The result of
this style of poetry is a harsher, more guttural
sound and a rhythm that sounds more like a chant
than a traditional song.
Old English Poetry
o Sievers' alliterative verse
- The system is based upon accent, alliteration,
the quantity of vowels, and patterns of syllabic
accentuation.
o Heroic poetry and Christian poetry
 Anglo-saxon Poetic
Genres
Germanic Heroic Legend
o Beowulf
- It sets the tone for much of the rest of Old English poetry.
- It has achieved national epic status in British literary history
Elegy/Lyric and Wisdom Poetry
o The Wanderer and The Seafarer
-  a sort of lyric reflection by a speaker upon the sorrows
he/she has experienced in life, including exile and
lordlessness. 
Anglo-saxon Poetic
Genres
o Religious poetry 
o extremely important to the Anglo-Saxons
o Junius manuscript 
o Exeter Book
o Vercelli Book
o Nowell Codex
Medieval Period (5th-15th
Century CE)
MEDIEVAL CRITICISM

The period between the Classical Age and the Renaissace is vaguely
named the Middle Age or the Medieval Age. In In England, this
period spans eight centuries and historins place it from the year of
compostion of Beowulf in 725 AD to 1474 AD when Caxton
published the first book ever printed.

The term "medieval" (originally spelled mediaeval) comes from

Latin, meaning "middle age." It was first introduced into English in
the 19th century, a time when there was heightened interest in the
art, history, and thought of Middle Age Europe.
 Books in the Medieval Period
The majority of books from the middle ages were written in what is known as
Middle English, though French and Latin were also used for law and the church,
respectively.
Books (and the parchment itself) were often made by monks, and it was a time-
and labor-intensive process. Everything was done by hand, making books very
expensive to produce.
Geoffrey
Chaucer
“The father of English
Literature/Poetry”
● Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) born in london into a wine merchant’s
family.
● He worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant.
● He is best known today for “The Caterbury Tales”
● The first poet to have been buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster
Abbey
● The most prominent literary figure in Middle English Period
● Famously captures and satirizes life in the late Middle Ages
● He is the Master of the short tale ad of literary achievement in the
Middle Ages.
The Canterbury
Tales • It is the famous and critically acclaimed
work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a late-
fourteenth-century English poet.
• Takes place on a Pilgrimage to
Canterbury to visit the shrine of St.
Thomas Becket at Canterbury
Cathedral.
• The group suggests they play a story
telling game. Whoever tells the best
story wins a prize.
• It’s a collection of 22 poetic and two
prosaic stories United by one common
frame: tales
Literature in the Medieval P
●Much of the early literature of this period consists of
sermons, prayers, lives of saints, and homilies..

●We also see works like "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"
(c.1350–1400) and "The Pearl" (c.1370), both written by
anonymous authors.

● Geoffrey Chaucer's work falls into this period as well: "The

Book of the Duchess" (1369),

●"The Parliament of Fowls" (1377–1382),

●"The House of Fame" (1379–1384),

●"Troilus and Criseyde" (1382–1385),

● the very famous "Canterbury Tales" (1387–1400), "The

Legend of Good Women" (1384–1386), and "The Complaint
of Chaucer to His Empty Purse" (1399).
Literature in the Medieval P
●Another common theme in medieval
literature is courtly love. The term "courtly
love" was popularized by writer Gaston Paris.
to describe the Medieval love stories commonly
told to help the noble class pass time.
●The ideals of courtly love was publicized in
the poems, ballads, writings and literary works
of various authors of the Middle Ages.
●It is generally believed that Eleanore of
Aquitaine introduced these types of tales to the
British nobility after hearing them in France.
Troubadours in the Middle
Ages
Troubadours were traveling composers and
performers. They mostly sang songs and recited
poems of courtly love and chivalry
Though few of their songs were ever recorded,
troubadours helped shape the literary culture of
the middle ages.
 Other Books
 One major development in this age is the adoption of Christianity as the religion of
the Mediterranean region. Roman Catholicism prevailed in Western Europe.
 Most literary criticism written during the Middle Ages focused on religious
literature, which is why some important concepts from religious study became
part of literary theory.
 Prosody
 Medieval Criticism systematically classified literature
under grammar, rhetoric and poetry. The Medieval Age
developed a systematic poetic grammar.
 Which was for the formation of the basis of literary
creation and development eloquent speech.
 Another form of criticism was Prosody, the study of
versification and scansion.
 Prosody was meant to provide basic training for
prospective poets in the basic poetic forms.
Allegory
 Much of medieval literature relied on allegory to convey the morals the
author had in mind while writing—representations of abstract
qualities, events, and institutions are thick in much of the literature of
this time
1. Probably the earliest and most influential allegory is
the Psychomachia (Battle of Souls) by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius.
2. Other important examples include the Romance of the
Rose, Everyman, Piers Plowman, Roman de Fauvel, and The Divine
Comedy.
 few works with notable
significance:
 A critical climate developed slowly.
 There were a few works notable significance:
 In the 7th Century, Bede and Alcuin expounded grammar, logic and Biblical and Christian
poetry.
 In the 12th Century, John Salisbury and a few classical theorist infused life into literary
studies.
 In the 13th Century Geoffrey of Vinsauf ad Josh Garland taught techniques in poetic
composition using manuals, theorizing at its infancy.
 Roger Bacon and Richard of Bury kindled enthusiasm for poetry and literature.
 The Owl and the Nightingale (circa 1210) written by and unknown poem, a debate poem
is the earliest surviving English lyrics of Medieval period expressing a native and pure
English sensibility. The strength of the poem lies in its use of the vernacular.
Renaissance
 Renaissance Period
 The word “Renaissance” is a French word which means “rebirth”.
It refers particularly to a renewed interest in classical learning –
the writings of ancient Greece and Rome.

 The Renaissance was a cultural movement that started in Italy and

spread all over Europe. It is considered to be the division between
the Middle Ages and the Modern era.

 The thinkers of this period, also called “humanists”, believed that

the man should be the subject of study, and not God, as the Church
had taught during the medieval period.

 Renaissance literature refers to European literature which was

influenced by the intellectual and cultural tendencies associated
with the Renaissance.
Brief History
 During the 14th century, a cultural movement
called humanism began to gain momentum in Italy.
 In 1450, the invention of the Gutenberg printing
press allowed for improved communication
throughout Europe and for ideas to spread more
quickly.
 The Renaissance started in Florence, Italy, a place
with a rich cultural history where wealthy citizens
could afford to support budding artists.
Brief History ●Members of the powerful Medici family, which
ruled Florence for more than 60 years, were
famous backers of the movement.

●Great Italian writers, artists, politicians and

others declared that they were participating in an
intellectual and artistic revolution that would be
much different from what they experienced during
the Dark Ages.

●The movement first expanded to other Italian

city-states, such as Venice, Milan, Bologna,
Ferrara and Rome. Then, during the 15th century,
Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France and
then throughout western and northern Europe.
 Characteristics of the Renaissance
Movement
1.The dominant forms of English literature during the Renaissance were the poem and the
drama, drama subgenres are tragedy and comedy.

2. Playwrights mixed things up by manipulating the traditional genres of tragedy and comedy.
These genre-bending works lead to the birth of the tragicomedy.

3. Some of the major contributions during the renaissance period are the translations of
religious writings into other languages as in the case of Martin Luther and William Tyndale,
those contributions led to a religious reformations
 Characteristics of the Renaissance
Movement
4.Renaissance literature revolved more around having a real humanistic protagonist with a real
story to tell.

5.Renaissance literature dealt much more with human characteristics and behaviors leaving
behind the religious and methaphysical subjects of the medieval era.

6.Some of the writings of the time were influenced by roman and greek mythology so it is
common tha those writing include heroes, deities and monsters.
 Characteristics of the Renaissance
Movement
7.Some of the writing focus on political reformation.

8.The writers of the movement imitated art and they hope to change reality through it.
Imitation means mirroring life.

9.The writer reflected an spirit of exploration that was going on throughout the world. The
renaissance writers were concerned with monarchs and aristocrats. They wrote about them
and also they were men of the court.
 
 Renaissance Literature
The earliest Renaissance literature appeared in 14th century Italy;
Dante, Petrarch, and Machiavelli are notable examples of Italian
Renaissance writers.The dominant forms of English literature during
the Renaissance were the poem and the drama. Among the many
varieties of poetry one might have found in sixteenth century England
were the lyric, the elegy, the tragedy, and the pastoral. 
 Italian Renaissance
 Writers begin to use Vernacular (common
language) as well as Latin
 Self-expression
 Portray individuality
 Revival of the classics-Greece and Rome
 Renaissance Drama
 Renaissance drama, centered in England, evolved out of the
morality and mystery plays of the Medieval era. While these
earlier plays attempted to teach a lesson and were often
performed by monks or tradesmen, the Renaissance dramas
moved toward entertainment. Renaissance drama developed
around the 15th century and was at first often performed as
short plays at court or in the homes of nobles. The playwrights
of the era, such as Shakespeare and Marlowe, were not
intellectuals and wrote to entertain rather than to instruct.
 Poetry of the Renaissance

Period
Major themes – love and beauty.
 Physical beauty– outward sign of the spirit striving for perfection
(humanist theory).
 Carpe Diem is a Latin phrase which means “seize the day.”
 “Live for today. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
 Pastoral Poetry focuses on the idealized countryside and the simple
life
 Sonnets
• Petrarchan (Italian)

• Shakespearean (English)

• Spenserian
Popular Literature From The Renaissance Per
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare.
• The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.
• King Lear by William Shakespeare.
• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Utopia by Sir Thomas More.
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
• The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
• Praise of Folly by Erasmus
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
 Most Influential Writers of the
 Movement
Christopher Marlowe was an English playwright, poet and
translator of the Elizabethan era.
 
 William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor,
widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and
the world’s pre-eminent dramatist
 
 John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and
civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver
Cromwell
 
Reformation
 What is
Reformation?
The Protestant Reformation was the
16th-century religious, political,
intellectual and cultural upheaval that
splintered Catholic Europe, setting in
place the structures and beliefs that
would define the continent in the
modern era.
The impact of reformation on
English literature
● The Impact of Reformation was deeply felt in the
literature of the 16th century. Sidney, Spenser and
Bacon were the great supporters of the
Reformation. Chaucer was the first great poet who
discarded the Clergyman and exposed their evil
deeds in his Canterbury Tales.
 General Features
● During the Renaissance/Reformation period,
literature flourished primarily
in Italy, France, Spain, and England. Thanks to the
invention of printing (in 15th-century Germany)
and the Early Modern rise of the middle
class (which possessed the time and wealth to
partake in literacy), literature spread more quickly
and to a wider audience than ever before. This
article focuses on creative literature (as opposed to
scholarly literature)
 Renaissance
●The cultural shift known as
the Renaissance (which emerged in
Italy, then spread across Western
Europe) can be defined as "the full
revival of humanism". The
term humanism denotes "an outlook
that emphasizes human capabilities and
concerns"; the two most visible
consequences of this outlook are secular
appreciation (i.e. appreciation for
humans and the human world)
and critical thought
 Reformation
● The Renaissance overlaps with most of
the Reformation, in which much of northern
Europe was converted to Protestantism. Since
Protestantism emphasizes salvation
through individual faith (as opposed to relying on
clergy as intermediaries), its adherents were
encouraged to become literate and personally read
the Bible. Rates of literacy improved, and the Bible
was translated into many vernacular languages
(including a German translation by Luther).
 The Novel
The term novel can be defined as "a long
prose story". In the Western world, the
novel first emerged as a minor genre of
literature in ancient Greece and Rome. It
grew more prominent in the Middle Ages,
especially in the form of prose romances.
Only in modern times, however, did novel-
writing truly surge,
CREDITS: in terms
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 Movements
●ITALY- The pinnacle of Italian literature,
which flourished throughout the entire
Renaissance/Reformation period, was
achieved during the fourteenth century.
This century gave rise to the three most
renowned authors in the Italian language:
Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio.
 France, Spain, And England
As noted earlier, the foremost literary
tongues of the Renaissance/Reformation
period were Italian, French, Spanish, and
English. The first century of this period
witnessed the pinnacle of Italian
literature; the last century, of Spanish
and English literature. French literature
(which, along with German, would
culminate in the Romantic age) is less
prominent during this period.
 Thank you
for listening!
Reference:
 http://www.essential-humanities.net/western-art/literat
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 https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/renaissanc
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%20art
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