BS

Eng
History of English lish
Literature

Study Guide
Course Code: 9053

Department of English
Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY
 HISTORY OF ENGLISH
LITERATURE STUDY GUIDE

BS

Course Code: 9053 Units: 1-9

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
(FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES)
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY, ISLAMABAD

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 (All Rights are Reserved with the Publisher)

Publisher ........................................ Allama Iqbal Open

.. University
Printer ............................................. AIOU Printing Press, H-8,
. Islamabad
Quantity .......................................... 5000
.
Price .................................................
Rs.

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 COURSE TEAM

Chairman Course Team: Dr. Malik Ajmal Gulzar

Course Development Dr. Malik Ajmal Gulzar

Coordinator:

Writers: Ms. Ambrina

Qayyum Ms. Farah
Saeed
Reviews: Dr. Malik Ajmal Gulzar
Dr. Rashida Imran
Dr. Lubna Umar

Editor: Humera Ejaz

Layout: Asrar ul Haque Malik

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 Introduction to the Course
Dear Students,
This study guide on the course of History of English Literature is developed to
familiarize you with the literary development of different genres in various
periods of the English Literature. These periods and/or eras range from the Old
English Period (450 -1066) to the Post Victorian or Modern Era (1901 Onwards)
and a reflection of these numerous literary movements of these eras can be traced
out from several perspectives and angles on English Literature. The detail of
almost all the literary developments during the above-mentioned eras has been
focused upon throughout this study guide.

However, it is important to mention here that our intention was to cover the
numerous expansions in the literary genres till the twentieth century, though it was
desirable to include also the twenty first century literary development. Yet, as a
matter of fact, it is more desirable at BS Level that you must be familiarized with
only the fundamental vital literary movements and schools of thoughts playing the
pivotal role as the literary foundation. The English Literature, therefore, created in
all the eras was unique for the specific characteristic features of direction,
precision, truthfulness, content and form for the purpose of enlightening the social
aspects and powerful resolutions. Hence, the English Literature is representative
mainly of these eras, in which it has been produced. For example, the Renaissance
Literature (sixteenth to the mid seventeenth century), the Neo-Classical Literature
(eighteenth century) and the Romantic Literature (nineteenth century) are unique
as far as respective learning revival, realism, the imaginative focus and human
dignity were concerned.

Concisely, it is to provide you with a complete understanding of the various

influences of the era on the literary works of the different eras. Generally, the
English Literature was inclined toward the established system of moralistic and
religious values, beliefs and social ethics which impacted all the renowned literary
writers of the different eras/periods. Nevertheless, Dear Students, this course can
only be fully beneficial to you in its true sense, if you go through it completely
and attempt all the exercises assigned to you at the end of each unit. At the end,
we want to make it clear that it is not a course in English Literature itself, so the
individual literary works are not discussed in detail rather it is just a course about
historical references of the English Literature of the varied literary eras.

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 Objectives of the Course
Please go through the study guide completely in order to comprehend the English
Literature progression within different centuries. After reading this a complete
course, you will be able to:
 to discern a comprehensive chronological evolution of the development of
English literature;
 to know the varied influences of historical, political, socio-cultural events as
well as that of philosophical and literary elements on literature;
 to recognize different literary genres, their evolution and developmental
stages throughout all the literary periods;
 to enlist the poets who wrote in Old, Classical, Romantic and Modern
English;
 to identify the characteristics of poetry and prose (drama, novel and essay)
produced in all the literary periods from old to modern eras;
 to demonstrate the effects of French literature on English poetry and prose;
 to enlist various types of Middle English poetry popular among the masses;
 to introduce the main contribution of great literary writers like John Gower,
William Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, John Keats, Virginia Woolf and Joseph
Conrad in the prose and poetic developments in the respective literary
periods;
 to explain the development in the Neo-Classical Poetry with special
reference to the poetic art of Alexander Pope as well as to his literary
masterpieces of English Literature;
 to delineate the term “Victorian” in the history of English Literature;
 to identify the major conflicts inherent in the Victorian Era and assess how
they exert an impact on the Victorian Literature;
 to identify the different eras of history of English Literature with special
reference to their main literary writers;
 to narrate three phases in the twentieth century English Literature with
special focus on development in three genres of drama, novel and poetry;
and
 to recognize and explain the literary characteristics and main themes of the
Old, Classical, Romantic, Victorian and Modern Literature.

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 CONTENTS

Unit 1: Old English Literature............................................................................1

Unit 2: Middle English Literature ....................................................................15

Unit 3: English Literature during the Sixteenth Century .................................37

Unit 4: William Shakespeare ...........................................................................63

Unit 5: English Literature in the Seventeenth Century ....................................87

Unit 6: The Neo-Classical Period (1660-1785) .............................................115

Unit 7: the romantic Era (1798-1832)............................................................133

Unit 8: The Victorian or the Post-romantic Era (1832-1901) ........................157

Unit 9: The 20th Century English Literature ..................................................183

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UNIT-1

OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE

Written By: Ms. Ambrina Qayyum

Reviewed By: Dr. Malik Ajmal Gulzar

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 CONTENTS

Overview .........................................................................................................................
3

Objectives .........................................................................................................................
3

1.1 The People of British Isles.....................................................................................

4

1.2 The Languages Spoken in the British Isles............................................................

4

1.3 The Religions of the British

People ....................................................................... 4

1.4 The Anglo-Saxon or Old English Literature..........................................................

5 Summary

Points ................................................................................................................ 13

Questions ..........................................................................................................................
13

Suggested Readings ..........................................................................................................

14

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Overview
The British Isles have been home to different people including the Picts and Scots, Celts
and finally the Germanic tribes who migrated from continental Europe to this group of
islands located in the North of the Atlantic Ocean. The Romans came to the British Isles
in the first century CE or Christian Era, ruled there and then departed in the fifth century.
As Christianity began to spread in Europe it also reached the British Isles in the sixth
century. English language began to evolve in the British Isles in the fifth century and the
spread of Christianity helped in the development of this new vernacular or local
language. The Christian preachers used English language to convey their message to the
local population. As an English language began to develop it produced literature which
was initially in the oral form but gradually it was preserved in the written form. The Old
English literature is both religious and secular. It includes various forms of poetry and
some prose works. Secular poetry composed in Old English includes the epic poem
Beowulf, shorter heroic poems, battle poems and love poems all composed by
anonymous poets. The religious poems were composed by Bede, Cynwulf and Caedmon
who mostly versified Biblical content. Prose works in Old English are mostly
translations of various Latin works done by King Alfred and the sermons written by the
two priests Alfric and Wulfstan.

Objectives
After reading this chapter, the students will be able to:
i. demonstrate their knowledge of the people living in British Isles from 5th to 11th
centuries;
ii. discuss the evolution of the English language;
iii. enlist the poets who wrote in Old English;
iv. identify the characteristics of poetry produced in Old English; and
v. explain the nature of prose written in Old English.

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1. The People of British Isles
The British Isles include a group of islands located in the northern part of the Atlantic
Ocean and to the north west of continental Europe. The ancient inhabitants of these
islands were Picts and Scots. However, when the Romans conquered the British Isles in
55 CE most of the indigenous inhabitants were the Celts who came from Central
Europe. The Celts were farmers and shepherds and lived peacefully in the far-off
Roman colony. In the beginning of the fifth century when the Roman Empire declined
and disintegrated the Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles were abandoned and left
unprotected against the attacks of the Picts and Scots from the north. Also, the various
Germanic tribes of continental Europe had started invasions in the British Isles.

Three major Germanic tribes including Angles, Saxons and Jutes successfully invaded
different parts of the British Isles and settled there. By the sixth century, the British Celts
whom the new invaders called ‘Welsh’, which means stranger, were pushed towards the
western parts of the British Isles. So, the people who lived in British Isles in sixth
century were Picts, Scots, Celts and Anglo-Saxon. The Anglo-Saxons were a Germanic
people who belonged to the low-lying shores of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. In
their native land they were hunters and farmers but also seamen as they ventured to
cross the western seas and settled in the foreign land.

2. The Languages Spoken in the British Isles

About two thousand years ago the Celts living in the British Isles spoke Gaelic and
Welsh languages. During the Roman occupation of the British Isles their inhabitants
were introduced to Latin which was spoken all over Europe. When the Anglo-Saxons
arrived in British Isles, they spoke a Germanic language. English, which was a
Germanic language, began to evolve since 450 CE. It was initially spoken by the
Anglo-Saxon population but gradually spread to other parts of the islands and people of
other races also adopted it. English language was first written in the year 600 with
Roman alphabets. This initial form of English language continued to evolve from
seventh to eleventh centuries and was called the Anglo-Saxon language or the Old
English.

3. The Religions of the British People

The various groups of people who occupied the British Isles in the sixth century were
heathens or pagans. In other words, they were worshiping either elements of nature or
idols. Christianity was first introduced to the people of British Isles during fifth century
when St. Patrick began preaching it in Ireland which lies in the west. However, in 597
CE, a Roman Christian missionary St. Augustine arrived in Kent which is located in the
South Western part of Britain. St. Augustine settled in the city of Canterbury and with
the help of his companions began preaching Christianity. Athelred the king of Kent was
the first notable British to convert to Christianity. Following the advice of St. Augustine
Athelred ordered the writing of codes of law in English language. Thus, began the
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process of writing of literature of English language which had so far existed only in oral
form. So English language began evolving with the spread of Christianity in the British
Isles and was known as Old English. In the next few centuries most of the British people
adopted Christianity as their religion. The spread of Christianity also contributed to the
production of literature in Old English.

4. The Anglo-Saxon or Old English Literature

The literature produced in Old English or Anglo-Saxon language can be divided into
two broad categories namely religious and secular. Since the only literate people in the
British Isles from seventh to eleventh centuries (and even later) were the members of
the ecclesiastical class or clerics serving the Christian Church in different capacities,
therefore, most of the literature written and preserved in Old English was religious. The
poetry in Old English is both religious as well as secular while the only surviving prose
works are religious and meant for didactic purposes.

1. Old English Poetry

All poems composed by various poets in Old English use an alliterative verse that is a
repetition of consonants or consonant clusters occurring in the initial syllables of words.
The surviving extracts of secular poetry composed in Old English are all anonymous and
composed by unknown poets. These secular poems include both heroic poetry and
elegiac love poems. Heroic poetry includes narrative verse that tells stories of brave
warriors and rulers in dignified and formal tone and sometimes also uses dramatic style.
These poems recount the adventures of fictitious characters such as Beowulf the hero of
the epic poem named after him. Besides telling stories of imaginary characters heroic
poems also present the real events. For instance, the battle poems Braunanburh and
Maldon contain record of real battles fought at these locations. The surviving love
poems written in Old English by anonymous poets share a strong element of sorrow. In
fact, these love poems are also elegies in nature since they express the feelings of
affection of people who mourn for their beloveds.

Heroic Poems: Beowulf

The most well-known heroic poem of Old English is an epic called Beowulf. The
manuscript of the poem Beowulf was written probably between 800 and 1000 CE.
Named after its central character, the poem Beowulf contains more than 3000 lines and
has two parts. In the first part of the poem the character of Beowulf appears as a young
and brave warrior and in the second part as an old and wise king. The action in the two
parts of the poem is set apart by means of a time span of fifty years. However, neither
the characters nor the setting of the story of Beowulf belong to the British Isles. The
characters of the poem belong to Continental Europe and particularly the north western
part inhabited by various Germanic tribes. Beowulf’s adventures occur in a land where
the climate is cold, and the terrain is rough and inhospitable. The poem which was
initially composed to be sung depicts a time when the Germanic tribes were living in
their native land in the continent of Europe.