English Literature / Literary Movements

Trying to understand literature as a whole is a Herculean task. But one

way to get an overview is to break it down into literary movements (or
epochs).

What are 'literary movements'?

A literary movement or epoch is a body of literary works (plays, novels,

novellas, serialised stories, poems) composed during a set time period, or
era. This body of literary works is grouped together based on certain
features, such as a common perspective, philosophy or ideology, aesthetic,
school of thought, or its social, political and cultural influences.

When learning about literary movements and the literary canon, it is

helpful to examine the circumstances that created a need for a certain idea,
philosophy or perspective to be born and thrive.

Why are literary movements important?

While you could definitely read a literary text without knowing which
literary movement it belongs to, knowing about the literary movement and
time period it belongs to will certainly enhance your understanding and
perhaps even your enjoyment of it. History and literature go hand in hand.
Learning about the context of a work of literature and the literary
movement it belong to, will result in a better appreciation of it and an
enhanced ability to analyse it. You will not only have opinions
but informed opinions on what you analyse.

Chronological Development of Literary Movements in England

Literary Movement Duration (approx.) : Old English 450-1066 /

Middle English 1066-1500 / The Renaissance 1500-1660 /
The Elizabethan Age 1558-1603 / The Jacobean Age 1603-1625 / The
Restoration Period 1660-1700 / The Romantic Period 1785-1832 /
The Victorian Period 1832-1901 / Modernism 1914-1945 /
Postmodernism 1945 - present.

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 Old English (450-1066)
Overview

The Old English period lasted from circa. 450 CE till the Norman
conquest in 1066 CE. Old English is the earliest form of written English,
and was influenced by the languages of the Anglo-Saxons, as well as
Latin. At the time, there was linguistic exchange among the countries of
Western Europe, particularly Germany, Italy and France. This is why we
can find traces of German, Latin and French in Old English (and also in
modern day English). The Anglos, Saxons and Jutes took up residence in
Britain, bringing their language and culture with them.

In this period, Latin was the language of scholars (and education), so it

had a wide range of vocabulary, including words for flora and fauna,
elements and metals, domestic objects and all kinds of medical, social,
political and military concepts. The Vikings had already established their
presence in Britain by this time and further influenced popular speech. Old
Norse is said to have introduced third person plural pronouns to English.
King Alfred (c. 849-899) is credited with encouraging the spread of
education in Britain. Old English began to lose its inflectional endings
along with other linguistic changes, which brought about a transition from
Old English to what became Middle English.

Key Works
1. Beowulf (c. 700-1000 CE): Beowulf , the author of which is
unknown, is one of the most translated works in Old English. It is an 'epic
poem' written in the Germanic Heroic tradition and consists of
approximately 3180 lines. At first, the work contained mainly pagan
elements, to which Christian elements were later added. The work features
the hero Beowulf, who defeats a number of monsters and enemies to
eventually reign as King of the Geats. Modern translations of the Beowulf
are by Seamus Heaney and JRR Tolkien. As professor in the Medieval
faculty at Oxford, Tolkien was an expert in Old and Middle English, and
you can see the influence of Beowulf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
2. Cædmon 's Hymn ( c . 731 CE): Cædmon's Hymn was composed
by a Northumbrian monk named the Venerable Bede, and is about an
illiterate herder who is touched by God and sings in his honour. Some
pages of the poem can be found in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

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 Middle English (1066-1500)
Overview
The Middle English period lasted for approximately 300 years. The
Norman conquest of 1066 significantly impacted the grammar, spelling,
pronunciation and vocabulary of Old English. Middle English is
remarkably close to English as we know it today. A large portion of texts
from this period are religious, along with some fictional texts. Even these
contain religious themes and symbols. Around the year 1400, the Great
Vowel Shift commenced, bringing considerable change to English
pronunciation.

There was a considerable change in long vowel sounds, as well as the

silencing of some consonants. This was a result of the migration of large
groups of people leading to a mixing of accents and French influence as a
result of the Norman conquest, as well as the war with France.

Key Works
1. The Canterbury Tales : Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury
Tales (c. 1387) is the most well-known works of this period. Chaucer is a
notable author who had a significant influence on the development of the
English literary canon. The work, which is unfinished, survives in 92
manuscripts and consists of stories told by a group of pilgrims while on a
pilgrimage from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to the shrine of St Thomas
Becket in Canterbury, hence the title. While Chaucer had planned for a
100 tales, only 24 survive.
2. La Morte d'Arthur : Written by Thomas Malory and published in
1485, the work features stories about the legendary King of Camelot, King
Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It is one of the most important
texts of Arthurian literature and features themes of chivalry and honour.

The Renaissance (1500-1660)

Overview
The Renaissance as a movement originated in Western Europe,
primarily in Italy, and was based on principles of humanism. The
renaissance marks the rebirth of society, culture and art in the renewed
enthusiasm for classical culture, leading to innovation and reform all
across Europe. The Renaissance significantly manifested in art,
architecture, literature, scientific progress and technology, as well as
politics. The Renaissance also marked the rise of figures such as Leonardo
Da Vinci, Michaelangelo in Italy, and notable authors such as William
Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Edmund Spenser in England.

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 KeyWorks
1. The Faerie Queene : Edmund Spenser's The Faerie
Queene (1590) is an epic poem and pioneered a stanza style which became
known as 'Spenserian stanza', featuring 9-line blocks of verse. The first 8
lines of the Spenserian stanza are written in the iambic pentameter and the
final one in the iambic hexameter. The titular character is said to have
been based on Queen Elizabeth I, who granted patronage to Spenser.
2. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet (1597)
and Macbeth (1603). Both plays contain universal themes of love and
envy.
3. Paradise Lost : John Milton's seminal work, Paradise
Lost (1667) is an epic English poem narrating the expulsion of Adam and
Eve from the Garden of Eden and the fall of the devil.

The Elizabethan Age (1558-1603)

Overview
The title of this literary movement is derived from the then reigning
Queen of England, Elizabeth I. A great patron of the arts, Queen Elizabeth
I invited artists to perform for her and her court, including William
Shakespeare. She was a poet herself, and proved to be a competent ruler.
She survived numerous assassination attempts and is credited with
defeating the Spanish Armada. She portrayed herself as 'The Virgin
Queen' (for example in paintings of herself) to signify that she was
married to Britain. Due to her patronage, art thrived during her reign, and
is therefore often dubbed 'The Golden Age.' Because of her immense
popularity, numerous works have characters that allude to her, such as
Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene .

Keyworks
As you will notice, there is some overlap between the Renaissance and
the Elizabethan Age, with some literary texts in common. Apart from
those mentioned in the Renaissance section, other popular works during
the Elizabethan Era include:

1. The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus (1592) by Christopher

Marlowe, which was inspired by Goethe's original.
2. Every Man in His Humor (1598) written by Ben Johnson, who is
regarded as the second most important English dramatist after William
Shakespeare.

The Jacobean Age (1603-1625)

Overview
Like the Elizabethan Age, the Jacobean Age is named after the
reigning monarch, King James I. It is called the 'Jacobean' era rather than

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the 'Jamesian' era as 'Jacobus' is the Latin version of the King's name. The
Jacobean style can be identified in works of literature, architecture, visual
arts and decor.

KeyWorks
1. The works collected by Francis Bacon: Francis Bacon was an
influential figure of the Jacobean Age in the fields of literature as well as
science. He is recognised as the father of empiricism, which is a method
for research and data collection. Some of his notable works
are Advancement in Learning (1605), Novum
2. Organum (1620), Essays (1625), Masculine Birth of
Time (1605).
3. Shakespeare's life spanned the Elizabethan Age as well as the
Jacobean Age. During the reign of King James I, he produced King
Lear (1606) and The Tempest (c. 1610) . His theater group was granted
royal patronage and consequently became known as the King's Men rather
than the Lord Chamberlain's Men. The King's Men also included what
were considered celebrities of the time, Lawrence Fletcher and Richard
Burbage.

The Restoration Period (1660-1700)

Overview
We call this epoch the Restoration period because of the restoration of
the English monarchy. In 1649, the English monarch, Charles I was
executed, and the country was ruled by senior ministers and officers of
Parliament and the Council of State under the Lord Protector, Oliver
Cromwell. This continued up to the arrival of the King's son, Charles II in
1660. The period without any reigning king is known as
the Interregnum. Upon the arrival of Charles II, the English monarchy
was restored. The literature produced during this period is referred to as
Restoration literature as a significant amount of it was a reaction to the
restoration. During the interregnum, Puritanism and an austere lifestyle
were imposed, so literary works from the Restoration period and comment
on life before Restoration.

Key Works
1. Restoration Drama: Plays in the Restoration period are divided
into genres, and include Heroic drama (John Dryden's The Conquest of
Granada from 1670), the Restoration comedy (William Wycherly's The
Country Wife from 1675), and Restoration spectacular or the machine
play.
2. Prose: During the Restoration period, prose varied from religious
to philosophical to journalistic. Fiction was also becoming increasingly
popular. Key works include John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678),
John Locke's Two Treatises of Government (1689), and Aphra

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Behn's Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister (1684). Other
notable authors of the Restoration period include William Temple and
Izaak Walton.

The Romantic Period (1785-1832)

Overview
The Romantic period developed its distinctive characteristics as a
reaction to neoclassicism.* The Romantics valued chivalry, honour, union
with nature, the expression of emotions, and a sense of individualism,
which features in most texts of the period. The two generations of
Romantic poets contributed significantly to the English literary canon. It
was during this period that a challenge was issued by a group of authors
and poets holidaying in Switzerland. The challenge, issued by Lord
Byron, was to write a ghost story, which suited the atmosphere of Villa
Diodati, where they were residing at the time. The winner of this
challenge was Mary Shelley, who produced her seminal
work Frankenstein (1818) and consequently became a notable author. The
Romantic Period was significantly influenced by the social, political and
cultural happenings of the time, particularly the Industrial Revolution and
the Enlightenment*.

Neoclassicism (as the name suggests) drew inspiration from classicism.

Neoclassic texts paid homage to classical texts, such as those by Greek
writers Sophocles and Aristotle. Neoclassical literature is characterised by
reason, rationale, accuracy, and order. An example of a neoclassical work
is John Dryden's Of Dramatick Poesie : An Essay (1668).

The Age of Enlightenment ran parallel to and coincided with

neoclassicism. The main features of the Enlightenment were: the pursuit
of knowledge, the application of reason, and scientific progress. Emphasis
was also placed on human happiness, diversity, tolerance, freedom, and a
sense of community. An example of a work from the Age of
Enlightenment is Voltaire's Candide (1759).

KeyWorks
1. Poetry: The first generation of Romantic poets includes William
Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Wordsworth. The second
generation of Romantic poets includes Lord Byron, Percy B Shelley
and John Keats. These poets contributed significantly to the English
literary canon. Some of their most important works include Lyrical
Ballads (1798), Songs of Innocence and Experience (1794), She Walks in
Beauty (1814), Ozymandias (1818), Ode to Autumn (1819). Scottish poets
too, produced romantic poetry, such as Robert Burns A Red, Red

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Rose (1794) . The figure of the Byronic hero was established in works by
Lord Byron, particularly the epic poem, Don Juan (1819).
2. Prose: The Romantic novel was a product of this period. Mary
Shelley produced Frankenstein (1818), which had Romantic influences
and also expressed a fascination with gothicism, galvanism, and
electricity. Jane Austen's works too, criticised the institution of marriage
and sensibility. The Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott produced the
immensely popular Ivanhoe (1819), and the historical novel Rob
Roy (1817).
3. Drama: The second generation of Romantics attempted to write
for the stage but not all their attempts were successful, and it was the plays
of Shakespeare that continued to dominate the stage.

The Victorian Period (1832-1901)

Overview
Just like the Elizabethan Age, the Victorian period is named after
England's monarch, Queen Victoria, who was crowned in 1837.
While Romanticism continued to be popular, Victorian literature tended
towards mysticism, spiritualism and the supernatural. Gothic fiction
became popular. There was immense progress in technology, science,
evolution, medicine and industry, and these aspects feature in Victorian
literature. The treatment of women and children was also an important
topic of discussion in Victorian literature. Serialised publications also
became popular. Charles Dickens published numerous stories in
installments. While he aimed to entertain audiences, he often used his
publications as a means to offer commentary on and to criticise certain
aspects of Victorian society.

The Victorian novel became so popular and appealing that today the
'neo-Victorian novel' is a popular genre. Neo-Victorian texts, although
written in modern times, are set in the Victorian age and often feature the
'asylum' trope. Additionally, reading culture transformed as periodicals
and pamphlets became popular and libraries increased the desire to read.

KeyWorks
1. Jane Eyre : Charlotte Bronte's novel (published in 1847)
continues to be popular and has been adapted into numerous
2. films, limited series, and retellings.
3. Wuthering Heights : Similar to the work of her sister, Emily
Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1847) is an enduring work of literature.
4. Works by Charles Dickens: Some of these were originally
published serially. Works by Dickens include Oliver Twist (1837-
9), Nicholas Nickleby (1838-9), A Christmas Carol (1843) and Great
Expectations ( 1860-61 ).

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 5. Victorian Poetry: Poets such as Robert Browning ( The Pied
Piper of Hamelin published in 1842), Elizabeth Barrett Browning
( Poems published in 1844) and Alfred Tennyson ( Break, Break,
Break (1842) and Crossing the Bar (1889)) published their poetry in the
Victorian period.
6. Works by Oscar Wilde were also published during the Victorian
period, but adhere more appropriately to another literary period called fin
de siècle. Fin de siècle translates to 'turn of the century' and as a literary
movement is marked by Hellenism, decadence, cynicism and ennui. A
good example of work from this period is Wilde's The Picture of Dorian
Gray (1891).

Modernism (1914-1945)
Overview
As society progressed, particularly in fields of science and technology,
there was a renewed desire for innovation in art and philosophy.
Innovations in technology such as photography, the moving picture,
stream-of-consciousness, and a sense of self-reflection permeated works
emerging from this period. Abstractism and formalism also became key
features of modernism. Writers broke away with established literary
traditions to highlight self-consciousness and the fragmented nature of
memory and contemporary society. Furthermore, Freudian and Jungian
theories also had a significant influence on literature. Notable authors and
poets from this period include James Joyce, TS Eliot, WB Yeats, Samuel
Beckett and Virginia Woolf.

KeyWorks
1. Ulysses : James Joyce's text published in 1922 is a modernist
novel that features stream-of-consciousness where the character Leopold
Bloom records his thoughts as he walks through Dublin
2. on an ordinary day in 1904.
3. The Wasteland : This poem published in 1922 by TS Eliot is
remarkable for its introspective and dark tone that is characteristic of
modernism
4. Works by Virginia Woolf: Woolf was famous for employing the
narrative device of stream of consciousness in her novels, such as Mrs.
Dalloway .

Postmodernism (1945 - present)

Overview
Though numerous scholars disagree on the term, with some employing
'metamodernism' or 'posthumanism,' a large number of scholars call the
literary period following modernism post-modernism, as it is seen as a
reaction against its predecessor. Postmodernism, as it is seen as a reaction

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against its predecessor. Postmodernism, like modernism, is characterised
by fragmented narratives and introspection, but rejects the 'grand
narratives' of literary works. Instead it uses skepticism, self-referential
techniques and obscurantism - arguing against simple narrations and
concrete binary oppositions (such as female/male, self/other,
object/subject). Postmodernists believe in accurately reflecting the current
state of society, which is broken, disconnected, obscure, irrational and
multifaceted. Numerous literary theories flourished with the influence of
postmodernism such as feminist theory, queer theory and ecocriticism.

KeyWorks
1. Wide Sargasso Sea : This novel by Jean Rhys published in 1966
2. was written as a prequel to the events that transpired in Charlotte
Bronte's Jane Eyre and criticise patriarchy, colonialism and assimilation.
3. As a result of globalisation and urbanisation, postmodernism
spread all over the world, and some famous postmodernists include
Umberto Eco from Italy, who wrote The Name of the Rose (1980) and
Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), Margaret
Atwood, who wrote Oryx and Crake (2003), Toni Morrison, who
wrote Beloved (1987) and EL Doctorow, who wrote Ragtime (1975)
and The March (2005).

Understanding Literary Movements

Literary movements do not have a clear, black and white boundary.

There is some overlap with other movements and periods, and some
texts may adopt only some features of a movement while distancing
themselves from others. Furthermore, the examples mentioned are only a
very small number of works in the English literary canon. When writing
about literary movements, think of the historical context and the political,
social, economical and technological influences on the author or poet.