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English Literature

English Literature. Outline. 1. Anglo- Saxon Literature (Beowulf, Caedmon, Cynewulf, Alfred the Great)) 2. Middle Ages (Wycliffe, Chaucer) 3. Elizabethan Age (Shakespeare, Marlowe) 4. 17th, 18th century (Defoe, Swift, the Age of Reason)

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English Literature

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  1. English Literature

  2. Outline • 1. Anglo- Saxon Literature (Beowulf, Caedmon, Cynewulf, Alfred the Great)) • 2. Middle Ages (Wycliffe, Chaucer) • 3. Elizabethan Age (Shakespeare, Marlowe) • 4. 17th, 18th century (Defoe, Swift, the Age of Reason) • 5. Romanticism (Byron, Shelley, Keats, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge) • 6. Realism (Dickens. Bromte sisters. Thackeray) • 7. Oscar Wilde • 8. 20th century

  3. Anglo-Saxon Literature • 5th century – 1066 • 3 Germanic tribes invaded Britain • Angles (occupied England), Saxons, Jutes • Anglo- Saxon language • A famous king - Alfred the Great (849-901)

  4. Alfred the Great • 850 – invasion of Danes – Alfred the Great stopped the Danish advance • inspired Anglo– Saxon Chronicle • translated a number of Latin books into English • improved education of people

  5. Poetry • Cynewulf • Caedmon Anglo- Saxon poetry: • heroic narrative poems • poems on biblical themes • short riddles, elegies

  6. Beowulf • written in Old English • written sometime before the tenth century (7th/8th century) • describes the adventures of a great Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. • A masterpiece • Epic poem • http://www.lone-star.net/literature/beowulf/

  7. Plot: • Hrothgar– King of the Danes is in trouble • His castle is visited by a terrible creature Grendel (lives in a lake), which kills his men • Beowulf attacks the creature and kills it • B. becomes a king • He also kills its the creature´s mother • He is wounded and dies

  8. The main themes • Youth vs. Old age • Rise Decline • Success Violence • Courage

  9. Head-rhyme: ALLITERATION (two or more words beginning with the same sound) • there is no rhyming • things are described indirectly and in combination of words e.g.: ship= sea goer, sea boat

  10. Middle English Literature(1066-15th century) • started by the conquest in 1066 when Normans brought French into the country • everything slowed down 3 languages: • French – at the court, in commerce, government • Latin – clergy • Enlish – common people

  11. Genres • Religious writings, • Latin writings, • Ballads, • Allegories John Wycliffe – inspired John Huss, criticized Roman Catholic Church

  12. Secular Literature • Geoffrey Chaucer (1345?-1400) • The end of middle ages • A group of Pilgrims (30) travelling from London to Canterbury • The prologue gives vivid picture of 14th century society • All social levels are represented here

  13. A merchant, lawyer, sailer, miller, cook,… are ordinary people, each of them has its own character • 30 pilgrims assembled in an inn, are about to set off for the shrine of Thomas Beckett • each of them is supposed to tell 4 tales (but it´s unfinished)

  14. e.g.: • The General Prologue • The Knight's Tale • The Miller's Prologue and Tale • The Cook's Prologue and Tale • The Man of Law's Prologue and Tale • The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale

  15. Chaucer´s view of life: • very tolerant • full of humour • passion • against mediaval religious ascetism

  16. Elizabethan Age • Elizabeth I (1533-1603) • the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn • A great flowering of arts and literature • Emancipation of secular life • Scholars returned to philosophy of Plato and Aristotle • one of the best loved monarchs, and one of the most admired rulers of all time

  17. Elizabethan Drama • Golden age of drama • Theatres were for everybody • University Wits – a group of intellectuals who wrote plays (Ox., Camb. students) • e.g.: Ch. Marlowe, T. Kyd

  18. William Shakespeare • (1564-1616) • dramatist and poet • the greatest of all playwrights • b. Strattford-upon- Avon • the son of a glovemaker • he married Anne Hatheway • in 1594 he joined the Lord Chamberlain´s Men, later called the King´s men • 1599 – bought the Globe

  19. Wrote 37 plays: • historical plays • comedies • tragedies • Retired to Strattford, died and buried there

  20. Comedies • Dva šlechtici veronští (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) 1595 • Jak se vám líbí (As You Like it) 1601 • Komedie plná omylů (The Comedy of Errors) 1593 • Konec vše napraví = Konec dobrý, všechno dobré (All's Well That Ends Well) 1603 • Kupec benátský (The Merchant of Venice) 1597 • Marná lásky snaha1595 (Love's Labor's Lost)

  21. Mnoho povyku pro nic (Much Ado About Nothing) 1599 • Sen noci svatojánské (A Midsummer Night's Dream) 1596 • Večer tříkrálový (Twelth Night) 1602 • Veselé paničky windsorské (The Merry Wives of Windsor) 1601 • Zkrocení zlé ženy (The Taming of the Shrew) 1594

  22. Tragedies • Antonius a Kleopatra (Antonius and Cleopatra) 1607 • Hamlet1604 • Julius Caesar1599 • Král Lear (King Lear) 1606 • Macbeth1606 • Othello1605 • Romeo a Julie (Romeo and Juliet) 1595 • Timon athénský (Timon of Athens) 1608 • Titus Andronicus1594

  23. Historical Plays • Jindřich IV. (Henry IV), 1598 - 1600 • Jindřich V. (Henry V) 1599 • Jindřich VI. (Henry VI), tři díly 1591 • Jindřich VIII. (Henry VIII) 1611 • Král Jan (King John) 1597 • Richard II.1596 • Richard III.1593

  24. 17th century • The Age of Reason • The Restoration of Monarchy 1660 and the Glorious Revolution = big changes in political and social life • technical progress, development of culture, manners, education • interest in philosophy • Silver Age of Drama • (elaborate staging, light effects, songs, women players)

  25. John Milton • Paradise Lost • Paradise Regained

  26. 18th century • Development of journalism • Jonathan Swift – Gulliver´s Travels • Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe • Henry Fielding – Tom Jones, History of a Foundling

  27. Romanticism • Late 19th century • Strong use of feeling, exploration of nature and supernatural • Against logic and reason • Nature is the source of the truth and beauty

  28. Lake Poets • (Wordworth, Coleridge) - 1st period of romanticism • Lyrical Ballads – the official beginning of romanticism • Inspiration from the Lake District in England

  29. Romantic Revolt • The romantic movement culminated in the works of: • G.B. Byron (Childe Harold´s Pilgrimage), • P.B. Shelley (Prometheus Unbound), • John Keats • and Sir Walter Scott (Ivanhoe)

  30. Victorian Age • Queen Victoria (1837-1901) • Britain – the strongest world power • Great industrial, financial, commercial power • Social inequalities and contrasts

  31. Novel was the most influential literary form

  32. Bronte sisters • Charlotte (Jane Eyre) • Emily (Wuthering Heights) • Anne (Agnes Grey) • Protest against everything inhuman and cruel (moral, psychological problems) • Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility)

  33. Critical Realism • True description of reality • Charles Dickens – life of poor people in th e 19th century • He himself suffered in his childhood and his experience can be found in his works • Combines comic and serious situations

  34. His major novels: • Little Dorrit • The Pickwick Papers • Oliver Twist • David Copperfield • Great Expectations • Nicholas Nickleby

  35. William Makepeace Thackery • Novels against snobbery,hypocrisy Vanity Fair – compares the lives of two different characters: manipulating Rebecca and gentle, sentimental Amelia

  36. Modern literature • Choose some of the authors you know and talk about them: E.g.: • Oscar Wilde G.B. Shaw • James Joyce J.R.R. Tolkien • Virginia Woolf George Orwell • Rudyard Kipling Agatha Christie • Samuel Beckett R.L. Stevenson

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