Evolution Of English Over The

Years
By C.V.Anirudh
8 ‘C’
 Geoffrey Chaucer
• Born - c. 1343
London, England
• Death-25 October 1400
• Era – Middle English
Literature
• Known As -Father of
English literature
• Famous Works:-
The Canterbury Tales
(Religious Book),
The Book of the Duchess,
The House of Fame
 Renaissance Literature
Renaissance Literature refers to the period in
European literature that began in Italy during the
14th century and spread around Europe through the
17th century. The impact of the Renaissance varied
across the continent; countries that were
predominantly Catholic or Protestant experienced
the Renaissance differently compared to areas
where the Orthodox Church was dominant as
reflecting on its culture, as well as those areas of
Europe under Islamic rule.
 Elizabethan Era
Elizabethan age was represented as a renaissance that
inspired national pride through classical ideals,
international expansion, and naval triumph over the hated
Spanish foe.
Some of the English Writers during this time were :-
1. William Shakespeare
2. Christopher Marlowe
3. Ben Jonson
4. Edmund Spenser
5. John Fletcher
6. Thomas Kyd
7. Thomas Middleton
Queen Elizabeth I
 William Shakespeare
• Born- Baptized 26 April 1564 (birth
date unknown)
• Died- 23 April 1616
• Era - Elizabethan era
• Known as- The "Bard of Avon“
and “The
Greatest Writer in English.”
• Famous Works:-
All's Well That Ends Well,
The Winter's Tale,
Romeo and Juliet, Julius
Caesar, Hamlet
 Jacobean Era
The Jacobean era refers to the period in English and Scottish
history that coincides with the reign of King James VI(1567–
1625) of Scotland, who also inherited the crown of England
in 1603 as James I. The Jacobean era specifically denotes a
style of architecture, visual arts, decorative arts, and
literature that is predominant of that period. The word
"Jacobean" is derived from Jacobus, the Latin form of the
English name James.

James I
 George Chapman
• Born- c. 1559
Hitchin,
Hertfordshire, England
• Died- 12 May 1634
London
• Era - Jacobean Era
• Identified as - Rival Poet of
Shakespeare's sonnets
• Famous Works:- Translations of
Homer's Iliad and Odyssey,
and the Homeric
Batrachomyomachia.
 Restoration Literature
Restoration literature is the English
literature written during the historical
period commonly referred to as the
English Restoration (1660–1689), which
corresponds to the last years of the
direct Stuart reign in England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland. Religious literature
was restored with John Milton’s “Paradise
Lost”.
 John Milton
• Born-9 December 1608
Bread Street, Cheapside,
London, England
• Died-8 November 1674 Bunhill,
London, England
• Era – Restoration Era
• Well known works:-
Paradise Lost
Paradise Regained
Poems, &c, Upon Several Occasions
 Augustan Literature
It is a literary epoch that featured the rapid
development of the novel, an explosion in satire,
the mutation of drama from political satire into
melodrama, and an evolution toward poetry of
personal exploration. In philosophy, it was an age
increasingly dominated by empiricism, while in the
writings of political-economy it marked the
evolution of mercantilism as a formal philosophy,
the development of capitalism, and the triumph of
trade.
 Alexander Pope
• Born-21 May 1688
London
• Died-30 May 1744
Twickenham
• Era-Augustan Literature
• Famous works:-
Pastorals
An Essay on Criticism
Messiah
The Rape of the Lock
 18 Century Literature
th

• In the 18th Century, Romanticism and Victorian

Literature was very popular.
• Romanticism is a style of writing where you admire
the beauty of nature and use them in your
compositions. Some poets and authors who used the
style of romanticism are William Wordsworth, S.T
Coleridge
• Victorian Literature is the literature produced during
the time of Queen Victoria . They included romance
and horror stories as well. Some poets and authors of
this time are R.L. Stevenson, Charlotte Bronte.
R.L.Stevenson Charlotte Bronte

William Wordsworth S.T.Coleridge

 English Literature Since 1900
English literature since 1900 has been divided
into 3 parts
• Modernism
• Post-Modern Literature

Post- Modern Literature Modern Literature

• Modernism-Modernist literature is sub-genre
of Modernism, a predominantly European
movement beginning in the early 20th
century that was characterized by a self-
conscious break with traditional aesthetic
forms.
• Post-Modern Literature-The term
postmodern literature is used to describe
certain characteristics of post–World War II
literature and a reaction against
Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist
literature.
Thank You!!!