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) 5. Romanticism (Byron, Shelley, Keats, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge) 6. Realism (Dickens. Bromte sisters. Thackeray) 7. Oscar Wilde 8. 20th century

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)

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

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

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/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 snaha 1595 (Love's Labor's Lost)

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

Tragedies Antonius a Kleopatra (Antonius and Cleopatra) 1607 Hamlet 1604 Julius Caesar 1599 Král Lear (King Lear) 1606 Macbeth 1606 Othello 1605 Romeo a Julie (Romeo and Juliet) 1595 Timon athénský (Timon of Athens) 1608 Titus Andronicus 1594

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

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)

John Milton Paradise Lost Paradise Regained

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

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

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

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)

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

Novel was the most influential literary form

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)

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

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

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

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