English literature originated in the Middle Ages, and experienced seven periods: Old English, Middle English, Renaissance,17th century,18th century,19th century and 20th century literature, and made remarkable achievements.

Old English Literature Britain belonged to the old English period before 10 century. The early Celtic tribes and the Anglo-Saxons and Jutes who invaded in the 5th century left no written documents at first. From the end of the 6th century to the end of the 7th century, as King Astero Burt of Kent converted to Christianity, monks began to write books and poems in Latin. Among them, Bede's History of British People's Religion has the most historical and literary value. In the 9th century, Alfred, King of Wessex, organized manpower to translate various Latin works into English, and advocated writing Anglo-Saxon chronicles in English, including heroic epics about Anglo-Saxon and Zhu De, as well as some lyric poems, dialect poems, riddles and religious poems.

Medieval English literature 1 1 century, with the invasion of Normans, Old English gradually evolved into Middle English, and the legend of knight in French rhyme began to be popular in literature, among which Sir Gawaine and the Knight in the Green is the most artistic value. /kloc-The second half of the 4th century was the peak of the development of Middle English, and there appeared a rhyming poem that seemed to be influenced by old English poetry, the most famous long poem "Farmer Beers". It is generally believed that it was written by a member of the church, Langland, who explored the good and evil on the earth in the form of a medieval dream story, satirized the ugliness of society and expressed deep sympathy for poor farmers. During this period, King Charles came to power for the second time, the court began to use Anglo-Norman French, and the royal nobles rose to sponsor literati. Chaucer is the first great poet in the history of English literature. He became an important founder of English literature with his collection of short stories and other long and short poems in poetic style. Mallory's prose novel The Death of King Arthur is the embryonic form of English novels.

/kloc-Renaissance literature from the middle of 0/6th century to the beginning of 0/7th century was mainly in the era of Queen Elizabeth, and the Renaissance movement began in Britain. Scholars translated Italian and French academic and literary masterpieces and wrote them themselves. Thomas Moore's Utopia (1477 ~ 1535) is the most valuable. Poetry and drama are the most prominent in English Renaissance literature. Sidney's sonnets (1554 ~ 1586) and Spencer's The Fairy Queen are both representative works of poetry. It promoted unprecedented achievements in poetry and drama. Shakespeare developed this poetic drama to its peak, and he was also good at writing sonnets and long narrative poems. Ben Jonson (1572 ~ 1637) in the later period was good at writing poetic dramas that satirized the society. From the end of 2006 to the beginning of 2007, the Renaissance began gradually. At the same time, the metaphysical poets represented by Donne are unique in expressing active and restless thoughts and containing philosophy.

17th century literature1From the 1940s to the 1980s, the bourgeois revolution took place in Britain and a constitutional monarchy was established. Milton, the great poet, first took part in this struggle by writing political papers. In his later years, the long poems Paradise Lost, paradise regained and Samson made 65438+ with passionate feelings, magnificent imagination and beautiful language. Dryden (163 1 ~ 1700) has made great achievements in satire, ode and drama. His literary works On Drama Poetry, The Basis of Tragic Criticism and his comments on some former writers make English literary criticism an independent category. Ban Yang (65438+), representing the lower class,

18th-century literature18th-century society's relative stability and the spread of enlightenment brought about a new grand occasion of English literature and the rise of realistic novels. A number of writers and works have emerged one after another: Defoe and his Robinson Crusoe, Swift and Gulliver's Travels, Richardson and his Pamela, Fielding and his Abandoned History of tom jones, Stern and his Biography of Shandy, Mollet and his Biography of Langdon, Goldsmith and his Reverend wakefield. Among them, Fielding and his History of Abandoned tom jones are the most outstanding. At the end of this century, Gothic novels characterized by mystery, horror and violence appeared, which had a far-reaching impact on readers because of their entertainment and psychological effects. Periodical literature is another important achievement in this period. Periodicals appear in large numbers, and many well-known writers, poets and playwrights serve as editors and writers. Their essays are short and pithy, with a wide range of topics and vivid humor.

19th century literature19th century, following the elegant and implicit lyric poems of Pope, Gray (1716 ~1771) and Burns,18th century. The early representative poets were Wordsworth and Coleridge's lakeside poets. Their poetry collections Lyric Ballads or Wandering in a Foreign Country, Ancient Times and Dreams created a new style of poetry, and laid a theoretical foundation for English romantic poetry with theoretical works, and Byron, Shelley and Keats appeared one after another. 18960/86617 in the middle and late of this century, some important poets such as Browning, Arnold, Rossetti and Swinburne appeared one after another. They have become an important part of English poetry in the19th century with their unique style and artistic conception close to the 20th century.

From the beginning of19th century, Khazri's literary theory Spirit of the Times, Lamb's prose, Elijah's prose, De Quincy's long self-report Confessions of an English opium addict, Carlisle's French Revolution, Ruskin's aesthetic work The Stone of Venice, etc. , are masterpieces. 65,430 prose novels have been published. At the same time, the female writer J Austin created the world of custom novels with six works. From 1940s to 1960s, in the early Victorian era, a series of novelists with world influence appeared one after another, such as Thackeray, Madame Gaskell, Trollope, Bronte sisters and G Eliot. From the 1970s to the early 20th century, important novelists led by Hardy appeared one after another.

Literature in the 20th century After the 20th century, English literature showed a trend of diversified development of novels, poems and plays. At the beginning of the 20th century, Bernard Shaw, an Irishman, made great contributions to the theory and practice of drama in London. The achievements of Irish Renaissance in drama greatly revitalized English drama. Hardy, the original novelist, turned to poetry creation and finished the poetic drama Kings. It became a masterpiece of English poetry before the First World War. The artillery fire of the First World War had a great impact and shock on people's lives, thoughts and feelings, which led to the rise of the modernist movement in literature. The publication of Eliot's long poem The Waste Land became the starting point of modernist poetry. Joyce's Ulysses and Woolf's The Waves are important masterpieces of stream-of-consciousness novels. Lawrence, on the other hand, expressed his unique views on life and artistic originality with a series of works full of the flavor of the times. At the same time, some novelists, such as Wells, Bennett, John Galsworthy, Mao Mu and Foster, who became famous before the war or even in the19th century, still took the road of realism. After World War II, novelists such as Huxley, Orwell, Ivo, Ishewood, Green, Golding, Fowles, etc. In the intersection of tradition and modernity, most of them move on. The two world wars have brought about great changes in women's life thoughts, and a number of outstanding female novelists have appeared in the British literary world, such as Bowen, Spark, Murdoch, Lessing, drabble and Hill. , appeared in the 1950s. Besides novels, there are excellent plays. Beckett in Ireland and Pinter in London are the representatives of British absurd drama. In the field of poetry, thomas eliot's group poem Quartet is a masterpiece in the 1940s. From 1950s to 1970s, the best poets were Larkin and Hughes. Heine, an Irish poet, is the most influential poet after these two.