History of English Literature. Before knowing the history of English Literature we should know first what is literature. In a simple word literature is a mirror of society. But if you want to know the perfect definition then ; literature is writing which expresses and communicates thoughts, feelings and attitude towards life. The word literature comes from the Latin word ‘ litaritura ’ meaning “writing organized with letters”. We can classify different literature with the language, origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter. If we talk about the history of English literature we should know that it's divided into Seven parts. We can identify them with the writing style of its author. Also as I have mentioned, literature is a mirror of society. We can know about that particular society and its background with the help of the work created during that time. The period in which history of English Literature is divided are below; The...
The Age Of The Transition in English literature The Historical Background: The period covered by the present chapter is the middle and later stage of the eighteenth century. During this time there are several historical movements were noticed. It was an era of change from pseudo-classicism to romanticism. 1. Decline of Party Feud: The rivalry between the Whigs and Tories still continued but it had lost its previous bitterness. This naturally led to a considerable decline of the activity in political pamphleteering. The poets and satirists ceased to be statesmen. The institution of literary patronage gradually crumbled during this period. Men of letters learnt to depend entirely on their public. 2. ...