Westfield
State University Ely Library
Literary Time Periods
Keep in mind that all dates and included links are subject to varying
interpretations.*
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Middle Ages:
A broad period from 500 to 1500 AD which includes Chaucer, romance,
drama and verse.
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Renaissance:
A period of "rebirth" from roughly the 14th through the 16th Centuries.
Some links here also refer to the 17th century. Milton, Shakespeare, Spenser,
More, and Donne are a few of the authors of this period.
-
Eighteenth Century: [including the
Neo-Classical Period (1660-1792)]
This includes the Regency Period in England (King George IV).
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Gothic Period:
This period crosses from the late 18th Century to the early 19th and
mixes into the Romantic Period with Gothic Romances. See one of the Authors
list for writers who have been included in this genre.
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Romantic Period:
From the late 18th Century to the late 19th, the Romantic period flourished
with authors including Jane Austen, William Blake, Samuel Coleridge, and
William Wordsworth.
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Victorian Period:
During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) in England, literature
reflected the impact of and struggles brought on by the Industrial Revolution.
Bronte, George Eliot, Tennyson, Dickens, and Wilde are a few of the represented
authors.
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Post Colonial:
Here find links to materials covering postcolonial theory, literatures
and authors from the Caribbean, India, and South Africa after Colonial
rule. There is limited country information available as well.
* The availability of links to materials covering
particular time periods determined the content of this list. The selection
does not reflect the relative importance of any listed category.
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Page maintained by Corinne Ebbs
Last update January 30, 2004