Renaissance Enlightenment Romanticism Transcedentalism Realism Naturalism Modernism Expressionism Postmodernism

Shakespeare Defoe/Swift
Half part of 14th End of the 17th
century-end of century – end of
the 17th century the 18th century
The rise of The beginning of
nationalism. an intellectual
The first movement in
flourishing of Europe.
democracy. Enabled by the
The middle class Scientific
began to gain Revolution
power in the (independent
cities. tought in
The War of Mathematics,
Roses/The Physics, Politics,
English Civil Medicine,
War. Astronomy)
The reformation Egalitarianism
of the Catholic was the promise
Curch. of the century.
England Britain was the
emerged as the most advanced
leading and economy in the
commercial world.
power of the The first half of
Western World 18th century in
(Golden Age) English literature
The plays were became known
no longer as the Augustan
religious. Age.
Theatres were This Epoch was
built and new ruled by Queen
forms of drama Anne, King
emerged George I and
(romance) King George II.
The society was The rapid
strongly development of
patriarchal the novel.
Marriage was a Literature
business became highly
agreement. instructive –
The study of interest in
ancient classical travelling –
drama. characters
The invention of change their
the printing lives by
press voyaging.
(Gutemberg’s The hero in the
press). novel is no
The writers write longer a prince
in their local but a
vernacular . representative of
The greatest the middle class.
problem – the The greatest
public hygiene British writers of
(the plague-the that period were
result of Alexandre Pope,
uncleanliness – Daniel Defoe
theatres were and Jonathan
closed) Swift.
As a young boy,
Defoe witnessed
two of the
greatest disaster
of the 17th
century: a
recurrence of the
plague and the
Great Fire of
London. This
may have shaped
his imagination
with
catastrophes in
his writings.