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English literature spans over 1,500 years across nine major periods. BCS exams heavily test period dates, representative authors, landmark works, and "Father of" titles. Mastering the timeline and key figures is essential — this topic appears in almost every BCS preliminary exam.
| Period | Years | Key Authors | Landmark Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old English (Anglo-Saxon) | 450–1066 | Unknown (anonymous) | Beowulf (oldest surviving English epic) |
| Middle English | 1066–1500 | Geoffrey Chaucer | The Canterbury Tales |
| Renaissance / Elizabethan | 1500–1660 | Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser | Hamlet, Dr Faustus, The Faerie Queene |
| Restoration | 1660–1700 | John Milton, John Dryden | Paradise Lost, Absalom and Achitophel |
| Neo-Classical / Augustan | 1700–1798 | Pope, Swift, Defoe | The Rape of the Lock, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe |
| Romantic | 1798–1832 | Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats | Lyrical Ballads, Don Juan, Ode to a Nightingale |
| Victorian | 1832–1901 | Dickens, Tennyson, Hardy, Brontë sisters | Oliver Twist, In Memoriam, Tess |
| Modern | 1901–1945 | T.S. Eliot, Yeats, Woolf, Joyce | The Waste Land, Ulysses, Mrs Dalloway |
| Post-Modern | 1945–present | Beckett, Orwell, Golding | Waiting for Godot, 1984, Lord of the Flies |
| Title | Person | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Father of English Poetry | Geoffrey Chaucer | The Canterbury Tales (written in Middle English) |
| Father of English Prose | King Alfred the Great | Translated Latin works into Old English |
| Father of English Novel | Daniel Defoe | Robinson Crusoe (1719) — first English novel |
| Father of English Essay | Francis Bacon | Essays (1597) — "Of Truth", "Of Studies" |
| Father of English Drama | Christopher Marlowe | Dr Faustus, Tamburlaine — introduced blank verse |
Period Order Mnemonic: "Old Monks Read Religious Novels, Romantic Verses Make People happy"
"Father of" Trick — CPABD:
Date Anchors: Remember just three dates and build outward:
Q1. Who is called the Father of English Poetry? (a) Shakespeare (b) Milton (c) Chaucer (d) Spenser Answer: (c) Chaucer — Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales and established English as a literary language.
Q2. Which is the oldest surviving epic poem in English literature? (a) Paradise Lost (b) Beowulf (c) The Canterbury Tales (d) The Faerie Queene Answer: (b) Beowulf — Written in Old English (Anglo-Saxon period, 450–1066), it is the oldest surviving English epic.
Q3. The Romantic period in English literature began with the publication of — (a) Paradise Lost (b) Lyrical Ballads (c) The Prelude (d) Don Juan Answer: (b) Lyrical Ballads — Published in 1798 by Wordsworth and Coleridge, it marks the start of the Romantic Age.
Q4. Who is regarded as the Father of English Novel? (a) Samuel Richardson (b) Henry Fielding (c) Daniel Defoe (d) Jonathan Swift Answer: (c) Daniel Defoe — His Robinson Crusoe (1719) is considered the first true English novel.
Q5. The Victorian Age in English literature lasted from — (a) 1798–1832 (b) 1832–1901 (c) 1700–1798 (d) 1901–1945 Answer: (b) 1832–1901 — It coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria.