major in english literature

major in english literature

Exploring the Evolution of English Literature: A Comprehensive Study

1. Introduction to English Literature

Reviewing the past literature in any subject or at any stage of your research project is of vital importance. It is an essential activity and prepares the ground for further research work in the future. It becomes more important for the researcher to explore areas for future research, expand the scope of research work, and narrow down the scope of a problem to be studied. The present research study aims at exploring the trends and patterns in English literature during the colonial period.

Literature is the art of the word. A work of literature may be created so that we can see what peace is actually like, or what private love feels like, or what prejudice or jealousy or betrayal or the love of truth feel like. Literature helps us do so by “saying,” by persuasively representing complex ideas and feelings through direct expression of people’s inner states. The “focus of depth and individuality” in literature comes from the writer’s belief that his or her understanding of life has broad application. According to this perspective, a work of literature’s fundamental justification is its worth and potential value to humanity.

Literature is a record of human experience. It reveals, reflects, and expresses man’s thoughts and emotions. It represents life, expresses the soul of a people, and portrays the history and life of a nation. It is a finely crafted verbal art based on the human experience. Literature is one of the fine arts. It uses both written and spoken language to express and communicate much of what it is to be human. All of human life – the noblest and meanest activities, passion, human feelings, and the clash of ideas and principles – has entered into its structure. Literature is a focus of depth and individuality, of serious or altered states of consciousness, rather than a record of subjects studied in organized, bloated information. It is a written record of man’s ideas about gods, death, the universe, freedom, justice, and other human values.

2. Key Movements and Periods in English Literature

The English language is an outstandingly flexible and adaptable tongue, and it is this quality that has made it possible for writers, throughout its super-creative history, to utilize it to such remarkable effect. But writers do not exist in a vacuum, and the quality and value of their work are determined in large measure by their culture and by the essential character of their own times – the themes and subjects that prove to be most critical and pervasive, the assumptions, beliefs, attitudes, codes, and issues that inform and motivate them. English literature reflects and affects society. All great writers impose their unique technique, vision, and sensibility on their age and place, but they are still merely a part of the fabric of that age and place, although a notably distinctive and evocative part. Their great works can be read in many different ways and on many different levels, but their most potent meaning and weight depend, finally, on our perception of the intellectual, moral, psychological, and historical realities that shape them.

The literature of England has a long, fascinating history. It covers a wide span of time, from the very old English literature, where the first written work is Beowulf, to the role it has played in today’s English-speaking world. Not only has this literature given the world an array of influential works and writers, but it has also acted as a looking glass of the time as well. People are able to step into it and see the world as it once was. The development of English literature is unique. It has witnessed the association between British literature and world literature, with the works of William Shakespeare often symbolizing the apex of literary art. The various forms of English literature, which are not only poetical, include the mind-enlightening prattle set down in novels, plays, pamphlets, and periodical publications, which are intended to allow any person to spend their time profitably.

3. Notable Authors and Works

John Donne (1573 – 1631): John Donne was an English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest who is considered a prominent representative of the metaphysical poets of the period. His work is marked by a philosophical analysis of emotion, relationships between people, love, and religion using an innovative metaphorical style, direct speech in the rigors of the arguments, and in the flesh. While he is also best known for his somber-darker works, these barely made it to Europe during his lifetime, but he was famous for life for his love songs. And he is known as the most tolerant man of all ages. His best-known poem is “Death Be Not Proud,” though some of his best sonnets were addressed to a woman known as the “Mysterious Lover”.

Thomas Wyatt (1503 – 1542): Thomas Wyatt the Elder was one of the most important poets of the sixteenth century. He introduced the Italian sonnet, terza rima, and ottava rima verse forms to the English tradition. He also devised some original forms such as Wyatt’s 10 and Wyatt’s 16. His other significant contribution was bringing to England some of the themes and topics then current on the continent. These were quickly adopted by a new generation of English poets. Together with Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, he also started writing blank verse in English. The introduction of blank verse was marked by Shakespeare and Milton almost 40 years after his death.

4. Themes and Symbols in English Literature

Art, which is liable to be exposed to the sunshine of the future, does expose it must natural bourgeoning. In aid and worship, time invariably makes many things original. Their timelessness can be seen in their elements in a current perspective. Such a timeless quality in literature is the soul or the spirit of writing. A writer is fictional by definition. If we view, though, and take away this shell gradually, we can trace signs of music profounder than fiction.

Eve is the female divinity and gives birth to everything. She is the mother of the world. Therefore, every woman fights in her for the victory of life and universal reason. Also, she is, as a goddess, the result of the statement of the dualities opposites. Woman, in general, is motherhood or harmony enclosed between the two terms of the dialectic intrigue.

The themes of great classical literature are the most common and deepest ones. These are the eternal problems of man. It inevitably concerns these general themes, which reappear in different forms, compositions, and represent their endless human perspectives. Secondly, the myth is a good foundation, although the incident may be historically more real. The sound of the echo, derived from a feeling of our ancestors, the test of time nourishes the interest, congeals the emotions, and makes the experience universal, portraying whatever our faith might be.

5. The Influence of English Literature on Society and Culture

It is a fact that the effects caused in the society would have been far different had the middle and the interior classes been alive to the potential of literature in spreading awareness and acting as a vehicle of social change. Throughout the dark days, literature ceased to be the only mass medium of communication; it was the medium with the widest range of materials. It built up a rich oral culture through the patrolling minstrels in England. It was in due ages the only medium through which opinions, attitudes, and beliefs of the people reached the world. Thus, ethnicity, knowledge, and myriad political sentiments melted society, making it one of the most active stages of social reform. The birth of the novel followed shortly and, as it became increasingly popular, the novel acted as the only means by which large sections of the population could learn the methods, proprieties, culture, and values of society.

If it is indeed true that literature represents society, it is a statement which can be fully justified in the light of the changes through English literature over the ages. Literature has always furthered the cause of society, and thus has helped shape it. It covers the social scenario and is itself influenced by the social structure. At times it helps foster the seeds of change as it has been seen in the medieval and modern history of England. Wherever the hold of literature is strong, the upheavals produced in society by its words are bound to be overwhelming. In a society as complex and class-ridden as England, the study of English literature serves as one of the best means of understanding both the inherent contradictions in the society and thereby foster a forward-looking view of a belief in the morality of man. In other words, literature acts as a mirror to life and society.