Periods of English Literature

★ The Old English Period   (450-1066)

★ The Middle English Period  (1066-1500)

1. The Anglo-Norman Age: 1066-1340
2. The Age of  Chaucer: 1340-1400
3. The Dark/Barren Age: 1400-1485/1500

★ The Renaissance   (1500-1660)

1. Preparation for Renaissance: 1500-1558
2. The Elizabethan Period: 1558-1603
3. The Jacobean Period: 1603-1625
4. The Caroline Period: 1625-1649
5. The Commonwealth Period: 1649-1660
6. Puritan Period: 1620-1660

★ The Neo-Classical Period  (1660-1785/1798)

1. The Restoration Period: 1660-1700
2. The Augustan Period: 1700-1745
3. The Age of Sensibility: 1745-1785/1798

★ The Romantic Period  (1798-1832)

★ The Victorian Period  (1832-1901)

1. The Pre-Raphaelites Period: 1848-1860
2. Aestheticism and Decadence: 1880-1901

★ The Modern Period  (1901-1939)

1. The Edwardian Period: 1901-1910
2. The Georgian Period: 1910-1939

★ The Post Modern Period  (1939-Present)