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The contents emphasize major authors and works—from Beowulf and Chaucer to Shakespeare, Milton, the Augustans, the Romantics, and Victorian-era poetry and fiction—while guiding readers through primary and secondary reading.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/","Literature",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-history-of-english-literature-introduction-literary-history-part-1-medieval/299690/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-history-of-english-literature-introduction-literary-history-part-1-medieval/299690.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ava Thompson","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-09-18",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does the book define the scope of English literary history?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It lays out an introduction that discusses what is included, questions of tradition or canon, and how literature relates to language change and other literatures in English.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What period is covered first in the main historical sections?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The first major section is PART 1: Medieval, beginning with Old English Literature up to 1100 and then Middle English Literature from 1066 to 1500.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Which later literary movements and genres receive dedicated coverage?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The contents include major treatments of Shakespearean drama, Stuart writing, Augustan culture, Romanticism, and separate sections for poetry and fiction.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},299690,1790086388,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,91,95,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":26,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},1649267921044,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1800007509477c92dfb?_k=1786009248482753345","A History of English Literature  \nMICHAEL ALEXANDER  \n[p. iv]  \n© Michael Alexander 2000  \nAll rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W 1 P 0LP.  \nAny person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.  \nThe author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.  \nFirst published 2000 by  \nMACMILLAN PRESS LTD  \nHoundmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XSand London  \nCompanies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 0-333-91397-3 hardcover  \nISBN 0-333-67226-7 paperback  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.  \nThis book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1  \n09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 O1 00  \nTypeset by Footnote Graphics, Warminster, Wilts Printed in Great Britain by  \nAntony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wilts [p. v]  \nContents  \nAcknowledgements Preface Abbreviations  \nIntroduction Literary history  \nWhat’s included?  \nTradition or canon? Priorities  \nWhat is literature? Language change  \nOther literatures in English Is drama literature? Qualities and quantities Texts  \nFurther reading  \nPrimary texts  \nSecondary texts  \nPART 1: Medieval  \n1 Old English Literature: to 1100 Orientations  \nBritain, England, English Oral origins and conversion Aldhelm, Bede, Cædmon  \nNorthumbria and The Dream of the Rood Heroic poetry  \nChristian literature  \nAlfred Beowulf Elegies Battle poetry  \nThe harvest of literacy  \nFurther reading  \n2 Middle English Literature: 1066-1500 The new writing  \nHandwriting and printing The impact of French Scribal practice  \nDialect and language change Literary consciousness New fashions: French and Latin Epic and romance  \nCourtly literature Medieval institutions  \nAuthority Lyrics English prose  \nThe fourteenth century  \nSpiritual writing  \nJulian of Norwich Secular prose Ricardian poetry  \nPiers Plowman  \nSir Gawain and the Green Knight John Gower  \nGeoffrey Chaucer The Parlement of Fowls Troilus and Criseyde The Canterbury Tales  \nThe fifteenth century  \nDrama Mystery plays  \n[[p. vi](p. vi)]  \nRobert Henryson William Dunbar Gavin Douglas  \nFurther reading  \nPart 2  \nTudor and Stuart 3 Tudor Literature: 1500-1603 Renaissance and Reformation  \nThe Renaissance Expectations Investigations  \nEngland's place in the world  \nThe Reformation Sir Thomas More The Courtier Sir Thomas Wyatt The Earl of Surrey  \nReligious prose Bible translation Instructive prose  \nDrama  \nElizabethan literature  \nVerse  \nSir Philip Sidney  \nEdmund Spenser  \nSir Walter Ralegh  \nThe ‘Jacobethans’  \nChristopher Marlowe Song  \nThomas Campion Prose  \nJohn Lyly  \nThomas Nashe  \nRichard Hooker  \nFurther reading  \n4 Shakespeare and the Drama William Shakespeare  \nShakespeare's life  \nThe plays preserved Luck and fame  \n[p. vii] The theatres  \nRestoration comedy  \nJohn Dryden Satire Prose  \nJohn Locke  \nWomen writers William Congreve  \nMorality plays Religious lyric Deaths of Arthur The arrival of printing Scottish poetry  \nThe drama The commercial theatre Predecessors Christopher Marlowe The order of the plays  \nHistories Richard II  \nHenry IV  \nHenry V Comedy  \nA Midsurnrner Night's Dream  \nTwelfth Night The poems Tragedy  \nHamlet  \nKing Lear Romances  \nThe Tempest Conclusion  \nShakespeare's achievement His supposed point of view  \nBen Jonson The Alchemist Volpone  \nFurther reading  \n5 Stuart Literature: to 1700 The Stuart century  \nDrama to 1642  \nComedy Tragedy John Don","cbCaiafvsFMJqkF2","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiafvsFMJqkF2","pdf",4862361,261,"English","# Contents\n## Introduction\n## PART 1: Medieval\n### 1 Old English Literature: to 1100 Orientations\n### 2 Middle English Literature: 1066-1500 The new writing\n## Part 2: Tudor and Stuart\n### 3 Tudor Literature: 1500-1603 Renaissance and Reformation\n### 4 Shakespeare and the Drama\n### 5 Stuart Literature: to 1700 The Stuart century\n## PART 3: Augustan and Romantic\n### 6 Augustan Literature: to 1790 The eighteenth century\n### 7 The Romantics: 1790-1837\n### 9 Poetry\n### 10 Fiction","[{\"question\":\"How does the book define the scope of English literary history?\",\"answer\":\"It lays out an introduction that discusses what is included, questions of tradition or canon, and how literature relates to language change and other literatures in English.\"},{\"question\":\"What period is covered first in the main historical sections?\",\"answer\":\"The first major section is PART 1: Medieval, beginning with Old English Literature up to 1100 and then Middle English Literature from 1066 to 1500.\"},{\"question\":\"Which later literary movements and genres receive dedicated coverage?\",\"answer\":\"The contents include major treatments of Shakespearean drama, Stuart writing, Augustan culture, Romanticism, and separate sections for poetry and fiction.\"}]","A History of English Literature - Introduction - Literary history - Part 1: Medieval | PDF",1789770760,402]