Analysis of heroic poetry, focusing heavily on Beowulf , its pagan origins, and Christian overlays.
The history of English literature begins with the Anglo-Saxon period, which saw the emergence of Old English literature. This period was marked by the invasion of England by Germanic tribes, who brought with them their own language, culture, and literary traditions. The most famous work of this period is the epic poem Beowulf , which tells the story of a heroic warrior's battles against monsters. Other notable works of this period include The Wanderer and The Seafarer , which reflect the themes of loneliness, exile, and the human condition.
Writers rejected linear narratives and traditional structures. In poetry, T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land captured the spiritual disillusionment of the post-war world. In fiction, Virginia Woolf and James Joyce pioneered the "stream of consciousness" technique to map the inner workings of the human mind.
Discusses the shift from rationalism to imagination, featuring Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats.