General Information about Enlighteners in the English literature

Reja:

1. 
   General Information about Enlighteners in the English literature
   

2 Anglo-Saxon literature
2.1 Religious Poetry in the Anglo-Saxod period
2.2 Characteristics of Anglo-Saxton Prose
2.3 The most important contribution of Alfred the Great to the Old English prose literature.
2.4 Romance Literature
2.5 The code of chivalry in the works of Renaissance period


The English Enlighteners were not unanimous in their views. Some of them spoke in defense of the existing order, considering that a few reforms were enough to improve it. They were the moderates, represented in literature by Daniel Defoe, Joseph Addison, Richard Steele and Samuel Richardson. Other, the radicals, wanted more democracy in the ruling of the country. The most outstanding representatives of the radicals were Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding, Oliver Goldsmith, Richard B. Sheridan.
In the epoch of Enlightenment the poetic forms of the Renaissance were replaced by prose. The moralizing novel was born and became the leading genre of the period. The Enlighteners idealistically hoped to improve the morals of the people and of society in general. The Enlightenment epoch in England literature may be divided into three periods:
Early Enlightenment (1688-1740).
This period saw the flourishing of journalism. Numerous journals and newspapers appeared at that time. Most popular were the satirical moralizing journals The Tattler, The Spectator, The Englishman edited by Joseph Addison and Richard Steels. In their essays – short compositions in prose – these two writers touched on various problems of political, social and family life. Mature Enlightenment (1740-1750)
The social moralizing novel was born in this period. It was represented by the works of such writers as Samuel Richardson (Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady), Henry Fielding (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling and other novels), and Tobias Smollett (The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker and other novels).Henry Fielding' s works were the summit of the English Enlightenment prose. In the novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling the author created an all-embracing picture of the 18th century England. Fielding also worked out the theory of the novel. In the introductory chapters to the eighteen parts of The History of Tom Jones he put forward the main requirements that the novel should meet: to imitate life, to show the variety of human nature, to expose the roots and causes of man's shortcomings and to indicate the ways of overcoming


1- Anglo-Saxon literature


Anglo-Saxon literature, culture, and language are some of the most important aspects of English Literature. Anglo-Saxon heritage is a required course in each English Language and Literature department. It is
quite necessary to learn about Anglo-Saxon culture since it is a civilization that created modern-day English literature and influenced later English culture. It is a well-known fact that many students are struggling to understand and read Anglo-Saxon literary texts due to the difficulty of old English / Anglo-English.