Famous English Authors and Their Contributions to Literature
Published on: May 2, 2024
The vast scope of literature includes entertaining and enlightening works that span numerous geographic locations, cultural traditions and historical periods. Every category presents its own unique flavor and holds strong literary merit, but English literature has long captivated readers with its compelling themes and vivid descriptions.
It’s difficult to appreciate the true scope and power of English literature without paying homage to the myriad of literary geniuses who have contributed to this impressive body of work. Keep reading for an overview of the most famous English authors, ranging from Middle English poets to contemporary English writers.
The Foundation of English Literature
The term “English literature” is often described as the body of works penned by those living in the British Isles — beginning during the 7th century and extending to the present day. The poem Beowulf is often highlighted as the earliest verifiable work of English literature, but it is challenging to date and attribute the works of the 1st millennium.
Middle English helped usher in the literary formats and themes we take for granted today. The transition from Middle English to Early Modern English was marked by two literary masters who were clearly ahead of their time: Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare.
Geoffrey Chaucer and the Middle Ages
Often referred to as the father of English literature, Geoffrey Chaucer is best known as the creative force behind The Canterbury Tales. That said, he penned many other poems and was also a philosopher, an astronomer and a civil servant.
Chaucer’s works were as eclectic as his numerous interests and professional pursuits. Philosophical quandaries were integrated into many of his poems, along with plenty of humor.
During the 1390s, Chaucer set to work on his magnum opus, The Canterbury Tales. Primarily written in verse, these tales center around a group of storytelling pilgrims who engage in a contest as they travel on horseback to a shrine in Canterbury. In addition to being wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking, this series of stories popularized the use of Middle English in literature.
William Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Era
No discussion of famous English authors would be complete without a deep dive into the fascinating life of William Shakespeare. Arguably history’s most famous poet and playwright, Shakespeare deserves credit for creating some of the most iconic characters not only in Elizabethan era literature, but of all time. Many of his concepts and even his phrases remain relevant to this day.
Highly prolific, Shakespeare is believed to have penned 38 plays. These include many noteworthy works that remain popular on the stage, in high school classrooms, on the silver screen and beyond:
- Romeo and Juliet
- Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Hamlet
- Macbeth
- Othello
The Evolution of the Novel
As one of the most significant literary formats of the last few centuries, the novel has the unique power to transport us to different worlds while helping us form close connections with compelling characters.
While the novel seems like the quintessential form of English literature, its history is rather short compared to English literature as a whole. The origins of the English novel are believed to lie with early works such as Robinson Crusoe and Pilgrim’s Promise. Talented female writers are believed to have brought extra emotional intensity to this format.
Jane Austen and the Rise of Realism
Featuring compelling heroines who seek both romance and self-actualization, Jane Austen’s novels are rife with social commentary. She is, perhaps, best known for the relatable novel Pride & Prejudice. This is one of the world’s most consistently popular novels and is believed to have sold over 200 million copies. Pride and Prejudice themes like social class and reputation blend with a page-turning plot to achieve almost universal appeal.
But Pride & Prejudice is just the beginning. Austen wrote many other novels that felt just as relatable, including Sense & Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Emma. Readers are still drawn to her work, in part, because her characters feel so realistic. This stems from one of her primary writing techniques, which is weaving characters’ thoughts into the narrative. While common today, this was unusual for the time.
Charles Dickens and Social Commentary
Like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens had a knack for creating memorable characters who left a deep impression on readers. Also, like Austen, Dickens incorporated social commentary into his work, although he was more likely to discuss issues such as poverty and inequality.
Dickens was celebrated in his time and has consistently remained among the most popular novelists since his death in 1870. His most noteworthy works include:
- Oliver Twist
- A Christmas Carol
- David Copperfield
- Great Expectations
Through his compassionate work, Dickens introduced readers to the tragic struggles of street children and the infuriating corruption underscoring their plight. It is due to this frequent exploration of poverty and other social ills that similarly themed works are now referred to as “Dickensian.” Beyond this, he was influential simply because he helped to solidify the novel as a popular source of entertainment.
Romanticism and Gothic Literature
The 18th and 19th centuries were dominated by two closely aligned literary movements, Romanticism and Gothic literature. The former represented a clear rejection of order and harmony, instead bringing imaginative and spontaneous attitudes to the forefront.
Creating an atmosphere of terror, Gothic literature delivered a uniquely foreboding feel using fascinating plots involving curses and revenge. The settings were often gloomy with supernatural beings, and often, passionate romances built into these alluring works.
Mary Shelley and the Birth of Science Fiction
When most people think of science fiction, contemporary works involving space or advanced technology come to mind. However, this genre has fascinated readers for centuries. As one of the most notable Gothic literature authors, Mary Shelley helped usher in an appreciation of the weird and wonderful through her iconic novel Frankenstein.
Capturing the still-relevant fear that modern science could usher in destructive forces, Frankenstein delved into the potentially horrific consequences of humans playing god. The novel’s writing style was also unique as an epistolary form, featuring a series of letters that functioned as narrative.
The Brontë Sisters and the Exploration of the Psyche
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë enjoyed writing from a young age. While each presented distinct writing styles, they were linked not only as sisters, but also by their use of emotions to bring their characters to life.
Among the best-known works from this amazing sisterhood includes Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, which emphasized the search for love, independence and self-control. Featuring an intimate first-person style and a surprisingly revolutionary subtext, this novel was ahead of its time.
The destructive power of passion dominated Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, which featured wonderfully complex characters. A typical Wuthering Heights analysis will also highlight a setting so gloomy, yet compelling, it feels like a character in and of itself.
Anne Brontë, while not as well-known today, penned one of the earliest works that could arguably be classified as feminist, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. It detailed the effects of abuse while defying social conventions of the time.
The Modernists
Spanning a period beset with huge social and economic changes (between 1890 and World War II), the Modernist era fostered experimental writing styles while integrating then cutting-edge philosophical and psychological concepts. Feelings such as disillusionment pervaded many of these works, although there was also frequently an undercurrent of optimism.
Virginia Woolf and the Stream of Consciousness
Virginia Woolf pioneered the stream of consciousness, emphasizing non-linear writing techniques to capture the nuances of the mind and the unique flow of characters’ thought processes. By focusing on the power of the interior monologue, this approach played a significant role in her well-known novel, Mrs. Dalloway, revealing how memories can influence current perceptions and tackling important themes such as isolation and privilege.
Woolf also wrote many essays on women’s history and politics, including A Room of One’s Own. Critiquing the patriarchal system and its stifling of female creativity, this impactful essay argued that women could only achieve their full creative potential if they also achieved financial independence.
James Joyce and the Reimagining of the Novel
Irish author James Joyce also relied on stream of consciousness techniques while experimenting with absurdism and integrating numerous points of view. With the short story collection Dubliners, he hoped to hold up a “nicely polished looking-glass” in the Irish community so that readers could finally recognize (and hopefully address) what the writer regarded as a troubling paralysis.
Joyce took his penchant for experimental writing to a new level with Ulysses. Structured to align with Homer’s Odyssey, Ulysses featured a wide array of narrative styles. Over the years, Ulysses has gained what The New Yorker regards as a “fearsome reputation for difficulty.” Still, there is no denying its status as one of the most influential works of the 20th century.
Post-War British Literature
It is impossible to overstate the influence of World War II on British literature. This was used as a backdrop for many powerful novels and the conceptual framework for both dystopian sagas and historic fiction. There was a distinct bleakness to this period’s most acclaimed works, which decades later, continue to feel hauntingly relevant.
George Orwell and Dystopian Fiction
George Orwell’s initial breakthrough came with the allegorical novella Animal Farm, which used anthropomorphic animals to reveal the struggle to achieve a free and just society. This novella was inspired by the Bolshevik revolution, with characters representing Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin.
Today, Orwell is best known for the dystopian novel 1984, set in an imagined future involving three totalitarian states constantly at war. One of these is known as Oceania, in which the brainwashed population shows obedience and reverence for the leader Big Brother. Featuring a direct writing style and bleak language, 1984 had a huge impact on the dystopian genre and contains compelling themes that still resonate.
Doris Lessing and the Exploration of Identity
A true visionary and the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Doris Lessing was an outspoken novelist who discussed everything from environmentalism to race relations. She was inspired by her childhood in Africa, with several of her early works set in what was then known as Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
While she penned a variety of poems, essays and short stories, Lessing’s most acclaimed work is easily the novel The Golden Notebook, which told the story of the divorced writer Anna Wulf and her mental breakdown. Featuring a fragmented style meant to reflect the similar fragmentation of society, this saga aimed to reveal how “any kind of single-mindedness, narrowness, obsession, was bound to lead to mental disorder, if not madness.”
Contemporary Voices
During the last few decades, contemporary writers have demonstrated a clear desire to explore social themes such as inequality and racial tension. There is an ongoing effort to push boundaries while playing with unreliable narrators, non-linear timelines and self-conscious formats such as metafiction.
Zadie Smith and the Multicultural Novel
Zadie Smith took the literary scene by storm when she released her much-anticipated debut novel White Teeth in 2000. An ambitious multicultural work and an immediate bestseller, this satirical family story played heavily with themes that would continue to prove popular in the decades to come. This includes the often-significant gaps between expectations and reality.
A tale of an accidental friendship between a Bengali Muslim and an Englishman, White Teeth is chock full of sass and beautiful storytelling. Smith has since published several other novels and short stories, along with the play The Wife of Willesden. Many of these works continue to feature culturally diverse characters and reflections on concepts such as identity and authenticity.
Ian McEwan and the Psychological Novel
Initially devoted to Gothic stories, Ian McEwan quickly scored the nickname “Ian Macabre” with his bleak writing style. His efforts to shock were found both in his early novels and in the infamous suspension of his play Solid Geometry. He earned critical acclaim with thought-provoking works such as Amsterdam and especially Atonement, which was later adapted into an award-winning film.
While he often addresses broad themes by examining the impact of social events on private lives, McEwan’s work involves an intimate glimpse at the human psyche, bringing the interior worlds of his detailed characters to life. He has described one of his central goals in vivid terms, to “incite a naked hunger in readers.”
Discover a Wealth of Inspiration From English Literature
If you find the titles highlighted above compelling, consider taking a deeper dive as you pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English. As you find inspiration, you can develop your own writing skills with Park University’s Bachelor of Arts in English and Professional Writing. Request more information about our English degree programs today.