English Literature

Ben Jonson: (1572 -1637)
- He is a writer from the Renaissance Period.
- English Stuart dramatist, lyric poet, and literary critic.
- He is generally regarded as the second most important English dramatist, after William Shakespeare, during the reign of James I.

Among his major plays are comedies:
- Every Man in His Humour (1598),
- Volpone (1605),
- Epicoene; or, The Silent Woman (1609),
- The Alchemist (1610), and
- Bartholomew Fair (1614).

Major Writers of the Restoration period
- John Milton
- John Bunyan
- John Wilmot,
- John Dryden.
- John Locke
- William Wycherley
- Aphra Behn
- William Congreve

 Source: Britannica & literaryocean.com

The Neo-Classical Age বা Pseudo-classical Age কে ৩ ভাগে ভাগ করা যায়।

A. The Restoration Age – (1660 – 1700).
B. The Augustan Age – (1700 – 1745).
C. The Age of Sensibility – (1745 – 1798).

Source: An ABC of English Literature - Dr M Mofizar Rahman

অপশনে প্রদত্ত চারটি সাহিত্যকর্মের মধ্যে তিনটিই John Dryden রচনা করেছেন। 
কেবলমাত্র, The Country Wife  এই কমেটি নাটকটি রচনা করেছেন William Wycherley.

John Dryden & William Wycherley both are important authors of the restoration age (1660-1702) of English literature. 

Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver’s Travel (fiction).

Gulliver’s Travels combines adventure with savage satire, mocking English customs and the politics of the day.
Its important characters are:
- Gulliver,
- Blefuscudian,
- Yahoos,
- Houyhnhnms,
- Lilliputians,
- Laputans.
Houyhnhnms in Gulliver’s Travel are horses.

Best works: 
- Gulliver's Travels,
- A tale of a Tub,
- A Modest Proposal,
- A Journey to Stella,
- The Battle of the Books.

Source: An ABC of English Literature, Dr. M Mofizar Rahman, Britannica

Oliver Goldsmith (1728 - 74)
- He is a writer from The Age of Sensibility.
- He is an Irish Novelist, Playwright, and poet. 

Notable works:
- The Citizen of the World.
- The Vicar of Wakefield. (Novel)
- The Deserted Village. (Pastoral elegy)
- Traveller. (Poem)

Source: An ABC of English Literature - Dr. M Mofizar Rahman

The above quotation is made by John Milton and taken from his book Paradise Lost, Book II.

John Milton is a great Master of verse in the puritan period.
He is an Epic poet in English Literature.

His famous quotations:
- To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.
(Paradise Lost)

- Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.
(Paradise Lost)

Source: Paradise Lost by John Milton.