Who can be considered the father of English Literature? and why?

Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with that reputation since he is the one who shaped the language which later on became world language. His poetry, narrative poems, depict the life and times of his age, and although his diction is more medieval, yet one feels the change in his use of many words, which makes him comprehensible to even a modern reader, to a large extent. Otherwise, his predecessors can be read only with the help of a special dictionary.   

WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR because of his high sense of inspiration and also because he inspires again in everything that has to do with language