A study of the lives of and works of Anna Barbauld and Mary Robinson, two of the most influential women poets of the late 18th and early 19th centuries giving particular attention to them as London po
Thomas Hardy still seems to speak to us, in fiction and in poetry, as 'our contemporary'. This second edition of Peter Widdowson's study identifies the elements in Hardy's work which enable him to be
The literary scene in the 1890s changed rapidly, with 'serious' writers defining themselves against popular fiction and that read by women and children. As modernist influences changed the style and c
By assessing what was original in Jane Austen's fictional technique in the context of the history of the novel, Professor Miles offers a fresh evaluation of how Austen came to be constructed as a mode
Salman Rushdie is one of the most widely discussed but also one of the most generally misunderstood of contemporary writers. This study provides a view by approaching Rushdie's fiction in terms of its
This first ever full-length study of Ben Okri's life and work is based on twenty years of friendship and close attention to his texts. It argues that his writing is best appreciated against the backgr
William Langland is one of the most important authors of the middle ages and Piers Plowman, one of the most challenging and complex poems of all time. Written and revised in the last decades of the fo
Gurney is the greatest of all those poets who fought in and survived the First World War and his achievement drastically affects our understanding of twentieth century poetry.
In this study of revenge tragedies - notably by Thomas Kyd, William Shakespeare, Thomas Middleton, John Marston and John Webster - Janet Clare suggests that genres are not passively inherited, but mad
Since the publication of her first full length novel, Adam Bede, in 1859 George Eliot has enjoyed the reputation of the greatest realist novelist in English and as the guardian of traditional English
This study looks at the whole range of Wilde's writing and places it in the context of later nineteenth century ideas, suggesting that the influence of his studies at Oxford was more profound than has
Aphra Behn has emerged as a central literary figure in early feminist studies and as such, this new edition of Wiseman's critical study covers the considerable revision of critical appreciation of her
Helen Thomas examines the ways in which Caryl Phillips responds both creatively and critically to the psychological effects of cultural dispersal, racism and economic exploitation in the black Atlanti
This critical study of a key figure in Victorian literary society examines Pater's work on art history, literature and Greek studies, as well as analysing the roles of gender and journalism in shaping
The new series of Writers and Their Work continues a tradition of innovative critical studies introducing writers and their contexts to a wide range of readers. Drawing upon the most recent thinking i
William Blake was a revolutionary poet and artist. This study introduces a range of Blake's poetry and illuminated books from the early Songs to the late epics, and focuses on the socially radical and
Moving adroitly between historical context and modern critical problems, this study explores the intertwining of politics, sexuality, and the social order in Measure for Measure, one of the most frequ
This major new reading of the novels of Thomas Hardy, by leading critic George Levine, disentangles the author's often elaborately distanced prose from his beautiful poetic and precise renderings of the natural world. Clear, direct and minimally academic in his own writing, Levine provides an overview of Hardy's entire fictional canon, with extensive discussions of his early and late novels including his last, The Well-Beloved. Levine draws new attention to the way Hardy absorbed both the ideas and the writing strategies of Charles Darwin, and develops new perspectives first articulated in the criticism of great novelists - in particular Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Levine departs from the critical norm by reading Hardy in the context of his deep feeling for the natural world and all living things, and the implicit affirmation of life that sometimes drives his bleakest narratives.
This major new reading of the novels of Thomas Hardy, by leading critic George Levine, disentangles the author's often elaborately distanced prose from his beautiful poetic and precise renderings of the natural world. Clear, direct and minimally academic in his own writing, Levine provides an overview of Hardy's entire fictional canon, with extensive discussions of his early and late novels including his last, The Well-Beloved. Levine draws new attention to the way Hardy absorbed both the ideas and the writing strategies of Charles Darwin, and develops new perspectives first articulated in the criticism of great novelists - in particular Virginia Woolf and D. H. Lawrence. Levine departs from the critical norm by reading Hardy in the context of his deep feeling for the natural world and all living things, and the implicit affirmation of life that sometimes drives his bleakest narratives.
