Readers' Guides to Essential Criticism – serie

This Reader's Guide analyses the critical history of two of Hardy's major tragic novels, from the time of their publication to the present. Simon Avery traces the changing critical fortunes of the texts and explores the diverse range of interpretations produced by different theoretical approaches.

This Reader's Guide analyses the critical history of two of Hardy's major tragic novels, from the time of their publication to the present. Simon Avery traces the changing critical fortunes of the texts and explores the diverse range of interpretations produced by different theoretical approaches.

The plays of Shakespeare's contemporaries are increasingly popular thanks to a spate of recent stage and screen productions and to courses that set Shakespeare's plays in context. This Reader's Guide introduces students to the criticism and debates that are specific to the drama of playwrights such as Jonson, Middleton, Dekker and Webster. Pascale Aebischer explores recent critical developments in key areas including:- How the plays were staged and printed- Innovative editions of plays- How the plays represent and contest the dominant ideologies of the Jacobean period- Dramatic genres- The representation of the human body and of social, gender and race relations- Modern productions on stage and screenFeaturing suggestions for further research and reading, and a filmography of commercially available film versions of non-Shakespearean drama, this is an invaluable resource for anyone with an interest in the diverse plays of the Jacobean age.

Shakespeare's late plays are a 'mixed bag' with a common theme: from the fiendishly jealous Leontes to the saintly Pericles; from the ineffectual Cymbeline to the omnipotent Propspero; from the 'sprites and goblins' of The Tempest to the famous bear of The Winter's Tale, the characters have excited wonder and contempt while the range of incident is almost irresponsibly extravagant. Was Shakespeare losing his grip, or his interest, or both? Was he striking out in some bold new theatrical direction?This Guide provides a critical survey of the major debates and issues surrounding the late plays, from the earliest published accounts to the present day. Nicholas Potter offers a clear guiding narrative and an exploration of literary history, focusing on how criticism of these remarkable works, and attempts to make sense of them, have developed over the years.

Shakespeare's late plays are a 'mixed bag' with a common theme: from the fiendishly jealous Leontes to the saintly Pericles; from the ineffectual Cymbeline to the omnipotent Propspero; from the 'sprites and goblins' of The Tempest to the famous bear of The Winter's Tale, the characters have excited wonder and contempt while the range of incident is almost irresponsibly extravagant. Was Shakespeare losing his grip, or his interest, or both? Was he striking out in some bold new theatrical direction?This Guide provides a critical survey of the major debates and issues surrounding the late plays, from the earliest published accounts to the present day. Nicholas Potter offers a clear guiding narrative and an exploration of literary history, focusing on how criticism of these remarkable works, and attempts to make sense of them, have developed over the years.

Since its publication in 1982, The Color Purple has polarized critics and generated controversy while delighting many readers around the world. Rachel Lister offers a clear, stimulating and wide-ranging exploration of the critical history of Alice Walker's best-selling novel, from contemporary reviews through to twenty-first-century readings.This Reader's Guide:- Opens with an overview of Walker's work- Provides a detailed consideration of the conception and reception of The Color Purple- Examines coverage of key critical issues and debates such as Walker's use of generic conventions, linguistic and narrative strategies, race, class, gender and sexual politics- Covers the reception and cultural impact of cinematic and musical adaptations, including Steven Spielberg's 1985 film and the recent Broadway productionLively and insightful, this is an indispensable volume for anyone studying, or simply interested in, Alice Walker and her most famous work.

Since its publication in 1982, The Color Purple has polarized critics and generated controversy while delighting many readers around the world. Rachel Lister offers a clear, stimulating and wide-ranging exploration of the critical history of Alice Walker's best-selling novel, from contemporary reviews through to twenty-first-century readings.This Reader's Guide:- Opens with an overview of Walker's work- Provides a detailed consideration of the conception and reception of The Color Purple- Examines coverage of key critical issues and debates such as Walker's use of generic conventions, linguistic and narrative strategies, race, class, gender and sexual politics- Covers the reception and cultural impact of cinematic and musical adaptations, including Steven Spielberg's 1985 film and the recent Broadway productionLively and insightful, this is an indispensable volume for anyone studying, or simply interested in, Alice Walker and her most famous work.

This Guide provides a survey of the wide range of responses to Macbeth, as well as the key debates and developments from the seventeenth century to the present day. Chronologically structured, the Guide summarizes and assesses key interpretations, sets them in context and supplies extracts from criticism which exemplify critical positions.

This Guide provides a critical survey of the responses to this popular play. Chronologically arranged, the book draws on a rich range of critical writings, including Dr Johnson, Coleridge, Bradley and Leavis. This material is linked to more general issues regarding Shakespearean criticism and scholarship, and the development of literary theory.

Poets have written about wars throughout the twentieth century - questioning, protesting and, sometimes, celebrating the nature and purpose of conflict. Attracting an enthusiastic popular readership, war poetry has often been seen as a way of remembering and re-imagining wars. Today, war poems are not only part of our memorial culture, on epitaphs and in Remembrance Day services, but have inspired books and films and become studied widely around the world.This Guide examines the genesis and development of the important genre of war poetry in the twentieth century, focusing in particular on the role of the two world wars in the literary and cultural construction of a ''war poetry'' category. Philippa Lyon draws upon a range of key historical and contemporary critical responses, from poetic memoir and journalism to sophisticated academic criticism, to demonstrate the rich diversity of expectations and evaluations elicited by the developing genre.

The first novel of the author''s maturity, Mansfield Park is complex, highly wrought, and experimental. It marks a transitional stage between the first two published novels, Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, and Jane Austen''s greatest achievements, Emma and Persuasion. It has been suggested that Mansfield Park is the writer''s most autobiographical novel and that, in seeing through the eyes of Fanny Price, deemed the most moralising and judgemental of her heroines, we are seeing through the eyes of Austen herself. Though Fanny Price may be too virtuous for modern readers to take to their hearts, in Mrs Norris Austen creates one of her best, because most plausible, monsters; while in the estate of Mansfield Park itself we find some of the most fully realised descriptions of domestic interiors and exteriors in Austen''s fiction.This Guide traces the response to Mansfield Park from the opinions of Jane Austen''s contemporaries, through nineteenth-century reviews and twentieth-century critical analyses, including deconstructionist, feminist, postcolonial and poststructuralist, to diverse twenty-first-century approaches to the novel. Sandie Byrne selects the most useful and insightful of these responses and puts them in context, providing the reader with an essential and approachable introduction to the range of critical debate on this important novel.

Hamlet is one of the best known works of English literature throughout the world, and its central character one of Shakespeare''s most recognisable and enduring creations. Hamlet''s first critics in the seventeenth century were, however, concerned with the play''s apparent lack of decorum, whilst the Romantics revelled in the melancholy prince''s isolation. Caught between a dead father and a remarried mother, Hamlet inevitably provided scope for Freud and the psychoanalytic writers of the twentieth century. The play has retained its fascination for more recent critics and every new interpretation provides fuel for further study.In this Guide, Huw Griffiths traces the history of the play''s criticism from the 1660s through to the present day. Readers are provided with substantial excerpts from all the key critical readings - including accounts of the interaction between film versions and critical interpretations. Griffiths places each reading of the play within its own historical context and within the history of literary criticism, offering both students and teachers an approachable introduction to the critical fortunes of this most influential text.

Ian McEwan is one of Britain''s most established, and controversial, writers. This book introduces students to a range of critical approaches to McEwan''s fiction. Criticism is drawn from selections in academic essays and articles, and reviews in newspapers, journals, magazines and websites, with editorial comment providing context, drawing attention to key points and identifying differences in critical perspectives. The book features selections from published interviews with Ian McEwan and covers all of the writer''s novels to date, including his latest novel Saturday.

Songs of Innocence and of Experience (1794) is William Blake's best-known work, containing such familiar poems as 'London', 'Sick Rose' and 'The Tyger'. Evolving over the author's lifetime, the collection was printed by Blake himself on his own press.This Reader's Guide:- Explains the unique development of Songs as an illuminated book- Considers the earliest reactions to the text during Blake's lifetime, and his gathering posthumous reputation in the nineteenth century - Explores modern critical approaches and recent debates- Discusses key topics that have been of abiding interest to critics, including the relationship between text and image in Blake's 'composite art'Insightful and stimulating, this introductory guide is an invaluable resource for anyone who is seeking to navigate their way through the mass of criticism surrounding Blake's most widely-studied work.

This guide surveys the truly essential criticism of the play over the last four centuries, from 16th-century responses to the present day. Discussing key areas of debate, and a wide range of scholarship, Gillian Woods provides an invaluable introduction to the vast array of criticism surrounding one of Shakespeare's most popular plays.

This Guide summarises the main critical trends and developments surrounding the popular genre of science fiction. Brian Baker reviews the attempts to formulate a critical history, connects the major developments with the rise of theoretical paradigms such as feminism and postmodernism, and introduces key critical texts and major critics.

This Guide summarises the main critical trends and developments surrounding the popular genre of science fiction. Brian Baker reviews the attempts to formulate a critical history, connects the major developments with the rise of theoretical paradigms such as feminism and postmodernism, and introduces key critical texts and major critics.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) are major plays by Tennessee Williams, one of America's most significant dramatists. They both received landmark productions and are widely-studied and performed around the world. The plays have also inspired popular screen adaptations and have generated a body of important and lasting scholarship.In this indispensable Reader's Guide, Thomas P. Adler:- Charts the development of the criticism surrounding both works, from the mid-twentieth century through to the present day- Provides a readable assessment of the key debates and issues- Examines a range of theoretical approaches from biographical and New Criticism to feminist and queer theoryIn so doing, Adler helps us to appreciate why these plays continue to fascinate readers, theatregoers and directors alike.

A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) are major plays by Tennessee Williams, one of America's most significant dramatists. They both received landmark productions and are widely-studied and performed around the world. The plays have also inspired popular screen adaptations and have generated a body of important and lasting scholarship.In this indispensable Reader's Guide, Thomas P. Adler:- Charts the development of the criticism surrounding both works, from the mid-twentieth century through to the present day- Provides a readable assessment of the key debates and issues- Examines a range of theoretical approaches from biographical and New Criticism to feminist and queer theoryIn so doing, Adler helps us to appreciate why these plays continue to fascinate readers, theatregoers and directors alike.

A stimulating and comprehensive critical survey of the responses to A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as the key debates and developments, from the seventeenth century to the present day. Leading the reader through material chronologically, the Guide explores the main themes and interpretations and draws on a rich range of critical writings.

A stimulating and comprehensive critical survey of the responses to A Midsummer Night's Dream, as well as the key debates and developments, from the seventeenth century to the present day. Leading the reader through material chronologically, the Guide explores the main themes and interpretations and draws on a rich range of critical writings.

Why have scholars located the emergence of the novel in eighteenth-century England? What historical forces and stylistic developments helped to turn a disreputable type of writing into an eminent literary form?This Reader's Guide explores the key critical debates and theories about the rising novel, from eighteenth-century assessments through to present day concerns. Nicholas Seager:- Surveys major criticism on authors such as Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding and Jane Austen- Covers a range of critical approaches and topics including feminism, historicism, postcolonialism and print culture- Demonstrates how critical work is interrelated, allowing readers to discern trends in the critical conversation.Approachable and stimulating, this is an invaluable introduction for anyone studying the origins of the novel and the surrounding body of scholarship.

Why have scholars located the emergence of the novel in eighteenth-century England? What historical forces and stylistic developments helped to turn a disreputable type of writing into an eminent literary form?This Reader's Guide explores the key critical debates and theories about the rising novel, from eighteenth-century assessments through to present day concerns. Nicholas Seager:- Surveys major criticism on authors such as Aphra Behn, Daniel Defoe, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding and Jane Austen- Covers a range of critical approaches and topics including feminism, historicism, postcolonialism and print culture- Demonstrates how critical work is interrelated, allowing readers to discern trends in the critical conversation.Approachable and stimulating, this is an invaluable introduction for anyone studying the origins of the novel and the surrounding body of scholarship.

Robert Browning's pre-eminent status amongst Victorian poets has endured despite the recent broadening of the literary canon. He is the main practitioner of the period's most important poetic genre, the dramatic monologue, while his engagement with many aspects of nineteenth-century culture makes him a key figure in the wider field of Victorian studies.This stimulating introduction to Browning criticism provides an overview of the major responses to the poet’s work over the last two hundred years. It offers an insightful guide to criticism from various theoretical perspectives, elucidating Browning’s participation in Victorian debates about aesthetics, history, politics, religion, gender and psychology.

Robert Browning's pre-eminent status amongst Victorian poets has endured despite the recent broadening of the literary canon. He is the main practitioner of the period's most important poetic genre, the dramatic monologue, while his engagement with many aspects of nineteenth-century culture makes him a key figure in the wider field of Victorian studies.This stimulating introduction to Browning criticism provides an overview of the major responses to the poet’s work over the last two hundred years. It offers an insightful guide to criticism from various theoretical perspectives, elucidating Browning’s participation in Victorian debates about aesthetics, history, politics, religion, gender and psychology.

This Readers Guide offers a stimulating and accessible introduction to the key criticism which surrounds the diverse range of literatures of the modernist period. Sarah Davison explores a variety of critical works, from initial pronouncements to recent studies which have shaped the way that Anglo-American modernism is understood and theorized today.

This Readers Guide offers a stimulating and accessible introduction to the key criticism which surrounds the diverse range of literatures of the modernist period. Sarah Davison explores a variety of critical works, from initial pronouncements to recent studies which have shaped the way that Anglo-American modernism is understood and theorized today.

Pat Barker is one of the most important authors of her time. Her fiction has won many awards – including the Booker Prize for The Ghost Road, the last novel in her celebrated Regeneration trilogy – and has attracted much critical attention.This stimulating Guide examines the key critical responses to the full range of Barker's fiction, from newspaper reviews and journal articles to revealing interviews and book-length scholarship. Merritt Moseley also explores the central themes which run through Barker's novels and the criticism, such as the issues of gender, class, social realism, violence and trauma.Tracing the development of Barker's fiction through the surrounding critical works, this is an indispensable volume for anyone with an interest in one of Britain's most popular and widely-studied contemporary writers.

Pat Barker is one of the most important authors of her time. Her fiction has won many awards – including the Booker Prize for The Ghost Road, the last novel in her celebrated Regeneration trilogy – and has attracted much critical attention.This stimulating Guide examines the key critical responses to the full range of Barker's fiction, from newspaper reviews and journal articles to revealing interviews and book-length scholarship. Merritt Moseley also explores the central themes which run through Barker's novels and the criticism, such as the issues of gender, class, social realism, violence and trauma.Tracing the development of Barker's fiction through the surrounding critical works, this is an indispensable volume for anyone with an interest in one of Britain's most popular and widely-studied contemporary writers.