Oedipus Rex (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Written by Sophocles around 425 BCE, "Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus the King" is a classic Greek tragedy in that it depicts the search for self-understanding, and the struggle between man and fate. The story forms the foundation for the symbolic conflict between fathers and sons. Bloom's "Modern Critical Interpretations" offers a range of salient critical viewpoints on this, one of history's most important plays. Thoughtful analyses are supplemented by features that make this resource ideal for those preparing in-depth research papers.

The Odyssey (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

The second of the two great epic poems attributed to Homer, "The Odyssey" takes place after the Trojan War and tells the story of Odysseus' voyage home to Ithaca and his wife, Penelope. Odysseus' journey is a perilous one, for he encounters a wide array of heart-pounding adventures and precarious mythical creatures on his way. Supported by numerous full-length essays, this updated volume offers various critical approaches to exploring this enrapturing tale of magic and heroism.

Nathanael West's Miss Lonelyhearts (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

A book of wicked wit, Miss Lonelyhearts is the saga of a young (male) newspaper advice columnist who grows despondent reading the piles of letters from the broken and the confused. Miss Lonelyhearts takes to sickness for relief until his gruff editor, Shrike, tells him to get over it and turn to Christ, "the Miss Lonelyhearts of Miss Lonelyhearts." This advice propels Miss Lonelyhearts into a period of soul-searching that sends him to both the church and the bottle.

The Metamorphosis (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" climaxes in the very first line - the protagonist has indeed been transformed. The critical questions lie in the interpretation of the transformation. Kafka has been said to have offered everything from a psychological parable of the Oedipal struggle to a caricature of psychological readings. In this collection of new critical essays, Kafka's life and other works are featured as well as notes on the essay contributors.

The Man Without Qualities (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Ulrich has no qualities in the sense that his self-awareness is completely divorced from his abilities. He is drawn into a project, the "Parallel Campaign", to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph's coronation in 1918.