This introduction to one of the twentieth century’s most important writers examines Yeats’s poems, plays and stories in relation to biographical, literary, and historical contexts. Yeats wrote with passion and eloquence about personal disappointments, his obsession with Ireland, and the modern era’s loss of faith in traditional beliefs about art, religion, empire, social class, gender and sex.
Robert Frost is one of the most popular American poets and remains widely read. This Introduction provides a comprehensive but intensive look at his remarkable work. The recent controversies in Frost criticism and in particular in Frost biography are brought into sharp focus as they have shaped the poet’s legacy and legend. The most accessible overview available, this book will be invaluable to students, readers and admirers of Frost.
A lively and accessible introduction to Shakespeare's tragedies, this book begins with a discussion of tragedy before Shakespeare and considers each of Shakespeare's tragedies chronologically. It includes helpful text boxes and detailed chapters on Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and King Lear, among other plays.
“ In this introductory study I am offering a detailed reading of the six completed novels of Jane Austen, together with enough background material for a student to locate the works in their historical moment. I have, however, concentrated on what strikes me as contributing most to Jane Austen’s universal popularity: her ability to create the illusion of psychologically believable and self-reflecting characters. ”
James Joyce is one of modern literature's most important authors, yet those coming to his work for the first time often find it difficult to grapple with. This introduction provides all the essential facts about Joyce's life and works, and explains the contexts in which he was writing. It also explains in clearly the different critical approaches that have been used in Joyce studies over the last fifty years. All Joyce's major works, including Ulysses, Finnegans Wake and Dubliners, are covered, and it gives many suggestions for further exploration.
