Jane Eyre (Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations)

Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre", published in October 1847, was an immediate success, going into second and third printings by spring of 1848. Even Queen Victoria, according to her diary, read the story to Prince Albert until midnight. The tale of the "poor, obscure, plain, and little" governess, her brooding employer, Edward Rochester, and the madwoman secreted in the attic, "Jane Eyre" is considered a staple of Gothic and Victorian literature.

Compared to the works of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, "The House on Mango Street" is made up of lyrical passages, interconnected vignettes, and meditations and observations that resemble prose poems. Cisneros' structurally and thematically bold work explores the often-violent coming of age of a young Mexican-American woman. This new title in the "Modern Critical Interpretations" series analyzes the work through full-length critical essays, and features a bibliography, notes on the contributing writers, a chronology of the author's life, an index, and an introductory essay by esteemed critic Harold Bloom.

John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath", was published in 1939. Set during the Great Depression, the novel follows failed farmer Tom Joad and his family as they head from Oklahoma's Dust Bowl to the promised land of the West. "Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations" presents the reader with a collection of important critical essays that set the scene for an amplified study of this American classic. This fully updated resource also contains supplementary introductions...

Premiering in 1944 and winner of the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, "The Glass Menagerie" was Tennessee Williams' first popular success. The play introduced Williams' notion of plastic, or sculptural, drama as he incorporated both sound and lighting into his stage directions in an attempt to heighten the audience's emotional experience. This updated "Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations Guide" is an essential resource for those seeking to deepen their appreciation of this riveting character study.

Perhaps best recognized for the horror films it has spawned, "Frankenstein", written by 19-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, was first published in 1818. "Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus" warns against the "advancements" of modern man and the industrial revolution. Whether for research or general interest, "Bloom's Modern Critical Interpretations" furnishes students with a collection of the most insightful critical essays available on this Gothic thriller, selected from a variety of literary sources.