Bücher der Reihe Literature in Context

Over the three centuries since embarking on his printing career, Samuel Richardson has been variously understood as ground-breaking novelist, prolific correspondent and moral crusader. This new volume of essays offers a comprehensive account of his life and works in their historical, literary, intellectual and cultural contexts.

Henry David Thoreau in Context provides original research on Thoreau's influences, the topics he explored, the intellectual currents he was inspired by, and how he has been received since his death, making it a valuable resource to students, teachers, scholars, and general readers.

Covering a range of topics - biographical, social, literary, and intellectual - and addressing both the sources of his work and how he influenced later writers, this exploration of the world of John Keats (1795-1821) enriches our understanding of one of Britain's greatest poets and letter writers.

Herman Melville in Context provides the fullest introduction in one volume to the multifaceted life and times of Herman Melville, a towering figure in American and world literature, grounding the study of Melville's writings to the world that influenced their composition, publication and recognition.

Concise and illuminating articles explore the context within which Wilde's life and art took shape, proposing not one but many Oscar Wildes. Contributors discuss the ongoing influence and reception of Wilde and his work, from performance history to film and operatic adaptations, providing an enriched understanding of this complex individualist.

Written by the leading experts in the field, the essays in this volume will appeal to scholars, students and interested readers alike. Encompassing biographical, historical, cultural and literary-critical approaches, this book offers a fresh, lively and accessible presentation of a great many of the facets of Proust's life and work.

Designed as a contextual and critical resource for scholars and students, this volume's 42 essays examine novelist Henry James (1843-1916) and his fiction in the context of the history, sociology, and aesthetic and material culture of modernity.

An introduction, in a series of short, accessibly written essays, to the key places, people, themes and intellectual frameworks most important to Yeats' development, as well as the production and reception of his work.

This volume investigates the various ways in which Milton's works and experiences emerged from the culture and events of his time. In a series of concise, engaging essays, an international group of scholars examines both the social conditions and the broader intellectual currents that shaped his writings and reputation.

This collection covers the range of Hardy's works and their social and intellectual contexts, providing a comprehensive introduction to Hardy's life and times. Featuring short, lively contributions from forty-four international scholars, the volume is a contextual reference for scholars of Victorian and modernist literature as well as the general reader.

Explores the degree to which Fitzgerald was in tune with the social, historical and cultural contexts of the 1920s and 1930s. Highlighting elements of both high culture and popular culture, this book demonstrates the extent to which Fitzgerald embraced, internalized and came to embody the Jazz Age and Depression Era.

This collection of essays reveals how Beckett entered into dialogue with important literary traditions and the realities of his time. The essays are designed to complement each other, building an overview that will allow students and scholars to come away with a better sense of Beckett's life, writings and legacy.

This volume examines the various geographic, political, social and literary contexts through which Hemingway crystallized his narrative voice. Written by forty-four experts in Hemingway studies, this comprehensive and accessible text will appeal to scholars, students and fans of Hemingway hoping to gain a fuller understanding of this iconic American author.

This is the first volume to summarize and analyze the multiple contexts of Pound's work, drawing on new archival, textual and theoretical studies. It situates Pound in the social and material realities of his time and will be invaluable for students and scholars of Pound and modernism.

This collection sets Marlowe's plays and poems in their historical context, exploring his world and his wider cultural influence. Chapters by the most exciting critics writing on approaches to Marlowe's writings discuss both major and lesser-known works. Topics include history and politics, religion, modern film adaptations and Marlowe and Shakespeare.

This collection of thirty-five lively and accessible essays offers a comprehensive account of the life and work of Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-81), set within social, political, cultural and literary contexts.

Prodigiously learned, alive to the massive social changes of her time, defiant of many Victorian orthodoxies, George Eliot is at once chronicler and analyst, novelist of nostalgia and monumental thinker. Her literary achievement is brought into focus by essays on its historical, intellectual, political and social contexts.

Covering the whole of the newly redefined Middleton canon, this collection of essays provides essential historical, legal, religious, theatrical and linguistic contexts for students and scholars. It includes original interpretations of frequently taught and performed works, such as The Changeling, and of newer attributions, such as A Yorkshire Tragedy.

The forty-two new essays in this book tell 'the Bronte story' as it has never been told before, drawing on the latest research while offering new perspectives on the writings of the sisters. The works are explored in the context of social, political and cultural developments in early-nineteenth-century Britain.

William Wordsworth in Context offers thirty-five concise and readable chapters on the essential contexts for understanding all aspects of the leading English Romantic poet. It discusses Wordsworth's life, family and friendships, his critical reception, and key aspects of the cultural, historical, political, and scientific contexts in which he wrote.

In short, lively and eminently readable chapters, an unprecedented number of aspects of Samuel Johnson's world is covered. Richly illustrated, with a chronology of Johnson's life and works and an extensive bibliography, this book is a major new work of reference on eighteenth-century culture and the age of Johnson.

Joseph Conrad's international experience gave him a perspective unique among English writers of the twentieth century. This volume examines the biographical, historical, cultural and political contexts that fashioned his works. It will appeal to scholars as well as to those beginning their study of this extraordinary writer.

William Faulkner in Context explores the environment that conditioned Faulkner's creative work. This volume provides a broad and authoritative framework that will help readers to better understand this widely read yet challenging writer. Each essay offers a critical assessment of Faulkner's work as it relates to such topics as genre, reception, and the significance of place.

A fresh, multifaceted assessment of Robert Frost's life and works. Contributors include a number of influential scholars, but also such distinguished poets as Paul Muldoon, Dana Gioia, Mark Scott, and Jay Parini. Essays employ highly readable prose, offering scholars and students of Frost an accessible yet comprehensive reference and guide.

Prodigiously learned, alive to the massive social changes of her time, defiant of many Victorian orthodoxies, George Eliot is at once chronicler and analyst, novelist of nostalgia and monumental thinker. Her literary achievement is brought into focus by essays on its historical, intellectual, political and social contexts.

This collection of essays reveals how Beckett entered into dialogue with important literary traditions and the realities of his time. The essays are designed to complement each other, building an overview that will allow students and scholars to come away with a better sense of Beckett's life, writings and legacy.

Explores the degree to which Fitzgerald was in tune with the social, historical and cultural contexts of the 1920s and 1930s. Highlighting elements of both high culture and popular culture, this book demonstrates the extent to which Fitzgerald embraced, internalized and came to embody the Jazz Age and Depression Era.

This collection sets Marlowe's plays and poems in their historical context, exploring his world and his wider cultural influence. Chapters by the most exciting critics writing on approaches to Marlowe's writings discuss both major and lesser-known works. Topics include history and politics, religion, modern film adaptations and Marlowe and Shakespeare.

Joseph Conrad's international experience gave him a perspective unique among English writers of the twentieth century. This volume examines the biographical, historical, cultural and political contexts that fashioned his works. It will appeal to scholars as well as to those beginning their study of this extraordinary writer.

This collection of essays by leading scholars offers a comprehensive overview of contexts important for the study of Emily Dickinson's writings. The book is carefully designed to provide a clear and authoritative examination of those contexts essential to the full understanding of this challenging body of work.