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Detailed analysis of the poems is closely grounded in the historical and literary contexts in which "Lyrical Ballads" was first conceived and realized. John Blades traces the history of the work over the two centuries since first publication.

This book is designed to serve as a practical guide for students and others wishing to improve their skills in the detailed analysis and discussion of Hardy's prose texts.

Kate Aughterson provides readers with an approachable and fascinating critical guide to the dramatic works of an important seventeenth-century woman writer.

This essential study takes a fresh look at four of Shakespeare's major History plays. Part I uses carefully selected short extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines the historical and literary contexts and key criticism. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for those who are studying the Histories for the first time.

John Donne's poems are some of the most challenging and stimulating in the English literary heritage. Through detailed analysis of a large number of individual poems, Donne's intellectual vitality and unique poetic voice is entertainingly explored.

Using some of Browning's most widely studied poems, this book will develop students' close reading technique and help them to articulate their own responses to poetry.The volume is an ideal introductory guide for A Level and undergraduate English Literature students, or anyone studying Browning's poems for the first time.

Paradise Lost is for many the greatest poem written in English. Composed late in the author's life, it deals with nothing less than the destiny of mankind.This essential introductory guide:* leads the reader into the epic poem through detailed analysis of key extracts, exploring Milton's original thought and style* provides useful sections on 'Methods of Analysis' and 'Further Work' to aid independent study* offers valuable information on Milton's life, times and literary legacy* examines the development of critical opinion and discusses some recent critical views of the poem.John Milton: Paradise Lost is ideal for anyone who is studying this complex and beautiful work for the first time. It will enable you to approach your own critical analysis of the poem with confidence.

This stimulating study takes a fresh look at two of Fitzgerald's major texts. Part I uses carefully selected short extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines the historical and literary contexts and key criticism. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for those who are studying Fitzgerald's work for the first time.

Daniel Defoe's writings have bred controversy since their first appearance in the eighteenth century: 'Robinson Crusoe' fuels virulent disagreements among critics, while Defoe's two scandalous women, 'Moll Flanders' and 'Roxana', can still shock us and challenge the range of our sympathies.This essential study:* takes a fresh look at these intriguing novels and leads the reader into close analysis of Defoe's texts, encouraging an open-minded approach to interpretation* features chapters on the novels' openings, conscience and repentance, society and economics, women and patriarchy, and the use of 'outsider' narrators* provides useful sections on 'Methods of Analysis' and 'Suggested Work' to aid independent study* offers historical and literary background, a sample of critical views, and suggestions for further reading.Equipping students with the critical and analytical skills with which to approach Defoe's work, this inspiring guide helps readers to appreciate the brilliance of the author's writing and to enjoy the complexity of his fictional creations for themselves.

This study focuses on how Frankenstein works: how the story is told and why it is so rich and gripping. Part I uses carefully selected short extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines Shelley's life, the historical and literary contexts of the novel, and offers a sample of key criticism.

David Copperfield and Great Expectations are among Charles Dickens's most famous novels. In both books, the hero tells the vivid and absorbing tale of his education by life, presents a rich range of characters and scenes, and tackles profound moral, social and psychological themes.Part I of this essential study:* provides lucid and penetrating analyses of key passages* discusses the crucial topics of patriarchy, class, obsession, eccentricity, death, breakdown and recovery* summarizes the methods of analysis and offers suggestions for further work.Part II supplies key background material, including:* an account of Dickens's life and works* a survey of historical, cultural and literary contexts* samples of significant criticism.Also featuring a valuable Further Reading section, this volume provides readers with the critical and analytical skills which will enable them to enjoy and explore both novels for themselves.

The appearance in 1609 of Shakespeare's Sonnets is cloaked in mystery and controversy, while the poems themselves are masterpieces of silence and deception. The intervening four centuries have done little to diminish either their mystique or their appeal, and recent years have witnessed an upsurge in interest in these brilliant and contentious lyrics.John Blades' penetrating study of the Sonnets is a highly lucid introduction to Shakespeare's subjects and poetic craft, involving detailed insights on the major themes, together with a comprehensive exploration of the Rival Poet and Dark Mistress sequences.Shakespeare: The Sonnets:- draws on an extensive range of sonnets, offering a line-by-line analysis that engages with the poems as masterworks in their own right, as well as registering their relationship with Shakespeare's dramas- locates the Sonnets in their Elizabethan and humanist framework, with a survey of the history of the sonnet form and rhetorical conventions within the context of the early modern period- concludes with a brief assessment of critical attitudes towards the Sonnets over the four centuries since their publication and an indepth examination of four important critics.Providing students with the critical and analytical skills with which to approach the Sonnets, and featuring a helpful glossary and suggestions for further study, this fascinating book is an indispensable guide.

This guide seeks to explore creatively the fascination of Forster's writing and to show how interesting ideas can emerge from close reading of extracts from the novels.

Chapters on the narrative frame, characters, imagery and symbols, structure and themes use practical analysis to build and refine our insight into Wuthering Heights. Suggestions for further reading, fully explained examples of analysis and suggestions for further work make this volume both accessible and a bridge to further study.

Controversy rages around Larkin's character and life. This book takes a fresh look at his poems through close analysis, discussion of Larkin's major concerns and demonstrating how to approach these enigmatic works. It provides background information including an account of his life, discussion of cultural context and major critical views

This volume guides students through Eliot's most widely studied novels: The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner and Middlemarch. The second part describes Eliot's biographical, cultural and intellectual environment, and gives readings of representative critical writing.

Jane Austen's novels are among the most polished and carefully-crafted works in the English literary heritage. This guide does not simplify the study of Jane Austen, but invites the reader to pursue and revel in the ironic subtlety of her methods and thought.

At the beginning of this century, Virginia Woolf reacted against literary tradition, sought a new definition of fiction, applied her modern, post-freudian outlook and radically feminist ideas to the problem of writing novels and, in so doing, re-defined our concept of this literary form.

Thought of as Shakespeare's most powerful works, the four great tragedies, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and Macbeth, are texts of unparalleled richness and depth, stimulating and exciting to study.

This comprehensive guide to the poetry and letters of John Keats offers a highly readable and detailed textual analysis of the themes and techniques of his work.

Suggestions for further reading, fully explained examples of analysis and suggestions for further work, make this volume both accessible and a bridge to further study.

Written in 1602-4, between Hamlet and the other great tragedies, Shakespeare's three Problem Plays are so called because they do not fit easily into the other groups of plays.

Shakespeare's comedies combine charm and wit with probing intelligence.

Gillian Steinberg offers an approachable introduction to the poems of one of the most prolific and influential English writers, through an examination of wide-ranging selections from his work.Part I of this invaluable study:* provides clear and stimulating close readings of Thomas Hardy's key poems* considers major themes in Hardy's poetry, including ghosts, God's role in the world, war, and the painful passage of time* summarizes the methods of analysis and provides suggestions for further work.Part II supplies essential background material, featuring:* an account of Hardy's life and works* samples of criticism from important Hardy scholars.With a helpful Further Reading section, this insightful volume is ideal for anyone who wishes to appreciate and explore Hardy's poetry for themselves.

This book includes close readings of extracts from the most commonly studied of Chaucer's tales at A level and first year university level. It guides the reader in methods of approaching extracts from difficult texts reflecting the emphasis on textual analysis in examinations. In the ANALYSING TEXTS series.

Focusing on Songs of Innocence and Experience, this book uses close analysis and interpretation of individual poems to build the reader's confidence when approaching Blake's lyrics. The new edition includes additional textual analyses, expanded contextual material, discussion of the work of recent critics, and fully updated Further Reading.

This essential study takes a fresh look at The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Cymbeline and Pericles. Part I uses carefully selected short extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines the contexts and key criticism. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for those who are studying Shakespeare's late plays for the first time.

This stimulating study takes a fresh look at two of Dickens' most widely-studied texts. Part I uses carefully selected short extracts for close textual analysis, while Part II examines the historical and literary contexts and key criticism. The volume is an ideal introductory guide for those who are studying Dickens' novels for the first time.