Books in the Routledge Guides to Literature series

Tells a tale of love, greed and power, that has given rise to the debates around issues such as the representation of gender roles, political violence and the dramatisation of evil.

Presenting a guide through the contextual and critical material surrounding "Gulliver's Travels", this work provides commentary on the various interpretations of the text. Part of the "Routledge Guides to Literature" series, it is of interest to those beginning detailed study of Swift's controversial novel.

This series has a broad focus but one very clear aim: to equip you with all the knowledge you need to make your own new readings of crucial literary texts.

"Emma" is widely regarded as Jane Austen's most perfectly constructed novel. This title introduces readers not only to Jane Austen's text, but also to the literary and historical contexts within which the novel was written, and to the different critical readings that it has generated, from the time of its publication to the twenty-first century.

Damned upon publication for engaging with the taboo issues of female sexuality and infidelity, Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" (1899) is hailed as a key early feminist text and an important work of American literature. This book combines commentary with reprinted documents to provide an introduction to this widely debated novel.

EM Forster's most challenging work, "A Passage to India" has since 1924 provoked debate on topics from imperialism to modernism to ethnicity, sexuality and symbolism. This book introduces not only the novel but the key issues which surround it. It offers a contextual and biographical overview, with a chronology of important dates.

Richard Bradford provides an overview of Milton's life, contexts, work and the relationship between these, and of the main critical issues surrounding his work.

This comprehensive, user-friendly introduction provides information on Chaucer's life, contexts and works, also outlining major critical views and interpretations from initial publication to the present.

This book is the first volume to bring together accessible accounts not only of Beckett's life and work, but of the key literary and theoretical concepts used in the study of his writing.

Thomas Hardy was the foremost novelist of his time, as well as an established poet. This guide provides students with a lucid introduction to Hardy's life and works and the basis for a sound comprehension of his work.

In this Complete Critical Guide to her life and work, Irvine offers insightful analysis of all of Austen's novels. This essential guidebook will be invaluable to students of English Literature, Romanticism, Literary Criticism and The Novel.

Sets "Pride and Prejudice" within the social contexts of female conduct books and political tales of terror, and traces criticism of the novel from the nineteenth century onwards. This title includes fourteen passages from "Pride and Prejudice".

Taking the form of a sourcebook, this guide to Shakespeare's remarkable play offers: introductory comment on the contexts, critical history and performance of the text; annotated extracts from key contextual documents, reviews, critical works and the text itself; and cross-references between documents and sections of the guide.

One of Charles Dickens' most exciting novels, "A Tale of Two Cities", blends a moving love story with the familiar figures of the Revolution - Bastille prisoners, a starving Parisian mob, and an indolent aristocracy. This title offers a guide to the novel.

Offers an introduction to Charles Dickens' work of the nineteenth century, "David Copperfield". This title considers issues such as autobiography and Victorian social conditions. It traces responses to the novel from the first reviews to modern criticism. It provides insights into the novel's humour, its reflections of class and gender structures.

Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist" is one of the most significant novels of the Victorian era and having been adapted for both stage and screen, retains its impact in the cultural consciousness of many nations. This title discusses Dickens' novel.

The popular work of Joseph Conrad has attracted critical attention from the perspectives of postcolonial, modernist, cultural and gender studies. This guide to his work presents an introduction to the contexts and interpretations of Conrad's texts. It also presents an introduction to key perspectives on Conrad's life and work.

This sourcebook is ideal for those new to Yeats's poetry or those who wish to look deeper into its workings, its reception and the contexts from which it emerged.

This sourcebook offers the ideal introduction to the work of John Keats, a central figure in English Romanticism and one of the most popular poets in the literary canon.

With a remarkable breadth of coverage and a focused, user-friendly approach, this sourcebook is the essential guide for any student of King Lear.

A comprehensive, user-friendly introduction to Alexander Pope's life and works, outlining the major critical issues and offering guides to further reading.

Drawing on many years of teaching experience and crucial research work on naturalist theatre, Christopher Innes offers the best available introduction to Hedda Gabler and its cultural, literary and critical contexts.

This volume is a broad-ranging guide to Othello, providing an introduction to the contexts of the play, the range of critical responses to the play and the play in performance.

Provides introduction to the text and contexts of "Things Fall Apart", surveying the interpretations of the text from publication onwards and the critical material that surrounds it. This work also offers an insight into African culture.

Explores the intricacies of Ian McEwan's haunting novel, aiming to provide a guide to the wealth of contextual and critical material that surrounds it.

Part of the "Routledge Guides to Literature" series, this guide to Roy's novel offers an introduction to the text and contexts of "The God of Small Things". It also presents a critical history, surveying the many interpretations of the text. It is aimed at those beginning detailed study of "The God of Small Things".

Surveys the life, works and critical reputation of one of the significant British writers of the 20th-century: Ted Hughes. This guide discusses his poetry, stories, plays, translations, essays and letters. It provides a comprehensive account of Hughes' critical reception, separated into the major themes that have interested readers and critics.

"Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" is one of the most widely studied works of English literature, and Frankenstein's creature is a key figure in the popular imagination. This book examines Mary Shelley's novel within its literary and cultural contexts, dealing with: the contexts from which Frankenstein emerged; and the novel's early reception.

This Sourcebook examines Dickens' novel within its literary and cultural contexts providing an ideal orientation in the novel, its reception history and the critical material which surrounds it.