This study provides a stimulating and accessible survey of this many-sided figure. The volume places Goethe in the context of the Germany and Europe of his lifetime. His literary work is covered in individual chapters on poetry, drama--with a separate chapter on Faust, prose fiction and autobiography. A wide-ranging survey of reception inside and outside Germany and an extensive guide to further reading complete the volume, which will appeal to students and specialists alike.

Fourteen world-class experts on the Gothic provide thorough accounts of this haunting-to-horrifying genre from the 1760s to the end of the twentieth century. Essays explore the connections of Gothic fictions to political and industrial revolutions, the realistic novel, the theater, Romantic and post-Romantic poetry, nationalism and racism from Europe to America, colonized and post-colonial populations, the rise of film, the struggles between "high" and "popular" culture, and changing attitudes towards human identity, life and death, sanity and madness. The volume also includes a chronology...

Jewish Americans produced some of the most important writing in the U.S. in the twentieth century. This Companion addresses the distinctive Jewish American contribution to American literary criticism, poetry and popular culture. It establishes the broadest possible context for the discussion of Jewish American identity as it intersects with the corpus of American literature. Featuring a chronology and guide to further reading, the volume is valuable to scholars and students alike.

This book provides an introduction to the issues that absorbed the attention of poets from the 1830s to the 1890s. The thirteen chapters offer fresh insights into the works of well-known figures such as Robert Browning, and Alfred Tennyson and the writings of women poets--such as Amy Levy and Augusta Webster--whose contribution to Victorian culture has only recently been acknowledged by scholars. The volume, which will be of interest to scholars and students alike, features a detailed chronology of the Victorian period and a guide to further reading.

This introduction examines the continuity and variety of Shakepeare's work and the creative use he made of his inherited conventions. The first section places Shakespeare in the context of classical and Renaissance comedy, his Elizabethan predecessors and the traditions of popular festivity. The second section traces themes through Shakespeare's early and middle comedies, dark comedies and late romances, illuminating particular plays by close analysis,

Don Quixote de la Mancha is one of the classic texts of Western literature, yet Cervantes remains an enigmatic figure. This Companion is a comprehensive treatment of Cervantes' life and work. Essays by outstanding Hispanistas cover the historical and political context of Cervantes' writing, his place in Renaissance culture, and the role of Don Quixote in the formation of the modern novel. The volume provides suggestions for further reading, a detailed chronology and a guide to electronic resources.

Few American playwrights have exerted as much influence on the contemporary stage as Sam Shepard. His plays are performed "on" and "off" Broadway as well as in all the major regional American theaters. They are also widely performed and studied in Europe, particularly in Britain, Germany and France, finding both a popular and a scholarly audience. This companion explores the various aspects of Shepard's career, providing fascinating first-hand accounts and substantial critical chapters on the plays, poetry, music, fiction, acting, directing and film work.

This Companion is designed for readers interested in past and present productions of the plays and to accompany the increasing number of courses devoted to the history of Shakespeare in performance. It addresses both British and international performance, from subjects such as British performing tradition, and Shakespearean developments to broader cultural concerns, tragic and comic acting, women performers of Shakespeare, and touring companies, among others.

Jacques Lacan is renowned as a theoretician of psychoanalysis whose work is still influential in many countries. He refashioned psychoanalysis in the name of philosophy and linguistics at a time when it faced certain intellectual decline. Focusing on key terms in Lacan's often difficult, idiosyncratic development of psychoanalysis, this volume brings new perspectives to the work of an intimidating influential thinker.

The Cambridge Companion to Proust provides a broad account of the major features of Marcel Proust's great work A la recherche du temps perdu (1913-1927). The specially commissioned essays, by acknowledged experts on Proust, address a wide range of issues relating to his work. Progressing from background and biographical material, the chapters investigate such essential areas as the composition of the novel, its social dimension, the language in which it is couched, its intellectual parameters and its humor.