Sixteen leading scholars provide authoritative chapters on relevant topics of Marlowe's life and works in this complete introduction to the famed pioneer of both the Elizabethan stage and modern English poetry. The essays cover his texts and style, use of classicism, and representations of sexuality and gender, as well as of geography and identity. The volume also considers the religious, political, courtly, and literary contexts of Marlowe's authorship, his presence in modern film and theater, and his influence on subsequent writers.

Thirteen original essays by leading scholars cover the complete range of Cather's career, including most of her novels and short stories. The essays situate this major, enigmatic American novelist's work in a broad range of critical, cultural, and literary contexts. The introduction explores current trends in Cather scholarship and her place in contemporary culture. A detailed chronology and a guide to further reading complete the volume.

This new edition of the Companion provides updated information about the principal theaters, playwrights and plays of the most important period of English drama, from 1580-1642. Revised essays are included in chapters on theaters, dramaturgy, political plays, heroic plays, burlesque, comedy, tragedy, and drama produced during the reign of Charles I. Their references have been updated and the substantial biographical and bibliographical section has been expanded. First Edition Hb (1990): 0-521-34657-6 First Edition Pb (1990): 0-521-38662-4

The Great War of 1914-1918 marked a turning point in modern history and culture. This Companion offers critical overviews of the major literary genres and social contexts that define the study of the literatures produced by World War I. It examines the war's impact on various national literatures before addressing the way the War affected Modernism, the European avant-garde, film, women's writing, memoirs, and, of course, the war poets. The volume concludes by addressing the legacy of the war for twentieth-century literature.

This Companion provides an informative and wide-ranging overview of a relatively new field of literary-cultural studies: literature of many genres in English by American Indians from the 1770s to the present day. In addition to the seventeen chapters written by respected experts--Native and non-Native; American, British and European scholars--it includes bio-bibliographies of forty authors, maps, suggestions for further reading, and a timeline which details major works of Native American and mainstream American literature, as well as significant social, cultural and historical events.

This collection of essays offers a variety of perspectives on John Dryden's work and its contexts. A towering literary figure in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, Dryden authored a series of highly successful plays and poems, in addition to influential essays of literary criticism.

Novels from Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Latin America are read in translation all over the world. This Companion offers a broad overview of the novel's history and analyzes in depth several representative works by, for example, Gabriel Garcí a Má rquez, Machado de Assis, Isabel Allende and Mario Vargas Llosa. Indispensable to students of Latin American studies, of comparative literature and of the development of the novel as genre, the book features a comprehensive bibliography and chronology and concludes with an essay about the success of Latin American novels in translation.

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 1822) was an extraordinary poet, playwright and essayist, revolutionary both in his ideas and in his artistic theory and practice. This 2006 collection of original essays by an international group of specialists is a comprehensive survey of the life, works and times of this radical Romantic writer. Three sections cover Shelley's life and posthumous reception; the basics of his poetry, prose and drama; and his immersion in the currents of philosophical and political thinking and practice. As well as providing a wide-ranging look at the state of existing scholarship,...

A comprehensive introduction to postcolonialism, this Companion examines different aspects of postcolonial thought and culture that have had a significant effect on contemporary critical thought. Topics discussed by experts in the field include postcolonialism's relation to modernity, and its significance and relevance to literature, film, law, philosophy, and modern cultural studies. Additional material includes a guide to further reading and a chronology.

Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel Invisible Man is one of the most important controversial novels in the American canon and remains widely read and studied. This Companion provides the most up-to-date introduction to this influential and significant novelist and critic and to his masterpiece. It features newly commissioned essays, a chronology and a guide to further reading. The essays recover the compelling urgency and relevance of Ellison's political and artistic vision. Students and scholars of American and African-American literature will find this work invaluable.