In this accessible and rigorous introduction to Spenser, fourteen specially-commissioned essays provide all the essential information required to appreciate and understand Spenser's rewarding and challenging work. The Companion guides the reader through Spenser's poetry and prose, and provides extensive commentary on his life, the historical and religious context in which he wrote, his wide reading in Classical, European and English poetry, his sexual politics and use of language. A chronology and further reading lists make this volume indispensable for any student of Spenser.

This collection of fifteen essays offers a guide to the work of Tom Stoppard and addresses all of his major work. It provides insights into the recent plays, Arcadia and Invention of Love, as well as the first extended examination of his work for the screen, including a discussion of his coauthored, academy award-winning screenplay Shakespeare in Love. Photographs from key productions, a biography and chronology complete the volume and prepare the reader for future work by this extraordinary writer.

In The Cambridge Companion to the Victorian Novel, a series of specially-commissioned essays examine the work of Charles Dickens, the Brontes, George Eliot and other canonical writers, as well as that of such writers as Olive Schreiner, Wilkie Collins and H. Rider Haggard, whose work has recently attracted new attention from scholars and students. Contributors engage with topics such as industrial culture, religion and science and the broader issues of the politics of gender, sexuality and race. The Companion includes a chronology and a comprehensive Guide to Further Reading.

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.

Specially commissioned essays cover the important aspects of Wordsworth's life and work. The volume examines his poetic achievement with chapters on poetic craft, the origin of his poetry and the challenges it presents. The book offers students informative supplementary material on Wordsworth's life and critical reception.

Offering a comprehensive introduction to postmodernism, this Companion features examinations of the different aspects of postmodernist thought and culture that have had a significant effect on contemporary critical thought. Topics discussed by experts in the field include postmodernism'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.

This Companion contains fifteen chapters by leading international scholars, who together reflect diverse but complementary approaches to the study of Ezra Pound's poetry and prose. They consider the poetics, foreign influences, economics, politics and publication history of Pound's entire corpus, and also situate Pound's work in the context of Modernism, illustrating his influence on contemporaries such as T. S. Eliot and James Joyce. Taken together, the chapters offer a sustained examination of one of the most versatile, influential and certainly controversial poets of the modern period.

Key dimensions of Thomas Mann's writing and life are explored in this collection of specially commissioned essays. In addition to introductory chapters on all the main works of fiction and the essays and diaries, there are four chapters examining Mann's oeuvre in relation to major themes. A final chapter looks at the pitfalls of translating Mann into English. The essays are well supported by supplementary material including a chronology of the period and detailed guides to further reading.

Key dimensions of Dostoevskii's writing and life are explored in this collection of specially commissioned essays. Contributors examine topics such as Dostoevskii's relationship to folk literature, money, religion, the family and science. The essays are enhanced by supplementary material, including a chronology of the period and detailed guides to further reading.

In The Cambridge Companion to Keats, leading scholars discuss Keats's work in several fascinating contexts: literary history and key predecessors; Keats's life in London's intellectual, aesthetic and literary culture and the relation of his poetry to the visual arts. These specially commissioned essays are sophisticated but accessible, challenging but lucid, and are complemented by an introduction to Keats's life, a chronology, a list of contemporary people and periodicals, a source reference for famous phrases and ideas articulated in Keats's letters, a glossary of literary terms and a guide...