Detailed textual analysis of the tales by the Miller, Nun's Priest, the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner, as well as the General Prologue invites you to sharpen your critical faculties, extend your knowledge and engage with the text itself in order to fully appreciate the work of this fascinating, complex and surprisingly modern writer. Whether you consider yourself an expert or a student, this study has something for you as it demonstrates the various approaches which can be used to learn about style, structure, multiple voices and the key themes of...

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. The results can be seen in Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse and The Waves, three novels of a flowing, impressionistic texture that are, at the same time, highly structured. Through detailed analysis of selected extracts from the novels, the reader is taught to explore the delicate...

This practical approach to E.M. Forster's novels, shows how coherent criticism evolves from close reading of short extracts. The intention is to help students develop confidence in following their own ideas and assimilate skill in analysis. Edwards discusses four of Forster's most commonly-studied works: A Room with a View; Howards End; A Passage to India and The Longest Journey. The major part of the book is devoted to sample analyses, with detailed guidance and suggestions for follow-up work. There is additional material on Forster's life and work and an...

Provides textual analysis of the Tales by the Miller, Nun's Priest, the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner, as well as Chaucer's General Prologue. This book demonstrates some approaches which can be used to learn about style, structure, multiple voices and key themes in Chaucer's work.

This volume focuses on three widely-studied novels: Sons and Lovers, The Rainbow and Women in Love. Chapters on narrative texture, impulse and emotion in Lawrence's characters, the quest for a male-female relationship, class and society, and imagery, symbols and structures, use practical analysis to build and refine our insight into the novels as well as equipping the readers with techniques and approaches which enable them to continue studying Lawrence independently. Suggestions for further reading, fully explained examples of analysis and suggestions for further...

Focussing on All's Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure and Troilus and Cressida, Nicholas Marsh uses close analysis of extracts from the plays to build the reader's confidence when approaching Shakespeare's Problem Plays, and exploring the unresolved competing discourses they dramatise. In the first part of the text, chapters on Openings, Young Men, Women, Politics and Society, Fools and fools, and Drama highlight the multiple interpretations these plays provoke. In the second part, discussion of where the Problem Plays stand in relation to Shakespeare's life...