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Undoubtedly the best-selling author of his day and well loved by readers in succeeding generations, Charles Dickens was not always a favorite among critics. Celebrated for his novels advocating social reform, for half a century after his death he was ridiculed by those academics who condescended to write about him. Only the faithful band of devotees who called themselves Dickensians kept alive an interest in his work. Then, during the Second World War, he was resurrected by critics, and was soon being hailed as the foremost writer of his age, a literary genius alongside Shakespeare and Milton. More recently, Dickens has again been taken to task by a new breed of literary theorists who fault ...
A Stanford University Press classic.
A TIMELESS MASTERPIECE FOR THE GENERATIONS This timeless masterpiece, teeming with colorful characters, unexpected plot twists, and Dickens' vivid rendering of the vast tapestry of mid-Victorian England, Great Expectations is considered by many to be Dickens' finest novel. It continues to enthrall new generations of readers Dickens tells the story of humble, orphaned Philip Pirrip (Pip), the book's narrator, who is taken under the wing of the reclusive, embittered, eccentric jilted bride, Miss Havisham—only to blindly give his heart to the dowager’s beautiful but haughty ward, Estella. As Pip unravels the truth behind his own 'great expectations' we follow him through this gripping tale ...
This inspiring survey challenges conventional ways of viewing the Victorian novel. Provides time maps and overviews of historical and social contexts. Considers the relationship between the Victorian novel and historical, religious and bibliographic writing. Features short biographies of over forty Victorian authors, including Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Robert Louis Stevenson. Offers close readings of over 30 key texts, among them Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897), as well as key presences, such as John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (Pt 1, 1676, Pt 2, 1684). Also covers topics such as colonialism, scientific speculation, the psychic and the supernatural, and working class reading.
The first sixteen essays of this volume are devoted to different aspects of the Yorkshire Reformation and Counter-Reformation. The second half of the volume is dedicated to essays on the contemporary historians of the Reformation, religious toleration, and the Reformation in France and Germany.
An entertaining biography of Dickens by one of our finest actors
Although enjoyed my many as a masterpiece of Dickens’ comic writing, Martin Chuzzlewit has long been underrated by professional critics. This volume redresses the balance by devoting its attention to a full critical discussion of the novel and by including a full survey of the critical positions held in the past. As well as discussing the themes of selfishness and hypocrisy, the history of the text is also explored, as is the complex relationship between Dickens and the United States which played a great part in the development of the novel and exerted considerable influence on it early reception.