Literary Criticism
Contending Forces
Contending Forces is a powerful exploration of race, identity, and love set against the backdrop of a divided America. Pauline Elizabeth Hop…
An Old Man's Love
This was Trollope's last completed novel, and he may have acquired his sympathy for older lovers with age! A not-so-very-old man, Mr. Whittl…
The Custom of the Country
Edith Wharton was a novelist of manners of late 19th Century New York "Society", who spent much of her life in France. In this nov…
The Spirit of American Literature
THE SPIRIT OF AMERICAN LITERATURE is a collection of essays reviewing contemporary authors on the literary scene at the turn of the century …
Olive
Inspired by Jane Eyre, Dinah Maria Craik's 1850 novel, Olive, was one of the first to feature a disabled central character. 'Slightly deform…
The Harbor
The Harbor was written in 1915 by Ernest Poole. The novel is considered by many to be one of Poole’s best efforts even though his book, The …
A Hero of Our Time
One of the iconic characters of all Russian literature, Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin is the ultimate “superfluous man.” An aristocratic r…
Essays on Paul Bourget
In this engaging collection, Mark Twain offers his sharp wit and keen observations on the works and ideas of French novelist and critic Paul…
Characters of Shakespeare's Plays
This famous Shakespearean exploration illuminates its plays through the frame of character, while also weighing theme, mood, structure and p…
The Quintessence of Ibsenism
George Bernard Shaw, a playwright with a few bones to pick of his own, undertakes a surgical analysis of the social philosophies underlying …
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian's beauty …
Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë (1818-1848) is best known for her only novel, "Wuthering Heights." She was born in Yorkshire, northern England, …
The Longest Journey
Frederick Elliot is a student at early 20th century Cambridge, a university that seems like paradise to him, amongst bright if cynical compa…
Gobseck
Gobseck delves into the life of a shrewd and calculating pawnbroker, Jean-Esther Gobseck, whose financial dealings reveal the darker side of…
Celibates
The author is considered the first great Irish writer of realist fiction and is said to have been an inspiration for James Joyce. Celibates …
The Morgesons
Stoddard’s novel traces the education and development of a young female in American middle-class society. The protagonist, Cassandra Morgeso…
Miscellaneous Essays
Miscellaneous Essays by Thomas De Quincey offers a captivating glimpse into the mind of one of the 19th century's most intriguing literary f…
The Chaperon
What on earth is a girl to do when London society has convicted her mother of a dreadful sin and has ostracized her? If blood is thicker tha…
The Raven
Poe’s famous narrative poem and the author’s reflections on its composition. (David Wales)
A Common Story
Alexander Fedoritch Adouev is the naïve, pampered son of Anna Pavlovna, a provincial landowner. He decides to go off to Saint Petersbur…