This enduringly popular book has become a classic in the expanding and increasingly popular field of Gothic Studies. This long awaited new edition contains a new chapter on 'Contemporary Gothic', an expanded section on American Gothic and more discussion of the gothic in women's film and writing througout the book.

Contains three early examples of the genre of New Woman writing, each portraying women in ways wholly different to those which had gone before

A selection of new and revised essays from eminent scholar and critic Professor Christopher Ricks.

"A comprehensive modern-day bestiary."-The New Yorker

This thoroughly revised second edition of this widely used textbook takes recent developments in the field into account, and includes two new chapters. Organised to be used throughout a narrative studies course, it includes many textbook features, examples and suggestions for further reading.

Packed with new evidence, Making Oscar Wilde tells the untold story of a local Irish eccentric who became a global cultural icon. This must-read book dramatizes Oscar Wilde's remarkable rise in Victorian England and post-Civil War America. Michele Mendelssohn interweaves biography and social history to reveal a life like no other.

Exploring the connection between concepts of power and masculinity in seventeenth-century England, this study shows how stories of ancient tyranny were deployed in dialogues concerning monarchy and rule between 1603 and 1660, and the extent to which these shaped English classical republican thought.

Bright Circle tells a little-known story of five women who contributed to the literary and philosophical movement known as transcendentalism and, in the process, inaugurated what became the feminist movement. The book relies on little-known letters, journals, and writings of women who have largely remained unknown to the broader public.

The Literary Lifeline offers an interdisciplinary investigation into the phenomenon of reading for well-being. The book is a study of the transformative potential of literature.

Reexamines the role of Spenser's work in English history and highlights the richness and complexity of his understanding of place. The volume centres on the idea that complex and allusive literary works such as The Faerie Queene must be read in the context of the cultural, literary, political, economic, and ideological forces at play in the highly allegorical poem.

King lays bare the background to Moby-Dick by moving through the voyage of the Pequod, exploring topics in marine biology, oceanography, and the science of navigation as Ishmael raises them in the novel.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, the novel did not originate in 18th-century England, nor even with Don Quixote, but is coeval with civilization itself. After an introduction, in which the author defends innovative, demanding novelists against their conservative critics, this book relaxes into a world tour of the premodern novel.

Rowan Williams explores the definition of the tragic as a mode of narrative, in this short and thought-provoking volume. He turns to subjects including the role of irony in tragedy, the relationship between tragedy and political as well as religious rhetoric, common ground between tragedy and comedy, and the complex place of theology in the debate.

Rick Rylance addresses the debate over the public value of literary studies, from antiquity to the present day. He offers an account of the foundational issue of 'the public good' and explores the disciplinary integrity of literary study.

Thinking with Literature offers a succinct introduction to a cognitive literary criticsm. Broad in scope but focusing on a particular cluster of approaches, it aims to induce a change of perspective in the reader.

The ancient Greeks' concept of "the hero" was very different from what we understand by the term today. In 24 installments, based on the Harvard course Nagy has taught and refined since the 1970s, The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours explores civilization's roots in Classical literature-a lineage that continues to challenge and inspire us.

The English Handbook: A Guide to Literary Studies is a comprehensive new textbook providing essential practical and analytical reading and writing skills for literature students at all levels. The Handbook features coverage of all key areas, from sonnets to irony to close textual analysis.