British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Robinson Crusoe: A World Classic
This article explains how Daniel Defoe came to write Robinson Crusoe, and why the novel and its protagonist have fascinated readers for centuries.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: 'Reason Is but Choosing': Freedom of Thought and John Milton
From his politics and religious writings to "Paradise Lost", this article traces how the life and work of John Milton were guided by the principle of freedom of thought and how in doing so he challenged fundamental aspects of...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rover: An Introduction
Aphra Behn's The Rover engages with the social, political, and sexual conditions of the 17th century, as well as with theatrical traditions of carnival and misrule. The article introduces Behn's play and explores how it was first...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Rape of the Lock: A Darker Mirror
This article shows how Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock progresses from satirizing the foolishness of wealthy young women to exposing the violence that results from unequal power relations, whether between men and women, rich and...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment's emphasis on reason shaped philosophical, political, and scientific discourse from the late 17th to the early 19th century. This article traces the Enlightenment back to its roots in the aftermath of the Civil War, and...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Eve in Milton's Paradise Lost: Poignancy and Paradox
Eve in Paradise Lost is vainly vulnerable and evidently intellectually inferior to Adam. However, Sandra M Gilbert argues that, though Milton portrays her as a weak character, he also puts her on a par with Satan in her refusal to accept...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Andrew Marvell and Politics
Andrew Marvell was a poet, but he was also a politician and a civil servant at a time of tremendous upheaval. This article investigates how Marvell and his writing negotiated the civil wars, Oliver Cromwell's government, and the...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Johnson's Dictionary: Myths and Realities
David Crystal looks past the myths surrounding Samuel Johnson's Dictionary to discover a work of remarkable precision, sensitivity, and attention to social and regional variation.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: John Dryden's Satiric Poetry
Ashley Marshall suggests that there is more to Dryden's satiric poetry than the expression of high-minded moral values. Trace how Dryden's personal vendettas motivated some of the cruder and more vicious attacks in Mac Flecknoe, and how...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to "She Stoops to Conquer"
Oliver Goldsmith published several critiques of audiences and playwrights before writing a laughing comedy that was the triumph of its season and that continues to be performed today. This article introduces "She Stoops to Conquer",...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: An Introduction to Robinson Crusoe
Playwright Stephen Sharkey describes his own first encounter with Robinson Crusoe and examines how the novel was shaped by Daniel Defoe's religious dissent, imperialist beliefs, and fascination with money.
British Library
British Library: Teaching Resources: Macbeth: Discovering Literature Resources
This site provides links to various resources such as collection items, articles, and teaching activities for Macbeth. It includes a 16th-century pamphlet on witchcraft, alongside character analyses of the weird sisters and Lady Macbeth....
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Medieval Drama and Mystery Plays
The mystery plays and morality plays of the 15th and 16th centuries were very different from modern drama. This article takes us back in time to show how these plays portrayed scenes from the Bible, conveyed religious doctrine, and...
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Legends of King Arthur
This article tracks the many appearances of King Arthur, from a 9th-century history to a Hollywood blockbuster, via the works of Chretien de Troyes, Thomas Malory, and the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: An Introduction
This article explores Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and reflects on how he approached his own translation of the poem.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Monsters and Heroes in Beowulf
This article tries to figure out the meaning of monsters in Beowulf, comparing the hero with Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Middle English
This article explains how Middle English developed from Old English, changing its grammar, pronunciation, and spelling, and borrowing words from French and Latin.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: A Close Reading of Chaucer's 'The Merchant's Prologue and Tale'
This article introduces 'The Merchant's Prologue and Tale', exploring the way in which it combines literary genres and traditions, and refuses to give the reader a clear moral or message.
University of Florida
Baldwin Library: Royal Geographical Readers by Thomas Nelson and Sons
This is an online photocopy of the original of the children's book Royal Geographical Readers by Thomas Nelson and Sons (1884), a collection of maps and information for the countries in the British Empire.
University of Florida
Baldwin Library: The Adventures of a Soldier Boy by William Martin
This is an online photocopy of the original text of the children's book The Adventures of a Soldier Boy by William Martin (1890), tales of the sea and of the British Navy.
Bartleby
Bartleby.com: Thomas Love Peacock: The Growth of the Novel
This Cambridge History of English and American Literature entry explains Peacock's role in the rise of gothic fiction in the early 19th century Romantic era.
Other
Fitzhenry and Whiteside: 'The Savage River' Teaching Guide [Pdf]
"The Savage River: Seventy-One Days with Simon Fraser", an historical novel by Marjorie Wilkins Campbell, begins in 1808 and follows Simon Fraser and his group of Voyageurs as they travel on the Fraser River in British Columbia. This...
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Literature: Romantic Poetry
This course outline offers resources for studying romantic poets such as Keats and Wordsworth and fiction writers such as Shelley and Scott.
British Council
British Council: Wilson Harris
Biographical information of the writer Wilson Harris.
Other popular searches
- Modern British Literature
- British Literature Periods
- British Literature Unit 1
- British Literature 1700 1800
- British Literature Projects
- British Literature Heroes
- Modernist British Literature
- British Literature Iliad
- British Literature" Illiad
- British Literature Illiad
- British Literature" Iliad
- "British Literature" Illiad