in literature

Presents a brief history behind the making of Willa Cather's "My ?ntonia," and examines how the author's life and the lives of American pioneers influenced her work.

Presents 145 poems, four plays, and over forty prose fiction, folklore, autobiographical, and critical writings by W. B. Yeats and over thirty critical pieces on his works, including reviews by his contemporaries and later essays, as well as explanatory notes, a chronology, a textual appendix, and a selected bibliography.

Presents a guide to Shakespeare's drama "The Merchant of Venice," discussing the textual history, contexts and sources, dramatic structure, characters, themes, performance history, and critical approaches to the play.

Contains over seven hundred alphabetically arranged entries that provide information on the life and work of nineteenth-century English novelist Thomas Hardy, covering his family and friends, fictional characters, significant places, and other topics. Includes chronologies and illustrations.

Discusses the novel "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," offering biographical information about the author, text analysis, character summaries, and a selection of critical extracts.

Analyzes Kate Chopin's novel "The Awakening" and includes biographical information, thematic and structural analysis, character lists, critical essays, and major themes and ideas.

An introduction to Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible, " discussing the author's life, the impact of the play, its plot, cast of characters, literary criticism, and pertinence for today's audiences.