The Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th Edition

When the Fifth Edition of The Oxford Companion to English Literature appeared in 1985, it received a glowing front-page review in The New York Times Book Review , which praised it as "a wonderful, infuriating, amusing, and informative war horse of a book." Now comes the new Sixth Edition, thoroughly updated and greatly expanded by editor Margaret Drabble and a team of 140 distinguished contributors, who include Salmon Rushdie, Brian Aldiss, Penelope Fitzgerald, Ian Buruma, and Michael Holroyd. Readers will find over 660 new entries, over a third of which were written by Drabble herself, including hundreds of new biographies (from Kathy Acker to Stefan Zweig) as well as new entries on genres, literary terms, critical schools, and much more. In total, the new edition offers over 7,000 alphabetically arranged entries, providing incomparable coverage of the classical works of English literature, and of European authors and works that have influenced the development of English literature. Its wide range of articles cover not only authors and their works, but also fictional characters, plot summaries, composers and artists, literary and artistic movements, historians, philosophers, and critics, as well as publishing history, literary societies, newspapers and periodicals, critical terms and theory. In addition, there are sixteen new feature essays covering everything from gay and lesbian literature to modernism and science fiction, plus a thousand-year chronology that sets key literary works in their historical context, and complete lists of poet laureates and literary prize winners. Boasting a lightness of touch that makes the book a pleasure to read, the Sixth Edition is an indispensable volume for students, for teachers, and for everyone interested in English literature. From the conjectured identity of the Dark Lady of the Sonnets to misprints in the First Folio, from Shakespeare's favorite figures of speech to the staging of Othello in South Africa, The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare offers the most comprehensive coverage available on all aspects of Shakespeare's life and works. Illustrated with more than 100 photographs and boasting contributions from a team of internationally renowned scholars (including such noted Shakespeare authorities as Helen Vendler, Park Honan, and Jonathan Bate), the Companion has more than 3,000 entries that offer succinct, stimulating, and authoritative commentary on Shakespeare's life and times, his plays and poems, and their interpretation around the world over the last four centuries. All Shakespeare's plays--from As You Like It and All's Well that Ends Well to King Lear and Hamlet --are covered in major articles. There are concise descriptions of allusions in Shakespeare (Ajax, Agamemnon), well-known critics (Samuel Johnson, John Dryden), great Shakespearian actors (Richard Burbage, Lawrence Olivier, Kenneth Branagh), characters in the plays (Mercutio, Ophelia), figures of speech (metaphor, metonymy, oxymoron), and much more. Longer articles explore topics such as Shakespeare's birthplace, censorship, the Chamberlain's Men, film, and Shakespeare's reception in such countries as China, Italy, and the United States. Bringing its readers up to date not only with the latest in Shakespearian scholarship and controversy but with the plays' most recent incarnations on stage, film, and in international popular culture, this is the perfect companion to Shakespeare's works, covering everything from Aaron to Zeffirelli, and from Shakespeare in schools to Shakespeare in Love . Cover......Page 1 Copyright page......Page 7 Contents......Page 8 Preface......Page 9 Advisers and Contributors......Page 11 Abbreviations......Page 12 Note to the Reader......Page 13 A (1)......Page 14 B (56)......Page 69 Biography......Page 115 Black British Literature......Page 117 C (160)......Page 173 Children's Literature......Page 211 D (254)......Page 267 Detective Fiction......Page 289 E (313)......Page 326 F (344)......Page 357 Fantasy Fiction......Page 363 G (389)......Page 402 Ghost Stories......Page 417 Gothic Fiction......Page 435 H (443)......Page 456 Historical Fiction......Page 495 I (513)......Page 526 J (524)......Page 537 K (547)......Page 560 L (566)......Page 579 M (620)......Page 633 Metre......Page 679 Modernism......Page 695 N (710)......Page 723 O (733)......Page 746 P (756)......Page 769 Post-Colonial Literature......Page 821 Q (830)......Page 843 R (833)......Page 846 Romantic Fiction......Page 883 Romanticism......Page 885 S (889)......Page 902 Science Fiction......Page 919 Spy Fiction......Page 975 Structuralism and Post-Structuralism......Page 991 T (992)......Page 1005 U (1045)......Page 1058 V (1052)......Page 1065 W (1068)......Page 1081 X (1122)......Page 1135 Y (1123)......Page 1136 Z (1143)......Page 1140 1000 – 1200......Page 1144 1300 – 1400......Page 1145 1500......Page 1146 1600......Page 1150 1700......Page 1155 1800......Page 1161 1900......Page 1171 Appendix 2 • Poets Laureate......Page 1182 (A) Nobel Prize for Literature......Page 1183 (C) Library Association Carnegie Medallists......Page 1184 (D) Booker-Mcconnell Prize for Fiction......Page 1185 "This new edition contains more than 600 entirely new entries, to reflect the new figures and issues of English literature in the new millennium, and the existing entries have been extensively revised and updated to incorporate the latest scholarship. But it remains faithful to Sir Paul Harvey's original vision of an authoritative work placing English literature in its widest context: no other volume offers such extensive exploration of the classical roots of English literature and the European authors and works that influenced its development, in recognition of the fact that literature in English cannot and should not be divorced from the cultural context from which it grew." "Also updated are the invaluable appendices, including the major literary awards and their winners and a full chronology spanning a thousand years of English literature, from Beowulf to the present day. Informed by the latest scholarly thinking, and comprehensively cross-referenced to guide the reader to topics of related interest."--Jacket Since Sir Paul Harvey's original Oxford Companion to English Literature was published in 1932 it has established itself as the standard source of reference for general readers, as well as an indispensable guide for students and specialists, on all aspects of English literary culture. In 1985, under the editorship of Margaret Drabble, with a team of distinguished contributors, the text was completely revised while retaining the essential characteristic of Sir Paul Harvey's much-loved volume. Since then, the Companion has continued to respond to the needs of contemporary readers. Now, in this new revision, nearly sixty completely new entries have been added on contemporary novelists, poets, and dramatists. Comprehensive, authoritative, and up to date, this new edition of The Oxford Companion to English Literature reasserts its position as the most complete reference guide to English literary culture currently available. Online version of a revised ed. of the classic guide to English literature "for the new millennium." Nearly 600 new entries cover new figures and issues, and existing entries have been reworked to incorporate the latest scholarship. In addition to the extensive coverage of writers, works, literary theory, allusions, and characters, there are sixteen featured essay-style entries on key topics including black British literature, fantasy fiction and modernism "From the conjectured identity of the Dark Lady of the Sonnets to the misprints in the First Folio, from Shakespeare's favourite figures of speech to the staging of Othello in South Africa, a team of 100 internationally renowned scholars provides a lucid, stimulating, and authoritative guide to Shakespeare's plays and poems, and their interpretation around the world over the last four centuries. Special feature entries on every play are included." Machine generated contents note: Preface vii Acknowledgements viii Contributors ix Thematic listing of entries xi List of plays xxviii Note to the reader xxix THE OXFORD COMPANION TO SHAKESPEARE The British Isles and France in the English Histories and Macbeth 530 The royal family in Shakespeare's English Histories 532 Shakespeare's life, works, and reception: a partial chronology 533 Further reading 537 Picture acknowledgements. "A truly fun, accessible, and contextually rich companion to the vast world and work of Shakespeare. Spanning the historical and contemporary, and the literary and dramatic, this authoritative and illustrative 3,000-entry compendium is well constructed, solidly cross-referenced, and above all, delightful and interesting reading."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2002. Provides a guide to Shakespeare's plays and poems, and their interpretation around the world over the last four centuries. Covers topics from the conjectured identity of the Dark Lady of the Sonnets to the misprints in the First Folio, from Shakespeare's favorite figures of speech to the staging of Othello in South Africa Contains more than nine thousand alphabetical entries including biographical information on authors, composers, and artists, over two thousand plot summaries, movements in literature, literary prizes, and articles on literary societies General Editor, Michael Dobson ; Associate General Editor, Stanley Wells. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 537-539).