Routledge Guides to Literature are clear introductions to authors and texts most frequently studied by undergraduate students of literature. Each book explores texts, contexts and criticism, highlighting the critical views and contextual factors that students must consider in advanced studies of literary works.
Each guide presents a variety of approaches and interpretations, encouraging readers to think critically about 'standard' views and to make independent readings of literary texts. Alongside general guides to texts and authors, the series includes 'sourcebooks', which incorporate extracts from key contextual and critical materials as well as annotated passages from the primary text.
Some books in this series were originally published in the Routledge Literary Sourcebook series, edited by Duncan Wu, or the Complete Critical Guide to English Literature series, edited by Richard Bradford and Jan Jedrzjewski.
Edited
By Sonia Massai
January 31, 2008
William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (c.1600) is one of his most captivating plays. A comedy of mistaken identities, it has given rise to thought-provoking debates around such issues as gender identity and role-playing, manipulation and deception. Taking the form of a sourcebook, this guide to ...
By David Whittaker, Mpalive-Hangson Msiska
December 20, 2007
Offering an insight into African culture that had not been portrayed before, Things Fall Apart is both a tragic and moving story of an individual set in the wider context of the coming of colonialism, as well as a powerful and complex political statement of cross-cultural encounters. This guide to ...
By Janet Beer, Pamela Knights, Elizabeth Nolan
August 30, 2007
Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth (1905) is a sharp and satirical, but also sensitive and tragic analysis of a young, single woman trying to find her place in a materialistic and unforgiving society. The House of Mirth offers a fascinating insight into the culture of the time and, as suggested by ...
By Sarah Graham
April 18, 2007
J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye (1951) is a twentieth-century classic. Despite being one of the most frequently banned books in America, generations of readers have identified with the narrator, Holden Caulfield, an angry young man who articulates the confusion, cynicism and vulnerability of...
By Helen Stoddart
May 09, 2007
A highly original and influential work of modern British literature, Angela Carter’s Nights at the Circus combines a fantastically creative plot with a strong political undertone. The result is an emotive and provocative novel, which has attracted much critical attention from a range of ...
By Alex Tickell
April 16, 2007
On publication Arundhati Roy's first novel The God of Small Things (1997) rapidly became an international bestseller, winning the Booker Prize and creating a new space for Indian literature and culture within the arts, even as it courted controversy and divided critical opinion. This guide to Roy’s...
By Peter Childs
February 23, 2007
Ian McEwan is one of Britain's most inventive and important contemporary writers. Also adapted as a film, his novel Enduring Love (1997) is a tale of obsession that has both troubled and enthralled readers around the world. Renowned author Peter Childs explores the intricacies of this haunting ...
By Andrew Warnes
December 19, 2006
Richard Wright’s Native Son (1940) is one of the most violent and revolutionary works in the American canon. Controversial and compelling, its account of crime and racism remain the source of profound disagreement both within African-American culture and throughout the world. This guide to ...
By Caroline Franklin
December 05, 2006
Lord Byron (1788-1824) was a poet and satirist, as famous in his time for his love affairs and questionable morals as he was for his poetry. Looking beyond the scandal, Byron leaves us a body of work that proved crucial to the development of English poetry and provides a fascinating counterpoint to...
Edited
By Roger D. Lund
July 24, 2006
An extremely complex, yet widely studied text, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels ranks as one of the most scathing satires of British and European society ever published. Students will therefore welcome the publication of Roger Lund’s sourcebook, which provides a clear way through the wealth of ...
Edited
By Sean McEvoy
April 28, 2006
William Shakespeare's Hamlet (c.1600-1601) has achieved iconic status as one of the most exciting and enigmatic of plays. It has been in almost constant production in Britain and throughout the world since it was first performed, fascinating generations of audiences and critics alike. Taking the ...
Edited
By Ruth Glancy
March 30, 2006
Since its publication in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities has remained the best-known fictional recreation of the French Revolution, and one of Charles Dickens’s most exciting novels. A Tale of Two Cities blends a moving love story with the familiar figures of the Revolution—Bastille prisoners, a ...