The blind energies and defiant acts that bring an ambitiousmanto power can also destroy him. This is the theme thatThomas Hardyexplores through his greatest and mosttragic hero: MichaelHenchard, the driven grain merchant of Casterbridge. From hisdrunken sale of his wife and baby at a county fair to hissubjugation of a farming village, Henchard's life is an epicattempt to bring the world to heel as he hides, even from himself,all vestiges of emotionalvulnerability. Combining the suspense of amystery with the poetry of the most powerful English novels, TheMavyor of Casterbridge is a masterpiece of psychological insightand profound tragedy.
Folger Shakespeare Library The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play Scene-by-scene plot summaries A key to famous lines and phrases An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language An essay by leading Shakespeare scholar, William C. Carroll, providing a modern perspective on the play Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.
The 1920s novel of a passion threatened by convention andplayed outagainst a backdrop of New York City-s upper class,unimaginable wealth,and unavoidable tragedy.
Includes: The Tempest - A Midsummer Night's Dream - The Winter's Tale - Much Ado About Nothing - AsYou Like It - Cymbeline - The Two Gentlemen ofVerona - The Merchant of Venice - King Lear - Macbeth - All's Well that Ends Well - The Tamingof the Shrew - The Comedy of Errors - Measure forMeasure - Twelfth Night - Timon of Athens - Romeo and Juliet - Hamlet - Othello - Pericles
在线阅读本书 During the French Revolution's reign of terror, the mysteriousScarlet Pimpernel rescues helpless men, women, and children fromtheir doom in this unique, wonderfully colorful adventureclassic.
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.' Living with his sister and her husband, Pip is an orphan without any expectations. It is only when he begins to visit a rich old woman, Miss Havisham and her adopted niece that he begins to hope for something better. When it is revealed that Pip has inherited a large sum of money from a mysterious benefactor on the condition that he moves to London to become a gentleman, Pip's adventure really begins. Epic, illuminating and memorable, Dickens mysterious tale of Pip's quest to find the truth about himself is one of his most enduring and popular novels to date.
在线阅读本书 Book De*ion To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Broadway premiere of AlanJay Lerner and Frederick Lowe's "My Fair Lady," this specialedition contains Shaw's original play and the * and lyrics forthe Tony(- and Academy Award(-winning musical. Revisedreissue. Book Dimension length: (cm)16.8 width:(cm)9.9
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics. 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' Austen's best-loved tale of love, marriage and society in class-conscious Georgian England still delights modern readers today with its comedy and characters. It follows the feisty, quick-witted Elizabeth Bennet as her parents seek to ensure good marriages for her and her sisters in order to secure their future. The protagonists Darcy and Elizabeth learn much about themselves and those around them and Austen's expertly crafted comedy characters of Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins demonstrate her great artistry as a writer.
Gentle linen weaver Silas Marner is wrongly accused of aheinous theft, and he exiles himself from the world-until he findsredemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for anabandoned child who mysteriously appears one day at his isolatedcottage. Somber, yet hopeful, Eliot's realistic depiction of anirretrievable past, tempered with the magical elements of myth andfairy tale, remains timeless in its understanding of human natureand is beloved by every generation.
These three masterworks placed the great seventeenth-centuryEnglish poet Milton beside Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, andVirgil in the pantheon of world literature. A monumental achievement,Parudise Lost is the epic poem about the magnificent Lucifer, whose failed rebellion against Heaven's tyranny casts him into thedarkness of Hell and leads to man's fall from grace. SamsonAgonistes, the greatest English drama modeled on the Greekclassics, depicts blinded, once-mighty Samson regaining his strength as God's champion and delivering his people-whilede-stroying himself and his captors. And "Lycidas" is animmortal elegy on lost hopes and the nature of fate. Written in a grandstyle of superb power, these works display a majesty of lan- guage, a sublime wealth of detail, and the unmistakable genius ofone of literature's greatest minds.
Macbeth is one of Shakespeares greatest tragedies: a drama of crime and punishment, of temptation, guilt, remorse and retribution. The portrayals of Macbeth himself and his wife are memorably persuasive in the rendition of the psychology of ambition,rationalised treachery and eventual disillusionment. Repeatedly the rich and often sinuously complex verse gives general resonance to the particular situation, so that some of the speechesprovide enduring epitomes of states of being which many of us,intermittently, may experience. Inner division, pangs of conscience, the sense of being ambushed by events, and desperatedefiance: they are there; but so too is a vitality of expression and enactment which offsets the plays sombre atmosphere.
A philosopher and his disciple journey to find "the best of all possible worlds" in this classic work of eighteenth-century satire. EACH ENRICHED CLASSIC EDITION INCLUDES: A concise introduction that gives readers important background information A chronology of the author's life and work A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations Detailed explanatory notes Critical analysis, including modern perspectives on the work Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the wo
Edited and with an Introduction by Dr Keith Carabine, Chairperson of the Joseph Conrad Society of Great Britain As these three specially commissioned stories amply demonstrate, Conrad is our greatest writer of the sea. His characters are tested by dramatic events 'that show in the light of day the inner worth of a man, the edge of his temper, and the fibre of his stuff; that reveal the quality of his resistance and the secret stuff of his pretences, not only to others but also to himself'. In Typhoon, Conrad's funniest story, Captain MacWhirr blunders into a hurricane that reveals the sea's treachery, violence and terror. Falk is desperate to get married, but first he must tell of his terrible experiences as sole survivor of a stricken ship that once drifted into the ice-caps of Antarctica. The Shadow-Line is a poignant and beautiful story. Written during the First World War and based on Conrad's fond evocation of his own first command, it expresses his solidarity with all who were obliged to cross in early y
This 19th-century author created "some of the most colorful andhaunting fiction of his century" ( Kirkus Reviews ). And withhis special blend of comedy, social commentary, and fantasy, hepaved the way for Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.
One of Kipling's most enduringly popular works, CaptainsCourageous is both a stirring tale of the sea and a fable of aboy's initiation into the world of men.
Around the World in Eighty Days (1873) relates the hair-raising journey made as a wager by the Victorian gentleman Phileas Fogg, who succeeds - but only just! - in circling the globe within eighty days. The dour Fogg's obsession with his timetable is complemented by the dynamism and versatility of his French manservant, Passepartout, whose talent for getting into scrapes brings colour and suspense to the race against time. Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) was Verne's first novel. It documents an apocryphal jaunt across the continent of Africa in a hydrogen balloon designed by the omniscient, imperturbable and ever capable Dr Fergusson, the prototype of the Vernian adventurer.
Known as a "feast of language," this is one of the bard'searliest comedies, in which four bachelors who have dedicatedthemselves to chastity and scholarly pursuits soon encounter thewomen of their dreams.
The Winter's Tale was one of the very last plays Shakespeare wrote, a moving romance whose themes are sin, forgiveness, death, rebirth, and the power of Time and Nature to heal all wounds. Based on a novella by Shakespeare's enemy and arch rival Robert Greene, The Winter's Tale introduces Perdita, perhaps the Bard's most richly symbolic character. At times tragic, at times humorous, but always entertaining and instructive, The Winters Tale is a complex and rewarding work by the greatest dramatist of all time.
As part of the Signet Classics Shakespeare Series edited bySylvan Barnet of Tufts University, this edition includescommentaries on both plays as well as up-to-date productionhistories.
Interest in supernatural phenomena was high during Charles Dickens lifetime.His natural inclination towards drama and the macabre lead him into the telling of ghost tales.Twelve ghosts stories are presented here,and the full range of Dickens' gothic talents can be seen.
