Wiley Blackwell Critical Biographies

The life story of the Victorian novelist George Eliot is as dramatic and complex as her best plots. This new assessment of her life and work combines recent biographical research with penetrating literary criticism, resulting in revealing new interpretations of her literary work. *A fresh look at George Eliot's captivating life story *Includes original new analysis of her writing *Deploys the latest biographical research *Combines literary criticism with biographical narrative to offer a rounded perspective.

The Life of William Shakespeare is a fascinating and wide-ranging exploration of Shakespeare's life and works focusing on oftern neglected literary and historical what Shakespeare read, who he worked with as an author and an actor, and how these various collaborations may have affected his writing.

Drawing especially on the many scholarly discoveries of recent years, this biography examines the life – and death ‒ of one of the greatest Romantic poets. Based on sceptical historical investigation and featuring an in-depth look at Shelley’s personal, financial and familial situation, it builds a compelling narrative about a controversial writer and thinker whose personal and philosophical convictions caused much turmoil during his short yet extraordinarily influential life. The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley reveals sides of the author not often studied. It looks at Shelley as an intensely loving, thoughtful and responsible man and father, who (except in one case) took exemplary care of the women he loved and who fell in love with him. It shows how significant his status as a gentleman was; it examines his poetry, letters, notebooks  and discursive prose so that readers can comprehend the most important concerns of his life; it explores the financial and medical grounds for his years of exile; it is also the first biography to take account of his  recently discovered early long poem  the Poetical Essay on the Existing State of Things . This biography offers readers a unique look at a famous poet, scholar, gentleman, democrat, atheist and tragic icon of English Romanticism.

Discover anew the life and influence of Henry James, part of the acclaimed Wiley Blackwell Critical Biographies series. In The Life of Henry A Critical Biography , Peter Collister, an established critic and authority on Henry James, offers an original and fully documented account of one of America’s finest writers, who was both a creative practitioner and theorist of the novel. In this volume, James’s life in all its personal and cultural richness is examined alongside a detailed scrutiny of his fiction, essays, biographies, autobiographies, travel writing, plays and reviews.   James was a dedicated and brilliant letter-writer and his biographer make judicious use of this material, some of it previously unpublished, evoking in the novelist’s own words the society within which he moved and worked. His gift for friendship, often resulting in close relationships with both men and women, are sensitively explored. Near the beginning of his long and highly productive life, James left America to immerse himself in European culture and history – a necessity, he felt, for the developing artist. In an ironic symmetry he witnessed in his youth the effects of the American Civil War and in his last days, finally becoming a British citizen, despaired at the unfolding tragedy of the Great War in Europe. Sustained, nevertheless, by his own creative energy, he never ceased to believe in the capacity of the arts to enhance and give significance to life.      An incisive discussion of the life of an author of major stature, The Life of Henry A Critical Biography offers a refreshingly lucid and human account of a novelist and his often challenging, but rewarding, writing.  Peter Collister, a former college Assistant Principal, has published many essays in Europe and America on a range of nineteenth-century British and French authors. He is the author of Writing the Henry James and America and later edited for the university presses of Cambridge and Virginia the award-winning The Complete Writings of Henry James on Art and Drama, James's autobiographical writings, A Small Boy and Others, Notes of a Son and Brother, and The Middle Years , as well as The American Scene .

Complete with fresh perspectives, and drawing on the latest scholarship and biographical sources, The Life of D. H. Lawrence spans the full range of his intellectual interests and creative output to offer new insights into Lawrence's life, work, and legacy.Addresses his major works, but also lesser-known writings in different genres and his late paintings, in order to reassess the innovative, challenging, and subversive aspects of Lawrence's personality and writing Incorporates newly-discovered sources, including correspondence, a manuscript written in 1923-4, new evidence for important influences on his major novels and two previously unpublished images of the author Emphasizes Lawrence's gregarious nature, his desire to collaborate with others, and his adaptability to different social situations Pays particular attention to the many interactions with literary advisors, editors, agents, publishers, and printers that were required for him to work as a professional writer Combines new material with astute commentary to provide a nuanced understanding of one of the most prolific and controversial authors of the twentieth century

"By examining the family and financial circumstances of Wordsworth's early years, this illuminating biography reshapes our understanding of the great Romantic poet's most creative period of life and writing. Features new research into Wordsworth's financial situation, and into how the poet and his family survived financiallyOffers a new understanding of the role of his great unwritten poem 'The Recluse'Presents a new assessment of the relationship between Wordsworth and Coleridge"

“The Life of Daniel Defoe” examines the entire range of Defoe's writing in the context of what is known about his life and opinions. • Features extended and detailed commentaries on Defoe's political, religious, moral, and economic journalism, as well as on all of his narrative fictions, including Robinson Crusoe • Places emphasis on Defoe's distinctive style and rhetoric • Situates his work within the precise historical circumstances of the eighteenth-century in which Defoe was an important and active participant

Presents a fresh account of the life history and creative imagination of Jonathan Swift Classic satires such as Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal, and A Tale of a Tub express radical positions, yet were written by the most conservative of men. Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin and spent most of his life in Ireland, never traveling outside the British Isles. An Anglo-Irish Protestant clergyman, he was a major political and religious figure whose career was primarily clerical, not literary. Although much is known about Swift, in many ways he remains an enigma. He was admired as an Irish patriot yet was contemptuous of the Irish. He was both secretive and self-dramatizing. His talent for friendship was matched by his skill for making enemies. He hated the English but yearned to live in England. The Life of Jonathan Swift explores the writing life and personal history of the foremost satirist in the English language. Accessible and engaging, this critical biography brings Swift's writing and creative sensibility into the narrative of his life. Author Thomas Lockwood provides the historical and modern critical context of Swift's prose satires and poetry, as well as his political journalism, essays, manuscripts, and personal correspondence. Throughout the book, biographically contextualized descriptions of Swift's most famous works help readers better understand both the writing and the writer. • Provides critical profiles of Gulliver's Travels, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Drapier's Letters, and Swift's other famous works • Offers insights into Swift's relationships with Esther Johnson, "Stella," and Esther Vanhomrigh, "Vanessa" • Highlights Swift's poetry and how verse writing was a vital part of his creative being • Summarizes and contextualizes lesser-known works such as The Conduct of the Allies • Addresses the historic critical bias against comedy or satire as inferior forms of art, both in Swift's lifetime and the present The Life of Jonathan Swift is an essential resource for general readers of literature and literary biography, university instructors and researchers, and undergraduate students taking courses in English literature.

The Life of Robert Frost presents a unique and rich approach to the poet that includes original genealogical research concerning Frost’s ancestors, and a demonstration of how mental illness plagued the Frost family and heavily influenced Frost’s poetry.