E-Book Overview
Now in its fifth edition, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature has become both a standard introduction to the close reading of literature and an invaluable resource for English graduate students. It offers students and other readers a variety of ways to interpret a piece of literature, ranging from historical/biographical and moral/philosophical approaches through the formalist, the psychological, the mythic and archetypal, and into such contemporary perspectives as feminist criticism and cultural studies. The book applies these diverse approaches to the same six classic works--"To His Coy Mistress," Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, "Young Goodman Brown," "Everyday Use," and, new to this edition, Frankenstein--showing students how various methods offer different insights and enriching their response to and understanding of the individual works. The fifth edition is enhanced by the addition of Frankenstein, a complex work that lends itself to multiple levels of interpretation and is familiar in both its cinematic and literary forms. The coverage of Frankenstein incorporates material on popular culture--discussions of various fiction, stage, film, and television appearances of the work--as well as several photographs. This edition also features organizational and content changes that bring the volume up-to-date with contemporary literary criticism. Offering a valuable combination of theory and practice, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature, Fifth Edition, is ideal for courses in literary criticism or theory and can also be used in introduction to literature courses.
E-Book Content
A Handbook of Critical
to Literature
A Handbook of CriticalApproaches to Literature F IF T HED IT ION
WILFRED L. GUERIN Louisiana S ate Uniaersity .t
EARLELABOR CentenaryCoIIege
LEE MORGAN CentenaryCollege
IEANNE C. REESMAN Uniaersityof Texasat SanAntonio
IOHN R. WILLINGHAM Uniaersityof Kansas
New York . Oxford OXFORDUNIVERSITY PRESS 2005
Oxford University Press Oxford NewYork Aucklmd Bangkok BuenosAires Cape Town Chermai DaresSalam Delhi HongKong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melboume Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi SdoPaulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto
Copyright @ t992,1999,2005by Oxford University Press @1966,1979by WtJred L. Guerin" Earle Labor, Lee Morgan, and fohn R. WiJlingham. Published by Oxford University Press,Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New Yorl New York 10016 ww.ouP.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or Uansmitte4 in my fom or by any mems, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford Universi$r Press. Library of CongressCataloging-in-Publication Data A hmdbook of critical approaches to literature / Wilfred L. Guerin . . . [et al.].-Sth ed. P.cm. Includes bibliographical referencesmd index. -8 ISBN-l3: 97&0-19-51.6077 (pbk.) ISBN 0-19-516017-7 1. Criticism. I. Guerin,l,Vilfred L. PNS1:G82004 801'.95-dc22 2004054708
PrintingNumber:9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 Printed in the United Statesof America on acid-free paper
TO OURFIRSTCRITICS Jeannine Thing Campbell Carmel Cali Guerin Rachel Higgs Morgan Sylvia Kirkpatrick Steger Grace Hurst Willingham
Contents* v II. Historical and Biographical Approaches in Practice 54 A. "To His Coy Mistress" 54 B. Hamlet 57 C. HuckleberryFinn 6l D. "Young Goodman Brown" 66 E. "EvervdavIJse" 69 F. Frankinstiin 73
Contents
4. MoralandPhilosophicalApproaches
Illustrations Preface x
I. General Observations 77 II. Moral and Philosophical Approaches in Practice A. "To His Coy Mistress" 79 B. Hamlet 80 C. HuckleberryFinn 81 D. "Young Goodman Brown" 82 E. "EvervdavUse" U F. Frankens