Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 019515603X ISBN 13: 9780195156034

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2003

Synopsis

Edith Wharton is recognized as one of the twentieth century's most important American writers. The House of Mirth not only initiated three decades of Wharton's popular and critical acclaim, it helped move women's literature into a new place of achievement and prominence. The House of Mirth is perhaps Wharton's best-known and most frequently read novel, and scholars and teachers consider it an essential introduction to Wharton and her work. The novel, moreover, lends itself to a variety of topics of inquiry and critical approaches of interest to readers at various levels. This casebook collects critical essays addressing a broad spectrum of topics and utilizing a range of critical and theoretical approaches. It also includes Wharton's introduction to the 1936 edition of the novel and her discussion of the composition of the novel from her autobiography.

About this title

About the Author

Carol J. Singley is Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University-Camden. She is a past president of the Edith Wharton Society and editor of A Historical Guide to Edith Wharton.

Review

"[Singley] has been vigilant about including articles from so many different critical perspectives, i.e. biographical, feminist, psychological, materialist, new historicist, and cultural studies. Here, the reader benefits from seeing how the literary text is very much a contested territory and how readings of a particular text change over time, depending upon the different concerns and interests of the critics."--College Literature

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 019515603X
• ISBN 13: 9780195156034
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352
• Editor: Singley Carol J.