Mary Shelley (English Authors Series) - Hardcover

Smith, Thompson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805770453 ISBN 13: 9780805770452

Publisher: Twayne Publishers, 1996

Synopsis

Series Editors: Kinley E. Roby, Northeastern University; Herbert Sussman, Northeastern University; Joseph Bartolomeo, University of Massachusetts; George Economou, University of Oklahoma; Arthur F. Kinney, University of Massachusetts. TWAYNES UNITED STATES AUTHORS, ENGLISH AUTHORS, and WORLD AUTHORS Series present concise critical introductions to great writers and their works. Devoted to critical interpretation and discussion of an authors work, each study takes account of major literary trends and important scholarly contributions and provides new critical insights with an original point of view. An Authors Series volume addresses readers ranging from advanced high school students to university professors. The book suggests to the informed reader new ways of considering a writers work. A reader new to the work under examination will, after reading the Authors Series, be compelled to turn to the originals, bringing to the reading a basic knowledge and fresh critical perspectives. Each volume features: a critical, interpretive study and explication of the authors works; a brief biography of the author; an accessible chronology outlining the life, work, and relevant historical background of the author; aids for further study -- complete notes and references, a selected annotated bibliography, and an index; and a readable style presented in a manageable length.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Mary Shelley - renowned author of Frankenstein and the wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley - has often been considered solely in light of these two facts. While scholarly interest in Mary Shelley's life and work has intensified in recent years, the critical understanding of this seminal author has been marked by its constricted focus. Shelley was by no means the author of a single work produced under the influence of her husband. She had an active literary career that spanned many genres, including poetry, drama, travel writing, and essays as well as the novels and stories of science fiction for which she is best known. Johanna M. Smith, in Mary Shelley Revisited, examines the complete works of Mary Shelley. Her comprehensive study focuses on the various genres that constitute Shelley's oeuvre. This approach not only reveals the diversity and depth of Shelley's literary career but also provides an insightful inquiry into the construction of genres themselves. And rather than focusing on the autobiographical elements of Shelley's work that have been covered by earlier scholars, Smith draws out the political and feminist issues that deeply engaged Shelley during her lifetime and are interwoven throughout her texts.

Edition details

• Publisher: Twayne Publishers
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0805770453
• ISBN 13: 9780805770452
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224