Pikeville High School Academic Team
The Big List of Literary Terms
Abstract poetry Poetry that uses words for their sound qualities rather than
for their meaning. Like abstract painting, which uses colors and shapes to
convey meaning but represents no specific objects, abstract poetry does not
attempt to convey meaning in the traditional sense:
The Pterodactyl made its nest
And laid a steel egg in her breast -Under the Judas colored sun.
Dame Edith Sitwell
Absurd, the Literature or drama that has as its basic premise the
meaninglessness of life in the 20th century, where man is separated from his
religious and philosophical roots and therefore lives in isolation in an alien
world. Works that depict the absurd use nightmarish fantasy, inconsistencies,
and even banal repetitions to suggest the absurdity of modern life. See
Beckett, Samuel; Ionesco, Eugene.
Accent Vocal prominence or emphasis given to a syllable, word, or phrase. In
poetry, accented syllables form metrical patterns by contrasting with
unstressed syllables.
Act A major division in a drama; minor divisions within an act are called
scenes.
Adage A short, quotable, wise saying that is well known from wide use over a
long period of time; usually of anonymous authorship.
Haste makes waste.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Adams, Henry (1838-1918) American historian and man of letters, the grandson
and great-grandson of presidents, he wrote studies of the Jefferson and Madison
presidencies. He also wrote The Education of Henry Adams (1918), an
autobiography in which he declared himself to be out of tune with his times.
(Also considered noteworthy because he never refers to his wife.)
Adaptation
A literary or dramatic work rewritten for another medium.
Addison, Joseph (1672-1719) Essayist, who, together with Richard Steele, was
part of the most celebrated British literary partnership. Together they worked
on The Tatler and The Spectator, in which the essay as a literary form was
perfected.
Aeneid, Vergil This important Roman epic poem tells of the wanderings of
Aeneas, an exile from Troy after the Trojan War. Traveling with his father and
his son, Aeneas has a vision of founding a new empire in Italy. When he arrives
there, he is opposed by the local prince Turnus, but eventually kills his enemy
and founds the Roman Empire.
Aeschylus (524-456 B.C.) The earliest Greek dramatist, he composed about 90
plays, of which seven survive. Among these are Prometheus Bound, about the
sufferings of the Titan who stole fire from the gods to give to mankind and was
punished by a vengeful Zeus, and The Oresteia, the only trilogy existing today
from Greek tragedy, consisting of Agamemnon, The Libation-Bearers, and
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Eumenides.
Aesop Little is known of this Greek writer of fables except that he was
reputed to have been a slave and legend associates him with wild adventures.
His short and charming moralistic tales have survived through the centuries and
Aesop's "lessons" are passed from generation to generation.
Aesthetic distance Refers to the "space" that must necessarily exist between
the work of art and the reader or viewer. Such a distance is necessary so that
there is no confusion between "art" and "life." A theatergoer might well become
enraged at a sadistic character on stage, but he remains knowledgeable enough
not to storm down the aisle and threaten the blackguard. Too great an
identification with a work of art leads to subjective feelings that will
distort the view of the artistic creation, but a lack of participation, a
"removal" from what is being presented, will also diminish the experience of
the work. See Suspension of disbelief.
Aiken, Conrad (1889-1973) This poet and novelist, a Georgia native, underwent
a traumatic experience at age 11, when his doctor father killed his mother and
then himself. Aiken devoted himself entirely to writing, and his poetry was
strongly influenced by T.S. Eliot. He had a strong interest in both medicine
and modern psychology. His major works were Punch (1921) and Collected Poems
(1953).
Albee, Edward (b. 1928) Adopted into a wealthy family, this clever and satiric
American playwright was sent to expensive boarding schools, as a child, but
broke at 20 with his parents. Author of The Zoo Story, his greatest success
came with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962.
Alcott, Louisa May (1832-1889) The daughter of Amos Bronson Alcott, idealist,
optimist, transcendentalist, and vegetarian, she grew up in Massachusetts in
the experimental colony Fruitlands. She worked as a seamstress before becoming
a popular children's writer. Little Women (1868) is her best-known work.
Alexandrine A line of poetry with six iambic feet, used widely in the 12th and
13th centuries to eulogize Alexander the Great. Spenser used it as a longer
ninth line, following eight iambic pentameter lines, to conclude each
Spenserian Stanza. Alexander Pope parodies the use of the Alexandrine in the
couplet:
A needless Alexandrine ends the song,
That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.
Alice in Wonderland (1865), Lewis Carroll A wonder-filled children's classic,
peopled by such outrageous characters as the Mad Hatter, Tweedledum and
Tweedledee, and the Cheshire Cat, next to whom Alice, whose wanderings hold the
tale together, is only a pale, if lovely, player. Although this work can also
be read on satiric and symbolic levels, it is still valued primarily as a
delightful children's fantasy.
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), Erich Maria Remarque This German novel
captured the spirit of disillusionment that affected all of the West in the
wake of World War I. It is related by a young soldier who with the others in
his squad, becomes hard and cynical. At the end of the novel, the narrator
returns home to find his mother dying of cancer, a symbol of the diseased
society awaiting the returning soldiers.
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Allegory A narrative poem or prose work in which persons, events, and objects
represent or stand for something else, frequently abstract ideas.
Alliteration The repetition of consonants in a series of words in poetry or
music.
The moan of doves in immemorial elms and murmuring of innumerable bees.
Tennyson
Note: Alliteration frequently refers only to the initial consonant sound, as in
"three tread tightly together." Compare Assonance.
Allusion An indirect or casual reference to a famous person or event in
history, the Bible, a literary work, mythology, or another known source. The
allusion may be obvious:
But sweeter than the Lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath.
Shakespeare
It may also be esoteric:
April is the cruelest month,
Breeding violets out of the dead land.
T.S. Eliot
The Ambassadors (1903), Henry James This novel tells the story of a man past
middle age who is made to realize through a visit to Paris how much of life he
has missed. In this work, as in many James novels, Europe stands for experience
and sophistication and America for both virtue and brashness.
An American Tragedy (1925), Theodore Dreiser This novel is a study of social
classes and of an individual's effort to rise from one class to another; it
also deals with the moral problem of guilt. Clyde Griffiths impregnates a young
factory girl and, when the opportunity arises for him to marry a wealthy
heiress, he kills his mistress. Ultimately, he is tried and executed for the
crime.
Anachronism The representing in literature of a person, scene, object, etc.,
in a time period that would have been impossible historically (Macbeth wearing
a Bulova watch).
Analogy An (implied) comparison between two different things that resemble
each other. Sometimes expressed as a simile: Joe is as crazy as an old hooty
owl.
Anapest In poetry, a metrical foot with two unaccented syllables followed by a
stressed syllable.
Anderson, Sherwood (1876-1941) Born in Ohio, with almost no formal education,
Anderson was the manager of a paint factory when he decided to give up business
and become a writer. In 1919 his collection of stories, Winesburg, Ohio,
brought him both critical and popular acclaim.
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy Written between 1875 and 1877, this Russian novel
details the moral tragedy of Anna, who leaves her husband and young son to live
with and eventually to marry a handsome young count. But, unable to cope with
her decision and unsure of her second husband's love, she commits suicide.
Anouilh, Jean (b. 1910) This French playwright's chief contribution to modern
drama is his part in the revival of the tragic principle in the theater,
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especially his concept of the tragic hero -- in his work often an individual
who will not compromise. Further, he is interested in the relationships between
illusion and reality. His best-known works are Antigone (1944), The Lark
(1955), and Becket (1960).
Antagonist The major "villainous" character in a work who opposes the hero
(protagonist). In Melville's Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is the "hero" and the
whale in the title is the antagonist.
Anticlimax The arrangement of details so that less important and trivial
matters come after the most important item. Also, frequently a lofty tone to
one that is followed by one much more mundane. Used unintentionally, anticlimax
can be a serious fault in the plot of a story, but it was often used
effectively for humor in satirical poetry of the 18th century, as follows:
Not louder shrieks to pitying heaven are cast,
When husbands, or when lap dogs breathe their last.
Pope
Antigone (442 B.C.), Sophocles This Greek tragedy deals with the struggle
between Creon, the king of Thebes, who forbids the burial of Polyneices, one of
those who tried to unseat him. Polyneices' sister Antigone contrives to give
the body a burial and is ordered shut up alive in a vault. Her fiance, Haemon,
the son of Creon, and Creon's wife Euridice then kill themselves. Simply put,
the theme is the conflict between public and private duty. Jean Anouilh's
Antigone, written during the German occupation of France, is a reexamination of
this ancient theme.
Antistrophe The second part of the classical Greek choral ode, one of the
stanzaic forms accompanying the strophe and the epode.
Antithesis A device in which sharply contrasting ideas are linked in parallel
words, phrases, or clauses.
Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow;
The rest is all but leather or prunella.
Pope
Apostrophe In literature, the addressing of an absent person, an abstract
quality (like melancholy), or a nonexistent or mythological personage (like the
muse) as though present.
O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear.
Keats
Apothegm A concisely worded and often witty saying that is instructive and
usually more practical than an aphorism.
Civility costs nothing and buys everything.
Lady Mary Wortly Montagu
Argument A paragraph in prose, placed at the beginning of a long poetic work,
summarizing the action that is to follow.
Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) This Greek playwright, considered
Old Comedy, wrote approximately 44 plays, of which 11 survive.
he was not a fan of popular democracy nor of the Peloponnesian
works abound with wholesomeness and good sense. Among his best
Lysistrata and The Frogs.
the master of
A conservative,
War, but his
known plays are
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Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) A Greek philosopher and a student of Plato, he is
important in literary history because of his work The Art of Poetry. In that
treatise he gives an extended definition of tragedy, influential even in the
20th century.
Arnold, Matthew (1822-1888) English poet and literary critic, the son of a
famous teacher and headmaster of Rugby, he attended Oxford and was subsequently
offered the professorship of poetry there. He later became the foremost
spokesman for the humanities against the rise of science that characterized his
century. His most famous poem is "Dover Beach," which is an excellent example
of Arnold's beautiful and quiet music.
The Art of Poetry, Aristotle This work by the Greek philosopher originally had
three sections, dealing with the epic, tragedy, and comedy. It survives only in
a mutilated form so that the section on tragedy is all that remains more or
less intact. It allegedly urged on the tragic and dramatic unity of action,
time, and place, and states that tragedy must arouse fear and pity to bring
about a catharsis of those emotions in the audience.
Asimov, Isaac (1920-1992) This Russian-born American science-fiction writer
was as diverse as he was creative. After publishing his first novel, Pebble in
the Sky in 1950, he went on to explore further the world of science fiction and
also to write nonfiction works on science and technology, Bible Studies, humor,
and mysteries. In 1979, the publication of Opus 200 marked his 200th book in
print.
Assonance The close repetition of similar vowel sounds, as in How now brown
cow or Like a diamond in the sky.
Auden, Wystan Hugh (W.H.) (1907-1973) English poet (first influenced by Gerard
Manley Hopkins and later by T.S. Eliot), who wrote in both an allegorical and
allusional style. In 1939, when he abandoned England for America, he
deliberately turned to writing for the general public, using delicate irony as
his signature.
Austen, Jane (1775-1817) This British novelist, daughter of a clergyman, was
unable to attend a university because of her sex and had great difficulty in
publishing the six books she wrote. She was the first realist in the English
novel and was a foe of the Romantic Movement. Her best-known works are Sense
and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Emma (1816), thought to
be her greatest work.
Autobiography A story of a person's life written by that person; also called
memoirs. Compare Biography.
Babbitt (1922), Sinclair Lewis This novel is a study of the American suburban
middle class. Babbitt is a real estate salesman in Zenith (Duluth, Minnesota)
who is aggressive, optimistic, and enthusiastic. At the age of 46 he begins to
realize the superficiality of his life, dabbles in radicalism, and has a brief
affair. But social pressures are too much for him and he sinks back into the
life of complacent vulgarity he has tried to escape. In his son, however, he
sees hope for a different future.
Baldwin, James (1924-1987) Born in Harlem, New York to a father who was a
factory worker and a lay preacher, Baldwin at 14 entered a ministry that was to
last for three years. After trying unsuccessfully to support himself in
America, this black novelist, essayist, and playwright, went to Paris in 1948:
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there he wrote some of his best work, including the novel Go Tell It on the
Mountain (1953). He returned to the United States in 1957.
Ballad A poem that tells a story, often of folk origin, and is written to be
sung. A ballad has simple stanzas, and often a refrain. See early American folk
ballads "Barbara Allen" and "Tom Dooley," and literary ballads that include
Keats's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner."
Ballad stanza A four-line stanzaic form used in the popular ballad, or folk
ballad, rhyming abcb. The first and third lines have four accented syllables,
the second and fourth only three.
Now Robin Hood is to Nottingham gone,
(a)
With a link-a-down and a day,
(b)
And there he met a silly old woman,
(c)
Was weeping on the way.
(b)
Balzac, Honore (1799-1850) French novelist who, in his youth, worked as a law
clerk, publisher, and printer. In the 1830s he established his reputation with
Eugenie Grandet (1833) and Pere Goriot (1835). During this period he had a busy
life as a man-about-town, a prodigious spender, and a furious worker, often
putting in 14-16 hours a day writing. He gradually developed the idea of
grouping his work so that it would form a unity titled The Human Comedy, of
which his greatest novel, Cousin Bette (1846), is a part. He is considered
France's finest novelist.
The Barber of Seville (1775), Beaumarchais This French comedy is important
less for its plot, involving a young couple's love triumphant over various
obstacles, than for the character of Figaro. Although from the lower class,
Figaro is far more intelligent and adroit than his so-called betters. Further,
he mouths a philosophy of equality rather shocking for the time.
Baroque A style in art, architecture, literature, and music characterized by
flamboyancy, elaborate ornamentation, and a symmetrical arrangement. The
baroque is a blend of the wild and fantastic with an ordered, formal style as
in the poetry of John Donne and the music of Bach.
Barrie, Sir James M. (1860-1937) British playwright and novelist who, although
criticized during his lifetime for his use of fantasy, is now held in high
esteem for that very "failing." His children's classic, Peter Pan (1904), has
been told and retold in this country from the Broadway stage to the Disney
animated film. Barrie's reputation as a novelist was established in 1891 with
the publication of The Little Minister, and his most lauded work is the
tragicomedy Dear Brutus, which is a skillful mix of humor and realism.
Baudelaire, Charles (1821-1867) This French Symbolist writer became the first
modern poet, his influence towering in the early 20th century. An important
influence on him was Poe, some of whose work he translated. His masterwork was
The Flowers of Evil, for many years considered depraved and obscene. His
primary theme is the inseparable nature of beauty and corruption.
Beat generation The 1950-1960 decade of American writers (primarily poets) who
expressed their feelings of alienation from society. "Beat" -- to be "beaten"
by modern life. Jack Kerouac was the undisputed leader of this literary
movement, which also included such fascinating figures as Allen Ginsberg and
Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Beat literature at first shocked some readers with its
frequent use of four-letter words and explicit references to drugs and sex.
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Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron (1732-1799) From a working-class family,
he went from watchmaker to music tutor of the royal family, and finally was in
the king's secret service. His most famous works were the two comic dramas The
Barber of Seville (1775) and The Marriage of Figaro (1784).
Beauvoir, Simone de (1908-1986) French existentialist author, closely
associated with Sartre. The Mandarins (1956) explores the existential dilemma
in fiction and The Second Sex (1950) is a brilliant nonfiction study of the
status of women.
Beckett, Samuel (1906-1989) An Anglo-French playwright and novelist, born near
Dublin. Beckett was an expatriot who eventually settled in Paris. His themes
reflect the absurdity of the human condition through painful observations of
man's solitude. In his plays he seeks to combine a vaudevillian with poignant
tragedy. Waiting for Godot (1952), Endgame (1957), Krapp's Last Tape (1959),
and other works earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969.
Bellow, Saul (b. 1915) Born in Quebec Province in Canada, Bellow was raised in
the slums of Montreal until his family moved to Chicago in 1924. He attended
the University of Chicago and Northwestern and has taught at New York
University and Princeton. Considered by critics to be America's best
contemporary novelist, his works include The Adventures of Augie March (1953),
Seize the Day (1956), and Herzog (1964). He won the Nobel Prize in Literature
in 1976.
Benet, Stephen Vincent (1898-1943) Born in Pennsylvania, educated at Yale and
at the Sorbonne, he published poetry as an undergraduate. His long epic, John
Brown's Body, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929, made him famous
overnight. His short story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1937) is frequently
anthologized and taught in many high-school English classes.
Bennet, Enoch Arnold (1867-1931)
stated that he wrote only to make
work journalistic. His best novel
sisters, which alternates between
In his autobiography, this British novelist
money and some critics have indeed called his
is The Old Wives' Tale (1908), a story of two
England and Paris.
Beowulf This Old English folk-epic deals with a Scandinavian hero and dates
from about 1000, although the combination of Christian and pagan elements leads
scholars to believe it was written some centuries earlier. It consists of three
parts: Beowulf's fight with the monster Grendel, the fight with Grendel's
mother, and 50 years later, Beowulf's mortal combat with the Fire Dragon.
Bierce, Ambrose (1842-1914?) American journalist, satirist, and short story
writer, Bierce was born in Ohio. He served in the Civil War and then became a
journalist in San Francisco. A weary melancholy pervaded the latter part of his
life, and in 1914 he went to Mexico and was never heard of again. His
excellence lies in satire and the chilling and savage horror inherent in his
short stories. See such works as Cobwebs from an Empty Skull (1874), Can
Such Things Be? (1893), and The Devil’s Dictionary. Bierce is also greatly
anthologized and is the author of the short story “An Occurrence at Owl Creek
Bridge.”
Bildungsroman A novel, usually autobiographical, that covers the principal
subject's life from adolescence to maturity; also called an apprenticeship
novel.
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Billy Budd (1924, published posthumously), Herman Melville Based on an actual
incident, this short story, or novella, with a seafaring background is
essentially a tale of a paradise lost and then regained, where Billy symbolizes
the figures of both Adam and Christ.
Biography Strictly, the life of one person as related by another. The modern
biography is comparatively recent in form in that it is both carefully
researched and written in a dispassionate manner, as compared to the
subjectivity of Romantic biographers who produced biographies that attempted to
explore the psychology of their subjects. Compare: Autobiography.
Black humor A type of writing whose popularity began in the early 1960s and in
which the grotesque and the horrifying live side by side with elements that are
humorous or farcical. Black humor seeks to shock and disorient readers while
also making them laugh at the recognition of an absurd and disoriented world.
Joseph Heller, Vladimir Nabokov, and Nathaniel West are among the American
writers who have achieved fame in this genre.
Blake, William (1757-1827) Born the son of a hosier, this British poet had
visions from childhood on and wrote his first poetry at age 12. In addition to
being a poet, he was also an engraver and painter and issued nearly all of his
own poems in volumes designed, illustrated, and hand-colored by himself. He
rejected 18th-century Neoclassicism completely and urged frenzy and imagination
as the only roads to wisdom. His best-known poem is "The Tiger."
Blank verse A type of poetry in which rhyme is not used. Instead, each line
has ten syllables with an iambic rhythm (an unstressed syllable followed by a
stressed syllable in each poetic foot, as in "about the town").
Shakespeare's Othello was written in blank verse, as in this excerpt:
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister
I can again thy former light restore.
Wordsworth's The Prelude includes the lines:
The leafless trees and every icy crag
Tinkled like iron, while far-distant hills
Into the tumult sent an alien sound....
Compare Free verse.
Boccaccio, Giovanni (1313-1375) Italian poet and storyteller who emulated his
great friend Petrarch and immortalized in verse and prose his lifelong love for
Fiammetta, who supposedly introduced him at court and urged him to write. His
most famous work is "The Decameron."
Boll, Heinrich (1917-1985) Inducted into the German army in 1939, he was
wounded on the Russian front and, as an infantry corporal, became an American
prisoner of war in eastern France. After the war he worked as a carpenter and
as a statistician until his first work, the novella The Train Was on Time, was
published in 1949. A Catholic and a pacifist, Ball's highly moral vision of
society alienated many groups. Among his other works are the novels Adam, Where
Art Thou? (1951), and Billiards at Half-Past Nine (1959), and The Clown (1965).
Ball won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1972.
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Bombast Inflated, extravagant, pompous, and grandiloquent speech, found in
most Elizabethan poems and plays and in many political speeches.
O thou art fairer than the evening air,
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars,
Brighter art thou than flaming Jupiter....
Marlowe
Borges, Jorge Luis (1899-1986) Hailed as the greatest contemporary Spanish
-American poet and writer, his literary ancestors range from Kierkegaard to
Joyce, Kafka to Beckett. Although modest and a deprecator of his own work, the
mastery and genius of Borges is revealed in his creation of expressionistic and
artistic dreams and mythical fantasies that in his hands often turn to wit and
elegance. Most famous among his works are The Aleph (1949) and Labyrinths
(1962).
Boswell, James (1740-1795) The son of a wealthy Scots judge, he attended
Edinburgh University and in 1763 met Samuel Johnson, whose biographer he was to
become. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. is considered one of the greatest of
all biographies. A new Boswell emerged with the discovery of his diaries and
private papers and their publication after World War II.
Bradstreet, Anne (1612-1672) Born in England, she came to America in 1630 with
her husband who was to become governor of the Massachusetts colony. Bradstreet
is historically famous in colonial literature for being the first American
woman to devote herself to writing poetry, despite raising a large family in a
land that was then little more than a wilderness.
Brave New World (1932), Aldous Huxley A nightmare utopia classic of the 25th
century when science and technology have achieved a complete tyranny over
humanity. It is noteworthy that many of the futuristic devices depicted in this
novel (television, helicopters, and so on) are already in operation, and that
psychological conditioning of the masses has been widely used in totalitarian
countries.
Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956) A German playwright and poet, Brecht won fame for
the effect of alienation that he sought to achieve in his plays by his constant
reminders that the audience was to think and analyze, not feel. Because of his
politics he had to leave Germany from 1938-1947 -- time he spent in Scandinavia
and the United States. His best-known plays are The Threepenny Opera (1928) and
Mother Courage and Her Children (1939).
Bronte, Charlotte (1816-1855) One of five daughters of an English clergyman,
she and her sisters Emily and Anne issued a joint volume in 1846 under the pen
names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; the book had no great success, but all
three turned to novel writing, Charlotte's Jane Eyre (1847) being the most
popular of her works.
Bronte, Emily (1818-1848) One of the five daughters of a British clergyman,
she joined her sisters Charlotte and Anne in publishing a volume of verse under
the pen names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Although the book had no
success, all three began writing novels and Emily's Wuthering Heights was
published in the year of her death. Succeeding years have proven her to be the
most outstandingly talented Bronte with a genius for capturing mood and
passion.
Brooks, Gwendolyn (b. 1917) Poet laureat of Illinois since 1968, Brooks became
the first black to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for her poetry, Annie Allen.
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Also a novelist, short-story writer, and author of juvenile books, her works
include Maud Martha (1953), A Sesquecentennial Poem (1968), The Tiger Who Wore
White Gloves (1974), Primer for Blacks (1980), and Young Poets Primer (1981).
The Brothers Karamazov (1880), Feodor Dostoyevsky This Russian novel deals
with the landowner Fyodor Karamazov and his four sons Aloysha, a model of
loving kindness, Dmitri, a vulgar bully, Ivan, who cannot accept the cruelty of
the world, and the bastard Smerdyakov, the embodiment of the sinister. It is
perhaps the most profound study in the field of the novel of the conflict
between Good and Evil in man's soul.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861) English poet who, because of her
delicate health, was kept as a semi-invalid by her tyrannical father. After an
intense correspondence with Robert Browning, he came to the family residence on
Wimpole Street in London and ardently wooed Elizabeth. Defying her father, they
married and moved to Italy where her health improved. Her most famous work,
Sonnets from the Portuguese, contains the often-quoted line, "How do I love
thee? Let me count the ways."
Browning, Robert (1812-1889) This English poet, the son of a bank clerk, spent
the first 28 years of his life at home, where he read voraciously. He had his
first success with his second volume of poetry, Paracelsus (1835), and for a
time wrote for the stage, without great results. In 1845 he began his
correspondence with Elizabeth Barrett and, after a courtship, greatly opposed
by her father, they were eventually married and went to Italy to live. Among
Browning's most famous works are The Ring and the Book (1868-1869) and Bells
and Pomegranates (1841) in which he gives us "Pippa Passes," with its much
quoted line, "God's in his heaven/ All's right with the world!" Browning is
also noted for his dramatic monologues, such as "My Last Duchess" (1841).
Bryant, William Cullen (1794-1878) American nature poet, born in
Massachusetts, the son of a country doctor, he was raised in a conservative
(Federalist) household. In 1829 he became editor of the New York Evening Post,
a position he held for half a century and in which he usually espoused liberal
causes. He is best known, however, as a poet whose romantic themes were nature
and humanity. His best known work is "Thanatopsis," written before he was 21.
Buck, Pearl (1892-1973) Born of missionary parents and raised in China, she
won world acclaim for her novel on Chinese peasants, The Good Earth (1931) and
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938. She wrote several novels
with American settings, but they were less well received. Her works have
greatly contributed to world culture in that they have promoted racial
understanding.
Buddenbrooks (1900), Thomas Mann This German novel shows the decline of a
German merchant family through four generations. In 1835 the family headed by
the old grain merchant Johann Buddenbrook, is prosperous and vigorous. Johann's
son Thomas dabbles in aesthetics and philosophy and his brother Christian
becomes insane. The line eventually ends in little Hanno, delicate and
hypersensitive, who dies of typhus. This was the novel that made Mann's
reputation.
Bunin, Ivan (1870-1953) A 19th-century Russian realist who wrote in a detailed
and conservative manner, but whose themes are both personal and metaphysical,
rather than social. He drew much inspiration from Western literature and was a
translator of Longfellow; he also read widely in French literature and thus is
quite cosmopolitan in outlook although Russian in temperament. His chief works
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are The Village (1910) and The Gentleman from San Francisco and Other Stories
(1915), the latter being widely translated and reprinted.
Bunyan, John (1628-1688) An English prose writer of religious allegories, he
was almost unhinged by reading gloomy Puritan theology. Bunyan was restored to
mental health by a Baptist minister and began to preach in small villages. He
was put into prison for 12 years for unlicensed preaching, during which times
he wrote nine books. Upon his release he became the pastor of a small church
but was arrested again. The second time, he began the composition of his
masterwork, Pilgrim's Progress (1678 and 1684), an allegory often considered
one of the world's great books. His prose combines biblical eloquence with
contemporary language.
Burlesque A form of comic drama or fiction in which an elevated subject is
treated in a trivial way or a low subject is treated with mock dignity. In both
cases exaggeration and distortion are used for the sake of ridicule.
Cervantes's Don Quixote is an example.
Burns, Robert (1759-1796) A Scottish poet, born in poverty, Burns had only
three years of schooling, but was an avid reader and even taught himself
French. He became a collector of Scottish folk songs and published his first
volume of poetry in 1786. Eventually, he went to Edinburgh, where he was
lionized as a peasant-genius. Among his best known poems are "My Luv is Like a
Red, Red Rose," "Auld Lang Syne," and "Comin' Thro' the Rye."
Byron, Lord (George Gordon Nuel) (1788-1824) This English romantic poet, the
son of a profligate father and a hysterical mother, was born with a club foot.
He became notorious for a flamboyant and dissolute life, his cavalier treatment
of women, and his liaison with his half sister. In 1812 he published the first
two cantos of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and became famous overnight. However,
his masterpiece is considered to be Don Juan, an epic satire that combines
Byron's lyricism with his detest of convention. He spent most of his time on
the Continent after 1819 and died during the Greek war of independence.
Cabell, James Branch (1879-1958) American novelist who achieved notoriety with
his novel Jurgen (1919), a book of medieval fantasy that some sought to ban on
the grounds of obscenity. Much of Cabell's work fought to exist in an age of
Naturalism, but he was a writer of great talent, whose works might one day look
forward to a revival.
Cacophony A term used either in criticism of poetry to characterize a jarring,
discordant, unharmonious combination of sounds, or to illustrate the poetic
language used to create a particular effect.
A tap at the pane, the quick sharp scratch
And blue spurt of a lighted match.
Browning
Cadence The natural rhythm of language. Used in verse to refer to rhythms of
speech falling into patterns. See Free verse.
Caesura A pause in a line of verse, usually occurring near the middle of the
line, indicated by a parallel slash, in books about poetry scansion.
A little learning/
Is a dangerous thing.
Pope
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The Call of the Wild (1903), Jack London This novel concerns a sled dog who
reverts to savagery. Buck, a California sheepdog, is sent to the north in the
'96 gold rush. After much mistreatment, he becomes the leader of a pack of
savage dogs and then finally falls into the hands of a kind master. But his
owner is killed by the Indians, several of whom Buck kills, and he joins a pack
of wolves, to return once a year to mourn beside the river that is his master's
grave.
Camus, Albert (1913-1960) Although as an existentialist Camus sees the
causation of human destiny as unknowable and irrational, there is an optimism
in his work lacking in others of the school. Born in Algiers, he was active in
the resistance throughout World War ll, and died tragically in an automobile
accident when he was 47. His most famous works are The Stranger (1942) and The
Myth of Sisyphus (1955). He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957.
Candide (1759), Voltaire Written partially in response to the great Lisbon
earthquake of 1755, in which 60,000 died, this French novel, a world
masterpiece of wit and skepticism, is an attack on the point of view that
'"everything is for the best in this best of possible worlds." It satirically
recounts the misadventures of Candide, the archetypal innocent who encounters
all manner of chicanery, falsity, and cruelty and finally concludes that a
measure of peace can only be found if a man is able to lose himself in useful
work.
The Canterbury Tales (l388), Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer comes across a group of
28 pilgrims at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, just across the Thames from London.
They are on their way to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The host
of the inn and the poet (Chaucer) decide to join them, and the host suggests
that the pilgrims (who together represent a cross-section of 14th-century
English life) tell tales on the way to and from the shrine to entertain the
company. Their stories range from the humorous fable to the serious lesson.
Canto
song.
A major division of a long poem; from the Latin word cantus, meaning
Capote, Truman (1924-1984) Born in New Orleans, Capote spent his childhood in
Alabama and much of his work is reflective of the greatest in Southern literary
tradition. His first short story, "Miriam," was published when he was 20.
Though he wrote plays and filmscripts, he is perhaps best known for his
"nonfiction novel," In Cold Blood, published in 1966. However, his later
writing never achieved the greatness of Other Voices, Other Rooms and The Grass
Harp (1951).
Carew, Thomas (1594-1639) One of Britain's Cavalier poets, i.e., those who
backed the king against the Puritans. One of his favorite themes is the tricks
time plays on beauty and youth and the admonition that one should seize the
pleasure of the moment.
Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881) Born into poverty in Scotland, he entered
Edinburgh University and later taught for some time until he became interested
in German literature, which he introduced almost single-handedly to England.
His best known work, Sartor Resartus (1833 and 34) is a spiritual autobiography
in which he views the material world as the mere cloth for the spiritual one.
His lectures, Heroes and Heroworship (1841), express his belief that the great
of the past have intuitively shaped destiny and served as spiritual leaders of
the world.
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Carroll, Lewis (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) (1832-1898) A lecturer at Oxford on
mathematics, Carroll was a loner who loved children and wrote his classic Alice
in Wonderland (1865, illustrated by Sir John Tenniel) for Alice, a friend's
daughter. Through the Looking Glass (1871) is a sequel to this work. Carroll
also wrote popular humorous verses and is considered to be a master of literary
satire.
The Castle (1926), Franz Kafka This posthumous novel tells the story of a man
called K., who has been hired as a land surveyor to a count who lives in a
mysterious castle. When he presents himself at the castle, however, no one
seems to know who he is or why he is there. K. never does get inside the
building, and he never comes to an understanding of what his quest is all
about. The novel is usually seen as an allegory of man's efforts to know God.
Catastrophe The concluding part of a tragedy, usually involving the death of
the hero. Hence, the term has come to mean a tragic event in real life.
Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Antigone and Shakespeare's Hamlet all conclude with
catastrophic events.
Catcher in the Rye (1951), J.D. Salinger A sensitive 20th-century masterwork
about the pain of growing up with the isolated feeling of being different from
everyone else. Told in the first person, "Catcher" is an unparalleled example
of the extended monologue. It relates the odyssey of Holden Caulfield, whose
adolescence is a sad and poignant journey, but also one filled with wit and
insight. Part boy, part man, Holden is not accepted by the adult world, nor
does he fit into prep-school life with his contemporaries -- an alienation that
leads to the gradual breakdown of his personality.
Catharsis (also spelled katharsis) A term first used by Aristotle to describe
the purging or cleansing of the emotions that a spectator experiences while
attending a tragic drama. There are two interpretations of catharsis: one being
that the spectator cleanses his emotions by vicariously sharing the tragic
consequences of the evil action depicted onstage and learns to avoid such
action, the other holds that the spectator forgets his own conflicts and inner
agitation by expending pity and fear on the tragic hero. Although some literary
critics would argue that Willy Loman, in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman,
is not a tragic hero (because he is a traveling salesman and not a king or
military leader), many theatergoers seem to have experienced a true catharsis
in seeing Willy's downfall.
Cather, Willa (1873-1947) American novelist and short-story writer who
captures the spirit of 1880s-1890s pioneering life in the Midwest in such
highly praised novels as O Pioneers! (1913) and My Antonia (1918). Cather, a
fine craftsperson who displayed great lucidity and discipline, wrote warmly and
richly of the human experience.
Cavalier poetry Refers to verse (written between 1625-1649, during the reign
of Charles I) of exalted diction in a brief, concise form, which was most
frequently in praise of wine, women, and song. Herrick and Lovelace are two
Cavalier poets.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel (1547-1616) The major figure in Spanish literature
was a novelist, playwright, and poet. He became a soldier after leaving school,
spent five years as a captive of the Turks, and returned to Spain in 1580. Don
Quixote (1605-1615), his world-renowned work, had an indelible effect on the
development of the European novel. Cervantes also wrote tales of piracy,
gypsies, and deep emotion -- garnered from his own experience and crafted with
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expertise.
Characterization The creation of a fictional character through various
techniques, including a description of his or her physical presence and
actions, as well as a transcription of the character's thoughts and
conversations. E.M. Forster distinguished between flat characters, who are not
fully developed and are little more than names, and round characters, who have
depth and complexity. In Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, Oliver is a well
-rounded, fully developed character, while the Artful Dodger is a flat
character, almost a caricature.
Chaucer, Geoffrey (1340-1400) One of the most important figures in English
literature, he was the son of a wealthy wine merchant. Chaucer spent many years
in the service of a king. His masterwork is The Canterbury Tales (1387-1400),
but because of the development of modern English, his brilliant storytelling
and poetic technique were not fully appreciated until the 18th century.
Cheever, John (1912-1982) This outstanding American novelist and short-story
writer was a grandly perceptive chronicler of suburban lifestyles (see The
Wapshot Scandal and The Wapshot Chronicle). His keen vision is illustrated in
The Collected Short Stories, an outstanding anthology in contemporary fiction
in its breadth of theme and clarity of insight.
Chekhov, Anton (1860-1904) A physician as well as a writer, this Russian
artist is best known today as a dramatist, but he is also considered the world
master of the short story and the greatest Russian writer after Tolstoy and
Dostoyevsky. His plays include The Cherry Orchard (1904) and The Three Sisters
(1901), both dealing with people illequipped to handle the circumstances life
forces on them in a static and dull society (a favorite theme of Chekhov's).
Also a master of mood, he was a realist whose stories are remarkable both for
their irony and their sympathetic viewpoints.
The Cherry Orchard (1904), Anton Chekhov This Russian drama deals with Madame
Ranevsky, the owner of an estate on which there is a large cherry orchard,
symbolizing the old order in Russia. A speculator wishes to buy the orchard to
erect inexpensive summer bungalows, and as Madame Ranevsky, her family, and
friends are unable to adjust to the trend of the times, the orchard is
eventually sold. As the curtain falls the ominous strokes of an ax are heard
reverberating in the theater.
Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1874-1936) The leader of the Catholic movement in
English letters in the 20th century was born near London and attended the
University there. During the early part of his career, he made his living as a
journalist, writing book reviews, essays, and political pieces, but by 1905
Chesterton emerged as an important novelist. His best work is The Man Who Was
Thursday (1908). A fervent Catholic, his dogmatic views are often concealed by
his light and witty style.
Chorus A group of singers and dancers who appear in classical Greek and Roman
dramas to provide background information and exposition of action taking place
offstage; also the songs or odes sung by the chorus. Any drama by Aeschylus,
Sophocles, or Euripides provides abundant examples of choruses. From
Elizabethan times onward, the role of the chorus was taken over by a single
actor, when comments on the action were necessary to the dramatist's purpose. A
more recent example is the stage manager in Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
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The Cid (1636), Pierre Corneille This classic French drama, like many of the
plays by Corneille, revolves around the conflict between love and duty.
Rodrigo, the protagonist, kills the father of the girl he loves to avenge an
insult to his own father. Eventually the girl pleads for his life and the king
pardons him.
Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau In 1846, the year of the Mexican War,
Thoreau spent a night in jail for his refusal to pay the poll tax, which then
was paid for him. In 1849 he published this essay on the subject, stating that
the individual must place his conscience above established formulas and
traditions -- a point of view that influenced Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi and
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Classicism Originally, simply the literature of Greece and Rome, but later
referred to as Greco-Roman imitators, and finally applied to any work "ancient"
in concept and form. Today it is used to describe literature characterized by
balance, restraint, unity, and proportion. Past masters of classicism include
Virgil, Homer, Pope, and Johnson.
Climax The point of highest interest or conflict in the plot of a short story,
novel, or play. A climactic arrangement of words and phrases in a sentence has
the ideas occurring in an order of rising importance, with the most important
item being the climax. The end of the work, its conclusion, where all matters
are resolved follows the climax.
Closed couplet A pair of rhymed lines of poetry containing a complete
statement, structurally independent of lines that come before and after.
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime.
Marvell
All human things are subject to decay,
And when fate summons, monarchs must obey.
Dryden
Closet drama A dramatic work, usually written in poetry, intended to be read
rather than acted on the stage. Also, a play that has survived as literature
rather than theatre.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (l772-l834) When Coleridge met Wordsworth in 1797 the
two became close friends and colleagues in the publication of Lyrical Ballads
in 1798, the work that inaugurated the Romantic Movement in England. The volume
contained his most famous work, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. He was a
passionate and erratic artist, beginning many works [like the fragment poem
"Kubla Khan" (1797)] that he left unfinished. Because of ill health he became
addicted to laudenum (opium) at a young age and that habit became one of the
factors that eventually helped to paralyze his poetic gifts in later years.
"Christabel" is another of his uncompleted master works.
Collins, Wilkie (1824-1889) An English novelist who for a while worked under
Dickens on magazine stories. Collins is best known for his skillful
storytelling and intricate plots. Although his characterization has been
criticized, his novels are a fine blend of Gothic atmosphere, mystery, and
unforesaken love.
Comedy A branch of drama or fiction in which the characters are treated
humorously. There is a happy ending, and the audience is amused.
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Comedy of manners A type of satirical comedy, especially popular in the
Restoration and Neoclassical periods, concerned with the manners of a highly
sophisticated and artificial society and characterized by witty dialogue.
Comedy of situation Usually a comedy in which the plot or the situation in
which the characters are placed is more important than characterization.
Although modern television "sitcoms" (situation comedies) have a continuing set
of more or less well-defined characters, they typify this kind of comedy.
Comic relief A comic scene or incident that a playwright inserts in a serious
drama to relieve tension and to provide a contrast to the seriousness of the
play.
Commedia Dell'Arte (masked comedy) An early form of post-classical drama, the
"Commedia" was performed by medieval Italian troupes of about a dozen actors
who played stereotypic roles largely through improvision. Masks and traditional
costumes were worn and most of the "plays" centered around a pair of young
lovers who, with the help and interference of their clever servants, managed to
overcome their families and live happily ever after.
Compton-Burnett, Ivy (1892-1969) Born near London, she published the first of
her unconventional novels, Dolores, in l911, beginning to reveal her use of
irony and satire to portray an embittered, hypocritical world. Her novels are
known for their lack of plot and description and the use of stylized dialogue
to advance the story. Other works include Brothers and Sisters (1929) and Two
Worlds and Their Ways (1949).
Conceit An elaborate or extravagant image that is often part of a grandiose
analogy. See the following quote from John Donne as an example of conceit
carried to its outermost borders. In what follows, a flea has just bitten and
sucked blood from the poet and his lady, who is about to kill it.
Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,
Where we almost, yea, more than married are
This flea is you and I, and this
Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is.
Donne
Concordance An index of the most important and relevant words in a text (e.g.,
the Bible) listed alphabetically.
Conflict In drama or fiction, the collision between opposing forces (usually
the protagonist against the antagonist).
Congreve, William (1670-1729) Educated in Ireland at Trinity College, this
Anglo-Irish playwright won acclaim with his first comedy, The Old Bachelor
(1693), and even more with Love for Love (1695). But his finest work, The Way
of the World (1700), a masterpiece of Restoration comedy, received only
lukewarm recognition, and he never wrote anything of consequence again.
Conrad, Joseph (Teodor Josef Konrad Korzeniowski) (1857-1924) Born in Poland,
Conrad went to sea as a youth, became involved in gunrunning escapades for the
Spaniards, and eventually joined the English merchant marine, where he served
for 20 years. Writing in English, his second language, he established himself
as a master of fiction, his best novels being Lord Jim (1900) and Victory
(1915). Using the sea as the background for many of his books, his writing is a
16
mixture of Realism and Romanticism, acutely portraying those who suffer from
isolation and loneliness.
Consonance The close repetition of consonant sounds before and after different
vowels -- slip, slop; sometimes the repetition of this sound at the end of
words -- mid, wed. Compare Assonance.
Convention A literary practice, style, or technique that has become, through
frequent use, an accepted method of literary expression, as the soliloquy in
drama in which a character speaks to the audience but is accepted as being
unheard by the other characters on stage.
Cooper, James Fenimore (1789-1851) The 12th of 13 children born to a wealthy
landowner, this American novelist was brought up in Cooperstown, New York. He
attended Yale, but was expelled in his junior year, and then went to sea. He
married a wealthy woman and settled in Westchester County. His first great
success was The Spy, (1921) a Revolutionary War novel. His reputation rests,
however, on the Leather-Stocking Tales [which includes The Last of the Mohicans
(1826) and The Deerslayer (1841)], five novels about the American frontier,
which brought him a worldwide reputation. Considered by some to be the first
great American novelist, Cooper has been criticized for his conventional
characters and extravagant plots.
Corneille, Pierre (1606-1684) The first of France's classic dramatists of the
17th century, his theme was frequently the conflict between love and duty. His
masterpiece, The Cid, was first produced in 1636.
Couplet Two successive rhyming lines of poetry, usually having the same meter.
Lizzie Bordon with an axe,
Hit her father forty whacks.
Courtly love Exemplified in Renaissance and Medieval literature by a pale and
languishing knight made bold because of his veneration and passion for a lady
of noble birth who spurs him on to feats of greatness. Once his feelings were
returned by the damsel (who was almost always wed to another), adultery rarely
became an issue, and the knight was content to pursue only his innocent
adoration.
Cousin Bette (1846), Honore de Balzac Considered by some critics to have
replaced Vanity Fair as the masterpiece novel in world literature, this work is
an indictment of the corrupt Parisienne society in the 1800s, seen through the
eyes of the jealous Bette and the decadent Hulot.
Crane, Hart (1899-1932) Always more esteemed by the critics than the general
public, this poet was born in Ohio and at age 16 went to New York to make a
living as a writer. In spite of holding many menial jobs, he often had to
depend on the financial support of friends. He published White Buildings (1926)
and The Bridge (1930), the latter his major work. His career was complicated by
alcoholism, and the struggle with his homosexual tendencies. In 1932 he
committed suicide by jumping overboard on a ship bound from Mexico. Known as
one of the great 20th-century poets, Crane was greatly influenced by Dada, an
art movement in France that gave him an excuse to abandon the form and
coherence of modern poetry.
Crane, Stephen (1871-1900) American novelist, born in Newark, New Jersey, the
son of a Methodist minister, Crane worked as a newspaper reporter in New York
and then became an overseas war correspondent; he died of tuberculosis in
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Germany. His best-known work is The Red Badge of Courage (1895), the emotional
account of a young soldier in battle, amazing in its perceptions and feelings
because Crane had never experienced war.
Crime and Punishment (1866), Feodor Dostoyevsky This Russian novel deals with
the murder of an old woman by the impoverished student Raskolnikov and his
apprehension by the subtle and unrelenting questioning of a dedicated
policeman. The novel is characterized by profound psychological insights
dealing with guilt and extreme suffering and the repentance that can lead to a
regeneration of the soul.
Criticism Simply, the evaluation of a piece of literature according to its
artistic style, its form or structure, and the "value" it is assessed to have.
Although the view of every critic must be partially subjective, there are
several "schools" of critical thought by which a work might be judged:
(a) Moral. This is the Platonic view of art as an agent that shapes man's
spiritual and moral attitudes. Art is the teacher, serving an important
function in society by acting as the guard of social convention.
(b) Aesthetic (Impressionistic). In the late 1800s, a form of criticism that
was purely subjective and personal, based only on the particular critic's
feelings and impressions regarding a work.
(c) Biographical. A literary work judged by the critic's knowledge of the facts
and feelings of its creator's life. The critic, here, attempts to draw
analogies between an author's work and the way he lives.
(d) Sociological (Historical). A work of art viewed as a reflection of its
historic, societal background.
(e) Psychological. A 20th-century post-Freudian critical approach couched in
psychoanalytic terms that attempts to relate an author's work to his
unconscious activities during the period of creation.
(f) Archetypal. The famous psychologist Carl Jung influenced this mode of
criticism that sought to follow universal and collective (inherited and shared
racial "memories") unconscious symbols as recurrent themes or motifs in
literature.
(g) Formalist. Concerned mostly with the organization and structure of a work
as a vehicle of language and effect, rather than what the word "speaks" about,
or in what ways it seeks to communicate.
Croce, Benedetto (1866-1952) Perhaps the greatest Italian literary figure of
the 20th century, Croce was an author, a philosopher, and a critic. As an
idealist, he saw the universe, including all human experience, as essentially
spiritual, yet he was not a romantic. One of his few biases was an antagonism
toward excessive emotionalism in literature.
Cummlngs, e e (Edward Estlin) (1894-1962) One of the most highly individual
and original poets of the 20th century, cummings (all lower-case letters with
no end punctuation after initials) was an enemy of complacent middle-class
respectability: "...the dull are the damned." The structure, content, and
typography of his poems break tradition and proclaim his spontaneous
individualism. A lifelong hedonist, his works [which include Tulips & Chimneys
(1923) and Poems -- 1954] speak of the joy he found in freedom, love,
springtime, and sensual pleasure.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), Edmond Rostand A verse tragedy whose situations and
ideas reflect 19th-century Romanticism. Here are five acts of elegant language,
dramatic theatrical devices, and exaggeration that leave the reader or the
theatergoer with the desire to jump on stage or between the pages and present
Cyrano with the lovely Roxanne over whom he spends almost his entire life in
18
unrequited love.
Dactyl A foot in poetry that has one accented syllable followed by two
unaccented ones.
Dante, Alighieri (1265-1321) Considered the greatest Italian poet, Dante was
born to a family of noble background in Florence, but for political reasons he
was exiled in 1302. His inspiration for much of his work was Beatrice
Portinari, whom he loved from afar as the idealized portrait of womanhood. His
masterwork begun during his exile -- The Divine Comedy, an allegory in verse,
consisting of 100 cantos -- was written over a period of 20 years.
Daudet, Alphonse (1840-1897) A French naturalist, whom Zola called a
"charmer," and who was himself greatly influenced by Dickens (so much so that
he was criticized for it). His works, permeated by humor and irony, have
virtually all been translated into English.
David Copperfield (1850), Charles Dickens This novel, considered by many
critics to be Dickens's masterpiece, is said to reflect many autobiographical
elements. The boy David is sent by his stepfather Mr. Murdstone to work in a
warehouse and board with the Micawber family, whose head is like Dickens's
father, improvident but optimistic. After many adventures and an unsuccessful
marriage to Dora, a dependent, childlike woman, David finally weds a woman he
has loved all his life.
Dead Souls ( 1842), Nikolai Gogol This social satire is Russia's great comic
novel. It rests on a quirk in the law under serfdom, when souls (as serfs were
called) were taxed between censuses even if they were dead. Pavel Tchitchikoff,
the protagonist, having discovered that souls will be mortgaged, sets out to
buy dead souls. Eventually however, his plan fails and he is ruined.
Death in Venice (1913), Thomas Mann Mann's masterful novella symbolically
explores the connection between love and death as von Aschenbach, a writer
filled with ennui and seeking excitement, travels to Venice where he meets
Tadzio, a beautiful Polish youth with whom he becomes obsessed. When cholera
spreads through Venice, Aschenbach, heedless of his own fate, stays and
eventually succumbs to the fatal disease. One of the themes of this novella is
the conflict between reason (Aschenbach) and vice (personified by the evil
Tadzio).
Death of a Salesman (1949), Arthur Miller This Pulitzer Prize-winning American
play concerns Willy Loman, a salesman who in his declining years, has become
tired and ineffectual. All his life he has filled his sons with the philosophy
that being well liked, being handsome, and having a ready smile will lay life
at your feet. But his sons, one disillusioned and the other unwilling to admit
the emptiness of his father's vision, have not turned out to be what Willy
hoped. Seeing himself as a failure, he commits suicide so that his sons will
have money to start their own business. This sacrifice turns into an empty
gesture.
Decadence A term used by literary historians to denote the decline of any
period in art or literature (as contrasted with a former age of excellence).
Decameron ("Ten Days") (1353), Giovanni Boccaccio A collection of 100 prose
stories that Boccaccio supposedly wrote as a tribute to the kind friends who
were of great comfort to him when he suffered at the cruel hand of his beloved.
He wished to offer his readers similar consolation. Because of the plague of
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1348, ten storytellers (seven women, three men) are thrown together for an
extended period of time, and they serve as the framework of the book. Banding
together to live in the country, away from the virulent disease, they spend the
hot afternoons storytelling. In the relating of these tales, we have a
collection of stories, current at the time, that Boccaccio picked up and retold
for no other purpose than to provide sheer amusement. It has been written that
somewhere between The Divine Comedy and The Decameron lies the truth about
human love.
Defoe, Daniel (1660-1731) The son of a butcher, this British novelist and
essayist did not begin to write until he was over 30, but produced more than
250 works and probably had a hand in 150 more. Besides being a writer, he was a
secret agent, spying for the Whigs and the Tories and sometimes both
simultaneously. Unfortunately, his contemporaries considered him to be only a
semiliterate scribbler. His most popular works were The Life and Strange
Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1719) and The Fortunes and
Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders (1722).
Denouement Literally, the "untying of the knot;" the final outcome, solution,
or unraveling of the principal dramatic conflict in a literary work.
De Quincey, Thomas (1785-1859) An English essayist who became addicted to
opium while at Oxford and achieved literary excellence with the publication of
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822). De Quincey, a hypersensitive,
eccentric man, lived an anguished life from which he sought solace in long
lonely walks and drug-induced fantasies. His prolific prose is highly polished,
intelligent, and imaginative.
De Stael, Madame (Germaine Necker, Baroness of Stael-Holstein) (1766-1817) She
was France's first important woman writer, establishing her reputation with On
Literature (1800) and consolidating it with Germany (1810). The daughter of the
Swiss banker and financial expert who tried to help save the monarchy's
tottering finances before the revolution, she was a special irritant to
Napoleon, who finally drove her into exile. Her style is so conversational that
at times it seems more like journalism than literary prose.
Deus ex machina Literally, "god from a machine"; the use of an unexpected and
unforeshadowed person or thing to provide a contrived, artificial solution to a
dramatic conflict that is often apparently unsolvable. In early Greek drama,
when the conflict became hopeless, a god was lowered to the stage from a
machine or structure above to rescue the hero or untangle the plot. In more
recent literature the use of the deus ex machina indicates inadequacy in the
author's devising of the plot. In late Victorian melodramas, when a long-lost
relative, newly wealthy, appeared on the scene just in time to save the family
farm from being sold by the sheriff, the deus ex machina was exemplified.
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870) Generally considered England's greatest novelist,
he worked in a warehouse as a child, was apprenticed to a solicitor and then
tried newspaper reporting. In 1833 he started publishing in a magazine a series
of impressions of contemporary life, later collected as Sketches by Boz. Most
of his novels appeared in monthly installments, complete with cliff-hangers and
dramatic chapter endings, before being published in book form. Dickens was also
a social critic, attacking injustice and hypocrisy. He has been so greatly
loved and read that the names of many of his characters have virtually become
household words. Some of his more important novels are Oliver Twist (1838),
David Copperfield (1850), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859).
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Dickinson, Emily (1830-1886) Generally considered one of America's greatest
poets, she spent most of her life in seclusion in her Amherst, Massachusetts,
home. It was probably during the Civil War period that she began to write, but
less than fifteen of her hundreds of poems were published during her lifetime.
Her poetic language is one of economy, short lines that speak of passion and
the spirit, and many of her poems reflect her unresolved battle with God and
faith. All of her poetry and many of her letters have been published in
numerous hardcover and paperback editions.
Didactic The term used to describe a piece of literature that attempts to
serve a cause that is moral, political, social, and so on. A quiet war has been
raging since the time of Plato over whether literature should presume to teach,
or exist only as aesthetics. Some of the greatest literary works (Dante's
Divine Comedy, Milton's Paradise Lost) have intended didacticism, but that is
only a part of the total experience of those classics.
Diderot, Denis (1713-1784) The coauthor/editor of The Encyclopedia with Jean
d'Alembert, this French essayist began work with his collaborator in 1750 and
directed it alone after 1757. In its time it was the only compendium of human
knowledge, and was finally completed in 1772.
Dinesen, Isak (Karen Blixen) (1885-1962) Danish master storyteller who wrote
in English and whose life [see Out of Africa (1937)] was as illustrious as her
tales. She is characterized by an elite and highly polished style and an
interest in the mystical and supernatural, as exemplified in Seven Gothic Tales
(1934).
Dirge A brief song or lyric of lamentation, usually intended to accompany
funeral rites, such as Tennyson's "Tears, Idle Tears," and in music, Chopin's
"Funeral March."
Dissonance A harsh, unpleasant sound used in poetry, sometimes intentionally
for effect, as in the poetry of Browning.
Fee, faw, fum! bubble and squeak!
Blessedest Thursday's the fat of the week.
Rumble and tumble, sleek and rough,
Stinking and savory, smug and gruff.
Browning
Often a synonym for cacophony, dissonance also largely refers to the
juxtaposition of closely related sounds.
The Divine Comedy (ca. 1320), Dante Alighieri Considered to be the masterpiece
of verse (taking almost 20 years in the writing), this allegory describes the
poet's journey through Hell, where his guide is the Roman poet Vergil, through
Purgatory and into Paradise, where he is led by Beatrice, his idea of
womanhood. The "Comedy" is seen both as Dante's spiritual autobiography and the
drama of humanity's search for perfection.
Dr. Faustus (1588), Christopher Marlowe Encouraged to dark ambitions, the
title character conjures up Mephistopheles, the servant of Lucifer (the Devil).
Dr. Faustus offers Mephistopheles his soul in exchange for 24 years of having
his every wish fulfilled. Repentance at the end does him no good, and the Devil
carries him off.
Doggerel Sometimes unintentionally humorous verse, written by someone lacking
experience or more concerned with humor and/or sentiment than the skillful
creation of a poem. Bad limericks are an example.
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A Doll's House (1879), Henrik Ibsen This Norwegian drama is considered a
landmark in the movement for women's rights. The heroine, Nora, is treated by
Torvald (her husband) in a gentle, condescending manner. He spoils her; she is
incompetent and forced to live a diminished life in a "doll's house." But
gradually Nora's strength emerges as she secretly borrows money for a trip that
will save Torvald's life. At the end, because of her husband's lack of faith in
her and because they are strangers to each other, she leaves him, independently
slamming the door on her marriage.
Donne, John (1573-1631) The greatest British Metaphysical poet, he studied at
both Oxford and Cambridge, but could not take degrees because he was a
Catholic. Finally he took orders in the English Church and was ordained in
1615. Although Donne wrote lyrics that were often cynical or sensual (also some
that were almost playful), the greatest strength and beauty of his work is to
be found in his spiritual and religious poems; he was also one of the most
eloquent ministers of his day. His volume Devotions (1624) reflects his intense
concern with death and damnation.
Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605 and 1615), Miguel de Cervantes This picaresque
and humorous romantic satire deals with the adventures of the elderly gentleman
Alonzo Quixano, whose mind has been filled with images of the age of chivalry.
He changes his name to Don Quixote and sets out to be a knight, putting on an
old suit of armor and mounting an ancient horse named Rosinante. Accompanied by
his servant, Sancho Panza, he undertakes many deeds of valor, all of them
colored by his fantasies and illusions. At the end, he retires from adventure
and begins to believe that chivalry is absurd.
Dos Passos, John (1896-1970) Born in Chicago, this American novelist and
essayist graduated from Harvard and served in World War I. His first important
work was Three Soldiers, a pacifist novel, but he gained acceptance as a major
novelist with the trilogy U.S.A. [The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), The
Big Money (1936)], a blend of stream of consciousness, narrative, newspaper
quotations, and biographies of the first thirty years of 20th-century America.
Dos Passos's politics changed from ardent Marxism to right-wing conservatism.
Dostoyevsky, Feodor (1821-1881) The Russian novelist had his first success
with Poor Folk (1845). Four years later he was arrested and sentenced to death
for attending the secret meetings of a group of radical utopians; however, his
sentence was commuted to penal servitude in Siberia, where he suffered great
physical and mental pain coupled with attacks of epilepsy. He returned to St.
Petersburg in 1859 to create masterpieces in world literature: Crime and
Punishment (1866), The Idiot (1864), and The Brothers Karamazov (1879-1880). A
writer with existential undertones, Dostoyevsky's work is particularly relevant
today because of his understanding of the complexities of the human mind and
conscience.
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (1859-1930) English author and the creator of Sherlock
Holmes, the brilliant theatrical detective who raised the craft of deductive
reasoning to the sublime. Holmes is a cult figure, with clubs all over the
world devoted to discussions of his expertise -- the most famous being the
Baker Street Irregulars. In later life, Doyle became a dedicated spiritualist
and wrote a history on the subject. He was knighted in 1902.
Drama Generally, a work written to be acted on the stage. Specifically, a play
of serious intent that, although it may deal with a problem, or problems, never
reaches the heights of tragedy.
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Dramatic monologue A type of lyrical poem or narrative piece that has a person
speaking to a select listener and revealing his character in a dramatic
situation. See, for example. many of the poems of Browning (who brought the
dramatic monologue to its highest level), and T.S. Eliot's "Love Song of J.
Alfred Prufrock."
Dreiser, Theodore (1871-1945) A major figure in American literature, Dreiser
is significant not only for his naturalistic works like Sister Carrie (1900)
and An American Tragedy (1925), but also because of the many battles he waged
against censorship and puritanism. The objection to many of his books was not
that they were obscene, but that vice is often rewarded while virtue is
punished. Born into a background of poverty, he was attracted to Communism, but
too conscious of its drawbacks to become a fervent devotee.
Dryden, John (1631-1700) From a Puritan family, this British poet, playwright,
and critic took a degree at Cambridge and, after the Restoration, was made poet
laureate and historiographer royal by Charles II. He wrote verse and drama, but
his criticism was most influential and earned him the reputation as literary
dictator of his time. His best work is An Essay of Dramatic Poesy (1668).
Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas pere) (1802-1870) French novelist and dramatist who
gave people of all ages The Three Musketeers (1844) and The Count of Monte
Cristo (1845), two historical novels (translated into all languages) that were
scorned by the critics of the day who preferred the talents of Dumas fils as a
playwright.
Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas fils) (1824-1895) Following his father, also a French
novelist and playwright, he was the key creator of the modern comedy of
manners. His most famous and important play, La Dame aux Camelias (1852; known
in English as Camille), was based on his novel of the same title, published in
1848. It was eventually made into an opera, Verdi's La Traviata, and a lovely
if moody film starring Greta Garbo.
Durrell, Lawrence (b. 1912) Born in India to an English father and an Irish
mother, he was sent to England to school at age 11. As an adult, this novelist
hopped about the Mediterranean from Corfu to Crete to Rhodes to Cyprus. His
best-known work is a tetralogy titled "The Alexandria Quartet" [Justine (1957),
Balthazar (1958), Montolive (1960), Clea (1960)], which won fame more for its
ornate language and the weirdly exotic atmospheres he created than for his
exploration and analysis of human emotion.
Eclogue Originally, a short poem, in the Renaissance it came to mean any verse
dialogue whose theme was pastoral. By the 18th century the term only referred
to a dialogue form of verse.
Elegy A long and formal poem meditating on the dead; often written to
commemorate the death of a particular person, such as Gray's "Elegy in a
Country Churchyard."
Eliot, George (Mary Ann Evans) (1819-1880) Considered the first of the modern
English novelists, she dared to lead an independent life in Victorian society,
living by her own standards and highly developed moral code. However, she
shocked that age by her long and happy liaison with G.H. Lewis. Eliot's works
are mostly bucolic in setting and her major characters are extremely
fascinating because of her psychological investigation of them. Middlemarch
(1872) is considered by some critics to be her masterwork, but others proclaim
the superiority of The Mill on the Floss (1860). Silas Marner (1861) is most
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familiar as compulsatory reading for many high-school students.
Eliot, T.S. (1888-1965) Claimed by both America and England, and often
regarded as the greatest 20th-century poet, Eliot was born in St. Louis,
Missouri and educated at Harvard and the Sorbonne. In 1915 he became an
expatriot, living in London and earning his living as a teacher, free-lance
writer, and editor. He published his first collection of poetry, Prufrock and
Other Observations (1917) and had his greatest success with The Waste Land
(1922). Eliot believed that writers must reach beyond their own social climate
and reflect the consciousness of all ages. To achieve these ends in his own
poetry he combines myth, literary allusion, and religious symbolism. In his
later works [Ash Wednesday (1930), The Four Quartets (1935-1942)] he turned
from the desolation of the spirit to a hopeful outlook concerning the
revitalization of man and his ultimate salvation. As a playwright Eliot
successfully attempted the rebirth of verse drama with such plays as Murder in
the Cathedral (1935) and The Cocktail Party (1950). He won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1948 and is considered one of the most influential poets in the
English language.
Ellison, Ralph (b. 1914) Born in Oklahoma City, this black American novelist
studied music at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama from 1933-36; he then went to
New York to study sculpture. After World War II, a fellowship enabled him to
devote himself to his only major work, Invisible Man (1952).
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882) This poet and essayist was the central figure
of American Transcendentalism. Born in Boston, the son of the pastor of the
First Church of Boston, Emerson attended Harvard, where because of poor health
he was a mediocre student. Later he taught school, and eventually went to
Germany to study for the ministry. Although Emerson found he had little
vocation, he still became a preacher, but soon gave up the pulpit, traveled in
Europe with Carlyle, Coleridge, and Wordsworth and, on his return, moved to
Concord, Massachusetts, where he began to write. His works expressed his ardent
belief in Nature's mystical unity and that man could find forgiveness within
his own soul.
End rhyme Rhymes occurring at the ends of lines of poetry, which is the usual
case.
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
Blake
Epic An extended narrative poem, written in an elevated style, recounting the
deeds of a legendary or actual hero. Some illustrious epics are Homer's The
Iliad and The Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, and Milton's Paradise Lost. Compare
Mock epic.
Epigram A short poem or statement, often satirical, dealing with a single
thought or event and often ending with a clever turn of phrase.
The greatest pleasure I know is to do a good action by stealth and to have
it found out by accident.
Charles Lamb
Epilogue A concluding section that completes the design of a literary work;
also a speech in early drama spoken by an actor addressing the audience at the
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conclusion of a play.
Epiphany Joyce began the use of this term to refer to "a sudden spiritual
manifestation;" an intuitive perception of the essential nature or meaning of
something; an instant grasp of reality through a sudden happening or event.
Epistolary novel A novel in which the story is carried forward entirely
through letters from one or more persons.
Epitaph Originally, a verse inscription on a gravestone, this term also is
used to mean a poem to commemorate the dead.
Epithalamium (or Epithalamion)
bridegroom.
A song or poem written to honor a bride and
Epithet A word or phrase used to characterize a person or thing; sometimes
used in conjunction with the object or person, at other times used in place of
the name or thing; for instance, Jack the Ripper, or rosy-fingered dawn.
Essay A prose composition, usually brief, dealing with a particular theme or
topic. Essays vary widely and may be descriptive, narrative, expository, or
argumentative.
Ethan Frome (1911), Edith Wharton This American novella concerns Ethan, a New
England farmer, married to Zenobia, who is a whining and domineering
hypochondriac. When Mattie Silver, his wife's pretty young cousin comes to work
for them, Ethan falls in love with her. But because their love is doomed,
Mattie compulsively persuades Ethan to commit suicide with her. However, the
sleighing accident that is to accomplish this fails and the two are left
crippled, more than ever in Zenobia's power.
Eugenie Grandet (1933), Honore de Balzac Eugenie, the daughter of a
psychopathic miser, is forced to lead a lonely life of self-deprivation. When
her penniless cousin Charles shows her some little kindnesses she gives him her
collection of gold pieces that she received, a coin at a time, on each
birthday. Swearing marriage and unending love, Charles leaves to seek his
fortune. In the intervening years, Eugenie's father dies, leaving her a wealthy
heiress, awaiting Charles. When he finally does write, it's to ask that he be
released from his promise and Eugenie resigns herself to solitude, her great
wealth meaning nothing to her because of the Spartan life she has led.
Euphemism The substitution of an innocuous or pleasant word or phrase for one
considered offensive or impolite: "passed away" for "died;" "in a family way"
for "pregnant."
Euphony A pleasing and harmonious combination of sounds. Euphonious phrases
avoid excessive alliteration and the stringing together of harsh consonants and
use instead combinations that are pleasing to the ear.
When in silks my Julia goes,
Then, then methinks how sweetly flows
The liquefaction of her clothes.
Herrick
Euripides (480-406 B.C.) Considered the last of the great Greek tragic
dramatists, he is the most modern because of his interest in human emotions.
His total output is unknown, but 18 of his works have survived, among them
Medea (431 B.C.) and The Trojan Women (415 B.C.). According to one legend, he
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studied with the philosophers Socrates and Protagoras, from whom his religious
skepticism was derived.
Everyman (ca. 1525) A morality play, as in medieval drama, written primarily
in rhyming couplets that tells the story of how God, dissatisfied with the
worldliness of His creatures, sends Death for Everyman, who has been forsaken
by the "characters" of Fellowship, Knowledge, Beauty, and Strength. Only Good
Deeds accompanies him when he goes to meet God's judgment. All earthly things
are thus proved to be vanity.
Existentialism Although writers of this school markedly differ in attitudes,
in general the Existentialism espoused by Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre
presupposes that one has free will and is therefore completely responsible for
one's actions. Most existentialists believe that one forms one's essential
being (or essence) by choosing a particular course and pattern in life.
Sartre's plays The Flies and No Exit broach the problem of human freedom and
responsibility; Camus's story The Fall explores the problem of man's guilt and
the extent of his freedom.
Exposition A tool the playwright uses to give the audience necessary
background information about characters, or events that don't take place on
stage. Shakespeare uses undisguised exposition by having a character address
the audience directly, but contemporary theater is usually more circumspect,
and expository scenes must be handled with great technical skill; information
is slipped in rather than blatantly presented.
Expressionism A literary movement of the early 20th century, found mostly in
drama, dedicated to revealing the depths of the human mind (after the
discoveries of Freud). Expressionist theater uses unreal atmospheres,
distortion, and oversimplification to depict external representations of
extreme psychological states. (Expressionism was also an important force in the
visual arts.)
Fable A brief tale in prose or poetry that emphasizes a moral and usually has
animals as the principal characters. Aesop's Fables, for example, or Joel
Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus Stories.
The Fairie Queene (1590, 1596), Edmund Spenser Originally intended to consist
of 12 books, this English work was left unfinished at the poet's death. It is
an allegorical epic, told in verse and based on a series of knightly exploits,
with the hero-knight of each adventure representing one of the cardinal virtues
described by Aristotle.
The Fall of the House of Usher (1840), Edgar Allan Poe This American short
story concerns a family and a mansion that have both declined and are near
disintegration. On a stormy night, Roderick Usher, the last of his line, dies
at the moment when the house is demolished by a whirlwind.
Fantasy Any work of literature that takes place in or involves a nonexistent
or unreal world, peopled by unusual, strange, or grotesque characters. Fairy
tales and Peter Pan are examples of fantasies. Also a type of prose made
especially popular in the serial novels of the 1980s.
Farce A type of low comedy with broad and obvious satire, humor, and much
physical action. Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors is almost entirely a farce.
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A Farewell to Arms (1929), Ernest Hemingway This American novel is the story
of an American lieutenant in the Italian ambulance corps during World War I. He
meets an English nurse and they begin a casual affair. However, when he is
wounded their relationship becomes more serious, and eventually they escape
together to the mountains of Switzerland, where they find happiness for a time.
But the nurse dies in childbirth, leaving her lover disillusioned and cynical.
The structure of this novel is one of classic tragedy, and in that respect it
has been compared to Romeo and Juliet.
Farrell, James T. (1904-1979) Born on Chicago's South Side, at the time a
brutal slum, Farrell attended Catholic high schools, the University of Chicago,
and De Paul University. The American novelist held a series of odd jobs,
including gas station attendant, retail store clerk, advertising salesman. He
achieved fame with the publication of the Studs Lonigan trilogy (1937). He also
did a series based on Danny O'Neill, a South Side boy who escapes the influence
of the slums.
Faulkner, William (1897-1962) Born in Mississippi to a distinguished family,
this American novelist and short-story writer had his first critical success
with The Sound and the Fury in 1929; however, the book did not sell well. Among
his other novels are As I Lay Dying (1930) and Sanctuary (1931). Faulkner, who
frequently employs stream-of-consciousness in his works, wrote in a beautiful
and brooding style of the decadence and anguish of the South since the Civil
War. He explores the disintegration of Southern society on all levels. In 1933
he made the first of several trips to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter and
won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.
Faust (1808 and 1831), Johann Wolfgang von Goethe This German drama is in two
parts. It is based on the medieval legend of a man who sold his soul to the
devil in return for the opportunity to experience all of life's pleasures.
Fielding, Henry (1707-1754) The author of the finest novel of the 18th
century, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling (1749), this English writer was
adept in his use of burlesque and comedy. He had a varied career as playwright,
novelist, political journalist, and magistrate.
Figurative language Language that is not meant to be taken literally; "figures
of speech" used by an author to clarify and intensify an image.
The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd
Lets in new light through chinks that time has made.
Edmund Waller
Fitzgerald, Edward (1809-1883) Born into a wealthy family, this English poet
attended Cambridge. After graduation, he learned to read Persian and, starting
in about 1857, he began a translation of some of the work of the 12th-century
Persian poet Omar Khayyam. Two years later, he published The Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam, which is as much an original poem as a translation, since he added
ideas from other Persian poets and some of his own. "The Rubaiyat" urges one to
take enjoyment in the pleasures of the moment and to disregard the future.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott (1896-1940) Considered the literary spokesman for
America's "Jazz Age" (the Lost Generation), a period from the close of World
War I to the stock-market crash of 1929. In 1920 he married Zelda Sayre, an
extravagant, creative woman who had battles with mental health for most of her
life. They lived abroad for a time and Fitzgerald ended up in Hollywood, where
he wrote screenplays. He died of a heart attack, aggravated by alcoholism. His
novels include This Side of Paradise (1920), The Great Gatsby (1925), and
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Tender is the Night (1934).
Flashback An interruption of the narrative flow in order to present scenes or
incidents that occurred prior to the beginning of the work.
Flaubert, Gustav (1821-1880) A French novelist who lived in near seclusion
because of a serious nervous illness, Flaubert published Madame Bovary (1856)
and was brought to trial on a charge of "immorality" because of the subject
matter in this novel. He was a scrupulous writer, spending much time evoking
the exact word (le mot juste) needed, and his objectivity is considered
unparalleled.
Foot
A unit of rhythm in poetry.
Foreshadowing A plot device that warns or prepares the reader for what will
eventually happen. Dickens frequently employed foreshadowing in his lengthy
serialized novels to give an indication of the exciting events that would take
place in episodes to follow. In this way, foreshadowing was a "cliff-hanger"
device; however, Shakespeare often used it as the portent of doom to come (see
the opening scene from Macbeth, where the witches stir up prophecies).
Forster, E.M. (Edward Morgan) (1879-1970) A British novelist, his works are
concerned with the unenlightened emotional attitudes of the English middle
class. A Passage to India (1924) is considered by many critics to be his
outstanding work. After World War I, Forster virtually abandoned the novel and
pursued critical studies and essays on literature instead. Shortly after his
death in 1970 a novel about homosexuality, Maurice, was published. It was
Forster's stipulation that this work be issued posthumously.
France, Anatole (Jacques Anatole Thibault) (1844-1924) The best-known French
man of letters of his time, his work ranges from poems to novels, and his style
underwent an equal variety of changes from sentimentality through political
satire. His best-known work is Penguin Island (1908). France was elected to the
French Academy in 1896 and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1921.
Franklin, Benjamin (1706-1790) One of America's Founding Fathers. The
fifteenth of his father's seventeen children, he was apprenticed to his older
brother, a printer, but fled to Philadelphia and eventually to England, where
he lived for two years. On his return, he began a remarkable career as a
writer, publisher, scientist, inventor, and politician, and played a major role
in the writing of the Constitution. His best-known literary work is Poor
Richard's Almanac (1732-57), and he also composed a disorganized Autobiography
(complete version 1868).
Free verse A verse form without regular meter, which takes its poetic language
from the cadence of stressed and unstressed syllables and the rhythms that
exist in everyday speech. Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is an excellent
example of free verse.
Freneau, Phillp (1752-1832) Often referred to as the earliest important
American lyric poet, Freneau's early works were clearly imitative of British
models. However, in 1781 after he had served as a prisoner of war during the
American Revolution, he began to write as a propagandist and satirist of
Jeffersonian Democracy. He is known today both for his poetry and his political
characterizations.
The Frogs (405 B.C.), Aristophanes
This Greek comedy is principally an attack
28
on the dramatist Euripides, whom the author compares unfavorably with
Aeschylus. The god Dionysus goes to Hades, from which he is to bring back the
best tragic dramatist. After a sort of literary contest, he decides on the
older, more conservative playwright, Aeschylus.
Frost, Robert (1875-1963) Although regarded as the archetypal New England
poet, Frost was born in San Francisco. He was taken to Massachusetts when still
a boy, attended both Dartmouth and Harvard, and then worked as a mill hand,
teacher, and farmer. He went to England in 1912 and his first poetry was
published there. Among his most famous poems are "Birches," "The Death of the
Hired Man," and "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." By the time of his
death he was regarded by some critics as America's most illustrious poet.
Fry, Christopher (b. 1907) Fry the playwright is virtually indistinguishable
from Fry the poet. This English dramatist made two important contributions to
20th-century theater. He helped alleviate it from its slump into social
preoccupation and he restored to drama something of the scintillating language
of the Elizabethan stage. The Lady's Not for Burning (1949) is one of his most
famous plays.
Gallows humor
See Black humor.
Galsworthy, John (1867-1933) Concerned with the life of well-to-do people and
the decline of the upper class, this British author wrote both novels and plays
on that subject. His masterpiece is considered to be the Forsyte Saga, which
began with The Man of Property (1906) and concluded with End of the Chapter
(1934). As a dramatist his best-known works are Justice (1910) and Loyalties
(1922). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.
Garcia Lorca, Federico (1899-1936) Lorca was a Spanish poet who turned to the
stage to secure a wider audience. His themes are those common to the greatest
Spanish literature: blood and pain, passionate and sensual love, fertility and
barrenness, pomp and hypocrisy. He spent time in both the United States and
Latin America before he was shot by the Franco forces in the Spanish Civil War.
His best-known works are the plays Blood Wedding (1933) and The House of
Bernarda Alba (1936).
Gargantua and Pantagruel (1532-1562), Francois Rabelais This mock-heroic
chronicle tells of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel, also a giant,
both known for their enormous appetites for food and drink. The adventures of
father and son, in war and peace and at the table, are the subject of this
world masterpiece, a collection of familiar legends (both serious and humorous)
on education, philosophy, and politics.
Garland, Hamlin (1860-1940) Born in a log cabin near Salem, Wisconsin, Hamlin
was one of the first American novelists to treat regional material
realistically and without romanticizing. His best-known work is A Son of the
Middle Border (1917); his A Daughter of the Middle Border (1922) won a Pulitzer
Prize.
Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn (1810-1865) The wife of a cleric in Manchester,
this English novelist was well acquainted with the appalling conditions in
industrial England. Her Mary Barton (1848), about the wretchedness and
starvation among mill workers, brought her to the attention of Charles Dickens,
who aided her career. Her best-known work is Cranford (1851-53).
Genet, Jean (1910-1986)
A French dramatist who spent his formative years
29
unsuccessfully avoiding reformatories and prisons. In 1948, through the efforts
of Sartre, Gide, and Cocteau, he was pardoned from a sentence of life
imprisonment. Genet, an outspoken homosexual, presents characters out of the
seamier side of life, and his dramas are enactments of revolt against
everything that leaves man subservient and helplessly alone. Flowers (1945) is
one of his autobiographical works, and two of his best-known plays are The
Balcony (1957) and The Blacks (1959).
Genre A type or classification of literary work. Until recently writers were
expected to adhere to the established rules of the genre in which they were
working, but modern eclecticism has broken down this tradition.
Gide, Andre (1869-1951) The son of a Protestant father and a Catholic mother,
this novelist and leader of French liberal thought was raised in an upper
-middle-class home. His work is difficult to categorize because he moved from
symbolism to a complete hedonism to asceticism and for some time he flirted
with Communism. His chief works are The Counterfeiters (1926) and Strait Is the
Gate (1909).
"The Gift of the Magi" (1906), O. Henry One of the short stories in The Four
Million, this is the tale of a poor young American couple, Jim and Della, who
have only two treasures: Della's beautiful long hair and Jim's gold watch. For
Christmas, Della sells her hair to buy a chain for his watch and he sells his
watch to buy her a comb for her hair. But both have "the gift of the Magi," the
sacrifice of love.
Giraudoux, Jean (1882-1944) A lifelong pacifist and an enemy of Nationalism,
it is ironical that this French novelist and dramatist should have died at the
hands of the Germans. He felt that few ideals are worth a war and that crusades
usually cause more misery than happiness. His most famous works are the highly
imaginative and impressionistic plays The Madwoman of Chaillot (1945) and Tiger
at the Gates (1955).
Glasgow, Ellen (1874-1945) Born in Richmond, Virginia, this American novelist
was a sickly child and was unable to attend school. Largely self-educated, her
most critically acclaimed novel was Barren Ground (1925). In her works, Glasgow
attempted to reject the Southern ideals of chivalry and male supremacy and to
present the emergence of a strong and dominating middle class. Her other works
include Vein of Iron (1935) and In This Our Life (1941), for which she received
the Pulitzer Prize.
The Glass Menagerie (1945), Tennessee Williams The beautifully lyrical story
of Amanda Wingfield, a personification of fading Southern gentility, her
daughter Laura, who lives in a world of illusion, to which she escapes through
her menagerie of glass animals, and, incidentally, her son Tom, the narrator of
the play and the catalyst who brings the "gentleman caller" into Laura's life.
Gloss An explanation in the margin or between the lines of difficult works to
explain obscure meanings by substituting a familiar word or phrase for an
obscure one. The famous marginal gloss in Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner, which summarizes almost the entire story, begins "An ancient Mariner
meeteth three Gallants bidden to a wedding feast, and detaineth one."
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (l749-1832) Considered Germany's greatest literary
figure, he began his career in the so-called Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress)
period. He is esteemed for his many lyric poems, his enormously influential
novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), read throughout Europe, and his
30
masterwork, the drama Faust (1808 and 1831).
Gogol, Nikolai (1809-1852) Early in his career, this first important Russian
novelist and dramatist was a romantic, but he turned to Realism with such works
as the novel Dead Souls (1842), considered to be the finest comic work in
Russian literature. He also wrote the satirical drama The Inspector-General
(1836).
Golding, William (b. 1911) The son of a headmaster, this English novelist
attended Oxford and then became a teacher. In the late 1930s he did some
writing, acting, and producing for a London theater and then served in the
British navy in World War II. His primary literary exploration deals with the
eternal nature of man. This original author's best-known work is Lord of the
Flies (1954), an allegorical novel. His other works include The Inheritors
(1955) and Pincher Martin (1956). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1983.
Goldsmith, Oliver (1730-1774) One of the most versatile literary men of his
time, he was the author of essays, the poem The Deserted Village (1770), the
novel The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), and the highly successful comedy She
Stoops to Conquer (1771).
The Good Earth (l93l), Pearl S. Buck A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel depicting
the lives of Wang Lung, a hard-working Chinese peasant, and his wife O-lan,
both passionately attached to the soil and struggling to raise themselves from
the poverty of their class. At the end of the book Wang Lung, now widowed,
exhorts his sons never to relinquish the land, but they are from a different
age and have already planned how they will use the money they will receive from
the sale of their inheritance.
"A Good Man Is Hard To Find," Flannery O'Connor The most frequently
anthologized of her short stories (also appears in a collection with the same
title), it tells of the almost casual murder of a family by an escaped criminal
called Misfit. The horror here lies in the everyday language and feeling
O'Connor creates, contrasted with the bloody deeds being carried on "off
-stage," out of the eye of the reader.
Gorky, Maxim (1868-1936) The only major writer of Russia's pre-Revolutionary
period who remained popular under the Soviet regime, Gorky was the first
Russian writer to find philosophers and poets in the factory and the
boardinghouse. In his works he stresses the eternal kinship of all humanity,
even the most wretched and rejected. His best-known work is the drama The Lower
Depths (1902).
Gothic novel A type of novel, first popularized in the late 18th century by
Horace Walpole [Castle of Otranto (1764)]. The gothic novel is characterized by
thrill-provoking and supernatural events, often taking place in a Medieval
castle. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1817), although having a more serious
theme, is an excellent example of gothic literature, as are the works of the
Bronte sisters in Victorian England. In contemporary life "gothics" have come
to mean women's romances in the style of Mary Stewart or Phyllis Whitney, where
the dark and brooding lord of the manor becomes, at the end of the tale, the
charming and delightful lover who sweeps the unprotesting, love-besotted
heroine off her feet.
Grand guignol Refers to dramatic theater where the action of the play and its
characters is gruesome and macabre. Originally, the name of an 18th-century
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puppet who in turn lent his name to a theater in the Montmartre section of
Paris.
The Grapes of Wrath (1939), John Steinbeck This American novel concerns the
Joad family, itinerant farmers, "Oakies" of the dust bowl during the
Depression, lured to California by leaflets promising well-paying jobs. On
arrival, they find little work, but much violence and labor strife. Tom, the
son, is involved in a murder and becomes a fanatic labor agitator. The most
famous scene in this Pulitzer Prize-winning book is the final one, involving
the beautifully depicted Rose of Sharon, who is Tom's daughter-in-law. It is
this scene (plus some shocking dialogue) that created Steinbeck's fame.
Grass, Gunter (b. 1927) Grass was born in Danzig, then a German city, now a
part of Poland. He was forced into the Hitler Youth, drafted into the Luftwaffe
at age 16, subsequently taken prisoner, and then released in 1946. He began a
career as a painter and sculptor and wrote a number of plays before he turned
to the novel with The Tin Drum (1959), which had a major success. Other
important works of this off-beat and often bizarre author include the novella
Cat and Mouse (1961) and Dog Years (1963).
Graveyard school of poetry A school of mid-18th-century poets in whose works
melancholy and sullen doom prevail. Gray's churchyard elegy is an excellent
example of this type of poetry.
Gray, Thomas (1716-1771) After studying at Cambridge this English author
published his first volume, Six Poems (1753). He was offered the post of poet
laureate in 1757, but being a loner who sought seclusion, he declined it. In
1768 he was named professor of history and modern languages at Cambridge and
continued to write poetry, but not in quantity. His most famous poem is "The
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1750). Gray illustrates the move in
English poetry from Classicism to Romanticism.
The Great Gatsby (1925), F. Scott Fitzgerald This American novel is a study of
a nouveau riche Long Islander who has made his fortune by various shady means
and who eventually is killed. It is an examination of success and its poisoning
effect on character as well as a picture of the manners of the Long Island (New
York) rich during the 1920s.
Greek tragedy This drama form is built in the following way. (a) Prologue: to
introduce the play, (b) Parodus: during which the chorus enters and tells the
story of the play or provides foreshadowing, (c) Episodes: the action of the
drama, (d) Exodos: the ending -- it is in this part of the tragedy that the
deus ex machina, if one is to be used, appears.
Greene, Graham (1904-1991) Born the son of a headmaster, this English novelist
attended his father's school and then Oxford. He became a convert to Roman
Catholicism in 1926 and that religion played a major role in almost all of his
serious novels after that time. His best work of fiction is considered to be
The Power and the Glory (1940) and he also wrote what he termed
"entertainments," of which Brighton Rock (1938) and The Third Man (l950) are
the best. Much of Greene's work is a combination of psychological insight and
the spy or detective thriller, although the recurrent themes are almost always
of sin and salvation.
Gulliver's Travels (1726), Jonathan Swift This English political and social
satire is a savage picture of humankind written in four books. The first
concerns the voyage to Lilliput, the land of tiny people; the second, the
32
voyage to Brobdingnag, the land of giants; the third, the voyage to Laputa, the
land of philosophers; the fourth, the voyage to the country of the Houyhnhnms.
Haiku A Japanese form of unrhymed poetry that seeks through bare imagery to
create one acutely perceived moment. Although there is no formal structure to
haiku, most poems of this type are in three lines, with from five to seven
syllables per line.
Lightning in the sky!
In the deeper dark is heard
A night-heron's call.
Basho
Haley, Alex Palmer (1921-1992) Born in Tennessee, this autobiographical writer
began his career as chief journalist in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1949 to 1959.
Best known as the 1977 Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Roots: The Saga of an
American Family, the genealogical account of his ancestors from Africa to this
country, Haley also assisted in writing The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Hamlet (1600-1602), William Shakespeare This English drama is acclaimed as one
of the poet's four great tragedies. Hamlet, prince of Denmark, is obsessed with
avenging the death of his father, slain by his uncle Claudius, now married to
Gertrude, Hamlet's mother. Eventually Hamlet does kill Claudius, but the end of
the play brings the death of Gertrude and Hamlet too. The character of Hamlet
has brought analyses from such important theorists as Goethe and Freud.
Hardy, Thomas (1840-1928) The last of England's great Victorian novelists
began and ended his career as a poet, but is best remembered for his fiction.
Far from the Madding Crowd (1824) brought him fame as a novelist, but he
reached his highest stature with such works as The Return of the Native (1878),
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895), all of which met
with violent disapproval because of their supposed indecency and immorality.
Hardy's works are set in the gloomy, sullen landscape of Wessex. He used the
combination of characters and place to depict man's constant battle against the
forces of nature -- his own and those in the external world.
Harte, Bret (1836-1902) American Western writer of humorous verse, comic
ballads, and short stories who had a keen eye and a journalistic style.
Although his stories frequently lacked depth, he cannot be criticized because
he sought more to entertain than to soul search. Two of his most famous tales,
"The Outcasts of Poker Flat" and "The Luck of Roaring Camp" appear in most
American literature anthologies.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1804-1864) Born in Salem, Massachusetts, this moralistic
American novelist and short-story writer used as his themes the hidden
sinfulness of mankind and the horror of isolation from God and man. His best
-known works are The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables
(1851), both of which are steeped in the atmosphere of Puritan New England and
are an exploration of the dark psychological effects such a setting can
produce.
Hazlitt, William (1778-1830) Born the son of a Unitarian minister in England,
he became a master of the familiar essay, writing on politics, philosophy, the
fine arts, and daily life. He was the most important literary critic of his
time, especially in the field of the drama.
Hedda Gabler (1890), Henrik Ibsen
This Norwegian drama presents a controlling
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and manipulative woman married to Tesman, a colorless, ineffective man. Her
husband's rival has written an outstanding book, which may cause Tesman to lose
his appointment for a history professorship. Hedda, who has always yearned to
mold a destiny, burns the manuscript and eventually encourages its author to
commit suicide. Threatened with exposure, Hedda shoots and kills herself.
Hellman, Lillian (1905-1984) This New Orleans native, playwright, and
autobiographer, wrote The Children's Hour (1934), a controversial play that
created a great sensation because of its homosexual implications. Even more
successful was her drama The Little Foxes (1939). Hellman's long time love
affair with novelist Dashiell Hammett, her testifying before the House
Committee on Un-American Activities (always a leftist, she denied being a
Communist Party member, but refused to discuss her associates in left-wing
causes), and her eventual life are all discussed in her autobiographical
trilogy: Pentimento (1973), An Unfinished Woman (1974), and Scoundrel Time
(1976).
Hemingway, Ernest (1899-1961) Born near Chicago, the son of a physician, this
American novelist and short-story writer worked briefly as a journalist. During
World War I he served as an ambulance driver in Italy, where he was severely
wounded. Returning to America, he became a newspaperman again, but in 1921 left
for Paris. As an American expatriate, he was considered a representative of the
"Lost Generation." His novels include The Sun Also Rises (1926), A Farewell to
Arms (1929), and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Hemingway's style is hard and
tense, and his themes are much concerned with virility, courage, and man's
challenge with both life and death. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1954 and committed suicide in 1961.
Henry, O. (William Sydney Porter) (1862-1918) Often considered to be the
father of the American short story, O. Henry was a master of the surprise
ending, which he achieved by withholding an important piece of information from
the reader. His tales are based almost entirely on plot; mood and character are
of incidental importance. It is often as if he took an anecdote and extended it
with skill, irony, and humor. Some of his best and most anthologized stories
are "The Gift of the Magi" (1906) and "The Ransom of Red Chief" (1910);
Cabbages and Kings (1904) and The Four Million (1906) are two of his important
collections.
Hero In myth and early literature, a character filled with courage and
idealism. Often a favorite of the gods and sometimes partly divine himself, the
hero worked as a symbol of man overcoming threatening obstacles in an angry
world; he was also the image of the societal values and morals of his time.
Through the years the concept of the hero has changed, and in the 20th century
we have the antihero, lacking the traditional qualities of his predecessor and
frequently depicted as a foolish, sad, often antisocial figure.
Heroic couplet A pair of rhymed lines written in iambic pentameter.
One science only will one genius fit;
So vast is art, so narrow human wit.
Pope
Herrick, Robert (1591-1674) One of the most gifted of the English Cavalier
poets (those who sided with the king against the Puritans), he was educated at
Cambridge. His most famous poem is "To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time"
(1648), with its often-quoted line, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."
Hesse, Hermann (1877-1962)
Born in Germany, he settled in Switzerland in 1912
34
and became a citizen of that country. Much of his work deals with the subject
of the estranged and lonely artist in the contemporary world, who struggles
against a materialistic society to reach an aesthetic ideal. His lyric prose
novels fall loosely into two categories: the psychoanalytic novel and the novel
of intellectual symbolism. His best-known works are Siddhartha (1922),
Steppenwolf (1927), and Magister Ludi (1943). In 1946 he won the Nobel Prize
for Literature.
Hexameter In Classical Latin and Greek poetry, an elaborately patterned,
rhythmic line; now merely a line of poetry with six metrical feet. Alexandrines
are hexameter lines.
Not fit for speedy pace, or manly exercise.
Spenser
Historicism A type of literary criticism
in which a work was produced and attempts
and cultural forces on that work. Another
ascertain the applicability of a literary
readers.
that examines the historical context
to determine the influence of social
form of historicism attempts to
work of the past to present-day
Holmes, Oliver Wendell (1809-1894) Until Holmes was almost 50, he worked as a
physician and Harvard professor. His fame as a writer began when he published
The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (1857). He was also esteemed for his light
poetry, and was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (U.S. Supreme Court
Justice), and the author of many works on jurisprudence.
Holograph An original manuscript of a piece of literature, valued greatly by
scholars in their pursuit of the development of a work.
Homer (10th-9th century B.C.) The earliest Greek writer whose works have
survived, he was the author of the two major epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey,
both about events connected with the Trojan War. According to one legend, Homer
was blind and was thus an inheritor of the tradition of the oral transmission
of poetry characteristic of primitive societies.
Hopkins, Gerard Manley (1844-1889) While a student at Oxford, this English
poet became a Roman Catholic and joined the Jesuit order. When he became a
priest, he burned much of his early passionate lyric poetry and determined not
to write again, a promise he couldn't keep. Hopkins turned his poetic voice to
the glorification of God in such beautiful lines as "Glory be to God for
dappled things/For skies of coupled color like a brinded cow," from "God's
Grandeur." He was constantly at war with himself both as a poet and as a man
unable to give himself completely to God, and he refused to have his poetry
published during his lifetime. Today he is considered one of the most modern
and influential poets of the 19th century, largely for the beauty created by
his glorified imagery.
Horace (65-8 B.C.) The foremost Roman lyric poet studied in Rome as a youth
and, after serving in the military, supported himself as a clerk. He was given
a farm by a wealthy patron of the arts, and was primarily the author of Odes,
Epodes, and Satires.
The House of Bernarda Alba (1936), Federico Garcia Lorca It should be noted
that in Spanish the title of this play, La Casa de Bernarda Alba, is filled
with the letter -a-, the feminine ending in that language. It is the study of a
house full of women controlled by the forceful female who tyrannizes over her
mother and daughters, denying the one of marriageable age the right to see
35
suitors and trying to marry off an older, less attractive girl. Eventually the
younger girl kills herself, but Bernarda is unmoved.
Houseman, Alfred Edward (1859-1936) Educated at Oxford, this English poet was
one of the finest classical scholars of his time. His poetry is distinctive for
his combination of humor and sadness, his main theme being the passing of
youth. A Shropshire Lad (1896) is the more famous of his two volumes of verse,
including such well-known poems as "When I was One and Twenty."
Howells, William Dean (1837-1920) Born in Ohio, the son of a printer, this
American author worked as a typesetter and printer as a youth before he began
writing poetry. He went to Boston and became editor of The Atlantic Monthly
when his novels began to appear, the best-known being The Rise of Silas Lapham
(1884) and Through the Eye of the Needle (1907).
Hubris (also spelled Hybris) A Greek term that denotes the excessive pride
leading to the downfall of the hero in a tragic drama. For example, Macbeth's
pride and excessive ambition, which led to calamitous results, and Doctor
Faustus, whose pride led him to sell his soul to the devil in exchange for
power and magical knowledge.
Hughes, Langston (1902-1967) This black American author of poetry, short
stories, plays, an autobiography, novels, and translations was a native of
Missouri who eventually moved to Harlem, New York, which became his home base.
His writing is characterized by his use of dialect and his cadence is often
expressed in the rhythms of jazz.
Hughes, Ted (b. 1930) British poet who spent a considerable amount of time in
the United States, Hughes was once married to Sylvia Plath. He was recently
made poet laureate of Great Britain.
Hugo, Victor (1802-1885) This illustrious member of the French Academy, son of
a general in Napoleon's army, wrote poetry, drama, and novels, but his most
enduring works are fiction, particularly The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and
Les Miserables (1862). He was the most important writer of the French Romantic
school and also won fame as a political speaker and writer. Hugo spent the
years from 1851-1870 in exile because of his political views, but returned
triumphantly to France to be greeted as a national hero. He continued his
career as a writer whose style was expressed with vigor and beauty until his
death in 1885.
Humours Descriptive of "moods" that appear frequently in the plays of Jonson
and Shakespeare, this concept of bodily fluids affecting man's physical and
mental attitudes dates back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. When the
fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) were balanced, a person's
temperament would be ideal, but an excess of one and/or the dearth of another
could produce unpleasant results.
Excess
Personality
Characteristics
Blood
Sanguine
ecstatic, highly loving
Phlegm
Phlegmatic
intellectual, dull, frightened, unresponsive
Yellow Bile
Choleric
obstinate, filled with rage and vengeance
Black Bile
Melancholic
gloomy, sad, brooding
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831), Victor Hugo This French novel tells of the
hideously ugly hunchback Quasimodo and his unrequited love for Esmerelda, a
Gypsy dancer. She is eventually hanged as a witch, and united in death with the
hunchback. Hugo is saying that spiritual goodness may be found even in the
36
ugliest human being.
Huxley, Aldous (1894-1963) Born into a distinguished British literary and
scientific family, he was educated at Oxford. At 18 he almost became blind and
had visual problems for the rest of his life. His first successful novel was
Crome Yellow (1921). In 1938 he established himself in America and made that
his headquarters for the rest of his life. His best-known novel is Brave New
World (1932). Many of his books are biting critiques of a decadent society, and
it is often through humor that he reflects his cynicism and disillusionment. In
his late works [for example, Brave New World Revisited (1958)] Huxley delved
into Mysticism and Eastern philosophy.
Hyperbole A figure of speech. A deliberate exaggeration, usually to stress a
point, as in "that's as funny as a crutch."
Iambic A metrical foot that has two syllables, with the accent or stress on
the second. The term is used in conjunction with another word to denote the
rhythm and number of stressed syllables in a line of poetry: e.g., iambic
pentameter (five iambic feet).
Ibsen, Henrik (1828-1906) The father of modern realistic drama (today highly
esteemed as a feminist playwright), this Norwegian playwright had little
success with his early works. It was not until he became a voluntary exile in
1864, spending 27 years in Rome, Dresden, and Munich, that he became a
successful playwright. His best-known works are the realistic plays A Doll's
House (1879) and Hedda Gabler (1890) and the symbolic The Master Builder
(1892). Ibsen was far ahead of his time in writing plays about truths that his
society did not wish to acknowledge. He found his greatest success in creating
the "new" 19th-century woman [See Hedda Gabler (1890)], who struggled against
the roles she was forced to assume.
Idyll A short lyrical poem that takes as its setting a scene of pastoral or
rural life. Sometimes referred to as pastoral poetry; see Marlow's "The
Passionate Shepherd to His Love."
Idylls of the King (1859-1888), Alfred Tennyson A series of verse tales about
the illustrious King Arthur, the adventures of Lancelot, and the Knights of the
Round Table, the fabled Camelot with its Queen Guinevere, and the ultimate
destruction and corruption that brought about the failure of a dream.
The Iliad, Homer The earliest work of Greek literature that has survived
intact, this epic poem deals with an episode in the tenth year of the Trojan
War. The subject is stated in the beginning of the poem: the wrath of Achilles,
whose friend Patroclus is killed and who in turn slays the Trojan hero Hector.
Illusion The necessary intellectual deception played on a reader or an
audience by the talents of an author who convinces his audience that the make
-believe is real, or at least appears to be so through the length of a book, or
the unfolding of a play. See Suspension of disbelief.
Imagery Descriptive language used to create pictures in the mind of the reader
or to evoke various emotions.
Imagists A group of American poets (e.g., Sandburg, Williams, Pound) prominent
from 1909-1918 and dedicated to producing poems employing the language of
common speech, new rhythms, new subject matter, and strong concrete imagery.
37
Imitation A concept of art that originated with Aristotle's dictum that art
imitates nature. The term also refers to the practice -- acceptable in the
Greek and Roman schools of rhetoric -- of learning composition by imitating
literary models.
The Importance of Being Earnest (1865), Oscar Wilde An extremely clever
comedy, filled with wit and paradox; one of the few 19th-century plays to be
preserved as a classic, bringing as much delight today as it did over a hundred
years ago. "Earnest" is a complex verbal network of relationships and
misunderstandings, a true comedy of manners.
In Cold Blood (1966), Truman Capote A nonfiction novel that brought a new
dimension to the modern genre as Capote revealed the mythic significance of
facts by simply stating them and allowing the reader to understand that, as
Thoreau wrote "Reality is fabulous." The work of a "literary photographer," who
is the opposite of the subjective novelist. Here the eye of the camera (Capote)
is open and quite passive. The novel relates the story of two men who brutally
murder a family in the American Midwest.
Interior monologue A technique used in the writing of a novel or short story
to record the inner thoughts and emotional responses of a character; also
called stream of consciousness, it is used frequently in Virginia Woolf's
novels and in the Molly Bloom section of James Joyce's Ulysses.
The Invisible Man (1952), Ralph Ellison An American novel that owes some of
its inspiration to Dostoevsky and the existentialists in the way in which it
deals with a man alienated from his society.
Invocation Occurs at the beginning of an epic poem, usually as an appeal to
one of the muses, when the poet wishes to elicit divine assistance for his
work.
Ionesco, Eugene (b.1912) Considered to be the supreme representative of the
Theater of the Absurd, his plays combine a surrealistic technique with a
clarity of language and thought to create a picture of man standing on the edge
of the abyss. He is best known for Rhinoceros (1959) and The Bald Soprano
(1948).
Irony A figure of speech used as a literary device in which the meaning stated
is contrary to the one intended. In drama, irony is perceived by an audience
when a character makes statements not fully understood by himself. In
Shakespeare's Othello, Act III, scene iii, the audience knows that Iago is
about to deceive the hero in a terrible way, but Othello says of Iago: "I know
thou'rt full of love and honesty."
Irving, Washington (1783-1859) The first American writer to gain a literary
reputation in Europe, this novelist, short-story writer, and essayist was also
the first American to make his living as a writer. Using the nom de plume
Diedrich Knickerbocker, in 1809 he published A History of New York, a satire
acclaimed as the greatest comic work written by an American. His most famous
and popular work was The Sketch Book (1820), containing the stories "Rip Van
Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Isherwood, Christopher (1904-1986) This English novelist's Berlin Stories
(1946) beautifully recounted the political unrest and the decadence of Germany
during the rise of Nazism. One of Isherwood's great concerns was for the
intellectual in an oppressive society. His characters (note Sally Bowles in
38
Berlin Stories) are always both eccentric and charming.
Italian sonnet Also called Petrarchan, this type of sonnet is divided into an
octave, which always rhymes abbaabba, and a sestet, which usually rhymes
cdecde.
“On His Blindness”
When I consider how my light is spent
(a)
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
(b)
And that one talent which is death to hide
(b)
Lodged with me useless,
though my soul more bent
(a)
To serve there with my Maker, and present
(a)
My true account, lest He returning chide,
(b)
"Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"
(b)
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
(a)
That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need
(c)
Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best (d)
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best.
His state
(e)
Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
(c)
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
(d)
They also serve who only stand and wait."
(e)
Milton
Jabberwocky A word taken from a poem by Lewis Carroll and extended to mean any
part of writing or speech that is not intelligible. 'Twas brillig, and the
slithy toves/Did gyre and gimble in the wabe."
James, Henry (1843-1916) Born the son of a theological writer and the brother
of the noted philosopher William James, this American novelist and short-story
writer grew up in wealth and began writing in the 1860s when he moved to
London. James believed that things European were, in general, finer than things
American, although he admired the honesty, directness, and energy that was
typically American. His work falls into three periods: the realistic stage, the
stage of "psychological realism," and the experimental stage. His best-known
works are The Europeans (1878), Washington Square (1881), The Portrait of a
Lady (1881), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Turn of the Screw (1898).
Jane Eyre (1847), Charlotte Bronte A gothic Victorian novel in which Jane
Eyre, a young governess, is in love with her employer, the dark and brooding
character of Rochester. Mrs. Rochester the mad wife, almost literally holds
sway above her husband in the attic rooms of the gloomy mansion, and so the
story unfolds, with elements of fear, mystery, and romance.
Jargon A term usually used negatively to describe corporate or trade language,
etc., filled with technical, lofty, often obscure terminology; e.g.,
"computerese" terms such as "interface."
Jeffers, Robinson (1887-1962) Born in Pittsburgh, this American poet went to
California and was attracted to the Monterey Peninsula; much of his work
centers on that region. He was deeply influenced by Freudian and Jungian
psychology and had a strong interest in Greek classic theater. One of his most
popular works was an adaptation of Euripides' Medea (1947).
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784) The literary dictator of his time, this eccentric
English novelist and essayist (reputed to have atrocious manners and a
39
deplorable appearance) worked as a literary hack until he was finally able to
publish his Dictionary of the English Language (1755). In 1763, he met James
Boswell, who became his disciple and who was to become his brilliant
biographer. His last great literary work was The Lives of the Poets (1779
-1781), ten small volumes of subjective but valuable criticism.
Jonson, Ben (1573-1637) Born into poverty, this British author became a
bricklayer, managed to study at Cambridge, fought with the army in France, and
eventually became a playwright. He was a favorite of King James I and provided
many entertainments for the court. Jonson loved to depict the London of his
time with a satirical eye; this talent can be witnessed in two of his best
works, Volpone, or the Fox (1606) and The Alchemist (1610).
Journalese Style once associated with newspaper writing, marked by trite
phrases and affectations.
Joyce, James (1882-1941) Born in Dublin, this Irish novelist and playwright
was destined for the priesthood, but rebelled against everything connected with
his environment and spent his life in self-imposed exile on the Continent. He
lived in poverty and suffered from near blindness while he worked on his
masterpieces, facing rejection after rejection (because of obscenity charges)
before he was able to have his masterpiece Ulysses published in Paris in 1922.
Its publication was banned in the United States until 1933. Among various
literary techniques, this work heavily uses stream of consciousness and the
interior monologue, methods extended and elaborated on in Finnegan's Wake
(1939). Both works require scholarly study if they are to be appreciated in
their totalities. The more accessible works of Joyce are The Dubliners (1914)
and Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man (1916).
The Jungle (1906), Upton Sinclair Said the author of this American novel, "I
aimed at the public's heart and hit it on the stomach." It is the story of
Jurgis Rukhus, a Lithuanian immigrant who goes to work in a Chicago packing
house, where sanitation is all but unknown. Losing his job, he becomes a
vagabond and petty criminal, but sees a way out when he attends a socialist
meeting. Sinclair's description of methods used in the meat-packing houses was
instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act.
Juno and the Paycock (1924), Sean O'Casey A play that concerns the Irish civil
riots against Great Britain; a poetic tragicomedy that follows the decline and
eventual disintegration of the Boyle family in the Dublin slums of 1922.
Juxtaposition In strict definition, the act of placing two or more things
(words, images, phrases) side by side. In literary tradition, it is the unusual
effects created by linking unlike subjects. Pope was the master of
juxtaposition.
Kafka, Franz (1883-1924) Born in Prague to an unusually strong father who
exercised an influence over him all his life, he took a degree in law before
his health began to deteriorate; by 1916 he was diagnosed as tubercular. Kafka
destroyed much of what he had written during his lifetime although he did
publish The Metamorphosis (1915), and asked his friend Max Brod to burn the
rest after his death. Brod ignored this wish and, among the works that
survived, the best known are the novels The Trial (1925) and The Castle (1926).
His prose presents a world that is both real and surreal in which man's
feelings of guilt and isolation deny him personal salvation.
Kazantzakis, Nikos (1883-1957)
A Greek author born in Crete, who studied law
40
and philosophy, Kazantzakis was intensely religious. He was a poet, dramatist,
and novelist whose dual nature is reflected in his battle between the sensual
and the ascetic. Zorba the Greek (1953), popularized in the United States by
the novel, stage play, and film, is an example of his exuberant affirmation of
life.
Keats, John (1795-1821) Born in London, this great English Romantic poet was
an orphan by age 13. His guardians removed him from school and apprenticed him
to a surgeon, with whom he studied for five years until he decided to give up
surgery to write poetry. His work is filled with lyric beauty and sensuous
imagery and, despite personal unhappiness, a sense of joy and an uplifting
recreation of beauty. Keats's great love for Fanny Browne was interrupted by
his failing health. In 1818 he was diagnosed as tubercular, and in 1821, at the
age of twenty-seven, he died. Some of his greatest and best-known poems are
"Endymion" (1818), and, in 1820, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," "Ode on a Grecian
Urn," and "The Eve of St. Agnes."
King Lear (1605-1606), William Shakespeare This Elizabethan drama is said to
be Shakespeare's greatest creation of the tragic spirit. Its largest theme is
man's inhumanity to man, as illustrated by filial treason. The story is of Lear
and his three daughters, Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia; a tale of love and
madness and great pain as the aging king tests the boundaries of his daughters'
affections for him. The play ends with the tragic deaths of the four main
characters.
Kingsley, Sidney (Sidney Kieschner) (b.1906) Born in New York City, this
American playwright was educated at Cornell. After graduation he worked as a
script writer for Columbia Pictures. In 1933 his first major play, Men in
White, was a great success and two years later he scored an even greater
triumph with Dead End. Not incidentally, he is also the author of Detective
Story (1949), a play that is frequently revived to much critical acclaim.
Kipling, Rudyard (1865-1936) Born in India, this English author drew from his
years in that colony much of the material he used as a writer. He achieved fame
with his second book, Plain Tales from the Hills (1887), a collection of short
stories on life in India. He wrote many collections of poetry and short
stories, but may be best remembered for such imaginative children's stories as
The Jungle Book (1894) and Captains Courageous (1897). He won the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1907.
Koestler, Arthur (1905-1983) Born into a Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary,
Koestler worked on a collective farm in Palestine and then became a journalist.
He joined the Communist Party in 1931, but left it in 1939 at the time of the
Russo-German treaty. He served in the British army in World War II and became a
British citizen. His best-known work is Darkness at Noon (1941). He is renowned
for his understanding of and participation in the great movements of his time,
and his writing is characterized by a sense of elegant journalism.
Kyd, Thomas (1557-1594) Author of The Spanish Tragedy, one of the most
important and influential Elizabethan plays. It established the "tragedy of
blood" (or the "blood and thunder tragedy") as the most popular type of
Elizabethan tragedy, characterized by violent action and the appearance of
ghosts. Shakespeare's tragedies (although they both transform and transcend the
type) are written in this tradition.
LaFontaine, Jean (1621-1695) The reputation of this French creator of fables
rests principally on the plots he used, which were drawn from the Greek Aesop
41
and from Oriental fabulist writers.
Lamb, Charles (1775-1834) English essayist who occasionally collaborated with
his sister, Mary, for whom he was guardian and companion. Mary suffered from
mental illness, and in a fit of temporary insanity she killed their mother and
wounded their father. Although sister and brother were close friends, her
madness overshadowed their lives. Lamb, considered one of the masters of the
English essay, wrote his observations of life with a mix of humor and sadness.
There are few students who have not been exposed to his delightful
"Dissertation Upon Roast Pig."
Lament Usually refers to a poem written as an expression of mourning or grief,
as in Shelley's lines to Keats: "Oh weep for Adonais, he is dead."
Lampoon In prose or poetry, a vicious character sketch or satire on a person.
The literary figures of 17th-18th-century England were famous for lampooning,
and the style has come into its own again in 20th-century America. One of
Harvard's literary publications is entitled The Lampoon.
The Last of the Mohicans (1826), James Fenimore Cooper One of the five novels
constituting the "Leather-Stocking Tales," this American work centers on three
elements -- the siege of Fort William Henry in 1757 and the massacre of its
garrison, a love affair between wealthy characters, and the exploits of Natty
Bumppo and his Indian companion Chingachgook.
Lawrence, D.H. (David Herbert) (1885-1930) Influential because of his espousal
of the psychoanalytical theories of Freud and his school, this highly renowned
English novelist, poet, and short-story writer became one of the most
controversial authors of the early 20th century. He achieved recognition with
his first book, Sons and Lovers (1913), but his next, The Rainbow (1915) caused
such a scandal that Lawrence determined to leave England and spent the rest of
his life moving from place to place, staying in Italy, Mexico and the United
States. His novel Lady Chatterley's Lover (1929) was not published in this
country until many years after it was written. Lawrence's works are noted for
their intense involvement with sexuality and their sensual/sensuous content.
Lear, Edward (1812-1888) The "most pure" of nonsense poets, this English
versifier is responsible for the popularity of the limerick. His poetry is
addressed almost entirely to the ear. His best-known poem is "The Owl and the
Pussycat," and The Book of Nonsense (1846) is one of his delightful verse
volumes.
Leaves of Grass (1847-1892), Walt Whitman A poetic work, greatly revised and
augmented by Whitman, which was highly criticized in its time because of the
poet's glorification of sex. Today, literary criticism proclaims "Leaves" as a
masterpiece in its exaltation of the common man and its veneration of freedom.
Famous poems from this work include "Song of the Open Road," "Out of the Cradle
Endlessly Rocking," and "Song of Myself."
Legend A story that is popularly regarded as historical, and indeed has its
roots in fact, but one in which imagination also comes largely into play. Often
legends involve folk heroes, e.g., Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1819-1820), Washington Irving This tale from The
Sketch Book recounts the story of the rivalry between Ichabod Crane, a
Connecticut schoolmaster, and Brom Bones, for the hand of a Dutch heiress.
Crane is not only covetous, but superstitious, and one night returning home he
42
encounters the "ghost" of a headless horseman and is so frightened that he
leaves the country.
Les Miserables (1862), Victor Hugo Written in exile and acclaimed "the
greatest epic and dramatic work of fiction ever created," this lengthy and
beautiful novel is a moving appeal to the common humanity of man through the
character of Jean Valjean. Valjean, imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread, is
released after 19 years, having received a 14-year penalty because of his
attempts to escape. The novel is also the story of Inspector Javert, who is
unrelenting in his search for Valjean.
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim (1729-1781) This first major figure of modern German
literature made his reputation as both a dramatist and a critic. His works
include the plays Miss Sarah Sampson (1755), the first German tragedy of the
middle class, and Nathan the Wise (1779), a plea for religious tolerance, as
well as a book of criticism The Hamburg Dramaturgy (1769), a major influence on
German theater history.
Lewis, Sinclair (1885-1951) Born in Minnesota, this American novelist and
short-story writer graduated from Yale and then held various jobs in journalism
and magazine publication. He had his first great success with Main Street
(1920) and continued to produce works both naturalistic and satirical about
American life at the rate of one every two years, including Babbitt (1922),
Arrowsmith (1925), and Elmer Gantry (1927). He was the first American to win
the Nobel Prize for Literature, in 1930.
Lexicography The editing or the making of a dictionary, or lexicon; the
principles of dictionary making. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English
Language (1755) is considered the most important early work of lexicography in
English.
Libretto The text, spoken and sung, of a work for the musical theater, such as
an opera, operetta, or a musical comedy. Sir William S. Gilbert wrote the
libretti for Sir Arthur Sullivan's music in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic
operas.
Limerick A humorous five-line poem rhyming aabba. A limerick is sometimes
written in four lines, combining the two short lines into one.
There was a young lady of Tottenham,
(a)
Who'd no manners, or else
she'd forgotten 'em;
(a)
At tea at the vicar's
(b)
She tore off her knickers,
(b)
Because, she explained, she felt 'ot in 'em. (a)
Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931) A unique figure in 20th-century American poetry,
Lindsay wrote some of his works to be chanted and for years traveled around the
country as a modern-day troubadour, presenting them and his drawings and trying
to return poetry to the general public; he called his performances a "Higher
Vaudeville." His published works include General William Booth Enters into
Heaven (1913) and The Congo and Other Poems (1914).
Litotes A figure of speech that uses understatement to make a point stronger,
usually by stating the opposite of the point being affirmed, as in "New York
cheesecake is not a bad dessert." In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles in
the Bible is the example, "A citizen of no mean city."
43
Livy (59 B.C.-A.D. 17) A teacher and writer, Livy is considered the only
important prose writer of the Age of Augustus, the golden age of Latin
literature. A teacher as well as a writer, he wrote The History of Rome in 142
books, of which only 35 are extant. He is the chief source of information about
Rome's early years.
Lolita (1955), Vladimir Nabokov This American novel created a sensation when
it was first published. It concerns Humbert Humbert, a dissolute European who
is sexually attracted to nymphets, girls between 9 and 14. After an affair with
Lolita and some further sexual escapades on her part, Humbert eventually
crosses her path again to find her married and pregnant. He kills her husband
and consequently goes to prison. Some have interpreted the story as a satirical
look at the American fascination with youth.
London, Jack (1876-1916) Born in San Francisco, the illegitimate son of an
eccentric astrologer, this American novelist and short-story writer left home
at 15, was jailed for vagrancy, worked as an "oyster pirate," sailed as a
seaman on a sealing voyage, and in 1896 joined the gold rush in the Klondike.
His first work was published in 1899, but his reputation was made with The Call
of The Wild, which became a best seller in 1903. He wrote 50 novels; his
stories are romantic adventures in realistic settings, with an underlying theme
of the struggle for existence, the survival of the fittest, and the class
struggle.
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1956), Eugene O'Neill This drama, published in
1956, but written some years before, was intended by the playwright not to be
shown in his lifetime. It is a thinly disguised portrait of O'Neill's family
and shows how a family built on deceit can rapidly crumble. Yet in the end they
are held together by a fierce, irrational affection which is stronger than
their hostile feelings for one another.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807-1882) Born in Maine, this American poet and
translator was a professor of modern languages at Harvard. His best-known works
include Evangeline (1847), Hiawatha (1855), "The Wreck of the Hesperus," and
"Paul Revere's Ride." His reputation has declined steadily since his death.
Although his poetry today is considered simplistic, Longfellow is still widely
read, and he was the first American to have his bust placed in the poet's
corner of Westminster Abbey.
Look Homeward Angel (1929), Thomas Wolfe Long autobiographical novel of a
young man growing up in North Carolina and gradually being introduced to the
world of ideas. Wolfe (Eugene in the book) delves deeply into family life in
his portrayal of his parents, two sisters, and three brothers. The sequel to
this work is Of Time and The River (1935).
Lord Jim (1900), Joseph Conrad The hero, Jim, is endowed by his minister
father with a puritanical conscience, and is dogged all his life by a sense of
guilt over a youthful transgression. This psychological novel has the sea as
its setting.
Lord of the Flies (1954), William Golding A "classic" in its own time, this
work is concerned with moral evil and the darkness in the human heart, made
more terrifying because the characters are children, wrecked on a desert
island, who gradually make this natural paradise into a hell as they degenerate
into primitive and bloodthirsty savagery.
Lost generation
A term created by Gertrude Stein and then brought to popular
44
usage by such writers as Hemingway and Fitzgerald. The Lost Generation refers
to the spirit of alienation and the feeling of disillusion prevalent in
literature and life after World War I.
Lovelace, Richard (1618-1657) A Cavalier poet (siding with the English king
against the Puritans), he was imprisoned in 1648 and there wrote his famous
poem "To Althea," containing the lines "Stone walls do not a prison make/Nor
iron bars a cage." He was released in 1649 and published his poems in a volume
entitled Lucasta.
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1915), T.S. Eliot "Will there be time
after tea and ices/to force the moment to its crisis?" Prufrock, a symbol of
impotence and banality, wonders, in this evocative and more "accessible" poem
of Eliot's. Here a man seeking to rebel in a heroic fashion also fails through
ennui and half measures. This poem is an excellent introduction to the
beautiful and intricate designs of T.S. Eliot's work.
Lowell, Amy (1874-1925) Born into one of Massachusetts' leading families, this
American poet's first book, A Dome of Many-Colored Glass (title taken from a
poem by Shelley), was published in 1912, but it was her 1914 collection Sword
Blades and Poppy Seed, written after her meeting Ezra Pound, that established
her as one of the leading imagist poets. Lowell, however, has been criticized
for her use of "precious" language and overly abundant sentiment. Her finest
work is thought to be her two-volume biography of Keats (1925).
Lowell, James Russell (1819-1891) This romantic poet, critic, satirist, and
wit was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University. His
best-known work is The Biglow Papers (1846-48), an attack on the Mexican War
and the southern states. He also served as the first editor of the Atlantic
Monthly.
Lowell, Robert (1917-1977) An American poet whose rich use of symbolism in
highly individualistic and intense poetry is reflected in the volume Lord
Weary's Castle (1946), for which he received the Pulitzer Prize.
Lyric A short, melodic, imaginative poem, usually characterized by intense
personal emotion, that creates for the reader a unified impression. Lyric poems
include sonnets, songs, ballads, odes, and elegies.
Lysistrata (411 B.C.), Aristophanes This Greek play takes place toward the end
of the long war between Athens and Sparta. The women of Athens, led by
Lysistrata, decide that they will withhold their sexual favors from their
husbands till the war is ended; they are joined in support by the women of
Sparta until the war is finally brought to a close.
Macauley, Thomas Babington (1800-1859) Born into
English historian and essayist attended Cambridge
His greatest work was History of England from the
1855, 1861), renowned for its brilliant narrative
recreation of 17th-century society.
a wealthy family, this
and was admitted to the bar.
Accession of James II (1848,
style and its realistic
Macbeth (1606), William Shakespeare One of Shakespeare's most brilliant
tragedies, this drama recounts the story of a man capable of goodness, who
loses his virtue through his and Lady Macbeth's ambition. Macbeth is hurled
from crime to crime as he desperately clings to the throne and searches for the
appeasement of his conscience.
45
Machiavelli, Niccolo (1469-1527) An Italian Renaissance author who was
tortured for his unproved complicity in a plot against the Medici. His
masterwork is The Prince (1532), in which he displays his love for liberty. The
adjective "Machiavellian" has come to mean the display of amoral cunning as a
justification for power, a phrase that too easily simplifies a very complex
man.
MacLeish, Archibald (1892-1982) An American poet who believed that poetry must
serve higher ends than the mere communication of subjective impressions. He was
both intellectual and political, and his "You Andrew Marvell" has been called
the finest American short poem of the 20th century. MacLeish also wrote a
famous verse play, J.B. (1958), the story of a contemporary Job, and his "Ars
Poetica" is often quoted by students in praise of the line, "A poem should not
mean but be."
Madame Bovary (1857), Gustave Flaubert In this French masterwork of Realism,
Charles Bovary, a country doctor and a widower, marries a beautiful farmer's
daughter, educated better than most of her class. She conducts an affair with a
wealthy libertine and another with a young lawyer. Unable to repay her debts,
Emma commits suicide and her husband, learning of her infidelities, dies soon
afterward.
Madrigal A short lyric, usually designed to be sung with musical
accompaniment, which generally has a pastoral or love motif. In Elizabethan
times madrigals were sung a cappella by five or six voices, with a complex
interweaving of words and melody.
The Madwoman of Chaillot (1945), Jean Giraudoux This French fantasy presents
good and evil in a clear-cut way: Financiers with their stock manipulations are
evil, while the dispossessed, including eccentric old ladies, peddlers, and
ragpickers are good. In the play, the Madwoman and her friends frustrate a plot
by speculators to destroy Paris in order to tap oil wells beneath the city.
The Magic Mountain (1924), Thomas Mann This German novel, generally regarded
as Mann's masterwork, tells the story of Hans Castorp, a young German engineer
who goes to a tuberculosis sanatorium in Switzerland to visit his cousin.
Planning to stay for only three weeks, he discovers traces of the disease in
himself and stays for seven years. Each of the persons he meets is the
personification of some broader force, so at the end of his stay Castorp has
come into contact with every aspect of European culture.
Magister Ludi (1943), Hermann Hesse This allegorical fantasy has as its
background pastime -- "The Glass Bead Game" (translation of the German title)
in which members of a future civilization concern themselves with preserving
the cultural and intellectual heritage of the past. This novel is an
intellectual work, with the barest of plots, relying heavily on dialogue to
uncover its themes.
The Magnificent Ambersons (1918), Booth Tarkington This American novel is
typical of many by this author. lt tells of the founding of a "Gilded Age"
(around 1875-1880) and its eventual decline as a new class emerges: the
industrial and mechanical generation of the 20th century. The last of the line
is George Minafer, who has neither the intellect nor the drive to succeed.
Mailer, Norman (b. 1923) Born in New Jersey, this American novelist, essayist,
and journalist grew up in Brooklyn, New York and graduated from Harvard. He
served for two years in the Pacific theater in World War II and in 1946
46
published his finest novel, The Naked and the Dead. Since then he has written a
number of books (both fiction and nonfiction) -- including An American Dream
(1965), Armies of the Night (1968), and The Executioner's Song ( 1979) -- as
well as nonfiction books and articles. Mailer frequently shows himself as a
bitter critic of American society.
Main Street (1920), Sinclair Lewis This American novel (a satire on the
midwest) tells of Carol Kennicott, a city-bred woman married to a small-town
doctor, who tries to serve as a missionary of culture to her husband's town
with no success. She runs away to Washington, but grows nostalgic for the town
and returns, prepared to adjust to life there. This work is a potent picture of
middle-class life in America.
Malamud, Bernard (1914-1986) This Brooklyn-born American novelist achieved his
first success with The Natural (1952), an allegorical story of a baseball
player. In later novels [i.e., The Fixer (1966) for which he won a Pulitzer
prize], he works through his most prevalent themes: a preoccupation with the
dignity of the common man and the Jewish tradition reflected in America.
Malapropism A humorous misuse of language that results from substituting an
incorrect word for one with a similar sound; named for a character, Mrs.
Malaprop, in Richard Sheridan's comedy, The Rivals.
Malraux, Andre (1901-1976) This French novelist, essayist, and propagandist is
essentially a Marxist who sees human conflicts chiefly as struggles between
social classes. His main characters often struggle with questions of duty,
action or nonaction, and individual or group morality. His most famous works
are Man's Fate (1933) and Man's Hope (1938).
Mann, Thomas (1875-1955) Born into a middle-class commercial family in north
Germany, Mann became aware of the contrasting qualities of his bourgeois father
and his exotic mother, who was of Creole extraction. Much of his work deals
with this dichotomy (exploring the inner self against changing European culture
and psychological values). However, while he developed a contempt for middle
-class values, he could never become fully Bohemian. He won fame with his first
novel, Buddenbrooks (1900), followed by other great successes like the novella
Death in Venice (1911), and his masterwork The Magic Mountain (1924). He was
awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.
Mansfield, Katherine (1888-1923) British short-story writer who was born in
New Zealand. Although she died young of tuberculosis, Mansfield produced many
lyrical and delicate short stories whose simple form can be contrasted with
their intense subject matter. Two of her well-known collections are Bliss
(1920) and The Garden Party (1922).
Markham, Edwin (1852-1940) Born in Oregon, the son of pioneer parents, Markham
was taken to California as a child and educated there. He won fame in 1899 with
his poem "The Man with the Hoe," inspired by the painting by Millet with the
same title.
Marlowe, Christopher (1564-1593) A poet and dramatist, he was the first to use
blank verse on the stage, thus influencing Shakespeare. His best-known plays
are Dr. Faustus (1588) and The Jew of Malta (1589). He was killed in a tavern
brawl at age 29. Marlowe wrote with great lyrical beauty of the Renaissance
spirit. He is considered to be the greatest dramatist before Shakespeare.
Marquand, John P. (1893-1960)
This American novelist's first important work (a
47
popular and critical success) was The Late George Apley (1937), a satirical
look at Boston society that won a Pulitzer. He also wrote the Mr. Moto series
of detective stories. His books often aimed at deflating the ego of the white
collar worker.
The Marriage of Figaro (1784), Beaumarchais This sequel to The Barber of
Seville involves many of the same characters, especially Count Almaviva, who
has designs on his wife's lady-in-waiting Suzanne, and Figaro, who is to marry
Suzanne. After much intrigue involving confused identities, Figaro and his
intended are finally married.
Marvell, Andrew (1621-1678) An English metaphysical poet who was one of the
prime wits and satirists of his generation, and who strongly espoused
individual freedom. Today Marvell is known for his lyric poetry, of which the
famous "To His Coy Mistress" is an excellent example.
Masefield, John (1878-1967) The son of a provincial lawyer, this British poet
left school at thirteen to become a merchant marine officer. In 1895 he gave up
the sea and took a series of menial jobs in New York and London. His
publication of Salt-Water Ballads (1902) made his reputation, and in 1930 he
was appointed poet laureate of Great Britain, a post he held until his death.
Masefield's poetry was largely narrative and realistic.
Masque A courtly form of entertainment in early 17th-century England utilizing
lavish costumes and spectacular song and dance galas. Involved machinery was
used to produce such special effects as moving clouds and blooming flowers.
These spectacles were usually performed in praise of the King.
Masters, Edgar Lee (1869-1950) An American poet, born in Kansas, Masters was
taken as a child to Lewiston, Illinois, which became the town of Spoon River in
his most famous poetic work, Spoon River Anthology (1914), a collection of free
verse epitaphs that created an enormous sensation as a literary masterwork
reflecting small-town life in America.
Mather, Cotton (1663-1728) The grandson of a Puritan clergyman and the son of
another, Mather saw himself as the protector of morals for New England. Today
history paints him as the prototype of the intolerant Puritan, largely because
of his Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possessions (1693; new
ed. 1956), which, although it did not support the witchcraft trials, helped to
bring on waves of hysterical fear. Mather published more than 450 books and
wrote many more that have never been published.
Maugham, William Somerset (1874-1965) Urbane English novelist who was a
masterful storyteller and technician. Maugham's cynical view of life was often
tempered by his wit and his ironic portrayals. He had written eight books
before his partially autobiographical masterwork Of Human Bondage was published
in 1915. Some of his famous novels include The Moon and the Sixpence (1919),
based on the life of French painter Paul Gaugin, and The Razor's Edge (1944).
Two of his more well-known short stories were made into illustrious films:
"Miss Thompson" (1921, later called "Rain") and "The Letter."
Maupassant, Guy de (1850-1893) French short-story writer and novelist who
produced a tremendous volume of work until he went mad in 1811 and subsequently
died in an asylum. Maupassant's style was classic and simple and his technique
with the short story is unsurpassed. His most frequently anthologized story is
"La Parure" ("The Necklace"). It is to be noted that Maupassant's realism had a
great impact on all European literature.
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McCullers, Carson (1917-1967) An American Southern novelist whose unusually
imaginative works reflect another aspect of man's isolation, the spiritual
malaise that is the underscript to the human condition. The Ballad of the Sad
Cafe (1943) is one of her more famous novels. Here one of her themes is that
the most outlandish people can be the stimulus for love, and that love does not
have to be reciprocal to benefit and change the lover. McCullers died at the
age of fifty from a series of tragic misfortunes, leaving behind some of the
most brilliantly felt literature to come out of the modern South, including the
sensitive and lyrical The Member of the Wedding (1946).
Medea (431 B.C.), Euripides This Greek play concerns the revenge of the former
princess of Colchis, Medea, who aided Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece,
married him, and was rejected for another woman. It is essentially a tale of
love turned to hate and has strong elements of horror.
Melodrama Although the term literally means "a play with music," melodrama
today denotes a play with stereotyped characters and highly charged emotion,
usually with a romantic plot and a happy ending. It is also used to describe a
thrilling play that evokes horror.
Melville, Herman (1819-1891) Born into a wealthy merchant family in New York,
this American novelist and short-story writer worked as a bank clerk, salesman,
farm-hand, teacher, and seaman aboard a whaling ship. His masterwork, the novel
Moby Dick (1851), Melville's vision of the world symbolically told, is
considered by some to be the greatest American novel. Like all of his works,
however, it was not recognized until some 30 years after his death. His other
novels include Typee (1846) and Billy Budd, written just before his death and
not published until 1924.
The Member of the Wedding (1946), Carson McCullers The story of Frankie (F.
Jasmine Addams), the tomboy girl who experiences both joy and frustration as
she passes through the impossible business of growing up. She is guided and
loved by the beautifully drawn character of Bernice, the black housekeeper who
represents the voice of experience in Frankie's hesitant search for maturity.
Mencken, H.L. (1880-1956) Called "The Sage of Baltimore," he was the most
influential American critic of the 1920s and early 1930s with a strong
admiration for European literature and a pungent distaste for the ideals of
American bourgeois culture. In his essays published in The Smart Set and The
American Mercury he applied his energies not only to literary criticism, but
also to social, economic, and political affairs.
The Metamorphosis (1915), Franz Kafka One of the only works that the Czech
author published during his lifetime, this novella is about one Gregor Samsa,
who awakens one morning to find that he has been transformed into a gigantic
bug. As the story progresses, he becomes more and more of a trial to his family
and progressively less human. He dies and is disposed of by a charwoman. This
compelling and provocative story exists on many levels, one of them being man's
inability to communicate.
Metaphor A figure of speech implying a comparison between two different
objects by saying one object is another, not like another (See Simile). Bertram
is a tiger when he gets angry. His wife is a shrew. See also Mixed metaphor.
Metaphysical poetry Generically, this is any poetry of a philosophical or
spiritual nature, although the term is more specifically applied to poets of
49
17th-century England, with John Donne being the master worker in this genre.
Everyday speech combined with puns and paradoxes is the language of
Metaphysical poetry. In romantic poems of this school, one often finds
elaborate, extended metaphors (conceits) used to depict the union of lovers'
souls and explanations of the tensions expressed in physical love.
Metonymy A figure of speech in which a word that is closely associated with a
term is substituted for the term itself. For instance, "We insure you from the
cradle to the grave." Here, cradle stands for birth, and grave stands for
death.
Metrics
accent.
The branch of poetical study that deals with patterns of rhythm and
The Mill on the Floss (1860), George Eliot The beautifully told story of
Maggie and Tom Tolliver, a brother and sister whose father owns the mill on the
river Floss. This novel centers around the responsibilities people take for
their lives and the moral choices (Maggie's doomed love for Philip) they are
forced to make.
Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1892-1950) Born in Maine, she was educated at
Barnard and Vassar. In 1912 "Renascence," written when she was only nineteen,
brought her deserved fame. Upon graduation from Vassar, she went to New York,
where she became a central figure in the Bohemian life of Greenwich Village in
the 1920s. She was a member of the Provincetown Players, appeared in some of
their productions, and wrote three verse dramas for the group. Millay published
frequently throughout her life and is read and reread for her exquisite sonnets
and lyrics.
Miller, Arthur (b.1915) A New York native, this American dramatist worked in a
warehouse to save money for college and attended the University of Michigan,
where he began writing plays. Returning to New York, he turned to radio writing
for a living until he had his first broadway success with All My Sons (1947).
His greatest triumphs, however, came with Death of a Salesman (1949) and The
Crucible (1953), a dynamic drama of the Salem witchcraft trials. In addition to
drama, Miller has also written fiction and the filmscript for The Misfits
(1961).
Miller, Henry (1891-1980) Born in New York, he was a drifter as a youth, but
later worked in his father's tailor shop, was a newspaper reporter, and opened
a speakeasy in Greenwich Village. He visited Europe in 1928 and returned to
Paris and London for a nine-year stay in 1930. Eventually he settled in Big
Sur, California. His best-known books are Tropic of Cancer (1931) and Tropic of
Capricorn (1930), both autobiographical novels that were banned in the United
States for many years. Miller's highly controversial works, menages of sexual
description, were meant to enforce the enlightenment and liberty of natural
men.
Milne, Alan Alexander (A.A.) (1882-1956) English author who created the
classic children's book Winnie-the-Pooh (1926) and gave adults as well as the
younger world the delightful and captivating characters of Pooh Bear, Piglet,
and Eeyore. Milne's detective novel, The Red House Mystery (1921), is also a
classic in its genre.
Milton, John (1608-1674) The son of a scrivener and a composer of music,
Milton, one of the greatest British poets, composed some of his best works from
1632-1638. These included L'Allegro, Il Penseroso and Lycidas. A universally
50
acclaimed poet, Milton's theology, although Protestant in background, was
considered highly unorthodox and his public life was the subject of much
controversy. He became blind in 1652 and wrote his masterwork Paradise Lost
(1665) despite this handicap. Other major works include Paradise Regained and
Samson Agonistes (both published in 1671).
Minstrel
In the Middle Ages, a wandering musician or poet.
Miracle play A type of drama, common in Medieval England, that depicts a
miracle performed by a saint, or an incident in the saint's life. These plays
usually are not based strictly on scriptural accounts.
The Misanthrope (1666), Moliere This French comedy of manners is unusual in
that it does not have the happy ending characteristic of most of Moliere's
comedies. It concerns Alceste, an incorruptible and unreasonable hero, and his
love for the bewitching but self-centered coquette Celinere. This play is
essentially a comedy of the antisocial man, written with wit and sparkling with
dialogue.
Mixed metaphor A figure of speech that combines two or more inconsistent or
incongruous metaphors, as in Shakespeare's "to take arms against a sea of
troubles."
Moby Dick (1851), Herman Melville This American novel, called the attempt to
search the unsearchable ways of God, tells the story of Captain Ahab, driven to
find and destroy the great white whale Moby Dick, to whom he lost his leg. Told
by Ishmael, a young sailor, the only survivor of the wreck of Ahab's ship, the
voyage is clearly symbolic, as is the whale.
Mock epic A long poem, intended to be humorous, that treats a trivial subject
in the lofty and exalted style of the epic poem. The mock epic imitates and
burlesques the traditions of the true epic. See Pope's The Rape of the Lock.
Moliere (Jean-Baptiste Poquelin) (1623-1673) In his youth, Moliere spent a
dozen years touring the French provinces with an acting troupe. He established
himself as an actor and director in Paris in 1658, his company eventually
becoming the Comedie Francaise. He was often summoned to the court for which he
wrote farces, comedies, and ballets on short notice. Moliere is best known for
his great comic character portrayals in which he ridicules a vice by
caricaturing a person who is the embodiment of the vice. He wrote about 30
comedies of which the best known are The Misanthrope (1666) and The Middle
-Class Gentleman (1670).
Molnar, Ferenc (1878-1952) A Hungarian playwright and novelist best known for
his intriguing Liliom, a masterpiece of psychological fantasy. Molnar is most
highly praised for his appealing and astute characterizations and his beautiful
dialogue.
Monologue A discourse either oral or written by one speaker only; also called
a soliloquy. Many of the poems of Robert Browning, such as "My Last Duchess,"
are dramatic monologues. Hamlet's speech beginning "To be, or not to be" is a
famous soliloquy.
Montaigne, Michel (1533-1592) Considered France's foremost essayist and in
many senses the father of the modern essay. His early works are concerned with
death and pain, leading to a period of skepticism, and finally an acceptance of
51
life as the reward man receives when he discovers his own nature. His Essays
were published in 1580 and 1588.
The Moonstone (1896), Wilkie Collins Considered the first full-length
detective novel in English and among the best of its genre. A work that drew
high praise from T.S. Eliot.
Moore, Marianne (1887-1972) A Missouri native who was educated at Bryn Mawr
and taught for some years at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. From
1918 on this American poet lived in New York City, first in Greenwich Village
and then in Brooklyn. She published many volumes of verse in which she showed
herself to be a descendant of the imagists by her cleverly designed poems
written in an intellectual and witty style.
Morality play A type of drama, popular in Medieval England, characterized by a
pronounced use of allegory to point up a moral teaching. Abstractions like
Conscience, Death, the Seven Sins, and so on, appear as speaking persons, who
are usually involved in a struggle for a human soul. Everyman is the best-known
medieval morality play.
Moravia, Alberto (b.1907) Italian novelist who reflects the conflict between
the creative and the sensual, and whose undervoice expresses the despair and
ennui of modern man. Some of his more famous translated novels are The Woman of
Rome (1949), Two Women (1958), and The Empty Canvas (1961).
Mother Courage and Her Children (1939), Bertolt Brecht This German chronicle
of the Thirty Years' War tells of a tough old canteen woman who trails after
the mercenary armies in Sweden, Poland, and Germany. All three of her children
are killed but Mother Courage clings materialistically to her livelihood
because it is all that she knows.
Motif The recurrence of a theme, word pattern, or character in a literary
work. This term may also be applied to a major theme that runs through a number
of different works. For instance, the isolation of modern man is a frequent
motif in contemporary literature.
Mourning Becomes Electra (1931), Eugene O'Neill Often considered this
playwright's most important work, this trilogy is based on the Agamemnon myth
as found in Oresteia by Aeschylus; however, the setting is a small American
town at the end of the Civil War. This drama is an attempt to recast the Greek
tragedy into the terms of modern psychology. Lavinia, the central character,
comes to destruction basically through the bad blood bequeathed her by her
father, but this heredity taint operates through the medium of psychological
obsessions and fixations which make her unfit for normal life.
Muses The nine muses of Greek poetry were Clio (history), Calliope (epic
poetry), Erato (love poetry), Euterpe (lyric poetry), Melpomene (tragedy),
Polyhymnia (songs to the gods), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and
Urania (astronomy). Ancient poets would appeal to a particular muse for
assistance with their creativity.
My Antonia (1918), Willa Cather This American novel concerns Antonia Shimerda,
daughter of Bohemian immigrants in the Nebraska prairieland who assumes the
burden of the farm work after her father commits suicide. Later the family
moves to town and Antonia becomes a hired girl. She has an illegitimate child
and returns to the country where she eventually marries and has more children.
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The Mysterlous Stranger (1916), Mark Twain The author's most tenacious attempt
to pluck out the heart of the mystery of this fiendish world. Twain withheld
the novel from publication because he believed it to be too audacious -- it was
published the year after his death. The novel tells of the visits of an angel
to three boys in an Austrian village in 1590. To begin with the boys are
steeped in medieval piety and ignorance; at the end they have had revelations
about the meanness of mankind and the ugliness of the world that destroy their
innocent, happy illusions.
Mystery play A type of medieval play based on Biblical stories, such as the
sacrifice of Isaac, the death of Abel, the birth of Christ, and the trial and
crucifixion of Jesus. These plays were the most important form of drama in the
Middle Ages and continued to be popular into the Renaissance. They were most
often performed in cycles associated with great cathedral towns: York, Chester,
and Coventry.
Mysticism The theory that some forms of knowledge, such as the knowledge of
God, can be received only by means outside the human senses. For example, the
works of William Blake, the 19th-century poet and artist, reflect an intense
mysticism.
Myth Stories that come anonymously from the remote past; myths stir the
subconscious in powerful ways because such folklore and folk beliefs are based
on a kind of primitive truth that once explained inexplicable psychological and
scientific truths to distant ancestors. The myth of Prometheus attempts to
explain how man received fire and the ability to use it; the myth of Pandora's
box explains the cause of disorder in the world.
Nabokov, Vladimir (1899-1977) Born in Russia, he studied at Cambridge in
England and became a United States citizen in 1945. He then taught at Harvard,
Wellesley, and Cornell until the great success of his novel Lolita (1955) made
it possible for him to stop teaching. Called an anti-novelist by Jean-Paul
Sartre, he used parody in all his works and was particularly interested in
creating puzzles for his readers. Other novels include Pale Fire (1962) and
Ada, or Ardor (1969).
The Naked and the Dead (1946), Norman Mailer This American work is generally
considered the best American novel about World War II. Like the best novels of
World War I, it follows a typical squad of men, of diverse character and
backgrounds, into a combat situation and analyzes their individual reactions to
the experience. The general themes are that war is a meaningless sacrifice,
most officers are incompetent, and combat is a senseless waste of effort.
Narrative verse Poetry that tells a story as in The Canterbury Tales. In the
contemporary world the novel has functioned as usurper of the poetic narrative,
and poets seem reluctant to tell tales that can be treated, possibly more
expertly, in prose.
Native Son (1940), Richard Wright This American novel concerns Bigger Thomas,
a product of the Chicago ghetto who gets a job as a chauffeur for the wealthy
Dalton family and accidentally kills the family's young daughter. He is
executed for the murder, and here Wright is elegant and incisive about the role
society played in the crime.
Naturalism A type of realistic fiction that developed in France, America, and
England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It presupposes that human
beings are like puppets, controlled completely by external and internal forces.
53
Naturalism differs from Realism in that characters in the latter have a measure
of free will.
Nemerov, Howard (1920-1991) Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets
beginning 1976 and poet laureate of the United States for two terms, 1988-1990,
Nemerov also won the Theodore Roethke Award (1968), National Book Award (1978),
Pulitzer Prize (1979), Bollingen Prize (1981), and National Medal of the Arts
(1987). His works, which spanned six decades, include: novels, The
Melodramatists (1949), The Homecoming Game (1957); poetry, Mirrors and Windows
(1958), Sentences (1980), Inside the Onion (1984); and essays, Figures of
Thought (1978). Nemerov was a visiting lecturer at several American colleges,
as well as professor of English at Brandeis University (1966-1969).
Neoclassicism A term used to describe a set of literary characteristics that
flourished in the age between the Restoration (beginning in 1660) and the
publication of Wordsworth's Lyrical Ballads (1798), which signaled the triumph
of Romanticism in English literature. Neoclassical literature is characterized
by a kind of elegance, wit, common sense, reason, and a careful control of
emotions. Dryden and Pope are two renowned neoclassicists.
New Criticism, The A school of literary criticism espoused by the critics John
Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren, the name comes from Ransom's
book The New Criticism (1941). This type of literary criticism emphasizes a
close analysis of the text of the work, which is considered complete in itself
and independent of other works, with no historical and biographical contexts.
New novel This term refers to a concept of the novel that rejects such classic
ingredients as plot structure and character delineation. The new novel was born
from the fires of writers like Joyce and Faulkner who expressed visions of a
disorderly world peopled by characters who had lost their identity.
1984 (1949), George Orwell Much of the power of this novel of a "future"
society stems from its use of understatement as well as from its tongue-in
-cheek irony. "Big Brother" watches over a nightmare society whose thoughts,
recreation, and activities are totally controlled by a small party of the
elite.
No Exit (1944), Jean-Paul Sartre This one-act French existential play has very
few characters. Garcin, a Latin-American revolutionist, is shown into a closed
room and realizes he is dead and has gone to Hell. He is presently joined by
two women, Estelle and Ines, who, like him, tortured other people while they
were alive. The three are thus condemned to spend eternity together, each
loathing the other.
Nonfiction novel
See In Cold Blood.
Norris, Frank (1870-1902) A dedicated admirer of French novelist Emile Zola,
Norris became the foremost exponent of Naturalism in American letters. His best
-known novel is The Octopus (1901), which concerns the struggle between wheat
farmers and the railroad. Another work, McTeague (1891), is a novel about the
laboring class.
Novella A term frequently used to denote the early tales or short stories of
French and Italian writers; a short novel.
Oates, Joyce Carol (b. 1938) One of the most highly acclaimed authors of the
latter part of the 20th century, Oates writes novels inhabited by realistic,
54
although often bizarre, characters, so frustrated by modern culture that their
suppressed energies frequently erupt in violence. She dissects her characters
psychoanalytically and depicts them against desolate and destructive
backgrounds. Her novel Them won the National Book Award in 1969, but some of
her earlier works [With Shuddering Fall (l964), A Garden of Earthly Delights
(1967), and Expensive People (1968)] transcend the later books in their lyrical
qualities.
Objective correlative A literary term coined by T.S. Eliot to denote the
technique of indirectly and unemotionally eliciting a desired emotional
response from the reader through a pattern of objects, symbols, or events. The
response is suggested rather than directly prescribed.
O'Casey, Sean (1880-1964) Born in Dublin into a poor family, this Irish
playwright, prominent in the Irish rebellions for independence, worked at back
-breaking manual labor until he was over 40. His first play to be accepted by
the Abbey Theater was The Shadow of a Gunman (1923), followed by his greatest
play, Juno and the Paycock (1924), a grim, satiric comedy. A riot at one of his
later plays angered him and he left Ireland never to return, battling the
established society from a distance.
Occasional verse Poetry written for a special occasion, usually to honor
royalty or to commemorate the death of a national hero.
O'Connor, Flannery (1925-1964) This brilliant Southern American short-story
writer and novelist was deeply concerned with the spiritual battle between good
and evil. She has been called a "theological" writer, but it is not easy to
tell if she used theology for fictional purposes or fiction for theological
purposes. O'Connor frequently poses the question (found in one of her
collections of short stories, A Good Man Is Hard To Find): "Is it the Devil who
has many protean forms...? Or is it perhaps even Christ the tiger...?" O'Connor
died tragically of lupus at the age of thirty-nine. Wise Blood (1952) and The
Violent Bear It Away, (1960) are her two intense, moving novels.
Octameter
A line of poetry containing eight feet.
Octave A poetic stanza with eight lines; now primarily used to denote the
first eight-line division of an Italian sonnet.
Ode A sustained lyric poem with a noble theme and intellectual tone. There are
three principal variations: the regular ode, or Pindaric Ode; the irregular
ode, or Cowleyan Ode; and the Horatian Ode.
Odets, Clifford (1906-1963) This Philadelphia native began as an actor and in
1930 was one of the organizers of the Group Theater. He won a play contest with
Waiting for Lefty (1934) and the following year that play and the earlier Awake
and Sing were both produced on Broadway, establishing him as a gifted social
-protest dramatist. He worked for some years in Hollywood and in later life
divided his time between the East and West Coasts, writing plays and film
scripts.
The Odyssey, Homer This epic deals with the wanderings of the Greek hero
Odysseus (Ulysses) after the Trojan War. It was he who had ended the war with
his use of the so-called Trojan Horse. In his wanderings he encounters such
figures as the Cyclops and the enchantress Circe and arrives home in time to
prevent his wife's remarriage.
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Oedipus the King, Sophocles This tragedy dates from the middle of the 5th
century B.C. and has generally been judged the finest Greek drama. It concerns
the king of Thebes, upon whose city a plague has fallen, because the killer of
the former king, Laius, is living in the city. Oedipus discovers that it is he
who has killed the king and that he has married his own mother. The play has
drawn renewed interest in this century because of the Oedipus-complex theory
developed by Sigmund Freud.
Of Human Bondage (1915), Somerset Maugham The dominant theme of this moving
novel lies in the protagonist's (Philip's) effort to discover his own nature
through the many passions that torment him and his resentment of a world that
mocks him. In the end he is freed by his choice to live in happy obscurity
rather than wage a frantic battle for fame.
O'Hara, John (1905-1970) Born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which appears in
his novels as Gibbsville, O'Hara worked as a newspaperman and was for a time
the football editor of Time magazine. In 1934 he turned to screen writing and
worked for four different studios in Hollywood. His best-known works are the
many short stories he composed and the novels Appointment in Samarra (1934),
Butterfield 8 (1935), and Ten North Frederick (1955). Although he was a
brilliant craftsman in terms of characterization and plot, O'Hara's novels miss
if one seeks depth and soul.
O. Henry (William Sidney Porter) (1862-1910) This American short-story writer
is best described as the originator of the trick ending, a device he used to
the delight of his readers. Born in North Carolina, he went to Texas, where he
worked for a bank and then became a newspaper writer. He was charged with
embezzlement, fled the country, returned, and spent three years in an Ohio
prison. On his release he went to New York (1902), where he died of alcoholism.
"The Gift of the Magi" is his most famous short story.
Oliver Twist (1838), Charles Dickens This English novel deals realistically
with the criminal class in its depiction of an orphan boy who is led into crime
and then saved from that life. Also, the character of the cruel Fagin remains
as a literary immortal. This work is seen as the author's first fictional
attack on social injustices and a plea for a new order of society.
Omeros (1990), Derek Walcott Reflecting West Indian culture, this poetic
literary work uses classics (character names from Homer's The Iliad and The
Odyssey), folklore, history, and native language in a contemporary tone to
capture "the whole experience of the people of the Caribbean."
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962), Alexander Solzhenitsyn This
Russian novel, in the first person, relates the story of one day in the life of
a man held in a Soviet prison camp in the tenth year of his sentence. The
concentration is on the details of the present -- food, keeping warm, work,
sick call -- the elements of survival. Critics have suggested that Solzhenitsyn
intended to draw an analogy between life in the camps and life outside the
camps, both featuring material and spiritual squalor.
O'Neill, Eugene (1888-1953) The son of a famous actor, O'Neill is considered
to be one of the greatest and most important American playwrights. His works
are deeply poetic and exemplify the mind and feelings of a tragic artist. Early
in his career, he became associated with the Provincetown Players, a group that
went to New York and produced ten of his plays. He won the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1936. The Emperor Jones (1921), The Hairy Ape (1922), Desire
Under the Elms (1924), Ah! Wilderness (1932), and The Iceman Cometh (1946) are
56
among his plays.
Onomatopoeia A word whose sound is descriptive of its sense or meaning.
Onomatopoeic words add a vivid quality to poetry: hiss, splash, murmur.
Oresteia, Aeschylus Written in 458 B.C., this is the only surviving trilogy in
Greek drama and deals with the eventual lifting of the curse on the house of
Atreus. In the first play, Agamemnon, the king of Argos and his slave-concubine
Cassandra are killed by his wife Clytemnestra. The second play, The Libation
-Bearers, tells of the death of Clytemnestra at the hands of her son Orestes,
abetted by his sister Electra. In the third play, Eumenides, Orestes goes to
Athens, where, with the aid of the goddess Athena, he is absolved of the murder
of his mother.
Orwell, George (Eric Blair) (1903-1950) Born in India, this British novelist
and short-story writer was sent to school in England and then went out to Burma
to serve in the British security police. He then went to Paris and held a
series of odd jobs there and in England and fought in the Spanish civil war.
All of Orwell's works are concerned with the struggle for human freedom. His
best novels are Animal Farm (1946) and 1984 (1949).
Osborne, John (b.1929) Leaving school at 16, this English playwright became an
actor, and eventually began to write plays on his own. The great success of his
Look Back in Anger (1956) generated the concept of "The Angry Young Man" in the
modern world. Among his other well-known works are The Entertainer (1957) and
Epitaph for George Dillon (1958), in both of which Osborne reflects man's
growing anger and frustration at having to live in a shallow world of false
values.
Othello (1604), William Shakespeare This English tragedy is more closely
plotted than most of Shakespeare's great dramas. Desdemona, the daughter of a
Venetian senator, is married to the Moorish general Othello. Iago, jealous at
having been bypassed for a promotion, resolves to poison Othello's peace by
making him suspect his wife's fidelity. He succeeds in this and consequently
Othello kills Desdemona. However, learning at last that she had been faithful,
the devastated Othello commits suicide.
Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948), Truman Capote This beautiful lyric novel is
the story of a boy's search for his father (for someone to love him), the
incredible misfortune of finding him, and his subsequent initiation into an
adult world of evil and deformity.
Ottava rima A poetic stanza with eight iambic pentameter lines rhyming
abababcc. Supposedly invented by Boccaccio, it was used widely by Milton,
Keats, and Byron.
Our Town (1938), Thornton Wilder This play by a master storyteller is a
tribute to American life -- a microcosm of life and death and love and marriage
in a "typical" New England village. Wilder uses the device of "Stage Manager"
as a narrator who speaks directly to the audience in order to break down the
invisible wall between stage and audience so that theatergoers feel a sense of
participation in the drama. This strategy was also used successfully by
Pirandello in Six Characters in Search of an Author, and is found in much of
Brecht.
Ovid (43-18 B.C.) Ovid began his career as a highly successful poet, known for
his insights into human nature and his wit and humor, but ended it in disgrace
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and in exile at the command of the emperor. His best known works are
Metamorphoses, the retellings of virtually all the famous Greek myths, and The
Art of Love.
Oxymoron A figure of speech that employs two opposing terms in a paradox,
often to strengthen a point or create an emotion, as in
Why then, O brawling love! O loving hate!
O any thing of nothing first create.
O heavy lightness! serious vanity!
Shakespeare
Oxymorons can also be found in regular conversation: "His absence is a
presence."
Paine, Thomas (1737-1809) Born in England, this American essayist and
pamphleteer was trained to be a corsetmaker, served in the British navy in the
Seven Years War, and worked as a tax-collector, teacher, and preacher. In 1774
he met Benjamin Franklin, who urged him to emigrate to America, which he did.
In 1776 he wrote Common Sense and from 1776-1783 The Crisis, with its famous
opening line, "These are the times that try men's souls." A supporter of the
French revolution, Paine was declared an honorary French citizen, but was
imprisoned for a time by the revolutionaries. He returned to America in 1802,
where he was not warmly received.
Palindrome A word or sentence that reads the same from left to right or right
to left. "Madam, I'm Adam;" "Able was I ere I saw Elba."
Pamela (Virtue Rewarded) (1742), Samuel Richardson This, the first English
novel, was more or less an accident. Richardson, a middle-aged printer, had
planned a book of model letters addressed to people in humble walks of life. In
order to give some unity to the letters, he conceived the idea of connecting
them with a story. And so Pamela was born. To his astonishment, it took the
London public by storm, and so the epistolary form of novel writing remained
thereafter one of the most popular. Pamela is a "good" girl, in the service of
a "bad" man -- one with dishonorable intentions. Happily, she falls in love
with him and he with her, her virtue is preserved, and they marry. Richardson
was something of a psychologist in dealing with his heroine, depicting her
inner struggles with far more insight than many of his successors showed.
Panegyric A written or oral composition that highly praises a person or place.
In Greek literature panegyrics were most often for the dead; in Roman
literature, for the living.
Parable A story told to illustrate a moral truth or lesson. The Bible has the
best-known parables: e.g., the sower, the prodigal son, the Good Samaritan.
Paradise Lost (1662), John Milton The greatest epic poem in English has as its
subject matter the first disobedience of Man and his subsequent loss of
paradise. Its purpose is to "justify the ways of God to men." The entire
physical universe is the background for the events of this epic, as the reader
is taken to heaven, to hell, to the depths of chaos, and finally to the Garden
of Eden.
Paradox A statement that appears to be absurd or self-contradictory but is
true on a higher level; often used for special emphasis. "He who would save his
life must lose it."
Parody
A humorous literary work that ridicules a serious work by imitating and
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exaggerating its style. In media, a parody is a "take-off" on a particular
person, event, etc.
Pasternak, Boris (1890-1960) The son of a Jewish art professor and portraitist
and a concert pianist, this Russian author originally thought of a career in
music, but turned instead to poetry and fiction. Under the Stalinist regime, he
earned his living principally as a translator and, when he submitted his novel
Doctor Zhivago to the censors, it was rejected. Sent to the West, it was
published to great acclaim in 1957. Two years later, Pasternak won the Nobel
Prize for Literature, but was forced to reject it.
Pastoral A poem about shepherds and rural life, derived from ancient Greek
poetry. The pastoral sometimes takes the form of a lament for a dead friend, a
dialogue between two shepherds, or a monologue. The word also can describe
poetry marked by nostalgia for lost innocence.
Pastoral elegy A serious poem written in an elevated, formal style and
employing conventional pastoral imagery to commemorate the death of a friend,
usually a poet. For example, Shelley's Adonais (written on the death of Keats).
Pathos The literary quality that causes the reader (or the theatergoer) to
experience feelings of pity and sympathy. For instance, in Wuthering Heights,
the death of Cathy and Heathcliffe's intense grief. (The character that
inspires pathos is usually controlled by his suffering, while the tragic hero
eventually resolves and overcomes his pain with nobility.)
Penny dreadful Particularly in Victorian England, a short mystery or novel,
printed inexpensively on cheap paper and having a large distribution.
Pentameter
A line of poetry containing five metrical feet.
Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703) A graduate of Cambridge and born the son of a
tailor, this English diarist became an important naval official and served in
the House of Commons. On his death he gave his books to Cambridge and more than
a century later a clergyman discovered a diary of his in shorthand, which was
subsequently published in 1825. It is an account of the years 1660 to 1669, the
period of the Restoration, the great fire, and the great plague.
Periphrasis A method of stating an idea in an indirect, excessively wordy
manner. Literally translated, it means "roundabout speaking." For example, "The
answer is in the negative" is a periphrasis for the word "no." The phrase "the
year's penultimate month" is a periphrasis for "November."
Persona In fiction, the term is used to refer to the person through whom the
narrative is told. The persona may narrate the story in the first person, but
this is not always the case. In all cases the person is a "mask" through which
the author speaks.
Personal essay A type of informal, autobiographical essay that is self
-revealing and is usually written in a conversational, often humorous style.
Personification A figure of speech that gives human forms and characteristics
to abstractions, objects, animals, etc. For example, John Keats, in his "Ode on
a Grecian Urn," personifies the urn as an "unravished bride."
Petrarch, Francis (1304-1374) Described as the "Father of the Renaissance" or
"the first modern man," Petrarch is remembered today chiefly for the sonnet
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form that bears his name, and for his love for Laura, the lady of so many of
these poems, to whom he became "enslaved through devotion."
Phaedra (1677), Jean Racine This is a 17th-century French dramatization of the
classic Greek legend about Phaedra, the daughter of the king of Crete who
married Theseus, killer of the Minotaur, and fell in love with her stepson
Hippolytus. After much court intrigue, Hippolytus is banished, then slain by a
monster, and Phaedra commits suicide.
Phenomenology A philosophical system based on the premise that objects have a
reality and a meaning only in the consciousness of the person perceiving them.
Therefore, to analyze a work of art accurately, the phenomenologist critic must
carefully exclude all prejudgments or inferences that come from outside his own
intuition. In other words, a work of art exists only as it appears in the mind
of the viewer or reader.
Picaresque novel A type of novel whose structure is a loosely strung together
series of incidents concerning a hero who is usually a clever rascal of little
means but of endless wiles. For instance, Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders and Mark
Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), Oscar Wilde An English novel of
extraordinary wit that hints just enough at mysterious wickedness to have
ensured its enthralling the public. Dorian Gray, the decadent bon vivant, lives
out his life in the beauty and perfection of his youth, while the famous
portrait of him bears the ravages of his decadence.
Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan This simple allegory, published in two parts,
the first in 1678, the second in 1684, concerns the hero Christian, who flees
the City of Destruction to find the City of God. On his way he meets Faithful,
Ignorance, Lord Hate-Good, and Mr. Greatheart. The second part follows
Christian's wife Christiana and their four sons as they set out with their
neighbor Mercy for the same destination, and how Mr. Greatheart helps bring
them there.
Pinter, Harold (b.1930) The son of a Jewish tailor, this British playwright
left school at 16 to train for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts,
after which he acted with repertory companies. At age 26 he began writing
plays, whose everyday settings are infused with an ambience of terror, mystery,
and the grotesque. His most successful plays have been The Caretaker (1960),
The Birthday Party (1957), and The Homecoming (1965).
Pirandello, Luigi (1867-1936) The Italian dramatist began his career as a
Sicilian folklorist and short-story writer, but during the period of World War
I he began to write dramas where he portrayed life as consisting merely of a
succession of illusions that, put together, constitute what the ordinary person
sees as reality. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1934 and his best
-known works are It Is So! (If You Think So) (1916) and Six Characters in
Search of an Author (1921).
The Plague (1947) Albert Camus
laid in the Algerian seaport of
the epidemic that hits the city
months by the plague, becomes a
plague is a symbol of the evils
This French political and social allegory is
Oran. A physician, Bernard Rieux, recognizes
as bubonic plague. The city, isolated for eight
sort of microcosm of modern society, and the
that men must band together to fight.
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Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963) Plath's suicide at an early age brought great
attention to her poetry and her novel The Bell Jar (1963). Howard Moss wrote of
her as "someone who had faced horror and made something of it as well as
someone who had been destroyed by it." Ariel is her most famous volume of
poetry.
Platonism A term that denotes the idealistic philosophical doctrines of Plato,
whose ideas have influenced many English poets.
Poe, Edgar Allan (1809-1849) This American poet, critic, and short-story
writer is acknowledged today as one of the great men in American letters. Poe's
life and work were both overshadowed by his use of alcohol; even very mild
drinking interfered with his writing. His frequently macabre themes, his sense
of the violent and quiet horror present in the dark night of the soul pervade
his short stories and poetry to give his works an all-encompassing feeling of
doom. Among his best-known short stories are "The Murders in the Rue Morgue,"
"The Fall of the House of Usher," and "The Telltale Heart." "The Raven" and
"Annabelle Lee" are two of his most riveting and intense poems.
Poetic justice In a work of fiction (or in real life), an occurrence in which
virtue is rewarded and/or vice is punished in an unusual and unexpected way. In
almost any Victorian novel (such as those of Dickens) there is a happy ending
achieved by poetic justice: e.g., in Oliver Twist when the villainous Sikes
accidentally hangs himself while trying to escape.
Poetic license Primarily a practice, used by poets, of violating a rule of
pronunciation, rhyme, spelling, or normal word order to achieve a desired
metrical pattern. This term has also been extended to incorporate any liberty a
writer might wish to take in his work.
Poet laureate Originally an English appointment of a poet by the monarch, to
serve for life and write verse for state occasions. In 1986, the United States
began the appointment of a poet laureate (Robert Penn Warren), to serve on a
yearly basis, and help the Library of Congress acquire important works of
poetry. Ted Hughes is the present poet laureate of Great Britain.
Point of view A phrase used to denote the vantage point from which an author
presents the action in a work of fiction. In the first person point of view,
the author uses the pronoun I, and is part of the story. In the third person
point of view, the author anonymously chronicles the actions and dialogue of
his characters. In the omniscient point of view, the author enters the minds of
his characters, while taking a third person point of view.
Poor Richard's Almanac, Benjamin Franklin Issued annually from 1732-1757, this
almanac became the best-known and most-quoted publication in the colonies. Like
most periodicals of the sort, it contained weather predictions and horoscopes,
but was unusual in presenting a fictional mouthpiece, "Poor Richard" Saunders,
who offered such aphorisms as "God helps them that help themselves."
Pope, Alexander (1688-1744) Because he came from a Roman Catholic family, this
English poet could not attend a university and so was privately educated. A
serious illness in his childhood left him an invalid for the rest of his life:
He never grew taller than four and a half feet and was humpbacked, and only
rarely was free from some ailment. He had his first great success with Essay on
Criticism in 1711. The following year he had even greater success with his mock
heroic epic The Rape of the Lock. His last major work was the philosophical
poem Essay on Man (1732-34).
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Pornography Greek porne (prostitute) and graphos (writing). This type of
writing, disregarded by some critics, is often referred to as the negation of
literature. "Hard-core porn" robs characters of all dimension but the sexual,
taking no account of man's complexities. [It is to be remembered that
distinctions must be made between erotic passages in literature (i.e., in
Joyce's Ulysses, banned for many years), often used to enhance and give lyric
qualities to a work, and simple pornographic trash, written to titillate the
emotions and stimulate sexual fantasies.]
Porter, Katherine Anne (1894-1980) Born in Texas, she was educated in various
convent schools and published her first story in 1922. This American Southern
writer is considered one of the most distinguished masters of the short-story
form. Pale Horse, Pale Rider (a novella, 1939) and Ship of Fools (a novel,
1962) are her best-known works. The latter is a long novel that recreates the
elements of several societies in a world on the edge of war.
Portmanteau words A phrase coined by Lewis Carroll to describe words made up
of two existing words. The new word carries shades of both previous meanings.
Smog is a combination of the words smoke and fog. In the poem "Jabberwocky,"
Carroll uses slithy to mean a combination of lithe and slimy. He also uses
mimsy to denote both flimsy and miserable.
Portrait of a Lady (1881), Henry James James's finest accomplishment and
considered to be a masterpiece of the novel form, this is the story of Isabel
Archer, whom the author has created as a bright, eager young American with all
the naive expectations in what James saw as our national character.
Potboiler An inferior literary work written solely in order to provide the
author with money.
Pound, Ezra (1885-1972) One of the most influential poets and controversial
figures of the 20th century, Pound published an anthology titled Des imagistes
which was instrumental in starting the imagist movement in Britain and the
United States. He lived in Paris as an expatriate and became a great admirer of
the Italian dictator Mussolini, even broadcasting Fascist propaganda tirades
from Italy. At the end of the war, he was charged with treason, but adjudged
insane. His best-known work is the Pisan Cantos (1948), an attempt to recreate
civilization's history through myriad threads of myth, Eastern poetry, ballads,
jargon, etc.
Precis
A brief summary of a work.
Preface A brief introductory statement or essay at the beginning of a book
that allows the author to introduce the work to the reader, to make
acknowledgments, and to acquaint the reader with any special information needed
to understand the purpose of the book.
Prelude A brief introductory poem placed before a lengthy poem, or a lengthy
section of a poem.
Pride and Prejudice (1803), Jane Austen The best-known work of this
fascinating and gifted English master. The delightful workings of the Bennet
girls, their suitors, and their families have been praised by generations of
readers.
Prologue An introductory speech that precedes plays to give the audience
pertinent facts necessary for understanding the characters and action.
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Prologues are monologues delivered by an actor. The expository speeches of the
Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town are like prologues except that
they occur throughout the play, unlike choruses in Greek dramas.
Prometheus Bound, Aeschylus Probably written about 478 B.C., this Greek
tragedy recounts the sufferings of the hero who stole fire from the gods to
give to mankind. Prometheus, chained to a rock throughout the play, paints a
picture of Zeus, ruler of the gods, as a harsh and unjust tyrant.
Prose poem
The elements (figures of speech) of poetry, written in prose form.
Prosody A word applied to the theory and principles of writing poetry and that
especially pertains to forms of rhythmic, accented, and stanzaic patterns.
Protagonist
Antagonist.
The leading character, usually the hero or heroine, in a work. See
Proust, Marcel (1871-1922) One of the great literary figures of the modern
age, as a young man this French novelist was very active in society, but after
1905 he lived mainly in a room lined with cork, and devoted himself to work on
his 16-volume cyclic novel The Remembrance of Things Past (1913-22). This work
(considered an extended interior monologue) is highly personal and
psychological, and delves deeply into the connection between external and
internal realities.
Proverb A brief statement of an important truth relevant to practical daily
living. A proverb is usually an ancient statement, often carried down through
oral tradition.
Pun A play on words that employs the similarity of sounds between words of
different meanings in a clever and unexpected way. For example, this quote of
Thomas Hood's: "They went and told the sexton and the sexton tolled the bell."
Pure poetry A term applied to a poem that is written only for the beauty of
its sound and imagery. It does not teach a moral truth or have conceptualized
thoughts. Edgar Allen Poe's poem "Annabel Lee" is pure poetry; this term was
first used, in fact, by Baudelaire in an essay on Poe's poetry.
Pushkin, Alexander (1799-1837) Considered the greatest Russian poet, he came
from a noted family, one of his ancestors having been the black general of Czar
Peter I. His best-known works include the drama Boris Gudonov (1831), the basis
for the opera, and Eugene Onegin (1831), a novel written in verse, filled with
clever and insightful pictures of 19th-century society in Russia. He also wrote
romances, historical poems, and folk tales and the famous short story, "The
Queen of Spades" (1834).
Pygmalion (1912), George Bernard Shaw This English comedy concerns Professor
Henry Higgins, a linguist and philologist, who determines to take a young girl
from the streets and, by teaching her upper-class speech, pass her off as a
lady. He succeeds, but complications arise when she falls in love with him, a
feeling he does not initially reciprocate. Obviously, the play is a satire on
the English class system.
Quatrain
A stanza or a poem with four lines, with many possible rhyme schemes.
The Quiet Don, Mikhail Sholokhov Written over a period of 14 years, this
Russian epic series of novels was published between 1928 and 1940. The best
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-known of the novels is And Quiet Flows the Don, published in the United States
in 1934. The story concerns Grigory, a young Cossack who has little sympathy
with the revolution led by the Bolsheviks and even fights against them. At the
end of the novel tedium and disillusionment claim him.
Rabelais, Francois (1490-1553) A French monk, physician, archaeologist, and
scholar, Rabelais's major work is the burlesque novel Gargantua and Pantagruel,
which mingled the most serious and profound ideas with broad satire and even
scatalogical jokes. The work, in five books, was published between 1533 and
1563, the last volume being posthumous, although its authenticity is contested
by some.
Racine, Jean (1639-1699) Considered by the French their greatest writer of
tragic drama, Racine was the epitome of classical drama. His simple diction and
the realism of his characters accounted for the popularity of his plays. In
1677, after writing ten plays, he retired from the theater and became the
king's historiographer. His best-known plays are Phaedra (1677) and Andromache
(1667); he also wrote lyric poetry.
Ransom, John Crowe (1888-1974) Tennessee poet who founded The Kenyon Review. A
Southerner both by instinct and choice, his poetry combines innovation with the
aristocratic traditions of the antebellum South. Ransom, a difficult poet to
read, used wit and irony to convey his expression. His works include Chills and
Fever (1924) and Selected Poems (1945, 1963, 1969).
The Rape of the Lock (1712), Alexander Pope Considered to be the most
brilliant English poetical satire, in which the heroic couplet has never been
managed with greater elegance or wit. This poem in five cantos gives us one of
the most brilliant pictures we have of the foibles and artifices of the
aristocracy in Pope's day.
Realism A term generally applied to any literature that is true to life. It is
specifically applied to a movement in France, England, and America in the
latter half of the 19th century, when novelists paid great attention to
describing life as it really is. The realists were reacting against what they
considered to be the unreal excesses and exaggerations of Romanticism. Examples
are the novels of Balzac in France, George Eliot in England, and William Dean
Howells in America.
The Red and the Black (1830), Stendhal This psychological French novel deals
with Julien Sorel, who is torn between a career in the military (the red) and
the clergy (the black). He leaves his mistress and impregnates the daughter of
his wealthy employer, who eventually finds out about the mistress and refuses
to have Sorel in the family. At the end Sorel shoots his ex-mistress and is
subsequently executed.
The Red Badge of Courage (1895), Stephen Crane Concerns the adventures of a
young Union soldier, Henry Fleming, in the American Civil War battle of
Chancellorsville, although the action is never identified by that name. In his
first encounter with the enemy, Henry is afraid and runs away; behind the
battle lines he is wounded by another retreating soldier. He returns to his
regiment and is acclaimed a hero because of his wound and, as the battle
resumes, fights like a true hero. This remarkable emotional account of a young
man in battle becomes even more remarkable when one learns that Crane himself
had never been involved in war. This is the first modern, realistic treatment
of war in American literature.
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Refrain A regularly repeated phrase or line of poetry that recurs frequently
in a poem or ballad, especially in old folk ballads and songs.
Remarque, Erich Maria (1898-1970) This German novelist fought in World War I
and was wounded five times. After the war, he was a teacher for a time, wrote
automotive advertising, and became the editor of a general sports magazine. In
1929 his best work, All Quiet on the Western Front, appeared and made him
famous throughout the world. He became a permanent exile when the Nazis took
over in Germany and eventually became a U.S. citizen.
Repetition A device used in writing poetry or prose in which an idea is
repeated for emphasis.
Cannon to the right of them,
Cannon to the left of them
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered.
Tennyson
Requiem A solemn chant or dirge; a prayer for the soul of the dead, sung at
funerals. The word is from the Latin phrase Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine
("Give eternal rest to them, O Lord").
Slow, slow, fresh fount, keep time with my salt tears...
Like melting snow upon some craggy hill,
Drop, drop, drop, drop,
Since nature's pride is, now, a withered daffodil.
Ben Jonson
Restoration comedy A term applied to English plays from 1660 (when the
monarchy was restored) until the early 1700s, when a sentimental type of comedy
arose. Restoration comedies are elegant and witty, and very frequently involved
with sexual matters.
The Return of the Native (1878), Thomas Hardy This beautifully executed and
tempestuous story of Eustacia Vye and her love for Clym Yeobright illustrates
one of Hardy's most deeply felt themes: that the immutable will of man is
solely responsible for his catastrophes. However, Hardy is so fine an artist
that he never sermonizes, and the reader watches with understanding and
compassion the slow unfolding of his characters' downfall.
Rhyme A similarity or correspondence in the vowel sounds of two words that
have differing consonantal sounds.
Rhyme scheme The recurring pattern in which rhymes are placed in a stanza or
poem. The pattern is normally indicated by using the letter a to indicate the
first rhyme word, b, the second, and so on.
There has fallen a splendid tear
(a)
From the passion-flower at the gate.
(b)
She is coming, my dove, my dear;
(a)
She is coming, my life, my fate;
(b)
The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near";
(a)
And the white rose weeps, "She is late";
(b)
The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear";
(a)
And the lily whispers, "I wait."
(b)
Tennyson
Rice, Elmer (Elmer Reizenstein) (1892-1967)
This American playwright was born
65
and grew up in New York. He graduated from law school, but never practiced.
After 11 years of failures, he had his first success with The Adding Machine
(1923), probably the most important American expressionistic play, and added to
his reputation with Street Scene (1929), a realistic drama.
Richardson, Samuel (1689-1761)
See Pamela.
Rilke, Rainer Maria (1875-1926) This German poet was a part of the Symbolist
movement of the 1890s. In some of his earlier works the poet adopted a
technique comparable to that of the American imagists. As time went by, his
subjects changed from the despair of the lover and the struggles of the poet to
antagonism toward the bourgeois virtues. His greatest poetic works are in Duino
Elegies (1923) and Sonnets to Orpheus (1923).
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1898), Samuel Coleridge Derided in its day by
critics as "the strangest story of cock and bull we ever saw on paper," this
work is today considered a great poetic achievement. It is the story of an
ancient mariner who detains a wedding guest and holds him with "glittering eye"
while he tells his tale of horror and the sea.
Rip Van Winkle, Washington Irving This tale from The Sketch Book, published in
seven installments between 1819 and 1820, tells of an amiable Dutch loafer who
prefers wandering in the Kaatskill Mountains with his dog to providing for his
family. On one of his trips, he encounters the crew of Hendrick Hudson, who
give him a magic potion. On awakening, he finds that he has slept for 20 years
and when he returns to his village, nothing is the same.
The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885), William Dean Howells This is the story of a
wealthy American businessman, who has difficulties dealing with success and
personal ethics. The theme is the conflict between the new race of industrial
millionaires and traditional New England aristocracy.
Rising action That part of the plot of a story or drama in which the conflict
between the hero or heroine (the protagonist) and the villain (the antagonist)
becomes increasingly complicated. In Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea the
rising action begins when the old man hooks the tremendous fish and the battle
between man and nature begins.
Robinson Crusoe (1719), Daniel Defoe A Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk
published a book of his experiences on an island off Chile, where he had lived
for five years after being shipwrecked there. The English novelist Defoe picked
up the story and wrote a novel based on the same situation.
Robinson, Edwin Arlington (1869-1935) Born in Maine, the son of an amateur
spiritualist, this American poet published his first book of poetry at his own
expense, but his later work brought him wide acceptance and three Pulitzer
Prizes. Although he composed many long poems, his more popular works are such
shorter ones as "Richard Cory" and "Miniver Cheevy," in which he explores man's
complex nature and the frustration and agony of the human dilemma.
Roethke, Theodore (1908-1963) This Michigan poet's career was frequently
interrupted by manic-depressive episodes, but they did not affect the lyricism,
vision, and wit inherent in his poetry. His best-known works are Praise to the
End! (1951) and Words for the Wind (1958).
Roman a clef
A novel based on real persons and events.
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Romance Originally a term denoting a Medieval narrative in prose or poetry
dealing with a knightly hero; but now, any fiction concerning heroes, exotic
subjects, passionate love, or supernatural experiences.
Romantic movement A literary movement that began in England in the beginning
of the 19th century and whose expression is realized by Wordsworth, who wrote,
"All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings." Further,
this literary school upheld man's natural goodness. The glorification of nature
and the spirit are two principal themes of romantic poets such as Blake,
Coleridge, Byron, and Shelley. The latter typified the essence of this movement
when he wrote of the soul "clasping its hands in ecstasy."
Roots (1976), Alex Haley Regarded as an ancestral chronology of Afro-American
heritage, this novel views its major character, Kunta Kinte, on his journey
from Africa in the 18th century, through enslavement, and is seen as one black
family's struggle for equality in America.
Rossetti, Charles Dante Gabriel (1828-1882) The son of an Italian political
refugee in England and the brother of Christina Rossetti, he looked on painting
as his profession and poetry as his hobby. Rossetti studied art at the Royal
Academy, where he and two other students formed the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood,
based on the theory that the best painting had been done in Italy before the
Renaissance, a group that attracted many disciples. His best-known poem is "The
Blessed Damozel" (1850).
Rossetti, Christina (1830-1894) An English poet who composed more than 900
poems in English and 60 in Italian, her poetry falling into three categories -those of fancy, religious exaltation, and passion. Most of her work is
religious.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778) The major influence on the development of
Romanticism in the 19th century, this French philosopher articulated the notion
of the natural man, unspoiled by society. Civilization, he felt, caused
equality between men to disappear and laws were invented to preserve that
inequality. Although today Rousseau is thought to have suffered grave mental
disturbances, his friends merely believed him to be eccentric. His major works
are The Social Contract (1762), the novel Emile (1762), and his
autobiographical work, Confessions (1765).
Ruskin, John (1819-1900) Born into a wealthy English family, he gave most of
his money away to support causes he believed in. Educated at Oxford, Ruskin
became a critic of the arts, but he gradually became more interested in social
reform. His masterwork is generally considered to be The Stones of Venice (1851
-53), a defense of Gothic architecture.
Saga A prose narrative of heroic and legendary events in ancient Norway and
Iceland; or any modern narrative that resembles Nordic sagas in style and
subject matter.
Salinger, J.D. (Jerome David) (b.1919) Born in New York, this important and
reclusive 20th-century literary figure published Catcher in the Rye (1951), a
first-person novel that relates with humor and wit the pain and struggles of
its narrator, Holden Caulfield, on his odyssey through adolescence. Salinger
was involved with the isolated figure in society; he wrote of the intense
loneliness and frustration experienced by his characters as they face a world
of conformity and banality. Nine Stories (1953) is a brilliant collection that
deals particularly with the Glass family. Seymour: An Introduction (1963)
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(about Seymour Glass) is his last published work.
Sand, George (Lucile-Aurore Dupin) (1804-1876) A French novelist who defies
classification, Sand was eulogized as " . . . a woman who observed her own
life, and gave it expression . . . She wrote as she breathed." This quotation
notwithstanding, she has frequently been classified as a romantic, writing with
great passion of the misunderstood woman, and also creating many pastoral
romances [The Haunted Pool (1848) and The Master Bellringers (1852)]. Her
liaison with Chopin was both famous and notorious: Sand wrote about it in her
work A Winter in Majorca (1842).
Sandburg, Carl (1878-1967) Born in Illinois, this major 20th-century American
poet had to earn his own living from age 13. He wrote without conventional
meter and his sources were largely historical, although he also was lauded for
recreating the contemporary American scene. His Complete Poems (1950) won a
Pulitzer Prize. After 1928, he concentrated on producing a monumental biography
of President Lincoln.
Sappho (7th century B.C.) This poet from the island of Lesbos is the only
major female writer whose works have survived from classical Greece and Rome.
According to legend, she was married and had a daughter, but much of her poetry
concerns her love for women (hence the term "lesbian").
Sarcasm A literary device that uses irony to state in a negative and bitter
way the opposite of the intended meaning. "Surely," said the poet to the
mendicant, "you are a gentleman of great learning and moral attitude."
Saroyan, William (1908-1981) Born in California, this Armenian-American
novelist, playwright, and short-story writer spent some time in an orphanage
during his youth. Saroyan dealt with the American dream in a manner both
lyrical and sentimental. He published his own first volume of short stories,
The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze (1934). The Human Comedy (a novel,
1934) and The Time of Your Life (a play, 1939) are among his most noted works.
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905-1980) Whether Sartre is a philosopher who wrote belles
lettres or a belletrist who had a philosophical system is moot. A French
professor of philosophy, he was influential in popularizing an Existentialism
that is atheistic, pessimistic, and yet also one with humanistic and
progressive elements. His best-known works are the one-act play No Exit (1944)
and the multivolume novel series titled The Roads to Freedom, which he began
publishing in 1945.
Satire A type of literary work that uses sarcasm, wit, and irony to ridicule
and expose the follies and foibles of mankind, often in an attempt to reform
society. See Pope's The Rape of the Lock and Swift's Gulliver's Travels.
Scansion The analysis of poetry or verse to show its metrical pattern. A
scansion of the line "Double, Double, toil and trouble," from the incantation
of the witches in Macbeth would read: Double double toil and trouble. The
marks indicate there are four trochaic feet in the line.
The Scarlet Letter (1850), Nathaniel Hawthorne Set in 17th-century Boston,
where adultery was a capital crime, this work, considered to be a major
American novel, is the story of Hester Prynne, convicted of adultery and
sentenced to wear a scarlet A on the bosom of her garment. She refuses to name
her partner, but after seven years the local minister, Arthur Dimmesdale,
confesses his guilt and eventually dies. At Hester's death, the letter A is
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inscribed on her tombstone.
Scenario Outline of the plot of a play, involving the characters and the order
of the scene.
Scene A subdivision of an act of a play. In motion pictures a scene is a
single situation or unit of dialogue.
Schiller, Friedrich (1759-1805) Germany's most important and esteemed
playwright, he is best known for his tragedies Don Carlos (1787) and
Wallenstein (1799). Schiller also wrote plays about Mary Stuart, William Tell,
and Joan of Arc, works of history, philosophy, and poems. Of the latter the
best known is "Ode to Joy" (1785), used by Beethoven for the choral movement of
his Ninth Symphony.
Science fiction A form of fantasy in fiction in which scientific theories,
hypotheses, and logic are used to create settings on other planets and galaxies
and to depict the future on Earth. Novels and short stories by Ray Bradbury,
Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, and Ursula LeGuin are typical of the genre.
Scott, Sir Walter (1771-1832) Born in Scotland, this novelist and poet won
fame with The Lady of the Lake (1810). He turned to writing novels in 1814 and
in the next 17 years produced 17 books, which made him the most popular author
of his time. Best known among them is Ivanhoe (1820).
Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson This, the author's most famous essay, was
published in the collection Essays: First Series (1841). The piece extols as
the highest law being true to the self, whether or not that effort entails
nonconformity. This essay contains the famous sentence "A foolish consistency
is the hobgoblin of little minds."
Semiotics
The study of symbols and signs in works of literature.
Seneca (4 B.C.-A.D. 65) Born in Spain, he became the tutor of the future
emperor Nero and an important power in the government during the first years of
Nero's reign. Later he lost the emperor's favor and eventually committed
suicide. His tragedies leaned heavily on Greek drama and were written to be
read, not performed. The subject matter of his plays had an important influence
on the dramas of Elizabethan England.
Sentimentality In literature, an overabundance of blatantly stated feeling
designed to evoke an emotional response. Wilde criticized Dickens's description
of Little Nell's death in The Old Curiosity Shop: "That man has no soul who can
read of the death of Little Nell without laughing."
Serenade
boudoir.
A song written expressly to be sung beneath the window of a lady's
Sestet A six-line stanza (also called a sextet) commonly found as the
concluding six lines of a sonnet. The sestet is also used as a stanzaic form in
itself and as a stanza in a poem.
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
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Wordsworth
Setting The physical background of a narrative. A setting includes the
historical epoch in which the action occurs, as well as the social class or
condition of the characters.
Seuss, Dr. (Theodor Seuss Geisel) (1904-1991) An early illustrator for Life,
Redbook, and Saturday Evening Post magazines, Geisel is known by children and
parents around the world for his whimsical, often rhyming, easy-to-read
fiction, which he authored and illustrated for seven decades. Books under his
pen name, Dr. Seuss, include: The Cat in the Hat (1957), Yertle the Turtle
(1958), Green Eggs and Ham (1960), There's a Wocket in My Pocket (1974), and
Oh, the Places You'll Go! (1990); and, as Theo Le Sig: Ten Apples up on Top
(1961), The Eye Book (1968), and The Tooth Book (1981).
Sexton, Anne (1928-1974) This American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet [Live or
Die (1966)] committed suicide in 1974 at the age of 46, after living a
passionate and tortured life in and out of psychiatric hospitals. Her lyric
strengths and the force of her gut-level poetry can be found in All My Pretty
Ones (1962) and Love Poems (1969).
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616) Shakespeare is the towering figure in English
literature, considered both the greatest dramatist and the greatest poet.
Married at 18, the poet left his home, Stratford-on-Avon, soon after and by
1588 he was in a company of actors in London; he wrote plays and poems from
1594 till his death. Shakespeare quickly became the most popular and successful
dramatist of his time. After 1608 he began to spend more and more time at
Stratford, probably not composing much after 1611. His 37 plays consist of
tragedies like Hamlet, histories like Richard II, and comedies like Twelfth
Night, and his Sonnets are considered to be unequaled in their expression of
love and beauty.
Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950) Born in Dublin, Shaw established himself in
England in 1876 and worked as a drama and music critic, during which time he
became interested in Socialism, a major concern throughout his life and works.
The first of his plays to be produced was Widowers' Houses (1892). Among his
principal works were Man and Superman (1903), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan
(1924). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. He is noted for his
brilliant "Shavian" wit, impudence, and social consciousness.
Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822) An English Romantic poet who was strongly
influenced by the writings of the radical William Godwin (he married Godwin's
daughter, Mary) and throughout his life retained the faith in a better
tomorrow. Shelley wrote with a lyric sense of joy, creating images ("life like
a dome of many-colored glass stains the white radiance of eternity...") that
remain in the mind. He drowned tragically in a boating accident in Italy. His
greatest work is generally considered to be the poetic drama Prometheus Unbound
(1819). Among his famous individual poems are "Ozymandias," "Ode to the West
Wind," and "To a Skylark."
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751-1816) Generally considered the best British
dramatist of the 18th century, Sheridan had a playwriting career which lasted
only from 1773 to 1780, during which time he wrote the comedies The Rivals
(1775) and The School for Scandal (1777). In 1780 he entered Parliament, but
eventually had to give up his seat because of his debts, for which he spent
time in prison.
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Sherwood, Robert (1896-1955) The New Rochelle, New York, native came from a
well-to-do family and he was educated at Harvard. He served in World War I and
was seriously wounded. The success of his first play, The Road to Rome (1927)
made it possible for him to live as a playwright. Both Idiot's Delight (1936)
and Abe Lincoln in Illinois received Pulitzer Prizes. A lifetime liberal, he
served under President Roosevelt during World War II, writing many of the
president's speeches.
Sholokhov, Mikhail (1905-1984) The winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize for
Literature wrote chiefly about life in the Don Cossack region. This Russian
author's major work, strongly influenced by Tolstoy's War and Peace, is The
Silent Don (in two volumes, 1934 and 1942), which attempts a panoramic look at
life in one region of the Soviet Union during and after the revolution. A
Communist Party member, Sholokhov was generally in favor with the Kremlin
during his writing years.
Short story A brief narrative, ancient in origin, which includes fables,
parables, tales, and anecdotes. The short story as a conscious art form began
to appear in the 19th century in the works of Hawthorne, Poe, and Balzac, whose
short stories are carefully plotted and written for a calculated effect on the
reader.
Sidney, Sir Philip (1554-1586) Scholar, diplomat, poet, courtier, soldier, and
gentleman, this English poet was an influential figure under Queen Elizabeth.
An artist himself, he was also a patron of the arts and greatly encouraged
Edmund Spenser. His major works are Astrophel and Stella, a sonnet sequence,
and Arcadia, a pastoral.
Simile A figure of speech in which an object of one type is said to be like
another.
My love is like a red, red rose.
Burns
Simon, Neil (b. 1927) Born on July 4 and raised in Washington Heights
(Manhattan), this prolific playwright began his career as a comedy writer for
television. Well known on Broadway for five decades, Simon won the Tony Award
for his plays The Odd Couple (1966), as well as Biloxi Blues (1985) -- part of
his autobiographical trilogy that includes Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway
Bound. Simon won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Literature in drama for Lost in
Yonkers.
Sinclair, Upton (1878-1968) Born in Baltimore and raised and educated in New
York, this ardent socialist made the best-seller list with The Jungle (1906).
The ideas in his work are those of traditional Socialism: the perfidy of big
business interests, the strangling influence of monopoly, and business's
general disregard of the common citizen. He died leaving behind some 90
published works.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis (1904-1991) This Polish-born Nobel Prize-winning
novelist wrote mostly of the passionate, lyrical heritage of the Polish Jews -their spirituality, their color, and the folkways of their daily life. Singer,
a master of language and feeling, is best known for Gimpel the Fool (1957) and
The Magician of Lublin (1960).
Six Characters in Search of an Author (1921), Luigi Pirandello In this Italian
play the line between theater and life disappears completely, with a play in
rehearsal as the curtain rises. A family of six arrive, claiming to be
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fictional characters, and demand to be put into a play. Their story is told by
various members of the family and then the actors attempt to make a play of it;
but, as soon as they begin acting, the truth is distorted and illusion takes
over.
Soliloquy A monologue delivered by an actor alone on stage. The intention of
the speech is to reveal what is going on in the character's mind.
Solzhenitsyn, Alexander (b.1918) After serving in the Soviet army during World
War II, this Russian novelist and essayist was arrested for making anti-Stalin
comments in a letter. He served eight years in Siberia and subsequently was a
teacher of mathematics and physics. Cured of cancer, he has used both his
imprisonment and his hospitalization as subjects. His best-known work is the
novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962). Solzhenitsyn now resides
in the United States.
Sonnet A poem of 14 iambic pentameter lines with a rigidly prescribed rhyme
scheme. The two main types of sonnets are the Italian (or Petrarchan) and the
English (or Shakespearean).
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee -- and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Shakespeare
Sophocles (496-405 B.C.) This Greek dramatist was the author of some 125
plays, of which seven survive. He is considered most important in the history
of theater because he deemphasized the chorus, which had played the major role
in the works of his predecessor Aeschylus, and, without abandoning the function
of the chorus, placed the major stress on his central characters. His most
important plays are Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.
The Sound and the Fury (1929), William Faulkner This American stream-of
-consciousness novel has an extremely complex structure. It is divided into
four sections, each a reflection from the mind of a different character; there
are also many flashbacks and switches in chronology. The title of this work is
from Macbeth, "...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing," and the story deals with the lyric depravity of the Compson family.
Spender, Steven (b.1909) This English poet and critic speaks with lyrical
intensity about social injustices, and writes with passion about the
contemporary world. He achieved fame with his autobiography, World Within World
(1951), and some of his more famous works are the Collected Poems 1928-1953
(1955) and The Making of A Poem (1955).
Spenser, Edmund (1552-1599) This great poet of Britain's Elizabethan age was
deeply moral in point of view, and a strict craftsman of meter and language.
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His masterwork is The Faerie Queene, which began publication in 1590, was
continued in 1596, but was never finished.
Spenserian stanza A nine-line stanzaic form consisting of eight iambic
pentameter lines followed by an Alexandrine, or a line of six iambic feet. The
form was invented by Spenser and used in the 3,848 stanzas of The Faerie
Queene. It rhymes ababbcbcc.
Full on this casement shone the wintry moon, (a)
And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast,
(b)
As down she knelt for Heaven's grace and boon;
(a)
Rose-bloom fell on her hands, together prest,
(b)
And on her silver cross soft amethyst,
(b)
And on her hair a glory, like a saint;
(c)
She seem'd a splendid angel, newly drest,
(b)
Save wings, for heaven: Porphyro grew faint: (c)
She knelt, so pure a thing,
so free from mortal taint.
(c)
Keats
Spondee A type of poetic foot composed of two syllables, both of which are
stressed: New York, wavelike, catlike.
Spoon River Anthology (1915), Edgar Lee Masters This American work is a series
of short poetic characterizations in the form of epitaphs from an Illinois
village graveyard; each of the personalities is allowed to describe him-or
herself. Among the better-known entries are "Anne Rutledge," "Lucinda Matlock,"
and "Petit, The Poet." At the time of its publication it was highly innovative,
and both Our Town (Thornton Wilder) and Under Milkwood (Dylan Thomas)
subsequently reflected similar techniques.
Spoonerism An accidental and often humorous interchanging of the initial
sounds of two or more words; named for Dr. W.A. Spooner of New College, Oxford,
who often made such transpositions in his lectures. A "well-boiled icicle" for
a "well-oiled bicycle;" a "blushing crow" for a "crushing blow."
Sprung rhythm As reflected in the poetry of Hopkins, a rhythm measured in
feet, with each foot having only one accented syllable (the initial one). Any
number of unaccented syllables may be used in addition to create an effect. It
is the rhythmic language of everyday speech, prose, and music.
Stanza A group of lines of poetry arranged as a melodic unit that follows a
definite pattern. The number of lines in a stanza can vary from 2-12 (a few
rare exceptions have even more).
Steele, Richard (1672-1729) Together with Joseph Addison, he was half of the
most successful literary partnership in English literature. He attended Oxford
and then made his great reputation as editor of the periodicals The Tatler
(1709) and then The Spectator (1711), on which he worked with Addison.
Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946) Born in Pennsylvania, Stein spent her childhood in
Vienna, Paris, and San Francisco. After attending Radcliffe, she went on to
study medicine at Johns Hopkins, but in 1903 she left the United States for
France, where she remained with her constant friend and lover, Alice B. Toklas,
for the rest of her life. Stein was the central figure in a circle of
outstanding artist and writer expatriates in Paris. Her best-known work is
Three Lives (1909), which is notable, as are all of Stein's literary
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productions, for its redundancies, emphasizing rhythms and sounds rather than
sense.
Steinbeck, John (1902-1968) Born in California, this outstanding American
author gained fame with Tortilla Flat (1935) and Of Mice and Men (1937), but he
had his greatest triumph with The Grapes of Wrath in 1939. Compassion for the
downtrodden of the world was to be Steinbeck's signature as an author. He
remained for most of his life in Monterey and Los Gatos, California, where he
wrote novels and stories about the life of the region. He won the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1962.
Stendahl (Marie Henri Beyle) (1783-1842) The son of a lawyer, this French
novelist idolized his mother, who died when he was seven. He served in
Napoleon's army and afterwards attempted to write drama, but had no success at
it. Subsequently he turned to fiction and composed two of the most successful
psychological novels of the 19th century: The Red and the Black (1830) and The
Charterhouse of Parma (1839).
Stevens, Wallace (1879-1955) This American poet from Pennsylvania attended
Harvard and eventually became a vice president of the Hartford Accident and
Indemnity Company. Stevens was a poet concerned with creating order from chaos;
his best-known works were Harmonium (1923) and Ideas of Order (1935).
Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894) Born in Scotland, Stevenson had delicate
health even as a boy. To please his family he took up engineering and then was
admitted to the bar; however, he gave up law because he had contracted
tuberculosis. He died in the South Seas when he was forty-four. His most famous
works are Treasure Island (1883), A Child's Garden of Verses (1885), and The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886).
Stock character A character that has become standard and customary in certain
types of literature. A cruel stepmother and a Prince Charming are stock
characters in fairy tales, and fainting heroines in sentimental novels.
"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1928), Robert Frost The American
poet's best-known short work. The narrator stops his sleigh and sees the deep,
almost religious beauty of the frozen woods, but realizes that practical duties
call him from the contemplation of nature, as he reflects that he has "miles to
go before I sleep."
Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896) The daughter of one of Connecticut's most
prominent clergymen, she had only a haphazard and sketchy education. Stowe
lived for 18 years in Cincinnati, a portal of travel between North and South,
where she first became aware of slavery. Her fame rested principally on the
novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), the first best-seller in the United States.
The Stranger (1942), Albert Camus This French novel is about an existential
man, a stranger in the universe, named Mersault, indifferent to everything
except physical sensations. He kills an Arab, but experiences no remorse or
guilt. Sentenced to die, he comes to the realization that this life is all
there is, a belief that typifies the existential movement.
Stream of consciousness A type of psychological prose that presents the inner
thoughts of a character in an uneven, endless stream (or flow) that stimulates
the character's consciousness. See Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, William
Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, and James Joyce's Ulysses.
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A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), Tennessee Williams This play, considered to
be the greatest and most lyrical of American dramas, concerns Blanche Dubois,
daughter of a faded and impoverished Southern family, who visits her sister and
her earthy brother-in-law after the family home has been lost through debt. The
audience learns of her desire for both drink and men and, when Stella, her
sister, goes to the hospital to have a baby, her husband, Stanley, rapes
Blanche, who then loses all touch with reality. At the end of the play, as she
is being taken to a psychiatric hospital, she looks from one attendant/captor
to the other and speaks the memorable lines, "I have always relied on the
kindness of strangers."
Stress The accent or emphasis given to a syllable or word in poetry or other
rhythmic writing.
Strindberg, August (1849-1912) Beginning as a naturalist, this Swedish
playwright and novelist turned to an early type of Expressionism in the middle
of his career. After working as a tutor, teacher, telegrapher, journalist, and
librarian, he won renown through the publication of The Red Room. Married three
times, he had an almost pathological attitude toward women, expressed in
several of his plays. His best-known works are The Father (1887), Miss Julie
(1888), and The Dream Play (1902).
Strophe A special designation for a stanza; in Pindaric odes the strophe is
the first stanza and every subsequent third stanza (fourth, seventh, and so
on).
Sturm und Drang German, literally "storm and stress." A literary movement in
the late 1700s expressing turbulent emotion. Essences of this school are found
in Goethe and Schiller.
Style Each author's unique method of expression to convey the meaning he
wishes. Eventually, when "breaking down" a great writer's style, one comes
finally to the man himself. "Style is the man," is a famous and often confusing
quote.
Styron, Wllliam (b. 1925) Born in Virginia, Styron attended Duke University.
His first novel, Lie Down in Darkness (1951) brought him great acclaim; he then
stirred much controversy with The Confessions of Nat Turner, for which he won a
Pulitzer Prize in 1967. Thirteen years passed before the publication of
Sophie's Choice, where as in "Confessions" he dealt with another subject
foreign to his background (this time, the experience of a Nazi death camp, for
which he won both critical accolades and disapproval).
Subplot A secondary dramatic conflict that runs through a story as a
subordinate complication and that is less important than the main plot. In
Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's conflict with Laertes is a subplot.
Suspension of disbelief A literary phrase popularized first by Wordsworth, it
asks the reader to enter into a work of literature without barring his own way
by creating walls that say, "It couldn't have happened that way," or "How could
my heart dance with the daffodils?" Suspending disbelief is to willingly
appreciate the work for what it is, reserving subjective judgments.
Swenson, May (b. 1927) An American poet raised in Utah of Mormon parents.
Swenson experiments with form (the typography of the poem on the page) and
tries many different techniques. Her poetry is filled with evocative images.
Some of her better-known works are Half Sun Half Sleep (1967) and New and
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Selected Things Taking Place (1979).
Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745) One of the great British literary figures, Swift
was born in Dublin into abject poverty after the death of his father. An uncle
sent him to Trinity College and he was then ordained in the Church of England.
In 1713 he was named dean of St. Patrick's in Dublin, where he remained for the
rest of his life, although he reputedly hated Ireland. His masterpiece was
Gulliver's Travels, written during the 1720s.
Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909) From a noble family, Swinburne's
publication of Poems and Ballads (1866) was viciously attacked in Victorian
England for its extreme sensuality and anti-Christian sentiments; however,
other factions of English critical life had nothing but praise for the beauty
of Swinburne's language and the infusion of vitality he brought to poetry. Some
of his poetry has been criticized for an overabundance of language, but his
weakness did not hinder the success of his overall body of poetry and
criticism.
Symbol Something that is a meaningful entity in itself and yet stands for, or
means, something else. In literature there are so-called universal symbols and
others that suggest special meanings because of the way they are used in a
novel or other literary work. A flag is a symbol for a particular country; a
voyage, a universal symbol for life. The scarlet letter in Hawthorne's novel
assumes a special literary symbolism to those who know the novel thoroughly.
Standing for the first letter in the word Adultery, the mark of shame gradually
becomes a symbol of the bigotry and oppressive puritanism of a society.
Symbolism A literary movement in France in the latter part of the l9th century
that was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe. Symbolists believed that unique and
highly personal emotional responses, conveyed to the reader by means of a
system of subjective symbols, were the main substance of literature. Works of
the French writers Mallarme, Rimbaud, and Baudelaire abound in this kind of
symbolism. Baudelaire held that man lives in a "forest of symbols."
Synge, John Millington (1871-1909) Born in Dublin of Protestant parentage,
this playwright attended Trinity College and then wandered for several years in
Germany, Italy, and France until in 1898 he was persuaded by William Butler
Yeats to return to Ireland. It was such plays as In the Shadow of the Glen
(1903) and The Playboy of the Western World (1907) that brought success and
fame to Synge and to the Abbey Theater in Dublin. His Riders to the Sea (1904)
is considered one of the greatest tragedies ever written. Synge died of
tuberculosis when he was thirty-eight.
Tarkington, Booth (1869-1946) Born in Indiana, Tarkington attended both Purdue
and Princeton and lived in Indianapolis most of his life. In his novels [e.g.,
The Magnificent Ambersons (1918)] he showed himself a skilled social satirist
dealing with the urban middle and upper-middle classes. However, he has been
criticized for his sentimentality and his Victorianism in matters of decorum.
Teasdale, Sara (1884-1933) Born in St. Louis, this poet was a sometime habitué
of Chicago poetic circles, where she was once courted by Vachel Lindsay. Works
of her sensitive and very personal lyrics include the critically acclaimed
collection Flame and Shadow (1920) and Strange Victory (1933)
Tennyson, Alfred (1809-1892) The son of a clergyman, this British poet's first
publication was Poems by Alfred Tennyson (1832); it was received badly by the
critics and he published nothing again until Poems (1842). Other works include
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In Memoriam (1850), Idylls of the King (1859-1872), and Enoch Arden (1864). In
1883 he was elevated to the peerage by Queen Victoria. His writings are
considered most representative of the Victorian Age.
Tercet A stanza of poetry with three lines. The most common rhyme schemes of
the tercet are aaa, aba, aab, and abb.
Terza rima A special type of tercet that has interlocking rhymes in a
continuous rhyme scheme: aba bcb cdc ded, and so on.
O wild West Wind.
Thou breath of Autumn's being,
Thou, from whose unseen presence
the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts
from an enchanter fleeing,
(a)
(b)
(a)
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, (b)
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
(c)
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed
(b)
The winged seeds, where they lie cold and low,
(c)
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
(d)
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
(c)
Shelley
Tetrameter
A line of poetry with four poetic feet.
Textual criticism An activity in which a literary scholar seeks to reconstruct
an original manuscript and establish the authoritative text of the literary
work. This process could involve a close study of an original manuscript or, if
that is lost, a conjecture based on the various versions of the printed text.
Thackeray, William Makepeace (1811-1863) Born in India, this English novelist
was sent to school in England and studied at Cambridge, where he found his
chief interest was in drawing. He went to Paris to study art and began to write
there, illustrating his own books. He married, but his wife became insane after
the birth of their third daughter. His major works are the novels Vanity Fair
(1848) thought to be among the greatest works of all time, and Henry Esmond
(1853).
Theater of the absurd An innovative form of experimental theater that arose
after World War II, exhibited by the work of such master playwrights as
Ionesco, Beckett, and Genet. Plays of this genre combine the grotesque, the
ridiculous, and the meaningless to depict man as isolated in an alien universe.
"Literature of the Absurd" can be found in some portions of Kafka and Joyce.
Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953) This major Anglo-Welsh poet took his beautiful and
complex imagery from Freud and witchcraft, from Welsh legend and Christian
symbol, creating his own unique voice and mythology. His zest for life, warm
humor, and lyric voice were all eclipsed when he was 39 and died after an
unsuccessful struggle with alcoholism. Some of his most famous works are A
Child's Christmas in Wales and his strikingly dramatic verse play, Under
Milkwood. His Collected Poems appeared in 1953.
Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862) A native of Concord, he attended Harvard and
became an early convert to Transcendentalism. This American essayist and
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naturalist was a teacher, lecturer, and then a handyman at Emerson's home. He
made a trip to New York to make his fortune as a literary man, returned to
Concord to work in the family business, and spent two years living in a cabin
he built near Walden Pond, about which he wrote in Walden (1854). His best
remembered essay is "Civil Disobedience" (1849).
The Three Sisters (1901), Anton Chekhov This Russian drama concerns three
sisters living in a Russian provincial town near an army camp. Their father has
died a year before and they feel that there is little to keep them in the town.
As they dream of going to Moscow, they carry on a sort of social life, with
army officers as their principal guests. However, in a typically arrested
gesture, they never make the move out of their dull, small-town existence.
The Threepenny Opera (1928), Bertolt Brecht Based on the 1728 English work The
Beggar's Opera by John Gay, this German play with music by Kurt Weill is the
story of Mackie Messer (Mack the Knife), who married Polly Peachum, daughter of
a receiver of stolen goods, but is betrayed by the other women he has deserted.
Mack escapes, is recaptured, but saved from hanging by the queen's pardon.
The Tin Drum (1959), Gunter Grass This German novel is usually interpreted as
an allegory of German history from the early 20th century through the Nazi
period. The story is told by the dwarf Oskar Matzerath, who is in a mental
institution. He relates the tale of his life in a lively style, with an ironic
view of middle-class German values and much humor of the sort often called
gallows humor.
To the Lighthouse (1927), Virginia Woolf Considered Woolf's major work, this
stream-of-consciousness novel lyrically presents the author's conviction of the
impermanence of all things.
Tolstoy, Leo (1828-1910) From a wealthy noble family, this great Russian
novelist, short-story writer, and essayist served in the military and spent
much of his youth in dissipation. He began to express a desire for social
reform while still in his 20s, and after his marriage, he retired to his family
estate, where he composed his two greatest works, War and Peace (1865-69), a
novel of the Napoleonic Wars, and Anna Karenina (1875-77), a tragic novel based
on the high society of St. Petersburg.
Tom Jones (The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling) (1749), Henry Fielding
Acclaimed not only as Fielding's best novel, but as the greatest work of the
century, this breezy and engaging book is a potpourri of many different
characters, plots, and subplots in addition to the interspersion of a series of
delightful essays on all manner of subjects. An unending variety of incidents
occur between the separation of Tom from his sweetheart, Sophia, at the
beginning of the novel, and his being reunited with her at the end.
Tragedy A serious drama, in prose or poetry, about a person, often of a high
station in life, who experiences sudden personal reversals. Tragedies always
end with a catastrophic event. See Sophocles's Antigone; Shakespeare's Hamlet
and King Lear; and Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
Tragic force The incident or event in a tragic drama that triggers an action
that results in the hero's downfall. In Shakespeare's Macbeth the escape of
Fleance marks the beginning of the catastrophic end of the hero, Macbeth.
Tragic irony A form of irony that occurs when a character in a tragedy uses
words that mean one thing to him and something more meaningful to those who are
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listening. When Oedipus vows to find the murderer of his father, he doesn't
know that he himself is the murderer.
Tragicomedy A type
it becomes apparent
catastrophic event.
exacting his "pound
of drama that is initially serious in tone or theme, until
that the tragic events will end happily rather than with a
Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice ends without Shylock
of flesh," which would have been tragic for Antonio.
Transcendentalism A belief that human beings may learn higher truths in ways
that transcend the senses, including intuition and mysticism. See the writings
of Emerson and Thoreau, in America; Coleridge, in England; and Goethe, in
Germany.
The Trial (1925), Franz Kafka Published after the author's death, this Czech
novel is the story of a man condemned for a sin or a crime he never
understands. The novel can be interpreted as treating the universal sense of
human guilt, but some see it as the fate of contemporary man controlled by an
anonymous and unfeeling bureaucracy.
Trilogy A literary work with three parts, each a complete unit. For instance,
John Dos Passos's U.S.A.
Trimeter
A line of poetry containing three metrical feet.
Trochee A metrical foot with a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed
syllable.
The Trojan War (415 B.C.), Euripides This Greek tragedy has been called by
critics less a drama than a tragic pageant; it is judged one of the most
compelling antiwar plays. The setting is immediately after the fall of Troy,
and the play deals with the wives and children of the conquered, about to
become slaves and/or concubines of the Greek conquerors.
Trollope, Anthony (1815-1882) This English writer was the author of about 50
novels, of which the best are in the so-called "Barsetshire Series," which
reproduced scenes of the life in a small English cathedral town. The most
successful of these were The Warden (1855) and Barchester Towers (1857).
Troubadour
A lyric poet of 12th-and 13th-century France who wrote chivalrously
of love for a woman of noble birth.
Turgenev, Ivan (1818-1883) This Russian novelist and short-story writer is
best known for his collection of short pieces, A Sportman's Sketches (1852),
critical of serfdom, and his novel Fathers and Sons (1861), in which he wrote
of the social revolt in Russia. This novel, his masterwork, was so ill-received
that he spent most of his later years outside of Russia.
Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens) (1835-1910) Born in Missouri, this novelist,
essayist, and short-story writer was a pilot on the Mississippi River boats in
his 20s (his pseudonym was actually a riverboat call for two fathoms) and then
became a journalist in Nevada and California. His first popular success was
Innocents Abroad (1869), written after a trip to the Holy Land. He lived in New
York and finally settled permanently in Hartford, Connecticut, where he became
one of the most famous lecturers and after-dinner speakers in the country, and
wrote his two best-known works, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Mark Twain, the great American humorist,
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baffled critics with the publication of The Mysterious Stranger (published
posthumously, 1916). This novel was a marked contradiction between the familiar
friendly humorist and the avowed misanthrope depicted in the work.
Ulysses (1922), James Joyce This major Irish stream-of-consciousness novel
concerns one day, June 16, 1904, in the life of Leopold Bloom, Dublin citizen.
All that happens externally, to the uninitiated eye, is that he meets Stephen
Dedalus (Joyce) and patches up a quarrel with his wife Molly. The novel, banned
in the United States for many years on the charge of obscenity, employs many
different literary techniques. Every incident in the book is a parallel of an
occurrence in The Odyssey of Homer.
Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851-1852), Harriet Beecher Stowe This American novel may
have been prompted by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which
hardened abolitionist sentiment in the North. Mrs. Stowe's aim in writing the
book, a survey of both the good and evil sides of slavery, was to create more
of a treatise than a literary work. The hero is Tom, a slave who undergoes both
decent and cruel treatment, and dies feeling that heaven is his only haven.
Under Milk Wood (l954), Dylan Thomas A masterful verse drama that covers one
spring day in the life of a community, from before dawn to nightfall and dark.
In this rich and colorful play, characters eulogize themselves, each other, and
the town in such poetry as "...moonless night in the small town, starless and
bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched...limping invisible down
to the sloeback, slow, black, crow-black, fishing boat-bobbing sea."
Underground writing Usually refers to a facet of journalism popular in the
last half of the 20th century in the United States. Such papers as The Village
Voice (particularly at its inception) and The East Village Other concern
themselves with liberal political beliefs, experimental forms of drama and
literature, and radical ideologies in general.
Understatement A form of irony, also called litotes, in which something is
represented as less than it really is, with the intent of drawing attention to
and emphasizing its meaning. For example, Helen of Troy was not a bad-looking
woman.
Updike, John (b. 1932) This Pennsylvania-born short-story writer, novelist,
and poet worked for The New Yorker before the publication of his first novel,
The Poorhouse Fair (1959), a book that attacked man's apathy to the aged and
the welfare state. In subsequent works the critically-acclaimed Updike has
written of the married and the immature, the professor and the clergyman, in
his oftentimes brilliant and stylistic fiction. Some of his well-known books
are the Rabbit series [Rabbit, Run (1960), Rabbit Redux (1971), and Rabbit is
Rich (1981 Pulitzer prize winner)], and the short-story collections Pigeon
Feathers (1962) and Museums and Women (1972).
U.S.A., John Dos Passos This trilogy, published between 1930 and 1936, is
actually a single novel divided into three parts: The 42nd Parallel (1930),
Nineteen-Nineteen (1932), and The Big Money (1936). The purpose of the work is
to paint a picture of the United States from 1900 into the 1930s. Into the text
are woven various types of documentary materials: biographies, "newsreels" and
"the camera eye," in addition to semi-autobiographical impressions.
Vanity Fair (1848), William Makepeace Thackeray Hailed as the greatest novel
in English, Vanity Fair is subtitled by its author "A Novel Without a Hero."
But it has a new kind of heroine, the incomparable, wicked, brilliant, and half
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-tragic Becky Sharpe, through whose meteoric rise to the heights of social
success the reader views the crass stupidity of English aristocracy.
Variorum An author's work containing, besides the text, interpretive remarks
and critical commentaries. Students often use variorums when beginning to study
the work of a difficult or esoteric writer.
Vergil (70-19 B.C.) After studying in Rome and Naples, Vergil was fortunate
enough to secure the patronage of two wealthy men so that he was able to devote
himself to being a man of letters. His first important works were Eclogues and
Georgics, but his masterwork was the epic Aeneid. Perhaps written at the
request of the emperor Augustus and considered to be the best in Latin, this
poem tells the story of the founding of Rome.
Verse A general name given to all metrical (or poetic) compositions. Used
specifically, the word means a line of poetry or the stanza of a song; used
generally, it suggests a lower order of poetry, e.g., the limerick.
Versification The making of verses; also used as a synonym for prosody to
denote all the elements of poetic composition. In the latter sense,
versification includes accent, rhythm, meter, rhyme, stanza form and so on.
Victorian age Refers to 19th-century England under Queen Victoria's reign
(1837-1901). An age typified by cluttered parlors, starched doilies, and prim
manners, Victorian England is also viewed by some critics as seething with
decadence beneath the horsehair sofa and the tightly drawn mouth. Hardy and
Dickens were Victorians, as were Arnold and Swinburne.
Vignette A sketch or a short work of literature that is noted for its precise
detail. May also be part of a longer work.
Villanelle A French form of poetry, originally with a pastoral setting. Now
often used for light verse, it adheres to its own strict form.
Villon, Francois (1431-1480) Student, clerk, but also highwayman and murderer,
Villon is considered France's first outstanding poet. His works, of which the
"Little Testament" (1456) and the "Great Testament" (1461) are the best known,
are admired for the simplicity and realism Villon employs in his approach to
passion and to death.
Voltaire, Francois Marie Arouet (1694-1778) The major figure of the French
Enlightenment, Voltaire was twice unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille. The
second time he was released only because of his promise to go to England, where
he lived for several years. A rationalist philosopher, he was also a novelist,
historian, and poet of note. His collected works comprise 52 volumes, including
his best-known work, Candide (1759).
Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. (b. 1922) A brilliant and witty 20th-century American
novelist who uses the ideas of science fiction to satirize man's need for
empathy and caring. Vonnegut is also adept at employing surrealism, black
comedy, and nihilism to achieve his points. Some of his best-known works are
Cat's Cradle (1963), God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater (1965), and Happy Birthday,
Wanda June (1970).
Waiting for Godot (1952), Samuel Beckett This short Irish play presents two
tramps, an ardent materialist and his servant. There is little plot as the
characters hope for the arrival of Godot (although the audience never learns
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who or what that is) and show themselves in the grip of what existentialists
term "the absurd." The closing scene is typical: The tramps decide to go, but
do not move.
Walcott, Derek (b. 1930) Born on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and
educated in the British tradition, Walcott was the founding director of the
Little Carib Theatre/Trinidad Theatre Workshop (1959-1976). An Obie Award
-winning, West Indian playwright and poet, Walcott is known for his "melodious
and sensitive" style and "multicultural commitment" to the universal human
condition. His epic poem Omeros (1990) and other writings earned Walcott the
1992 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Walden (1854), Henry David Thoreau The theme of this master work is Thoreau's
contention that men ought to lead sincere and joyous lives instead of workworn,
sham existences. Here Thoreau celebrates the unique in man and challenges him
to march to the tune of a different drummer -- the one he hears inside himself
that is different from all others.
Walpole, Horace (1717-1797) Walpole is the father of the English "Gothic"
novel, the novel of mystery and terror. His major work, The Castle of Otranto
(1764), with a medieval setting and many trappings of suspense, initiated a
vogue that was important in starting the Romantic Movement. Walpole also wrote
a Gothic tragedy in blank verse, The Mysterious Mother (1768).
Walton, Izaak (1593-1683) Although he was a Royalist, the British author
managed to steer clear of the controversies of his lifetime. In 1670 he
published a book of biographies, which included lives of John Donne and George
Herbert. He is best known, however, for The Compleat Angler (1653), a book he
wrote ostensibly about his hobby of fishing that is also a philosophical work
on the virtues of peace. "The Angler," in hardcover and paperback, is still
widely read.
War and Peace (1865-1869), Leo Tolstoy This epic Russian novel, acclaimed the
best ever written by many critics, covers the fate of four families, the
Rostovs, Bolkonskis, Kuragins, and Bezukhovs, during the period of the
Napoleonic Wars. The central romantic interest is Natasha Rostov, who
eventually marries the kind but weak Pierre Bezukhov. The composition of the
novel took six years, 1864-1870.
Warren, Robert Penn (1905-1989) Born in Kentucky, he attended Vanderbilt
University, where he became a member of the "Fugitive Group," a coterie of
young Southern writers, and then spent most of his career as a university
professor. His poetry has won critical esteem and his 1946 novel All the King's
Men had considerable popular success. Named America's first poet laureate,
Warren won the Pulitzer Prize for his fiction in 1947 and for his poetry in
1958 and 1979.
The Waste Land (1922), T.S. Eliot Eliot's early master poetic work whose theme
is the banality and barrenness of the contemporary world contrasted with the
richness of traditional spiritual and mythological forces.
Waugh, Evelyn (1903-1966) From a literary family, this English novelist
attended Oxford, the setting of many of his novels. Waugh's faultless command
of the English language, his brilliantly bitter wit, and conservative viewpoint
are best seen in novels like Decline and Fall (1928). His best work is
generally considered to be Brideshead Revisited (1945).
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Wells, H.G. (Herbert George) (1866-1946) A fervent believer in the idea that
science could bring about man's ultimate happiness, this British novelist and
essayist had his early successes with such science fiction as The Time Machine
(1895) and The War of the Worlds (1898). He then wrote realistic studies of
middle-class Englishmen like Tono Bungay (1909) and novels on his Utopian
dreams for society. His output was enormous.
Welty, Eudora (b. 1909) Born in Mississippi, this Southern American novelist
and short-story writer held a number of jobs in advertising and radio before
returning to her native state to write. She was also in frequent demand as a
lecturer and visiting professor at various universities. The charm of Welty's
Southern characters lies both in their eccentricities and their grotesqueries.
Her best-known works are Delta Wedding (1946) and The Ponder Heart (1953).
West, Nathanael (Nathan Weinstein) (1903-1940) Born in New York City, West
graduated from Brown University and eventually went into hotel management. His
first novel was privately printed in 1931; his second, Miss Lonelyhearts (1933)
won great critical acclaim but did not sell. In 1939 he went to California
where he wrote the screenplay for his book The Day of the Locust. The next year
he and his wife were killed in an auto accident. Never a financially successful
author during his lifetime, his fame and popularity rose greatly after his
premature death.
Wharton, Edith (1862-1937) An artist of the interior world whose interest is
in the psychological and spiritual motivations of her characters, this American
novelist's work can be divided into three groups: novels of humble people in
rural settings, novels about World War I, and novels of society life in New
York and Europe. She was born in New York, married a Bostonian, but spent most
of her later life in France, where she wrote her major works. These include The
House of Mirth (1905) Ethan Frome (1911), and The Age of Innocence (1920).
Wheatley, Phyllis (1753-1784) The first American Negro poet to gain celebrity,
Wheatley was born in Africa and sold as a slave in Boston, where her master
taught her to read and write and drilled her in New England piety. By the time
she was thirteen she translated her learning into verses which were both
published and admired.
White, E.B. (Elwyn Brooks) (1899-1984) Born in Mount Vernon, New York, and
educated at Cornell University, White began his career as a reporter,
production assistant, and free-lance writer, with contributions to the New
Yorker and Harper's Magazine. An essayist, poet, and author, White's works
include The Lady is Cold (1929), The Elements of Style with William Strunk, Jr.
(1959), and Letters of E.B. White (1976). His well-known children's books,
Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan
(1970), have delighted readers for decades. White was the recipient of numerous
honorary degrees and awards, including the National Medal for Literature (1971)
and a Pulitzer Prize special citation (1978).
Whitman, Walt (1819-1892) Born on Long Island (New York), Whitman left school
at the age of eleven to become a printer's devil, after which he taught school
and became a newspaper editor. In 1855 Leaves of Grass was published at his own
expense and was universally criticized because of its sexual subject matter and
its innovative use of free verse. Whitman's work is filled with his concepts of
freedom and the dignity of man. "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed" and
"O Captain! My Captain!" (1866) are two of his famous poems. A poet who
celebrated life and himself, Whitman, who was homosexual, is today claimed as
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one of the few truly great American men of letters.
Whittier, John Greenleaf (1807-1892) Born in a small town near Boston,
Whittier spent most of his years in the country. His poetic themes were the
experiences undergone by the common people of his area, and he was one of the
better-known anti-slavery writers. In later life, after the Civil War, which he
backed although he was a Quaker, he wrote of New England, its past and its
countryside, as in Legends of New England (1831) and Snowbound (1866).
Wilde, Oscar (1854-1900) Educated at both Trinity College in Dublin and
Oxford, this Irish playwright, poet, and novelist made himself the spokesman
and the symbol of the "art for art's sake" movement. His best-known novel, The
Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) was a great popular success and of his plays, The
Importance of Being Earnest (1895) is judged the best. After serving a prison
sentence for homosexual immorality, Wilde spent the rest of his life in France.
He was a man and a writer of great art and flair.
Wilder, Thornton (1897-1975) Born in Wisconsin, this American novelist and
playwright was educated in China (where his father was a diplomat), at the
University of Califomia, Oberlin, Yale, the American Academy in Rome, and
Princeton. He later taught at a private school until he was able to support
himself on the income from his writing. His best-known novel is The Bridge of
San Luis Rey (1927), and his plays Our Town (1938) and The Skin of Our Teeth
(1942), utilized nonrealistic theatrical techniques.
Williams, Tennessee (1911-1983) Considered the greatest American playwright,
Williams's first successes were with The Glass Menagerie (1945) and A Streetear
Named Desire (1947). In both of those dramas, as in all of the works of this
poetic and brilliant writer, the recurring themes are those of intense passion
and pain, and the deterioration of Southern gentility into decadence. A master
of dialogue and character creation, Williams also wrote the acclaimed Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof (1955) and Night of the Iguana (1961), among other notable
theatrical works.
Williams, William Carlos (1883-1963) This American poet was born in
Rutherford, New Jersey, where he remained all his life, supporting himself as a
physician from 1910-1952, when he retired. His major poetic effort was the long
narrative poem Paterson, about the New Jersey city. It is a poem by a close
observer of American life whose impressions are recorded in a clear and vital
style.
Wilson, August (b. 1945) Founder of the Black Horizons Theatre Co. in
Pittsburgh (1968), this prolific playwright has won the Pulitzer Prize twice:
Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990).
Winesburg, Ohio (1919), Sherwood Anderson A set of connected stories or
sketches dealing with the inhabitants of a fictional American town. The central
figure is young George Willard, reporter for the Winesburg Eagle, who is the
observer and commentator for most of the stories. It becomes clear that
Anderson sees the American small town as a suppressed volcano of frustrations,
passions, and bitterness.
Wolfe, Thomas (1900-1938) Born in Ashville, North Carolina, Wolfe was sent to
the state university at 15, graduated at 20, and did graduate work at Harvard.
He taught English at New York University until the publication of his first
novel, Look Homeward, Angel (1929), which was both a critical and popular
success. Only one other novel was published during his lifetime, [Of Time And
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The River (1935)] in part because of the difficulty of editing his enormous
manuscripts. Posthumously published were The Web and the Rock (1939) and You
Can't Go Home Again (1940).
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941) The daughter of a noted scholar and the wife of a
distinguished journalist, this English writer was an original and influential
force in the modern novel. Her principal concern in two of her best novels
[Mrs. Dalloway (1925) and To the Lighthouse (1927)] was to recreate the world
of the inner consciousness of her characters. She took her own life by
drowning.
Wordsworth, William (1770-1850) Born in England's Lake District, this British
poet was educated at Cambridge. During the French Revolution he was introduced
to the ideas of Rousseau, which affected him deeply. In 1798 he published
Lyrical Ballads with Coleridge, the book that is considered to have begun the
Romantic Movement in Britain. He was named poet laureate in 1843. Some of the
exquisite lyricism in Wordsworth's poetry can be found in "Daffodils" and the
well-known Lucy poems.
Wouk, Herman (b. 1915) Born in New York, Wouk, a novelist, has lived most of
his life in that city. He graduated from Columbia University and then worked
for six years as a radio writer. He served four years in the Pacific in World
War II, an experience that served him in the writing of his best novel, The
Caine Mutiny (1951).
Wright, Richard (1908-1960) Born in Mississippi, this black novelist,
essayist, and short-story writer attended school only through the ninth grade.
He went to Memphis and then to Chicago, where he worked as a dishwasher,
porter, postal clerk, and salesman. He joined the Communist Party in 1932 and
left it in disillusionment in 1944. Wright had his first success with Native
Son (1940). He lived in New York and then in Paris.
Wuthering Heights (1848), Emily Bronte The passionate and tempestuous Gothic
tale of Cathy and Heathcliffe, whose love for each other bordered on madness
and obsession. A lyric novel of intense mood and beauty.
Yeats, William Butler (1865-1939) Born in Dublin, Yeats was educated in
London. His family was Protestant and he constantly sought to find a connection
between religion and art. His early poetry was symbolist with a certain
mystical quality; his later work is more romantic. Besides poetry, he also
wrote drama and became a central figure in the Irish literary revival at the
end of the 19th century. Yeats was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in
1923. His Collected Poems were published in 1953.
Yevtushenko, Yevgeny (b. 1933) This Russian poet has had success not only in
his homeland, but also overseas. His first work was published in 1949 and his
first collection, Scouts of the Future, in 1952. Two visits to Cuba in 1960 and
1961 produced Verses About Fidel. He has continued to write, although he has
been criticized in the Soviet press for "over-originality."
Zola, Emile (1840-1902) The leader of the French naturalistic school,
deemphasizing the role of free will in human life, Zola was also an influential
pamphleteer. His best-known novel is Nana (1880) in which, as in his other
works, he is precisely descriptive of different societal milieus. A social
reformer, his part in the Dreyfus Affair [J'accuse (1898)] was his most
eloquent public statement.
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