The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

The Cambridge Companion to Aphra Behn (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

by JanetTodd (Editor), Derek Hughes (Editor)

Synopsis

Traditionally known as the first professional woman writer in English, Aphra Behn has now emerged as one of the major figures of the Restoration. She provided more plays for the stage than any other author and greatly influenced the development of the novel with her ground-breaking fiction, especially Love-Letters between a Nobleman and his Sister and Oroonoko, the first English novel set in America. Behn's work straddles the genres: beside drama and fiction, she also excelled in poetry and she made several important translations from French libertine and scientific works. This Companion discusses and introduces her writings in all these fields and provides the critical tools with which to judge their aesthetic and historical importance. It also includes a full bibliography, a detailed chronology and a description of the known facts of her life. The Companion will be an essential tool for the study of this increasingly important writer and thinker.

$29.95

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 274
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 25 Nov 2004

ISBN 10: 0521527201
ISBN 13: 9780521527200
Book Overview: An invaluable guide to Aphra Behn, including a chronology, bibliography, and essays on her life and works.

Media Reviews
'Taken as a group, the essays here assembled make for one of the best volumes to emanate from the excellent Cambridge Companions to Literature series.' Choice
'... illuminating ... These essays present Aphra Benn's artistic choices as determined by genre, political contingency and an acute sensitivity to theatrical success, as much as by proto-feminism.' The Times Literary Supplement
'In short, the Companion offers in a brilliantly condensed form the recent debate on Aphra Behn with valuable introductions to general aspects of her work, e.g. on pastoral or social comedy, and is this indispensable to her students when reading Aphra Behn - in all her diversity and ambiguity.' Cornelia Wilde, Buchhesprechungen
Taken as a group, the essays here assembled make for one of the best volumes to emanate from the excellent Cambridge Companions to Literature series. Choice
Author Bio
Derek Hughes is Professor of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. Janet Todd is Francis Hutcheson Professor of English Literature at the University of Glasgow.