From Romanticism to Realism, the 19th century saw a flourishing of literary movements, as well as the arrival of several now-revered luminaries on the literary scene. Authors experimented with new styles that elevated the novel as a significant literary form, while new techniques and themes were also introduced into poetry and drama. These compelling profiles examine the lives of some of the 19th centurys greatest writersJane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Leo Tolstoy, to name just a fewand reveal the remarkable stories behind the works they crafted

Why do authors use pseudonyms and pen-names, or ingeniously hide names in their work with acrostics and anagrams? How has the range of permissible given names changed and how is this reflected in literature? Why do some characters remain mysteriously nameless? In this rich and learned book, Alastair Fowler explores the use of names in literature of all periods - primarily English but also Latin, Greek, French, and Italian - casting an unusual and rewarding light on the work of literature itself. He traces the history of names through Homer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Thackeray, Dickens, Joyce, and Nabokov, showing how names often turn out to be the thematic focus.

What is humour in the English Middle Ages? Does the comic serve any function other than pleasure? How might we reexamine ideas of identity and cultural complexity in terms of humour in medieval England? As a basis, the contributors to this volume work within a number of assumptions about the humour of the period.

The first edition of The Rhetoric of Fiction transformed the criticism of fiction and soon became a classic in the field. One of the most widely used texts in fiction courses, it is a standard reference point in advanced discussions of how fictional form works, how authors make novels accessible, and how readers recreate texts, and its concepts and terms—such as "the implied author," "the postulated reader," and "the unreliable narrator"—have become part of the standard critical lexicon.