Class

The titles in the Social Class Collection explore the historical and contemporary implications of social class and class division in cultures around the world. Representing a diverse range of perspectives, cultures, and societies, the selections in this Collection span a broad range of genres and forms, including essays, biographies, and fiction.

Three Sisters

by Anton Chekhov

Publication year 1901

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Siblings, Hope, Love, Marriage, Loneliness, Nostalgia, Family, Social Class

Tags Drama, Russian Literature, Gender & Feminism, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction

Anton Chekhov wrote the play Three Sisters in 1900 as a commission for the now-famous Moscow Art Theatre (MAT). The production debuted there in 1901 and was directed by the MAT’s two founders, Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. It was the first play that Chekhov penned specifically for production at the MAT. Three Sisters uses the three titular characters—Olga, Masha, and Irina—to examine the decay of the Russian aristocracy. Raised and educated to become the... Read Three Sisters Summary

Thunderstruck

by Erik Larson

Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Science & Technology, Perseverance, Guilt, Marriage, Social Class, Community, Globalization, Immigration, Fame, Good & Evil, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Crime & Law, European History, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Science & Nature, World History, Biography

Erik Larson’s Thunderstruck is a 2006 work of narrative nonfiction that braids two seemingly unrelated historical events that captured public attention in the pre-World War I years. The first involves the emerging and transformative technology of wireless communication designed by Marconi, the second a gruesome murder in London perpetrated by a seemingly docile and genial doctor named Crippen. Thunderstruck follows the success of Larson’s 2003 Devil in the White City, which coupled America’s first major... Read Thunderstruck Summary

To Have And Have Not

by Ernest Hemingway

Publication year 1937

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Masculinity, Social Class, Economics

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Social Class, Disability, Poverty, Great Depression, US History, Mystery & Crime Fiction, World History

Ernest Hemingway’s best-selling yet poorly reviewed 1937 novel, To Have and Have Not, reflects his growing disillusionment with the world following his experiences in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. Written in piecemeal format during his travels, the novel was originally published as two separate short stories and a novella, and this disjointed formation is apparent in the continuity of the plot. Featuring Hemingway’s classic minimalism, the novel offers both the story of Harry Morgan... Read To Have And Have Not Summary

Top Girls

by Caryl Churchill

Publication year 1982

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Mothers, Gender Identity, Economics

Tags Drama, Gender & Feminism, Education, Education, World History, Dramatic Literature, Classic Fiction

British playwright Caryl Churchill’s groundbreaking play Top Girls, which opened in 1982 both at the Royal Court Theatre in London (August) and Off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in New York (December), is Churchill’s second internationally acclaimed play after Cloud Nine (1979). It won the 1983 Obie Award for Best Play of the Year, and it remains one of Churchill’s best-known and most widely produced plays, often anthologized as a canonical contemporary play. Top Girls was... Read Top Girls Summary

Translation State

by Ann Leckie

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Space, Love, Gender Identity, Conflict, Loneliness, Shame & Pride, Disability, Language, Mental Health, Race, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Future, Family, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Education, Politics & Government, War, Equality, Science & Technology

Tags Science Fiction, LGBTQ+, Fantasy

... Read Translation State Summary

Triangle

by David Von Drehle

Publication year 2003

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Grief, Gender Identity, Social Class, Economics, Immigration, Politics & Government, Justice, Power & Greed, Science & Technology

Tags US History, Politics & Government, Crime & Law

... Read Triangle Summary

Triptych

by Karin Slaughter

Publication year 2006

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Hate & Anger, Disability, Death, Appearance & Reality, Family, Social Class, Economics, Justice, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense

... Read Triptych Summary

Troilus and Criseyde

by Geoffrey Chaucer

Publication year 1385

Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction

Themes Love, Gender Identity, Coming of Age, Marriage, Social Class, War, Beauty, Literature, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Classic Fiction, Medieval, Narrative Poem, Romance, Military & War, Education, Education, World History

Troilus and Criseyde is an epic poem by Geoffrey Chaucer written between 1382 and 1386 in Middle English. The poem is divided into five books and features Chaucer’s innovation, the Rhyme royal stanza form, which is a seven-line stanza in iambic pentameter with an ABABBCC rhyme scheme. The poem is set during the Trojan War and tells the tragic story of Troilus, a prince of Troy who falls in love with a young woman named... Read Troilus and Criseyde Summary

Turtle in Paradise

by Jennifer L. Holm

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Family, Conflict, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Fear, Apathy, Memory, Regret, Childhood & Youth, Environment, Plants, Food, Community, Economics, Appearance & Reality, Social Class, Literature, Art, Music, Loyalty & Betrayal, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Friendship, Grandparents, Mothers

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, Children`s Literature, Great Depression, Animals, Realistic Fiction, World History

Turtle in Paradise is a 2010 historical fiction children’s novel by Jennifer L. Holm. Set in the Florida Keys during the Great Depression, the novel follows an 11-year-old girl’s struggles and successes as she visits her aunt and cousins in the town where her mother grew up. The novel won the Golden Kite Award and is a Newbery Honor Book as well as a Junior Library Guild selection. Other works by this author include The... Read Turtle in Paradise Summary

Twelve Angry Men

by Reginald Rose

Publication year 1954

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Fathers, Justice, Social Class

Tags Classic Fiction, Drama, Crime & Law, Education, Education, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Dramatic Literature

Reginald Rose was born in Manhattan, New York in 1920. He saw active service during the Second World War and began his writing career in 1950 with the play The Bus to Nowhere. The experience of serving on a jury in 1954 inspired Rose to write his most famous work, Twelve Angry Men. The play was first broadcast as a one-hour television drama that same year. In 1957, the play was adapted for film, starring... Read Twelve Angry Men Summary

Twelve Years a Slave

by Solomon Northup

Publication year 1853

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Social Class, Equality, Truth & Lies

Tags World History, Classic Fiction, Biography

Twelve Years a Slave is a memoir by Solomon Northup, a black man who was born free in New York and kidnapped by two men who sold him into slavery. Northup spent 12 years as a slave in the Deep South, encountering slave markets in Washington, DC and New Orleans and working on numerous cotton and sugar plantations throughout Louisiana. Northup narrated his memoir to American lawyer and writer David Wilson, who then edited Northup’s... Read Twelve Years a Slave Summary