British Literature

“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” is a sonnet by the English poet John Keats. It was first published in The Examiner on Dec. 1, 1816, and describes Keats’s awed reaction to Elizabethan playwright George Chapman’s startling translations of Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey. Keats’s lyric poem is informed by the Romanticism movement, of which he became a chief practitioner in its late form, despite his brief life.The poem is the most famous of... Read On First Looking into Chapman's Homer Summary

On Liberty is a philosophical essay on ethics, society, and politics published in 1859 by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill. His work on the subject matter extended back several years, through an illustrious career as a politician and philosopher. Mill’s ideas center on the concept of utilitarianism, which emphasizes efficiency and collective well-being. The book remains in print in the 21st century.SummaryOn Liberty is divided into five chapters: an introduction; “On the liberty of... Read On Liberty Summary

Orlando: A Biography is a novel published in 1928 by the English author Virginia Woolf. It tells the story of Orlando, a member of the English nobility who is born a male in 16th century England. Around the age of 30, Orlando mysteriously changes into a woman and lives for centuries without visibly aging. Author Jeanette Winterson called Orlando “the first trans novel in English.” (Winterson, Jeanette. “’Different sex. Same person’: How Woolf’s Orlando became... Read Orlando Summary

William Shakespeare’s Othello is a tragedy written in approximately 1603 and published in 1622. The play begins in Venice, where Iago, a subordinate of Othello’s and a captain in the Venetian defense forces, tells Roderigo that Othello has passed him over for promotion. Instead, Othello, a Moor, has chosen the noble and popular Michael Cassio to be his lieutenant. Iago tells Roderigo that he will have his revenge on Othello but behave as a loyal... Read Othello Summary

Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana, a 1958 satirical spy novel, evokes the political atmosphere in Cuba on the cusp of the Communist takeover and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Relevant and well-received, the novel has been adapted into a film, a play, and an opera. Greene was himself a member of M16, the United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service, and his background allowed him to portray both accurately and comically the behind-the-scenes espionage antics that make... Read Our Man in Havana Summary

Our Mutual Friend is a Victorian Realist novel by Charles Dickens, published in serial form from 1864 to 1865. The novel is notable among Dickens’s work for its scathing satire of social conditions in London during the era. Our Mutual Friend has been adapted for film, television, and radio and explores themes of The Tension Between Poverty and Dignity, The Relationship Between Names and Identity, and The Rigidity of Social Class.This guide uses the 2008... Read Our Mutual Friend Summary

“Ozymandias” is one of the most famous sonnets in European literature. Written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), it was first published in 1818 in the Examiner, a literary periodical that introduced the works of many Romantics, including Shelley and his contemporary, John Keats. Shelley later included the sonnet in his poem collection Rosalind and Helen, published in 1819.Now one of Shelley’s most recognizable and widely anthologized poems, “Ozymandias” was the result... Read Ozymandias Summary

IntroductionPamela is an epistolary novel (told through letters), written by Samuel Richardson and first published in 1740. It is considered one of the first novels written in English, and significantly contributed to the development of this genre. Richardson, a 51-year-old printer when the novel was published, began the project to provide moral instruction to young women who might find themselves vulnerable to seduction while employed by wealthy men. The novel advocates for the importance of... Read Pamela Summary

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Persuasion is the last novel completed by Jane Austen (1775-1817) before her death. Written between the years 1815-1816 and published posthumously, the Regency-era novel centers on the engagements and marriages of a small circle of middle-class families, with particular attention to the social and private lives of women. Echoing character dynamics found throughout Austen’s works, the romantic protagonists must confront their individual pride before fully realizing their relationship. It has been adapted for television, film... Read Persuasion Summary

The debut novel of British author Charles Dickens, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (commonly known as The Pickwick Papers) was first published as a series by Chapman and Hall between 1836 and 1837. The Pickwick Papers chronicles the adventures of the members of the Pickwick Club, a group of travelers who journey around England and share their experiences. Because of the original serial format of the novel, the chapters contain individual but interconnected... Read Pickwick Papers Summary

Stephen Kelman’s 2011 debut novel, Pigeon English, recounts eleven-year-old Harrison (Harri) Opoku’s move with his mother and older sister from Ghana to England, where they go to live in a working-class apartment complex in a London estate, a tough environment plagued by crime and violence. A coming-of-age narrative that explores the binary of innocence and experience, Harri’s narrative captures what it means to be a young boy in the modern era dealing with all of... Read Pigeon English Summary

Pincher Martin is a novel by British author William Golding, first published in 1956. Set during World War II, it tells the story of a Royal Navy lieutenant named Christopher Hadley Martin who washes up on an inhospitable islet after his ship sinks. Though nominally a survival story, the book primarily concerns Martin’s spiritual and metaphysical journey as he struggles to maintain his sanity while awaiting rescue.This study guide refers to the 2013 edition published... Read Pincher Martin Summary

“Porphyria’s Lover,” written by English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889), was first published as “Porphyria” in the January 1836 issue of Monthly Depository. It went relatively unnoticed until it was republished in 1842, in the third volume of a series of 12 pamphlets titled Bells and Pomegranates. This volume was titled Dramatic Lyrics and featured several of Browning’s dramatic monologues. “Porphyria’s Lover” details the troubling murder of a young woman named Porphyria told from the point... Read Porphyria's Lover Summary

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“Preface to Lyrical Ballads” is an essay by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. In 1798 Wordsworth wrote, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads. Believing that the poems were so novel in theme and style that they required some explanation, Wordsworth wrote a prefatory essay to accompany the second edition of the poems in 1800; he then expanded the essay for the third edition of 1802.The “Preface” is often considered a manifesto... Read Preface to Lyrical Ballads Summary

Published anonymously in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s most well-known book. A “novel of manners,” which presents a realistic picture of society through the customs and manners of everyday life, Pride and Prejudice offers a glimpse into 19th-century English social hierarchies, as well as women’s roles and the importance of marriage. While Austen’s books were popular during her lifetime, she died before she was acknowledged as their author; when Persuasion was published posthumously, her... Read Pride and Prejudice Summary

Prometheus Unbound (1820) is a four-act lyrical drama by Percy Bysshe Shelley, a celebrated English Romantic poet best known for his poems like “Ozymandias” (1818) and “Ode to the West Wind” (1819). The work is adapted from the play cycle Prometheus Bound (456 BCE), Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus the Fire-Bearer, traditionally attributed to the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Shelley rewrites the myth of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods for humans and was severely... Read Prometheus Unbound Summary

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw was first published in 1914, with an updated version published in 1941. The play was Shaw’s most popular and most critically acclaimed work. It inspired the heavily romanticized musical and movie adaptation My Fair Lady, which won both a Tony for Best Musical and an Oscar for Best Picture.Shaw began his career as a novelist, but his novels were largely unsuccessful. After he moved from Dublin to London, he shifted... Read Pygmalion Summary

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