Publication year 1807
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Beauty
Tags Urban Development, Science & Nature, Romanticism, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
British Literature
There's a lot of ground to cover when it comes to British literature, and we've tried to make things easier by gathering study guides on iconic and frequently taught texts such as A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, and plays by William Shakespeare. We couldn't ignore contemporary novels, like White Teeth by Zadie Smith and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, so we didn't leave those out!
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
Coriolanus
Cranford
Crome Yellow
Crooked House
Cursed Daughters
Cymbeline
Daniel Deronda
Death Be Not Proud
Dombey and Son
Domestic Manners of the Americans
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Dover Beach
Dracula
Dulce et Decorum est
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Eloisa to Abelard
Emma
Empire
Endgame
Publication year 1807
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Beauty
Tags Urban Development, Science & Nature, Romanticism, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1608
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Nation, Politics & Government, Power & Greed
Tags Classic Fiction, Elizabethan Era, Tragedy, Historical Fiction, British Literature, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature
Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, likely written around 1607-1608. The play is set in Ancient Rome, much like Shakespeare’s other plays Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, and Antony and Cleopatra. Coriolanus dramatizes the life of the legendary Roman soldier Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus, a patrician who was exiled from the Roman Republic in the 5th century BC after an unsuccessful bid to become consul. Through this narrative, Shakespeare explores themes of the difficulties of controlling... Read Coriolanus Summary
Publication year 1853
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Memory, Nostalgia, Gender Identity, Future
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Victorian Period, Gender & Feminism, British Literature, World History, Victorian Era
Publication year 1921
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Sexual Identity, Mental Health, Friendship, Art, Literature
Tags Classic Fiction, Humor, Historical Fiction, Comedy & Satire, British Literature, World History
Publication year 1949
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Good & Evil, Appearance & Reality, Family, Social Class, Siblings, Nature Versus Nurture
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, British Literature, Classic Fiction
Crooked House is a crime fiction novel by mystery writer Agatha Christie, and its title was inspired by the house in the nursery rhyme, “There Was a Crooked Man.” The novel was first published in the US in 1949 by Dodd, Mead, and Company, and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in the same year. Crooked House is one of Christie’s favorites among her own work. The novel takes place in post-World War... Read Crooked House Summary
Publication year 2025
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Self Discovery, Family, Death, Love
Tags Domestic Fiction, Literary Fiction, British Literature, African Literature
Publication year 1623
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, Forgiveness, Love, Regret, Femininity, The Past, Nature Versus Nurture, Daughters & Sons, Nation, War, Trust & Doubt
Tags Classic Fiction, British Literature, Comedy & Satire, Romance
Cymbeline is a play by William Shakespeare. Its first recorded performance was in 1611, and it was published in the First Folio in 1623. Some scholars have posited that sections may have been written collaboratively. The play is loosely inspired by accounts of the historical British king Cunobeline, but also draws on other sources. It has never been considered a history play, reflecting the looseness of this connection.Cymbeline is king of ancient Britain. His sons... Read Cymbeline Summary
Publication year 1876
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, Historical Fiction, British Literature, Jewish Literature, World History, Romance, Victorian Era
Daniel Deronda is the last novel by George Eliot, published in 1876. The novel satirizes Victorian society, and its sympathetic portrayal of Jewish culture and ideas garnered controversy at the time of publication. It has been adapted for stage, television, and film.This guide is written using the 2014 Oxford World’s Classics edition.Content Warning: This guide contains references to a suicide attempt and antisemitism and antisemitic language that feature in the source text.Plot SummaryDaniel Deronda begins... Read Daniel Deronda Summary
Publication year 1633
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Hope, Wins & Losses
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 1848
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Loneliness, Love, Shame & Pride, Gender Identity, Death, Place, Daughters & Sons, Fathers, Marriage, Mothers, Social Class
Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, British Literature
British author Charles Dickens, a notable figure in the canon of modern English literature, is a Victorian novelist famous for such stories as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and A Christmas Carol. A prolific author who blends sentiment, comedy, and social realism with a satiric edge, Dickens was enormously popular in his lifetime and deeply influential in the development of the English novel. Dombey and Son is considered one of his more mature if less popular... Read Dombey and Son Summary
Publication year 1832
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Gender Identity, Race, Place, Politics & Government
Tags British Literature, American Literature, Sociology, World History, Classic Fiction, Travel Literature, Satirical Literature, US History
Frances (Fanny) Trollope, today best known as the mother of the popular Victorian author Anthony Trollope, was herself an extraordinarily productive writer in many genres. Her literary career began in middle age when, out of financial desperation, she wrote a travelog describing her impressions of America, gathered on a three-year excursion there. Published in 1832 in two volumes, Domestic Manners of the Americans was a runaway bestseller and a wildly controversial takedown of what Trollope... Read Domestic Manners of the Americans Summary
Publication year 1951
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Grief, Perseverance
Tags Classic Fiction, Education, Education, British Literature, World History
“Do not go gentle into that good night” is an iconic poem by 20th-century Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who occupied a special place in the public imagination for his magnetic readings and the revival of Romantic themes in his poetry. This poem, which appeared in his 1952 collection In Country Sleep, remains a favorite in anthologies and popular culture for its universal content and unforgettable dual refrain. “Do not go gentle into that good night” is... Read Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Summary
Publication year 1867
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Place
Tags Lyric Poem, Religion & Spirituality, Victorian Period, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Victorian Era, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1897
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Order & Chaos, Sexual Identity
Tags Victorian Period, British Literature, Horror & Suspense, Gothic Literature, Science Fiction, World History, Fantasy, Religion & Spirituality
Dracula (1897) is a Victorian gothic novel by Irish writer Bram Stoker. Though the novel is by far his best-known, other significant works include The Jewel of the Seven Stars (1903), The Lair of the White Worm (1911), and the short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories (1914). Like Dracula, many of these works—written at the peak of the British Empire’s power—reveal an Orientalist fascination with regions outside Western Europe.In Dracula, Stoker tells... Read Dracula Summary
Publication year 1920
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes War, Nation
Tags Military & War, Grief & Death, World War I, Education, Education, British Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Among Wilfred Owen’s most famous poems, “Dulce et Decorum Est” was written in 1917 while he was in Craiglockhart War Hospital in Scotland, recovering from injuries sustained on the battlefield during World War I. The poem details the death of a soldier from chlorine gas told by another soldier who witnesses his gruesome end. Owen himself died in action on November 4, 1918 in France at the age of 25. He published only five poems... Read Dulce et Decorum est Summary
Publication year 1751
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Grief, Death
Tags Lyric Poem, Grief & Death, Classical Period, Education, Education, Romanticism, British Literature, Gothic Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1717
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Love, Family, Religion & Spirituality, Conflict, Memory, Guilt, Grief, Apathy
Tags Narrative Poem, Love & Sexuality, Relationships, Religion & Spirituality, Age of Enlightenment, British Literature, Medieval, Gothic Literature, World History, Dramatic Literature, Romance, Classic Fiction
“Eloisa to Abelard” is a poem published in 1717 by Alexander Pope. The poem discusses the ill-fated love affair of a real-life couple from 12th-century France: Heloïse d’Argenteuil, a gifted 18-year-old student, and Peter Abelard, a renowned French scholar, philosopher, and poet of the Medieval era who was 20 years older than Heloïse. The poem is a heroic verse epistle, which is a genre first made famous in Ovid’s Heroides. Pope adopts Eloisa’s persona and... Read Eloisa to Abelard Summary
Publication year 1815
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Love, Marriage, Social Class
Tags Classic Fiction, Victorian Period, Romanticism, British Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance, Humor, Social Class, Gender & Feminism, European History, Relationships, World History
Emma is a fiction novel published in 1815 by the English author Jane Austen. The book centers on the character development of its eponymous protagonist, a genteel young woman on a country estate who meddles in the love lives of friends and neighbors. Jane Austen was conscious that Emma’s snobbery, vanity, and meddling might make her a “heroine whom no one but myself will much like” (Austen-Leigh, James Edward. A Memoir of Jane Austen. London:... Read Emma Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Indigenous Identity, Race, Colonialism, Globalization, Nation, Politics & Government, Power & Greed
Tags British Literature, Historical Nonfiction, Business/Economics, World History, European History, Politics & Government
Publication year 2023
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Power & Greed, Conflict, Nostalgia, Future, The Past, Family, Social Class, Loyalty & Betrayal, Truth & Lies
Tags European History, Politics & Government, Sociology, British Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Biography