British Literature

Jane Eyre: An Autobiography is a bildungsroman, or coming-of-age novel, written by Victorian writer Charlotte Brontë and originally published in 1847 under the male pseudonym Currer Bell by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. Through Jane’s life and experiences, Brontë examines social issues including religious hypocrisy, class discrimination, and sexism. Many literary theorists and biographers—including Brontë’s friend and fellow novelist Elizabeth Gaskell—have noted numerous similarities between the novel’s events and Brontë’s personal history.The novel is... Read Jane Eyre Summary

English author Thomas Hardy published his final novel, Jude the Obscure, in 1895. Critics deemed it “immoral” and “indecent,” and it became a target of book burnings because of its critique of marriage, religion, education, and class structure. The narrative follows the tragic journey of Jude Fawley, a working-class man striving for education and love, whose aspirations are consistently thwarted by societal barriers, personal setbacks, and internal struggles.This guide refers to the e-book version of... Read Jude the Obscure Summary

Book DetailsThe Tragedy of Julius Caesar is a history play and tragedy written by William Shakespeare and first performed in 1599. The play dramatizes the events surrounding the 44 BCE assassination of Julius Caesar, a Roman general and statesman. Shakespeare’s main source material for the play was Plutarch’s Lives, a series of biographies of famous men, published in the second century CE and translated into English by Thomas North in 1579. Shakespeare sometimes deviated from... Read Julius Caesar Summary

... Read Just So Stories Summary

Keep the Aspidistra Flying was first published in 1936. Written by George Orwell (whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair), it is not as well-known as other works like 1984 and Animal Farm, nor was it well received when it was released. Like much of Orwell’s other fiction, though, it is a social criticism novel; it examines and critiques social, political, and economic issues contemporary to the time of its writing. In 1997, Robert Bierman... Read Keep the Aspidistra Flying Summary

“Kew Gardens” is a short story by British author Virginia Woolf, published privately in 1919 before appearing in Monday or Tuesday, Woolf’s 1921 collection of short stories. The story explores themes such as Moments of Being, The Connection Between Humanity and Nature, and Interpersonal Conflict.Other works by this author include The Duchess and the Jeweller, A Haunted House, Between The Acts, and Orlando.This guide refers to the version of “Kew Gardens” available in Project Gutenberg’s... Read Kew Gardens Summary

Kim is a novel by the prolific author and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), who was the first English-language recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The novel was originally released in a serialized version in 1900-1901, after which it was published in book form. It offers a wide-ranging view of the cultural and religious diversity of British India in the late-19th century, as perceived through the experience of an Indian-enculturated Irish boy named Kim. Along... Read Kim Summary

King Lear is a play written around 1606 by the English playwright William Shakespeare. Widely considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, King Lear tells the story of a king who goes mad after bequeathing his fortune and power to his daughters. It is loosely based on the myth of Leir of Britain, a legendary monarch said to have ruled Ancient Britons in the eighth century B.C.This guide refers to the 1999 Pelican Shakespeare edition. Please... Read King Lear Summary

... Read Kubla Khan Summary

Lady Audley’s Secret was published in 1862 and caused a stir among Victorian readers with its depiction of murder, madness, extortion, and bigamy. The novel centers on a young woman, Lucy Graham, a governess working in the village of Audley. Everyone in the village is charmed by her, including Sir Michael Audley, who was instantly smitten with her youth, beauty, and sweet demeanor. Sir Michael is a wealthy, 56-year-old widower who did not want Lucy to... Read Lady Audley's Secret Summary

Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a Modernist novel by the English writer D. H. Lawrence. It was written between 1926 and 1928, while Lawrence was living in Italy, and first published privately in 1928. Since it was considered scandalous and obscene, the novel was not widely available in America or the United Kingdom until the 1960s. The novel was controversial because of its explicit sexual content, as well as its depiction of an adulterous affair between... Read Lady Chatterley's Lover Summary

... Read Lady Clementine Summary

The narrative follows the exploits of Lady Susan, a beautiful and charming widow whose husband has recently died. Lady Susan is an excellent conversationalist who manipulates men into falling in love with her; they forget her socially unacceptable behavior and incorrigible flirtations after merely speaking with her. At the outset of the novella, Lady Susan has sold off her late husband’s family estate instead of giving it to his younger brother, Charles Vernon, as is... Read Lady Susan Summary

... Read Leaf by Niggle Summary

... Read Lessons Summary

Composed in the middle of July 1798, “Tintern Abbey” was the last poem submitted for the publication of Lyrical Ballads, which was already in the press at Bristol. As the coda to Lyrical Ballads, “Tintern Abbey” represents a pivotal modulation in Wordsworth’s poetic development and ambition, prefiguring much of his distinctive verse to follow. Its sustained meditative subjectivity, masterful control of tone, elevated theme, scale of conceptual development, and orchestrated musicality mark the convergence of... Read Tintern Abbey Summary

Charles Dickens’s novel Little Dorrit was originally published in serialized form between 1855 and 1857. In this novel, the author satirizes government and society at large, with a specific focus on debtors’ prisons that incarcerated those in debt. The prison in Little Dorrit is the Marshalsea, where at one time, Charles Dickens’s father was imprisoned for debt. Little Dorrit explores common Dickensian themes such as economic class, duty, and societal issues.Other works by this author... Read Little Dorrit Summary

... Read Little Lord Fauntleroy Summary

... Read London Summary

... Read London Summary