English Literature Guide

Tom Jones is one of the earliest English novels and was hugely popular when it was first published in 1749. It tells the story of the foundling Tom and his journey towards adulthood and marriage. As might be expected, this journey is a complicated one: Tom falls in love with a neighbor's daughter, discovers that he has a rival for his love in the shape of the unpleasant Master Blifil, and is expelled from Mr. Allworthy’s house after a series of misadventures. His picaresque journey leads him to encounter a vivid cast of characters including robbers, soldiers, gypsies, and untrustworthy lawyers - the latter perhaps an arch nod to Fielding's own legal career.   Background The novel is highly organized despite its length. Samuel Taylor Coleridge argued that it has one of the "three most perfect plots ever planned", alongside Oedipus Tyrannus and The Alchemist. It became a best seller with four editions published in its first year alone. It is generally reg...

Pride and Prejudice  is a romantic  novel of manners  written by  Jane Austen  in 1813. The novel follows the character development of  Elizabeth Bennet , the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. Its humor lies in its honest depiction of manners, education, marriage, and money during the  Regency era  in Great Britain. Background The novel revolves around the importance of marrying for love, not for money or social prestige, despite the communal pressure to make a wealthy match.  Pride and Prejudice  has consistently appeared near the top of lists of "most-loved books" among literary scholars and the reading public. It has become one of the most popular novels in English literature, with over 20 million copies sold, and has inspired many derivatives in modern literature. For more tha...