This collection of Emerson's essays covers the contents of two volumes originally published in 1841 and 1844. Annotation. Our most eloquent champion of individualism, Emerson acknowledges at the same time the countervailing pressures of society in American life. Even as he extols what he called "the great and crescive self," he dramatizes and records its vicissitudes. Here is a collection of his classic essays, including the exhortation to "Self-Reliance"...

Shaw served in the revolution as an officer in Knox's artillery regiment, in the 3d U.S. artillery, and finally on the staff of Gen. Knox.

Retells the following Greek myths: "The Gorgon's Head," "The Golden Touch," "The Paradise of Children," "The Three Golden Apples," "The Miraculous Pitcher," and "The Chimaera." Includes essays on Nathaniel Hawthorne and Walter Crane.

Posthumously published in 1864, The Maine Woods depicts Henry David Thoreau's experiences in the forests of Maine, and expands on the author's transcendental theories on the relation of humanity to Nature. On Mount Katahdin, he faces a primal, untamed Nature. Katahdin is a place "not even scarred by man, but it was a specimen of what God saw fit to make this world." In Maine he comes in contact with "rocks, trees, wind and solid earth" as though he...

Published in 1869, two years after passage of the Reform Bill, this collection of essays is perhaps its author's most topical critical work. Arnold defines Culture as "the best which has been thought and said" and argues that, during a time of great social change and potential upheaval, the masses could be educated to become purposeful individuals and citizens through the use of a state-run school system. The ideas put forward in this book still incite...

First published in 1871, "The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex" is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin. In this volume, Darwin attempts to marry the theories of human evolution with evolutionary theory, exploring evolutionary ethics, evolutionary psychology, differences between sexes, differences between human races, and the relevance of the evolutionary theory to society. Contents include: "Principles Of Sexual Selection",...

"This book presents a historical overview of The Tempest in performance, recommends film versions, takes a detailed look at specific productions and includes interviews with three leading directors - Peter Brook, Sam Mendes and Rupert Goold - so that we may get a sense of the extraordinary variety of interpretations that are possible, a variety that gives Shakespeare his unique capacity to be reinvented and made 'our contemporary' four centuries after...

Inspired by transcendentalism, Whitman's immortal collection includes some of the greatest poems of modern times, including his masterpiece, "Song of Myself." Shattering standard conventions, it stands as an unabashed celebration of body and nature. "The most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed."--Ralph Waldo Emerson. Walt Whitman was a poetic Visionary. He published the first edition of this monumental work in 1855...