The prodigal son in English and American literature: five hundred years of literary homecomings
This groundbreaking study focuses on the reconfiguring of the character of the Prodigal Son and his family as they appear in drama, novels, and poetry in English from the fifteenth to the twenty-first centuries.
| Summary: | This groundbreaking study focuses on the reconfiguring of the character of the Prodigal Son and his family as they appear in drama, novels, and poetry in English from the fifteenth to the twenty-first centuries. Cover -- The Prodigal Son in English and American Literature: Five Hundred Years of Literary Homecomings -- Copyright -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1: Reading the Prodigal Son -- The Prodigal Son in biblical studies -- The Prodigal Son in literary studies -- Conclusion -- 2: The Prodigal Son in Elizabethan Literature -- The influence of Roman comedies -- The Prodigal as rebellious son -- Maintaining the status quo -- Admonition and edification -- Rebellion -- Repentance -- Conclusion -- 3: The Prodigal Son and Shakespeare -- Prodigal Son references in Shakespeare's plays -- Shakespeare's Bible -- Shakespeare's exegesis -- The Prodigal Prince Hal -- The Prodigal King Lear -- Conclusion -- 4: Female Victorian Novelists and the Prodigal Son -- The Bible in Adam Bede -- The Bible in North and South -- The Bible in Kirsteen -- The Prodigal Son in Adam Bede -- The Prodigal Son in North and South -- The Prodigal Son in Kirsteen -- Conclusion -- 5: The American Short Story and the Prodigal Son -- The American short story tradition -- The Prodigal Son in nineteenth-century short stories: Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bret Harte -- The Prodigal Son in Henry James's 'The Jolly Corner' -- The Prodigal Son in twentieth-century short stories: Willa Cather and Thomas Wolfe -- Conclusion -- 6: Prodigal Ministers in Fiction -- J. G. Lockhart's Adam Blair -- James Robertson's The Testament of Gideon Mack -- Marilynne Robinson's Gilead -- Home in Gideon Mack and Gilead -- Being lost and found in Adam Blair and Gideon Mack -- Conclusion -- 7: The Prodigal Son in Poetry: Elizabeth Bishop and Iain Crichton Smith -- Elizabeth Bishop: context -- Iain Crichton Smith: context -- Elizabeth Bishop: religious context -- Iain Crichton Smith: religious context -- Robinson Crusoe as Prodigal Son -- Conclusion -- 8: Conclusion -- Identifying the Prodigal Son. |
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| Item Description: | Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (186 pages) |
| ISBN: | 978-0-19-254940-2 |
