Spanning an impressive range of interpretations, the critical works in this collection analyze the complex narrative technique of "Heart Of Darkness" while exploring its evocation of myth, philosophy, and politics, its attitudes to empire, its images of Africa, and its representations of women. Examining secondary sources from the 1900s to the 1990s, this "Guide" is an indispensable resource for the study of one of Conrad's most potent works.

This Critical Guide helps students sift through and make sense of nearly three centuries of Lear criticism, providing insight into different assessments of the play's merit and its place within Shakespeare's work and the canon of English literature. Highlights include excerpts from the neoclassical and Romantic receptions of King Lear -- material from John Dryden, Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Victor Hugo -- and a discussion of recent...