Project Gutenberg's Halleck's New English Literature, by Reuben P. Halleck

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Title: Halleck's New English Literature

Author: Reuben P. Halleck

Release Date: January 8, 2004 [EBook #10631]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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HALLECKS'S NEW ENGLISH LITERATURE

by REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A., LL.D.

Author of "History of English Literature" and "History of American
Literature"

PREFACE

In this _New English Literature_ the author endeavors to preserve the
qualities that have caused his former _History of English Literature_
to be so widely used; namely, suggestiveness, clearness, organic
unity, interest, and the power to awaken thought and to stimulate the
student to further reading.

The book furnishes a concise account of the history and growth of
English literature from the earliest times to the present day. It lays
special emphasis on literary movements, on the essential qualities
that differentiate one period from another, and on the spirit that
animates each age. Above all, the constant purpose has been to arouse
in the student an enthusiastic desire to read the works of the authors
discussed. Because of the author's belief in the guide-book function
of a history of literature, he has spent much time and thought in
preparing the unusually detailed _Suggested Readings_ that follow each
chapter.

It was necessary for several reasons to prepare a new book. Twentieth
century research has transformed the knowledge of the Elizabethan
theater and has brought to light important new facts relating to the
drama and to Shakespeare. The new social spirit has changed the
critical viewpoint concerning authors as different as Wordsworth,
Keats, Ruskin, Dickens, and Tennyson. Wordsworth's treatment of
childhood, for instance, now requires an amount of space that would a
short time ago have seemed disproportionate. Later Victorian writers,
like Meredith, Hardy, Swinburne, and Kipling, can no longer be
accorded the usual brief perfunctory treatment. Increased modern
interest in contem