Gillian Beer is een Britse literatuurcriticus en academicus wiens werk zich verdiept in de kruising van literatuur, wetenschap en cultuur. Ze biedt diepgaande inzichten in belangrijke literaire periodes en figuren, en onderzoekt hoe evoluerende ideeën over natuur, kennis en identiteit worden weerspiegeld en gevormd binnen teksten. Haar wetenschap benadrukt de dynamische relatie tussen literaire expressie en de bredere intellectuele stromingen van haar tijd. Beer's aanpak wordt gekenmerkt door nauwgezette analyse en een onderscheidend vermogen om de culturele betekenis van literaire werken te belichten.
The book offers a comprehensive exploration of the Romance genre from the medieval era to the 20th century, highlighting its evolution and interactions with other literary forms like gothic novels and realism. It examines influential writers such as Chaucer, Sidney, and Tennyson, and analyzes significant texts including Cervantes' Don Quixote and Coleridge's Kubla Khan, providing insights into the genre's development and thematic richness over time.
WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY JEANETTE WINTERSON AND GILLIAN BEER The Waves is an astonishingly beautiful and poetic novel. It begins with six children playing in a garden by the sea and follows their lives as they grow up and experience friendship, love and grief at the death of their beloved friend Percival. Regarded by many as her greatest work, The Waves is also seen as Virginia Woolf's response to the loss of her brother Thoby, who died when he was twenty-six. The Vintage Classics Virginia Woolf series has been curated by Jeanette Winterson, and the texts used are based on the original Hogarth Press editions published by Leonard and Virginia Woolf.