Terry Eagleton

One of the foremost Marxist critics of his generation forcefully argues against Marx's irrelevancy. "Reading a book by Terry Eagleton is like watching fireworks."—Dennis O'Brien, Christian Century "[Eagleton is] a witty, insightful thinker with a penchant for glib asides and wry dashes of humour. It’s probably the only book that makes references to Tiger Woods and Mel Gibson along with...

One of our most brilliant minds offers a sweeping intellectual history that argues for the reclamation of culture’s value. Culture is a defining aspect of what it means to be human. Defining culture and pinpointing its role in our lives is not, however, so straightforward. Terry Eagleton, one of our foremost literary and cultural critics, is uniquely poised to take...

A compelling guide to the fundamental place of humour and comedy within Western culture—by one of its greatest exponents. Written by an acknowledged master of comedy, this study reflects on the nature of humour and the functions it serves. Why do we laugh? What are we to make of the sheer variety of laughter, from braying and cackling to sniggering...

Materialism by Terry Eagleton offers a brilliant introduction to the philosophical concept of materialism and its relevance to contemporary science and culture. In this eye-opening and intellectually stimulating appreciation of a fascinating school of philosophy, Terry Eagleton makes a powerful argument that materialism is at the centre of today’s important scientific and cultural, as well as philosophical, debates. The author...

An engaging, approachable introduction to literary modernism Modernism represented an astonishing outbreak of cultural innovation, spanning art forms and nations. It was centred around feelings of growing alienation in an industrial world, and a desire to change how people live together in society. Art, architecture, literature, and music all underwent a radical revolution. Although it was confined to small coteries...

An impassioned argument for the existence of evil from one of the most respected and influential critics of our day In this witty, accessible study, the prominent Marxist thinker Terry Eagleton launches a surprising defence of the reality of evil, drawing on literary, theological, and psychoanalytic sources to suggest that evil, no mere medieval artefact, is a real phenomenon with...

A trenchant analysis of sacrifice as the foundation of the modern, as well as the ancient, social order The modern conception of sacrifice is at once cast as a victory of self-discipline over desire and condescended to as destructive and archaic abnegation. But even in the Old Testament, the dual natures of sacrifice, embodying both ritual slaughter and moral rectitude,...

'We are free when, like artists, we produce without the goad of physical necessity' Karl Marx For Marx, freedom entailed release from commercial labour. In this highly engaging account, Eagleton outlines the relationship between production, labour and ownership which lie at the core of Marx's thinking. Marx's utopia was a place in which labour is increasingly automated, emancipating the wealth...

A clear-sighted and entertaining defence of literary realism, and an account of its key practitioners Realist fiction is one of the most enduring art forms history has ever witnessed. By describing the intricate inner life of its characters, or widening its focus to set their experience in context, it can evoke the reader's sympathies as few other forms can. Yet...

First published in 1983, Literary Theory: An Introduction is probably the best-selling work of literary criticism in the world today. It propelled its author to a position of such influence and controversy within the British academy that even Prince Charles once described him as "that dreadful Terry Eagleton." A quarter of a century on from its original publication, Literary Theory:...

Literary Theory is celebrated for offering a concise and lucid survey of major theories from structuralism in the 1960s to contemporary deconstruction. The New York Times Book Review describes it as both intriguing and off-putting to the outsider. With the racy readability often associated with English critics opposed to theory, Literary Theory is not just a brilliant polemical essay but...

In a virtuoso display of erudition, thoughtfulness and humour, Terry Eagleton teases apart the concept of hope as it has been (often mistakenly) conceptualised over six millennia, from ancient Greece to today. He distinguishes hope from simple optimism, cheeriness, desire, idealism or adherence to the doctrine of Progress, bringing into focus a standpoint that requires reflection and commitment, arises from...

Terry Eagleton looks back across sixty years to an extraordinary critical milieu that transformed the study of literature. Before the First World War, traditional literary scholarship was isolated from society at large. In the years following, a younger generation of critics came to the fore. Their work represented a reaction to the impoverishment of language in a commercial, utilitarian society...

Terry Eagleton provides a comprehensive study of tragedy, from Aeschylus to Edward Albee, dealing with both theory and practice, and moving between ideas of tragedy and analyses of particular works and authors. This amazing tour-de-force steps out beyond the stage to reflect not only on tragic art but also on real-life tragedy. It explores the idea of the tragic in...

A literary master’s entertaining guide to reading with deeper insight, better understanding, and greater pleasure—"English 101 in a book.” (Michael Lindgren, Washington Post) What makes a work of literature good or bad? How freely can the reader interpret it? Could a nursery rhyme like Baa Baa Black Sheep be full of concealed loathing, resentment, and aggression? In this accessible, delightfully...

Lucid, entertaining and full of insight, How to Read a Poem is designed to banish the intimidation that too often attends the subject of poetry, and in doing so to bring it into the personal possession of the students and the general reader. Offers a detailed examination of poetic form and its relation to content. Takes a wide range of...

Written by one of the world's leading literary theorists, this book provides a wide-ranging, accessible and humorous introduction to the English novel from Daniel Defoe to the present day. The English Novel covers the works of major authors, including Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Laurence Sterne, Walter Scott, Jane Austen, the Brontës, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, Henry...

New observations on the persistence of God in modern times and why “authentic” atheism is so very hard to come by How to live in a supposedly faithless world threatened by religious fundamentalism? Terry Eagleton, a formidable thinker and renowned cultural critic, investigates in this thought-provoking book the contradictions, difficulties, and significance of the modern search for a replacement for...