Irish Literature

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  The Essential Táin Bó Cúailnge and Other Stories from the Ulster Cycle

  Táin Bó Cúailnge, frequently referred to as the Táin, is one of the most important works of medieval Irish literature and has been called the…

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  Castle Rackrent

  Castle Rackrent—Maria Edgeworth’s first novel, and the work for which she was and is best known—occupies a most unusual place in the history both of…

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  In a Glass Darkly

  From the predatory same-sex desire in “Carmilla” to the ghostly hallucinations in “Green Tea,” the five supernatural stories in In a Glass Darkly reflect a…

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  Dubliners

  This group of fifteen brief narratives connected by a place and a time—the city of Dublin at the beginning of the twentieth century—was written when…

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  The Philanderer

  The second of Shaw’s “unpleasant” plays, written in 1893, published in 1898, but not performed until 1905, The Philanderer is subtitled “A Topical Comedy.” The…

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  Salome

  Salome is Oscar Wilde’s most experimental—and controversial—play. In its own time, the play, written in French, was described by a reviewer as “an arrangement in…

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  The Dead and Other Stories

  That James Joyce’s “The Dead” forms an extraordinary conclusion to his collection Dubliners, there can be no doubt. But as many have pointed out, “The…

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  The Octoroon

  Regarded by Bernard Shaw as a master of the theatre, Dion Boucicault was arguably the most important figure in drama in North America and in…

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  The O’Briens and the O’Flahertys

  The O’Briens and the O’Flahertys is a fast-paced tale of political intrigue and aristocratic vanity—a romp through 1793 Dublin as Ireland pitches towards the United…

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  Gulliver’s Travels

  In this narrative of the gullible ship’s doctor Lemuel Gulliver and his extraordinary travels, Jonathan Swift takes readers through a series of apparently child-like fantasy…

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  The Importance of Being Earnest

  The Importance of Being Earnest marks a central moment in late-Victorian literature, not only for its wit but also for its role in the shift…

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  Mrs Warren’s Profession

  One of Bernard Shaw’s early plays of social protest, Mrs Warren’s Profession places the protagonist’s decision to become a prostitute in the context of the…

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  Harrington

  Harrington (1817) is the personal narrative of a recovering anti-Semite, a young man whose phobia of Jews is instilled in early childhood and who must…

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  The Missionary

  Set in seventeenth-century India, The Missionary focuses on the relationship between Hilarion, a Portuguese missionary to India, and Luxima, an Indian prophetess. Both are aristocratic,…

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  The Picture of Dorian Gray

  In Oscar Wilde’s famous novel, Dorian Gray is tempted by Henry Wotton to sell his soul in order to hold on to beauty and youth.…

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  Dracula

  To borrow a phrase used by one of the characters in the novel, Dracula is “nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.” In her introduction to…