Know Your English Literature Part. VII

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Children’s book by Mark Twain, Published in 1876. The hero is a wily, independent boy who engages in a series of anarchic escapades. In one episode, Tom tricks his friends into whitewashing a fence for him by pretending it is a great privilege and making them pay to take over the job.  On another occasion, Tom and his friends disappear for so long that they are presumed dead, finally returning to find their own funeral in progress.

The Tempest: magical romantic play by William Shakespeare, written in about 1611. Prospero, the usurped Duke of Milan and a magician, had to bring up his daughter Miranda on an island where they are alone except for the monster slave Caliban and various spirits, such as Ariel. The play opens as Prospero, who is concerned about the young Miranda’s future, creates a tempest which shipwrecks a young man, Ferdinand, together with the false Duke of Milan and his confederates, on the island. Miranda and Ferdinand fall in love and the others are delivered into Prospero’s hands. He forgives them on condition that his dukedom is restored. At the end of the play, Prospero renounces magic and prepares to return to Italy.

Sex and Shopping novels: Popular works of fiction, generally written for and by women, in which glamorous characters indulge in steamy romantic affairs and spend vast sums of money. Typical examples include Judith Krantz’s novel princes Daisy, Shirley Conran’s Lace and Jackie Collins’s Hollywood Wives. An earlier example is Jacqueline Susann’s 1968 novel The Valley of the Dolls, Which sold more than 28 million copies.