English literature for boys and girls

About this book

Written for younger readers, Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall’s survey presents English literature as a history of writers and works, with explanations that supply their setting. As Wyclif grows up, universities still follow monastic customs, while war, plague, and payments to the French pope shape England around him. When Antonio cannot repay his debt, Marshall makes Shylock’s insistence on the bond and Portia’s alarm easy to follow. The account of The Spectator shifts to social portraiture, introducing its club members through their habits and temperaments.