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English Literature Students Essential Selection
Literary Theory: An IntroductionLiterary Theory: An Introduction by Terry Eagleton
Buy used from: £7.49
Priceless source material on various schools of thought
Shakespeare's LanguageShakespeare's Language by Frank Kermode
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £2.50
Thought provoking insights into Shakespeare's plays
The Wheel of Fire (Routledge Classics) (Routledge Classics)The Wheel of Fire (Routledge Classics) (Routledge Classics) by G. Wilson Knight
Buy new: £10.99 / Used from: £6.95
A watershed in Shakespearean criticism
Revenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to ArmageddonRevenge Tragedy: Aeschylus to Armageddon by John Kerrigan
Buy new: £18.00 / Used from: £19.09
Incredibly informative reference book
Thinking About TextsThinking About Texts by Chris Hopkins
Buy new: £18.99 / Used from: £11.38
Essential guidance for the first year
Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear" and "Macbeth" (New Penguin Shakespeare library)Shakespearean Tragedy: Lectures on "Hamlet", "Othello", "King Lear" and "Macbeth" (New Penguin Shakespeare library) by A. Bradley
Buy new: £9.09 / Used from: £4.75
Lucid and necessary theories on the Bard himself
Shorter Oxford English DictionaryShorter Oxford English Dictionary
Buy used from: £18.99
Invest in this. It will be your friend forever
The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Reference Books)The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory (Reference Books) by J. Cuddon
Buy new: £8.39 / Used from: £5.19
Another indispensable reference book
Poetics (Penguin Classics)Poetics (Penguin Classics) by Aristotle
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £3.25
Katharsis, Mimesis... Introduction to concepts
William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Oxford Shakespeare)William Shakespeare: The Complete Works (Oxford Shakespeare)
Buy new: £11.04 / Used from: £8.03
Buy it now...
Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became ShakespeareWill in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare by Stephen Greenblatt
Buy new: £13.20 / Used from: £4.03
... and read it in conjunction with this for a deeper understanding of his work.
The Second Sex (Vintage classics)The Second Sex (Vintage classics) by Simone de Beauvoir
Buy new: £7.69 / Used from: £5.52
Groundbreaking feminine criticism
Metamorphoses (Oxford World's Classics)Metamorphoses (Oxford World's Classics) by Ovid
Buy used from: £2.75
One of the original storytellers
Mother Tongue: The English LanguageMother Tongue: The English Language by Bill Bryson
Buy new: £6.69 / Used from: £1.85
A fascinating journey into the heart of the English language
Eats shoots and leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to PunctuationEats shoots and leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.01
Correct grammar is important as background reading
Shakespeare's Imagery and What it Tells UsShakespeare's Imagery and What it Tells Us by Caroline F. E. Spurgeon
Buy new: £25.99 / Used from: £15.92
Highly readable and equally important