The Last Man (Oxford World's Classics) - Softcover

Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199552355 ISBN 13: 9780199552351

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2008

Synopsis

'The last man! I may well describe that solitary being's feelings, feeling myself as the last relic of a beloved race, my companions extinct before me.' Mary Shelley, Journal (May 1824).

Best remembered as the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley wrote The Last Man eight years later, on returning to England from Italy after her husband's death.

It is the twenty-first century, and England is a republic governed by a ruling elite, one of whom, Adrian, Earl of Windsor, has introduced a Cumbrian boy to the circle. This outsider, Lionel Verney, narrates the story, a tale of complicated, tragic love, and of the gradual extermination of the human race by plague.

The Last Man also functions as an intriguing roman à clef, for the saintly Adrian is a monument to Percy Bysshe Shelley, and his friend Lord Raymond is a portrait of Byron. The novel offers a vision of the future that expresses a reaction against Romanticism, as Shelley demonstrates the failure of the imagination and of art to redeem her doomed characters.
ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

About this title

Review:

" "The Last Man" created an entirely new genre, compounded of the domestic romance, the Gothic extravaganza, and the sociological novel. . . . [Mary Shelley''s] most interesting, if not her most consummate work." -- Muriel Spark. " A fascinating . . . novel-romance on a timely subject." -- "Studies in English Literature," " An absorbing roman a clef, [it] develops one of the major themes of romantic art, that of spiritual isolation, and . . . treats it in a unique way." -- "The Year''s Work in English Studies,"
"A fascinating . . . novel-romance on a timely subject."--"Studies in English Literature"

"An absorbing roman a clef, [it] develops one of the major themes of romantic art, that of spiritual isolation, and . . . treats it in a unique way."--"The Year''s Work in English Studies"

""The Last Man" created an entirely new genre, compounded of the domestic romance, the Gothic extravaganza, and the sociological novel. . . . [Mary Shelley's] most interesting, if not her most consummate work."--Muriel Spark--Muriel Spark

The Last Man created an entirely new genre, compounded of the domestic romance, the Gothic extravaganza, and the sociological novel. . . . [Mary Shelley's] most interesting, if not her most consummate work. Muriel Spark--Muriel Spark"

"The Last Man created an entirely new genre, compounded of the domestic romance, the Gothic extravaganza, and the sociological novel. . . . [Mary Shelley's] most interesting, if not her most consummate work."--Muriel Spark--Muriel Spark

From the Publisher:

The Broadview Editions series is an effort to represent the ever-changing canon of literature in English by bringing together texts long regarded as classics with valuable, lesser-known literature. Newly type-set and produced on high-quality paper in trade paperback format, the Broadview Editions series is a delight to handle as well as to read.

Each volume includes a full introduction, chronology, bibliography, and explanatory notes along with a variety of documents from the period, giving readers a rich sense of the world from which the work emerged.

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0199552355
• ISBN 13: 9780199552351
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512
• Editor: Paley Morton D.