24
votes
Accepted
How did contemporary readers respond to coincidence in 19th century novels?
This is a vast subject; entire books have been written on the subject of coincidence in fiction. So I’ll attempt a very brief survey.
Were coincidence plots popular?
Charles Dickens was the most ...
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6
votes
Why do readers dislike Vronsky in the early part of the novel?
Because Levin appears first.
Levin/Lyovin is the main character of the novel: it is not just about Anna and Vronsky! See LitCharts, for example:
Levin, the other main protagonist of the novel (...
- 1,591
6
votes
Accepted
How was "A Passage to India" received in Britain and India?
It's difficult to try and judge a reception of a novel that's nearly 100 years old. Especially as reviews seem to be 'nicer' in those days than some of the scathing remarks you see in the present day.
...
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5
votes
What was the public's initial reaction to Virginia Woolf's Orlando?
In literary reviews, the novel was usually praised, and reviewers accepted the conceit of changing gender. I'll bold the portions of the following excerpts that mention sex.
The English Journal ...
- 271
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a commonly accepted way to measure the relative "popularity" of Shakespeare plays?
Shakespeare scholars use various criteria when discussing the popularity of specific Shakespeare plays. They do this mainly to increase understanding of how the reception of a specific play evolved ...
- 44k
4
votes
How did Maupassant's contemporaries respond to his play Une répétition?
There was a brief notice in Le Livre of the book Saynètes et Monologues, sixième serie, an anthology of sketches and dramatic monologues by eighteen writers. The anonymous reviewer saves Maupassant ...
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4
votes
How to measure the reception of a literary work
When literature people talk about reception of a work, how do they measure this, how do they compare receptions of different work?
Typically literary scholars look at all of the published reviews to ...
- 406
3
votes
How did Maupassant's contemporaries respond to his play Musotte?
There was a production of Musotte in March 1891 at the Théâtre du Gymnase Marie-Bell in Paris, which received a brief but glowing review in the Revue illustrée:
Si le rire règne à la Renaissance, l’...
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3
votes
How did contemporary readers respond to coincidence in 19th century novels?
It should be remembered that not only did most Victorians believe in the hand of God or Providence acting in everyday life but authors of the time were steeped in Classical Culture where Fate was ...
3
votes
Accepted
When and where did Thomas Mann say that Effi Briest is one of the six best novels in his library?
Thomas Mann's article "To Theodor Fontane's 100th Birthday" was published in Berliner Tageblatt on 25-Dec-1919. There you can find the quote:
Eine Romanbibliothek der rigorosesten Auswahl, ...
- 735
3
votes
Accepted
Why isn't Arthur Conan Doyle considered a first-rate writer?
I'm going to answer by taking issue with the question itself. I think we can demonstrate that while Conan-Doyle might not be truly considered "first-rate", his work is taken seriously by ...
- 21k
3
votes
Accepted
Euripides - Were his Argonautical works considered canon?
In the story of the Argonauts, yes, Euripides' Medea did indeed influence later writers. As Andrew Zissos puts it in his commentary of Argonautica I (Oxford, 2008), "Euripides' focus on Jason's ...
- 1,037
1
vote
Accepted
Was Thomas Hardy's "Unkept Good Fridays" negatively received in its time?
No contemporary response
As far as I can tell, there was no contemporary response to ‘Unkept Good Fridays’, and certainly no negative reaction of the kind suggested in the questions. As for the ...
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