Heathcliff and the Great Hunger: Studies in Irish Culture

by Terry Eagleton

Heathcliff and the Great Hunger examines Irish culture from Swift to Joyce, in the light of the tortuous, often tragic, history that conditioned it.

Genres: Criticism, Politics, Nonfiction, Ireland, Irish Literature, History, Literary Criticism

368 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

Widely regarded as England's most influential living literary critic & theorist, Dr. Terry Eagleton currently serves as Distinguished Professor of English Literature at the University of Lancaster and as Visiting Professor at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He was Thomas Warton Prof. of English Literature at the University of Oxford ('92-01) & John Edward Taylor Professor of English Literature at the University of Manchester 'til '08. He returned to the University of Notre Dame in the Autumn '09 semester as Distinguished Visitor in the English Department.

He's written over 40 books, including Literary Theory: An Introduction ('83); The Ideology of the Aesthetic ('90) & The Illusions of Postmodernism ('96).
He delivered Yale's '08 Terry Lectures and gave a Gifford Lecture in 3/10, titled The God Debate.

Reviews

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is magnificent. It explains the nature of Gothic literature perfectly, both in Northern Ireland and, by analogy, in the American South. It offers insights into the link between Victorian literature and empire, a la Edward Said. It’s beautifully written, as almost all Eagleton books are. I remember some of the book’s arguments 25 years after reading it.

[•Paula•]

Only read excerpts for my EoDP / TFG.

[Belén Payo]

Catherine and Heathcliff -an oppressed woman and an exploited farm labourer- have a chance, so
it would seem, to inaugurate a form of relationship at odds with the instrumental economy of the Heights; but Catherine’s renegacy prevents that relationship from entering upon material existence, just as it compels Heathcliff to run off, turn himself into a gentleman and appropriate the weapons of the ruling class in order to bring them low

[Zach Keenan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks Terry. If this doesn’t help me for Schols we are gonna have to have words my friend