Excerpt from Elements of Criticism, Vol. 1 After the utmolt efforts, we find it beyond Our power to conceive the avour ofa rofc to erdi in the mind: we are neceffarily led to conceive that pleafure as exilling in the nol'crils along With the imprefiion made by the rofo Upon that organ. And the fame will be the refult of ex periments with refpec't to every feeling of talie, touch, anddfmell. Touch affords the moft fatisfaetory Ccri ments. Were it not that the delufion is deteeted by phi lofophy, no perfon would hefitate to pronounce, that the pleafure arifing from touching a fmooth, foft, and velvet furface, has its exifience at the ends of the fingers, with. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."

Reproduction of the original: Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama by E. Cobham Brewer

Presents literary criticism of one hundred plays of world literature, providing plot summaries for each play, a profile of the author, and an assessment of the play's characters and major themes.

"She's hysterical." For centuries, the term "hysteria" has been used by physicians and laymen to diagnose and dismiss the extreme emotionality and mysterious physical disorders presumed to bedevil others—especially women. How did this medical concept assume its power? What cultural purposes does it serve? Why do different centuries and different circumstances produce different kinds of hysteria? These are among the questions pursued in this absorbing, erudite reevaluation of the history of hysteria. The widely respected authors draw upon the insights of social and cultural history, rather than Freudian psychoanalysis, to examine the ways in which hysteria has been conceived by doctors and patients, writers and artists, in Europe and North America, from antiquity to the early years of the twentieth century. In so doing, they show that a history of hysteria is a history of how we understand the mind. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1993.

On the eve of his coming of age, a young Lord begins to see the truth of his parents' lives: his mother cannot buy her way into society no matter how hard he tries, and his father is being ruined by her continued attempts. The young Lord then travels to his home in Ireland, encountering adventure on the way, and discovers that the native residents are being exploited in his father's absence.