LibGuides: 19th Century World Literature: Media

Authors & Their Works

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Edgar Allan Poe: A Journey in Verse (34:00) Edgar Allan Poe was truest to his heart a poet. He has blessed American literature with some of the most striking and moving imagery ever created. His phrasing and lyricism have forever changed the landscape of poetic verse. Includes “The Conqueror Worm,” “To My Mother,” “Israfel,” “Annabel Lee,” “The City in the Sea,” “Eldorado,” “To Helen,” “The Haunted Palace,” “Evening Star,” and “The Raven.”
Faust : The Man and the Legend This program examines the historical Dr. Faust and the legends that have arisen around him thanks to the writings of Marlowe, Lessing, and Goethe. (29 minutes)
Fyodor Dostoevsky: Crime and Punishment - Full Video (01:01:30) Considered the first modern novel, Crime and Punishment is both a compelling psychodrama and an unrelenting examination of modern humankind. This program skillfully interweaves riveting dramatizations of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterpiece with Notes from the Underground and the autobiographical Memoirs from the House of the Dead. Penetrating observations are provided by Professor John Jones, of Oxford University, who scrutinizes the merciless introspection inherent in these works.
The Glorious Romantics: Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley (01:26:44) A lover’s delight lay in the words of Lord Byron, John Keats, and Percy Bysshe Shelley as they caressed the English language with their poetic phrases. British actress Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs) complements a wonderful ensemble of actors in this essential collection of Romantic poetry.
Henrik Ibsen: The Master Playwright (58:29) This program provides an overview of Henrik Ibsen's life and discusses the way Ibsen's plays about small communities and everyday human drama, like A Doll's House and Hedda Gabler, changed the theater for years to come. (38 minutes)
Walt Whitman (22:00) A collage of photos, paintings, and manuscripts accompanies excerpts of letters from Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as readings from sections of Leaves of Grass, such as “Song of Myself,” “I Sing the Body Electric,” and “Native Moments.” .

Performances & Readings

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Anna Karenina (112:00) This famous 1948 adaptation of Tolstoy's unforgettable novel stars Vivien Leigh as Anna, the wife and mother who falls tragically in love with the dashing Count Vronsky. Starring Vivien Leigh, Kieron Moore, Ralph Richardson, Marie Lohr, Niall MacGinnis, and Helen Haye. Directed by Julien Duvivier. The famous playwright Jean Anouilh adapted the screenplay.
BBC Charlotte Perkins Gilman: The Yellow Wallpaper (76:00) Touted as one of the first major feminist writers, Charlotte Perkins Gilman spent her life fighting to liberate women from the yoke of domesticity. This is a stunning BBC dramatization of Gilman’s autobiographical account of a woman driven to madness by the repressive mores of Victorian culture.
A Doll's House (02:17:15) David Thacker directs this film adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 1879 play that struck an early blow for feminism. Nora Helmer (Juliet Stevenson) secretly borrowed money from Nils Krogstad (David Calder) so that her husband Torvald (Trevor Eve) could recover from a serious illness without financial worry; she has been repaying the loan with money from her household allowance. Torvald becomes bank director and wants to fire Krogstad. Krogstad discovers that Nora forged a signature and threatens to reveal the truth unless she convinces Torvald not to fire him.

More Media

In addition to streaming media, we have DVDs, images, audio and more media.

Moby Dick Consumed by an insane rage, Captain Ahab has but one purpose in life-- revenge on the great white whale who maimed and disfigured him.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner A two-part program which examines the life of Samuel Coleridge from his orphaned childhood to how his friendship with William and Dorothy Wordsworth inspired him to write The rime of the ancient mariner. Part 2 consists of a visualization of Coleridge's epic poem - The rime of the ancient mariner.