VCE Literature guide - units 3 & 4, 2026

Copies of the text

• Rostand, Edmond  Cyrano de Bergerac : a Heroic Comedy in Five Acts
  • note our library holds a range of translations both in print and as eBooks but we don't hold the Anthony Burgess translation

Overviews & summaries

• Moss, Joyce, and George Wilson.(1997)  Overview: Cyrano de Bergerac Literature and Its Times:, Gale,
• Overview: Cyrano de Bergerac. (1993) Characters in 19th-Century Literature, edited by Kelly King Howes, Gale, . Gale Literature Resource Center,

Critiques

• Lamm, M. (1991). The First Symbolists. (K. Elliott, Trans.). In P. Kepos (Ed.), Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism (Vol. 37). Gale. (Reprinted from Modern Drama, pp. 152-178, 1953, Philosophical Library)
• Freeman, E. (1999). Cyrano de Bergerac: Mythopoeia Triumphant. In L. J. Trudeau (Ed.), Drama Criticism (Vol. 10). Gale. (Reprinted from Cyrano de Bergerac, pp. 21-47, 1995, University of Glasgow French and German Publications)

Reviews

• Dougherty, L. R. (2015). Review of Father comes home from the wars Theatre Journal, 67(3), 560–563.
• Sullivan, C. (2018, June 13). Father Comes Home from the Wars, Parts 1, 2, & 3. Windy City Times, 33(39), 24.
• Taylor, P. (2016). Father comes home from the wars (parts 1, 2 & 3), royal court, review: 'immensely arresting and impressive piece of work'. London: Independent (newspaper).

Analysis

• Guerrero, Paula Barba. Reformulating Freedom: Slavery, Alienation and Ambivalence in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3  Ex-centric Narratives: Journal of Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media,  n. 2, p. 42-60, dec. 2018. ISSN 2585-3538.
• Severs, J. (2014).  "Say Yes": Consent, Marriage, and History in the Drama and Fiction of Suzan-Lori Parks The Review of Contemporary Fiction, 34(1), 178+.
• Bartleby literature guide (external site)

Video

• Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) - A Q&A with playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. (Youtube 32 minutes)(external site)

Interviews

• - Smart, J. (2014). Meet the maker: Suzan Lori-Parks  "father comes home from the wars (parts 1, 2, & 3)". Back Stage, 55(44), 48.

Further resources

• Gale Literary sources
• SLV Catalogue

• Harmon, Joshua Elias. Admissions  Directed by Gary Abrahams. Southbank, Victoria: Melbourne Theatre Company, 2022. 
  • This is a programme that includes an essay and interviews.

Reviews

• Wallenberg, C. (2019, Oct 24). In Joshua Harmon's 'Admissions,' white guilt collides with white privilege. Boston Globe
• Teeman, T. (2018, March 13). This is what white middle-class race hypocrisy looks like: Review of ‘Admissions’: Joshua Harmon’s comedy drama ‘Admissions’ takes a sharp scalpel to the college admissions process, to reveal the racism lurking in plain view in the most liberal white household. The Daily Beast
• Feingold, M. (2018, April 9). Joshua Harmon’s Admissions finds satire in the quest for academic diversity. The Village Voice

Interviews

• Unpacking Admissions with the cast and director Melbourne Theatre Company (external site)

Copies of the text

• Hansberry, L. (1959). A raisin in the sun; a drama in three acts. New York: Random House.

Overviews

• Moredock, Janet, (2017)  A Raisin in the Sun,  Drama Criticism vol. 57, Gale.
• Harris, Laurie Lanzen. (1990) Overview: A Raisin in the Sun. Characters in 20th-Century Literature, Gale Literature Resource Cente

• (2009). Explanation of: 'A Raisin in the Sun' by Lorraine Hansberry. LitFinder Contemporary Collection, Gale,

Analysis

•  Čerče, D. (2019). Race and politics in the twentieth-century black American play: Lorraine Hansberry’s 'A raisin in the sun'. Neohelicon, 46(1), pp. 227-239
• Grant, C. A. (2024). Examining Lorraine Hansberry’s “Raisin in the sun” as counternarrative : understanding the Black family and Black students. New York, NY: Routledge. [ebook]
• Matthews, Kristin L. "The Politics of ‘Home’ in Lorraine Hansberry’s a Raisin in the Sun." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, , vol. 402, Gale, 2021, pp. 61-74.  [Originally published in Modern Drama, vol. 51, no. 4, 2008, pp. 556-578.

• King, Eric S (2018) African Americans and the Crisis of Modernity: An Interpretation of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun Ethnic Studies Review, vol. 41, no. 1-2, pp. 53+. Gale Academic OneFile

Primary sources

• A raisin in the sun

Further resources

• Gale Literature

Copies of the text

• We hold a number of copies of The Persians by Aeschylus
• We also hold eBook copies

Analysis

• ‘Persians, An Introduction to. Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, edited by Lynn M. Zott, vol. 51, Gale, 2002.

• Herington, C. J. Introduction. Translated by Janet Lembke and C. J. Herington. Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, edited by Lynn M. Zott, vol. 51, Gale, 2002. Originally published in Persians, Oxford University Press, 1981, pp. 3-29.

• Murray, Gilbert. The War Plays, Persae and Seven Against Thebes. Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism , edited by Lynn M. Zott, vol. 51, Gale, 2002. Originally published in Aeschylus: The Creator of Tragedy, Oxford University Press, 1940, pp. 111-130.

Further resources

• Overviews of The Persians from the Gale Literature database

Copies of the text

• Berlin by Joanna Murray-Smith

Analysis & reviews

• Brindley, Michael  The Past Is Never Dead: Joanna Murray-Smith’s Berlin Stage Whispers (online, retrieved 19/10/23)
• Byrne, Tim (23 April 2021) Review Time out
   

Interviews & video

• Bergman, Gabi (20 April, 2021) Breaking down BERLIN with writer Joanna Murray-Smith AussieTheatre (online, retrieved 19/10/23)

Analysis & reviews

• Brock, O. (2013). Conflicts of interest. TLS. Times Literary Supplement, (5750), 18.
• Evans, L. (2013, August 31). Quest for tank man  Spectator, 322(9653), 44+.
• International relations get lost in translation (2016, April 2). Globe & Mail
• Spencer, C. (2013, August 16). Epic, exhilarating, exceptional Daily Telegraph [London, England], 26.

Copies of the text

Copies of the text

eBooks

• Shakespeare, William (2000) As You Like It. 1st ed. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, (eBook)
• New Oxford Shakespeare (complete works)

Print

• The Library holds many print items of the text

Video

• As You Like It [videorecording] (2007) Adapted for the Screen and Directed by Kenneth Branagh. New York: HBO Video,
• As You Like It (Shakespeare's Globe, 2009) Performance can be streamed through our Naxos Video Library

Overviews

• Explanation of: 'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare (2009) LitFinder Contemporary Collection, Gale,
• As You Like It."(2006) Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 100, Gale

Analysis

• Ford, John R. The Condition of My Estate: Conjuring Identity and Estrangement in As You Like It Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michael L. LaBlanc, vol. 80, Gale, 2004. (Originally published in Upstart Crow, vol. 18, 1998, pp. 56-66).
• Stanton, Kay. Remembering Patriarchy in As You Like It. (2022) Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 203, Gale (Originally published in Shakespeare, edited by Ronald Dotterer, Susquehanna UP, 1989, pp. 139-149)

• Ancona, Francesco Aristide, and Mary Ives Thompson. As You Like It: The Question of Escaping Conventional Society. Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 143, Gale, 2012. (Originally published in He Says/She Says Shakespeare, University Press of America, 2008, pp. 49-70).

• Sniveley, Samantha N. As You Like It’s Political, Critical Animal Allusions. Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 203, Gale, 2022. (Originally published in SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, vol. 58, no. 2, 2018, pp. 331-352.)

• Hassel, R. Chris. Most Faining: Wits and Wise Fools in As You Like It.Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Dana Ramel Barnes and Marie Lazzari, vol. 34, Gale, 1997. Gale Literature Criticism, l Originally published in Faith and Folly in Shakespeare's Romantic Comedies, The University of Georgia Press, 1980, pp. 110-148.

Copies of the text

• Our Library holds many copies of King Lear
• The text is available on the Internet Archive

Analysis

• Schoff, Francis G. (2021) King Lear: Moral Example or Tragic Protagonist? Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 200, Gale, . [Originally published in Shakespeare Quarterly], vol. 13, no. 2, 1962, pp. 157-172.]

• King Lear: The Tragic Disjunction of Wisdom and Power (1998). Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Dana Ramel Barnes, vol. 37, Gale, [Originally published in Shakespeare's Political Pageant: Essays in Literature and Politics, edited by Joseph Alulis and Vickie Sullivan, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1996, pp. 189-207, reprinted from SC Yearbook 1996, vol. 37.]

• Guilfoyle, Cherrell. (2004). The Redemption of King Lear. Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Janet Witalec, vol. 83, Gale, [Originally published in Shakespeare's Play within Play: Medieval Imagery and Scenic Form in Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear, Western Michigan University Medieval Institute Publications, 1990, pp. 111-127.]

• Kerr, Jason A. (2025) The Tragedy of Kindness in King Lear. Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Rebecca Parks, vol. 221, Gale, .  [Originally published in SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900, vol. 61, no. 1, 2021, pp. 45-64.]

Overviews

• Moss, Joyce, and George Wilson (1997) Overview: King Lear. Literature and Its Times: Profiles of 300 Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events that Influenced Them, vol. 1. Gale, . Gale Literature Resource Center.

• King Lear.  (2007) Shakespearean Criticism, edited by Michelle Lee, vol. 103, Gale,