Roxana - Couverture souple

Defoe, Daniel

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0140431497 ISBN 13 : 9780140431490

Editeur : Penguin Classics, 1982

Synopsis

Beautiful, proud Roxana is terrified of being poor. When her foolish husband leaves her penniless with five children, she must choose between being a virtuous beggar or a rich whore. Embarking on a career as a courtesan and kept woman, the glamour of her new existence soon becomes too enticing and Roxana passes from man to man in order to maintain her lavish society parties, luxurious clothes and amassed wealth. But this life comes at a cost, and she is fatally torn between the sinful prosperity she has become used to and the respectability she craves. A vivid satire on a dissolute society, "Roxana" (1724) is a devastating and psychologically acute evocation of the ways in which vanity and ambition can corrupt the human soul.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

A prolific and versatile writer, Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) produced some 500 books on a wide variety of topics, including politics, geography, crime, religion, economics, marriage, psychology and superstition. He delighted in role-playing and disguise, a skill he used to great effect as a secret agent, and in his writing he often adopted a pseudonym or another personality for rhetorical impact. He turned to fiction relatively late in life and in 1719 published his great imaginative work, Robinson Crusoe. This was followed in 1722 by Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year, and in 1724 by his last novel, Roxana. Defoe had a great influence on the development of the English novel and many consider him to be the first true novelist.

Revue de presse

Roxana is possible Defoe's most fascinating story-teller and this, one of his most intriguing stories. (The Daily Telegraph)

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Penguin Classics
• Date d'édition: 1982
• ISBN 10: 0140431497
• ISBN 13: 9780140431490
• Reliure: Broché
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 416
• Éditeur: Blewett David