The Classic

Name: The Classic
Author: Frank Kermode

by Frank Kermode

Essay defining what makes certain works endure as classics across changing critical tastes

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About the author

Frank Kermode

British literary critic whose The Sense of an Ending is the most influential study of narrative endings and the fictions of apocalypse. The Classic examined how literary works maintain their authority across changing interpretive contexts. He was the most graceful and learned English critic of his generation.

More by Frank Kermode

The Sense of an EndingKermode's landmark essay on how we make sense of time through narrative beginning, middle, and end
Romantic ImageKermode's study of the Romantic concept of the image and its influence on modern poetry and aesthetics
Forms of AttentionEssays on reading closely and with attention, emphasizing how interpretation shapes understanding
Shakespeare's LanguageKermode's essays on Shakespeare's use of language, imagery, and dramatic effect in the plays