About the Author
Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey, the youngest child of the Reverend Dr. Jonathan Townley Crane and Mary Helen […]
The Red Badge of Courage
Setting and Overview
II OVERVIEW The Red Badge of Courage attempts to recreate the combat experiences of a young, frightened soldier in the American Civil War. Henry Fleming, […]
Themes and Characters
War, for Crane, was a favorite metaphor for human life, equally applicable to coal miners (“In the Depths of Coal Mine,” 1894) or to the […]
Literary Qualities
In preparation for writing The Red Badge of Courage, Crane studied the Civil War photographs of Matthew Brady and illustrations by painter Winslow Homer and […]
Social Sensitivity
Crane’s novels reflect his basic beliefs about humanity. The chronic misery of the poor aroused his sympathy, as did the plight of common soldiers in […]
Ideas and Topics for Papers
VII TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION 1. Crane said that he learned from the German author Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that certain colors affect human feelings. What […]
Related Titles and Adaptations
Crane’s novel Maggie: A Girl of the Streets depicts the embattled lives of people surviving in the New York inner city and the brutalizing effects […]