Epic Echoes in The Wind in the Willows

<p>This book explores Grahame’s engagements with classical antiquity in <i>The Wind in the Willows</i> including ancient epic parody (<i>Batrachomyomachia</i>) and pastoral imagery. </p><p>Irby demonstrates how subtle echoes – such as the structure into 12 books arming scenes epic catalogues <i>anabases</i> and <i>katabases</i> lying tales Toad’s cleverness—cumulatively suggest a link between <i>The Wind in the Willows</i> and classical literature. This study offers the first sustained treatment of classical allusions in <i>The Wind in the Willows</i> considering the entire novel not isolated scenes building on existing scholarship to yield an interpretation through the lens of classical literature and its reception in Victorian and Edwardian England.</p><p>This volume will provide a unique resource for students and scholars of classical reception and literature as well as comparative literature English literature children’s literature gender studies and Grahame’s writing.</p>