Student Companion to Stephen Crane

Stephen Crane, born into a family of writers, wrote his first poem, "I'd Rather Have" at the age of eight, and his first short story around the age of 13, "Uncle Jake and the Bell-Handle." Despite never having completed a course of study at any of the colleges he attended, Crane decided in spring of 1891 to pursue a career as a writer. While working as a journalist, he penned Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, a novella written in the Naturalist style that depicted the sordidness of urban tenement life. Enduring his own poverty and taking temporary reporting jobs, he completed his literary master-piece. The Red Badge of Courage, a dramatic depiction of a soldier's inner life during the American Civil War, in April 1894. Continuing to write both journalistic pieces and short stories until his death in June 1900, Stephen Crane is one of the most highly regarded and popularly taught American authors today.

Stephen Crane pursued his writing career during a time when the literary world was moving from Romanticism to Realism and Naturalism, and later in his life, Impressionism and Modernism. Paul Sorrentino examines each of Crane's works, identifying the influence of these literary movements, and world events, on his novels, short stories, and poetry, including: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, New York City Stories and Sketches, The Red Badge of Courage, War Stories, Western Stories, Tales of Whilomville.