For the Ignatius Study Guide for Moby Dick, click here.

A sea adventure, a study of evil, and a cast of fascinating characters, including the crazed captain who is obsessed with hunting down the whale that maimed him — Moby-Dick is all of this and more.

Based on the author's experiences as a sailor, Herman Melville's probing look into the human heart has been read and analyzed from every angle, including the most absurd. The tragic tale is looked at afresh in this Ignatius Critical Edition, which examines the background and other writings of the author and provides his essay on a work by his literary friend Nathaniel Hawthorne.

A look at the essays

Classic Criticism

• "Excerpts from 'Hawthorne and His Mosses'" – Herman Melville

Contemporary Criticism

• "Apocalyptic Readings of Moby-Dick: What Ishmael Returns to Tell Us" – Robert Alexander
• "'Civilized Hypocrisies and Bland Deceits' in Moby-Dick" – Mitchell Kalpakgian
• "Moby-Dick: The Republic at Sea" – Stephen Zelnick

Mary R. Reichardt situates the reader with the introductory essay.