The result is a new way to read, a novel approach to novels (and plays) that reveals how human nature underlies literature, from the great to the not-so-great.

The ways we fall in-and out-of love, stand by our friends, compete against our enemies, and squabble with our families have their roots in biological imperatives we share not only with other primates but with an amazing array of other creatures. Seen through the lens of evolutionary biology, the witty repartee of Jane Austen’s courting couples, Othello’s tragic rage, the griping of Holden Caulfield, and the scandalous indiscretions of Madame Bovary herself all make a fresh and exciting kind of sense. So it should be no surprise to learn that the natural forces that drive animals in general and Homo sapiens in particular are clearly visible in the creatures of literature, from Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones all the way to Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones. Just like every animal from mites to monkeys, our day-to-day behavior has been shaped by millions of years of natural selection. What do bloodsucking bats have to do with John Steinbeck?Īccording to evolutionary psychologist David Barash and his daughter Nanelle, the answers lie in the most important word in biology: evolution. How do gorillas illuminate the works of Shakespeare?

What can elephant seals tell us about Homer’s Iliad?

Download the new for mac Madame Bovary