Other editions of book Maggie: A Girl of the Streets

"Maggie: A Girl of the Streets", Stephen Crane's first novel, is the story of a beautiful young girl living in the slums of New York in the late 19th Century. "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" is a shockingly explicit portrait of the brutal conditions that existed in the poverty-stricken slums of New York. Originally refused by all publishers that it was submitted to because of its brutal and sexual realism, "Maggie: A Girl of the Streets" was first published by Stephen Crane at his own expense.

The story opens with Jimmie, at this point a young boy, trying by himself to fight a gang of boys from an opposing neighborhood. He is saved by his friend, Pete, and comes home to his sister, Maggie, his toddling brother, Tommie, his brutal and drunken father, and mother, Mary Johnson. The parents terrify the children until they are shuddering in the corner.Years pass, Tommie and his father die as Jimmie hardens into a sneering, aggressive, cynical youth. He gets a job as a teamster, having no regard for anyone but firetrucks who would run him down. Maggie begins to work in a shirt factory, but her attempts to improve her life are undermined by her mother's drunken rages. Maggie begins to date Jimmie's friend Pete, who has a job as a bartender and seems a very fine fellow, convinced that he will help her escape the life she leads. He takes her to the theater and the museum. One night Jimmie and Mary accuse Maggie of "Goin to deh devil", essentially kicking her out of the tenement, throwing her lot in with Pete. Jimmie goes to Pete's bar and picks a fight with him (even though he himself has ruined other boys' sisters). As the neighbors continue to talk about Maggie, Jimmie and Mary decide to join them in badmouthing her instead of defending her.Later, Nellie, a "woman of brilliance and audacity" convinces Pete to leave Maggie, whom she calls "a little pale thing with no spirit." Thus abandoned, Maggie tries to return home but is rejected by her mother and scorned by the entire tenement. In a later scene, a prostitute, implied to be Maggie, wanders the streets, moving into progressively worse neighborhoods until, reaching the river, she is followed by a grotesque and shabby man. The next scene shows Pete drinking in a saloon with six fashionable women "of brilliance and audacity." He passes out, whereupon one, possibly Nellie, takes his money. In the final chapter, Jimmie tells his mother that Maggie is dead. The mother exclaims, ironically, as the neighbors comfort her, "I'll forgive her!"

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is an 1893 novella by American author Stephen Crane (1871–1900). The story centers on Maggie, a young girl from the Bowery who is driven to unfortunate circumstances by poverty and solitude. The work was considered risqué by publishers because of its literary realism and strong themes. Crane – who was 22 years old at the time – financed the book's publication himself, although the original 1893 edition was printed under the pseudonym Johnston Smith. After the success of 1895's The Red Badge of Courage, Maggie was reissued in 1896 with considerable changes and re-writing.

This definitive, annotated edition of Maggie is based on Crane's original 1893 text and provides instructors with everything they need to teach the work in its historical and cultural context. Over 175 pages of documents are organized into thematic units on late-nineteenth and turn of the century American society to give the reader a context for Maggie. The various chapters in this edition cover topics such as tenement life; shops, saloons, concert-halls; working women from the perspectives of others; working women tell their own stories; prostitution; realism; and slum fiction.

Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, is the first novel written by author Stephen Crane, and was considered to be too risqué by publishers in 1893, and Crane was forced to self-publish this title. Maggie, A Girl of the Streets, is considered to be one of the most important novels featuring Naturalism, which believes that an individuals behavior is shaped largely by forces which are beyond their control.

Maggie looks at life through new eyes when she meets Pete. She believes he has money, connections, and aristocratic manners. Her admiration for his clothes makes her hate all her dresses and scrutinize all the details of well-dressed women, including the look of serenity on their faces. She compares their circumstances with those of the "grizzled" factory women at her job: the former are protected by those who love them, while the latter grumble about babies and unpaid wages. Maggie realizes her youth and beauty can only serve her for a limited time. She hopes her "bloom" will lead to an attachment with Pete and take her away from the noise and filth of the factory and from the drunken abuse of her family members. But Maggie does not look to exploit her attractiveness by searching out other wealthy benefactors. Pete is the only man in her eyes.

Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a short novel written by Stephen Crane that tells the story of a young woman who is driven to unfortunate circumstances. Due to its themes the book was controversial at the time of its publication but it is now considered to be one of Crane's greatest books. Stephen Crane was a prominent American author during the late 19th century. Crane was very prolific and he was considered to be one of the most innovative writers in American history. Crane's war novel The Red Badge of Courage is considered a classic and it earned him international fame.

"Run, Jimmie, run! Dey'll get yehs," screamed a retreating Rum Alley child. "Naw," responded Jimmie with a valiant roar, "dese micks can't make me run." Howls of renewed wrath went up from Devil's Row throats. Tattered gamins on the right made a furious assault on the gravel heap. On their small, convulsed faces there shone the grins of true assassins. As they charged, they threw stones and cursed in shrill chorus. The little champion of Rum Alley stumbled precipitately down the other side. His coat had been torn to shreds in a scuffle, and his hat was gone. He had bruises on twenty parts of his body, and blood was dripping from a cut in his head. His wan features wore a look of a tiny, insane demon. On the ground, children from Devil's Row closed in on their antagonist. He crooked his left arm defensively about his head and fought with cursing fury. The little boys ran to and fro, dodging, hurling stones and swearing in barbaric trebles.