Additional Resources for Billy Budd by Herman Melville

Gail Coffler, "Classical Iconography in the Aesthetics of Billy Budd, Sailor," in Savage Eye - Melville and the Visual Arts, edited by Christopher Sten, Kent State University Press, 1991, pp 257-76.

Coffler analyzes Melville's abiding interest in ancient Greek and Roman myth, law, and art. Billy Budd, the character, is a combination of Greek beauty and Roman strength.

Mervyn Cook and Philip Reed, editors, Benjamin Britten. Billy Budd, Cambridge Opera Handbooks, Cambridge University Press, 1993

A synopsis of Britten's opera, which is based on Melville's novel. In addition to the synopsis, the book includes an explanation of the opera's literary roots, a discussion of the librettist's and composer's work, and an interpretation of the music's tonal symbolism

Clark Davis, After the Whale - Melville in the Wake of Moby-Dick, University of Alabama Press, 1995

A book-length assessment of Melville's lesser-known writings that came after the publication of Moby-Dick...