Adolphe (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Benjamin Constant
- First Published: 1816
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Love or romance, Nineteenth century, Eighteenth century, Duty, Human behavior, Germany or German people, Poland or Polish people, Sacrifice, Nobility, Royal courts or courtiers
- Locales: Italy, Poland, Göttingen, Germany
Places Discussed
*Cerenza. Village on the River Neto, near the larger town of Cosenza, in southern Italy. Although the novel situates Cerenza in the region of Calabria, at the tip of Italy’s “boot,” Cerenza actually belongs to the region of Basilicata, north of Calabria. There, the flooding of the Neto briefly brings together the hero and the fictional publisher of Adolphe’s journal, whose comments on it open and close the novel. Adolphe’s other travels—and especially his indifference to his enforced stay in Cerenza—suggest a restless, even wasted life. The...
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