The Adventures of Roderick Random (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Tobias Smollett
- First Published: 1748
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Picaresque
- Time of Work: Eighteenth century
- Setting: England
- Genres: Long fiction, Picaresque fiction
- Subjects: Traveling or travelers, Love or romance, Friendship, England or English people, Eighteenth century, Sea or seafaring life, Adventure, Satire, Pretensions
- Locales: London, England, Colombia, Scotland, Bath, England
Characters Discussed
Roderick Random, familiarly called Rory, a reckless and restless young man whose experiences parallel to a certain extent those of the author himself. Rory’s mother dies when he is born, and his father, disinherited by his family because he had married a poor relation and a domestic, leaves England. The libertine and unscrupulous Random goes through all the stages of the eighteenth century picaresque hero. As a boy, he is mistreated by alienated relatives; he is befriended and educated (in medicine) by a sympathetic one. His life is a series of assumed...
[The entire page is 1246 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
