The Afternoon of a Faun

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The Afternoon of a Faun (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)

Characters Discussed

The Faun, the hero and narrator. The faun of mythological antiquity, half man and half goat, was associated with bucolic settings and lascivious sexual appetites, so the Faun of this work is imagined to be a creature of considerable sensual indulgence. His sexuality links him to fundamental human desire, but his intellectual probing reflects the continuing human preoccupation with self-definition. In this way, he seems remote from his animal half. Through both his aesthetic and his physical preoccupations, the Faun presents himself as essentially a romantic...

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• The Afternoon of a Faun (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
• The Afternoon of a Faun (Masterplots II: Poetry Series)
• The Afternoon of a Faun (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)

See Also:

• Stéphane Mallarmé (Poetry)