The Cuttlefish (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: StanisławIgnacy Witkiewicz
- First Published: 1923
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Surrealism
- Time of Work: The 1920’s
- Setting: Unspecified
- Genres: Drama, Surrealist literature
- Subjects: Values, Power, personal or social, Murder or homicide, Art or artists, 1920’s, Rulers, Existentialism, Humanism, Popes or papacy
Characters Discussed
Paul Rockoffer, a disillusioned artist. In a time of increasing dehumanization and mechanization of society, Rockoffer finds the pursuit of art meaningless. Forty-six years old, the fair-haired artist, dressed in black, mourns the waste of his life and the isolation and futility of his existence as an artist. In the face of eternal gray boredom, Rockoffer succumbs to the enticements of bourgeois contentment in his engagement to Ella. He is, however, torn by past yearnings as represented by the sensual statue. At the same time, Pope Julius II offers him a...
[The entire page is 798 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
