The Death of the Heart (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Elizabeth Bowen
- First Published: 1938
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: After World War I
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Bildungsroman, Domestic realism
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Family or family life, Class conflict, Adolescence, Teenagers, Love or romance, Middle classes, Betrayal, Alienation, Class consciousness, 1920’s, 1930’s, Emotions, Jealousy, envy, or resentment, England or English people, Idealism, Loneliness, Orphans or orphanages
- Locales: London, England, Seale, England
Places Discussed
*London. Capital and largest city of Great Britain. As one of the novel’s characters walks through Covent Garden during the evening, the narrator describes a feeling of desolation, which is representative of a city “full of such deserts, of such moments, at which the mirage of one’s own keyed-up existence suddenly fails.” In this instance, the keyed-up character is Eddie, a dashing young man who has attracted sixteen-year-old Portia, the novel’s protagonist. She wants to believe that he represents an antidote to the cold, staid life she encounters in...
[The entire page is 1056 words long]
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