Do with Me What You Will (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Joyce Carol Oates
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1960’s and 1970’s
- Setting: Primarily Detroit, Michigan
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: 1960’s, 1970’s, Self-discovery, Parents and children, Love or romance, Abused persons, Murder or homicide, Self, Human rights, Midwest, Domestic violence, Law or legislation, Fathers, Adultery, Lawyers, Kidnapping
- Locales: Detroit, MI
Characters Discussed
Elena Ross Howe, the protagonist. Abused as a child by a neglectful father and an uncaring mother, Elena becomes passive, pliant, and malleable to the wills of others. She is an undefined, shadowy figure without her own identity until, at the end of the novel, she is strengthened by redemptive love. Elena is beautiful, blond, and statuesque, but she uses her beauty to mask the nothingness behind it. Elena occasionally narrates the novel as fragments of her thoughts or projected conversations slip into the story.
Jack Morrissey, Elena’s lover. Jack...
[The entire page is 757 words long]
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See Also:
Joyce Carol Oates (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Joyce Carol Oates (Poetry)Joyce Carol Oates (Short Fiction)Joyce Carol Oates (Long Fiction)Joyce Carol Oates (Identities and Issues)Joyce Carol Oates (Sixties in America)
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