The King (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Donald Barthelme
- First Published: 1990
- Type of Work: Novella
- Type of Plot: Alternative history
- Time of Work: Early 1940’s
- Setting: Great Britain
- Genres: Long fiction, Alternate history
- Subjects: 1940’s, World War II, Kings, queens, or royalty, Legends, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Nazism or Nazis, Great Britain, Knights or knighthood
- Locales: England, Great Britain
Characters Discussed
King Arthur, the legendary king of Britain, presented as still living in 1940, or perhaps returned as “the Future King” of legend. He is a shadowy character. He involves himself in the military, leaving politics to “Winston” and the propaganda machines, understanding that against the propaganda machines and the manipulativeness of modern politics not much can be done. He vaguely believes that his kingly role has outlived its usefulness and feels keenly the loss of the old romantic Round Table. In this somewhat absurdist novel, he acts in ways the...
[The entire page is 961 words long]
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