The Possessed (Masterplots II: Drama)
At a glance:
- Author: Albert Camus
- First Published: 1959
- Type of Work: Existential tragedy
- Time of Work: The 1860’s
- Setting: Russia
- Principal Characters: The Narrator, Stavrogin, Varvara, Stepan, Peter, Ivan Shatov
- Genres: Existential literature, Drama, Tragedy
- Subjects: Values, Suicide, Nineteenth century, Revolutions, Religion, Violence, Christianity, Assassins, hit men, or contract killers, Devils or demons, Russia or Russian people
- Locales: Russia
The Play
The Possessed opens on a darkened stage. The spotlight picks out a Narrator, who welcomes the audience into the home of a nobleman’s widow, Varvara Stavrogin, who for twenty years has been boarding the widowed author and professor Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky, whose influence is soon felt. There he is joined by friends who talk about reforming the social, political, and religious life of Russia. Often declaring that he will not be led by the nose, Gaganov remains unconvinced of their claims. Varvara’s wayward son, Nicholas Stavrogin, shocks the group by...
[The entire page is 2361 words long]
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See Also:
Albert Camus (Cyclopedia of World Authors)Albert Camus (Ethics)Albert Camus (Short Fiction)Albert Camus (Long Fiction)Albert Camus (World Philosophers)
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