The Secret Agent (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Joseph Conrad
- First Published: 1907
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The 1880’s
- Setting: London, England
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Murder or homicide, Police, Nineteenth century, Alienation, England or English people, London, Bombs, Terrorism or terrorists, Espionage or spies, Anarchism or anarchists
- Locales: London, England
Characters Discussed
Mr. Verloc, an agent provocateur assigned to spy on anarchists in London; he poses as a shopkeeper. He is indolent and unkempt. Under pressure from his superiors at a foreign embassy, he plans to bomb Greenwich Observatory, a deed he believes sufficiently irrational and anarchistically shocking enough to stir up the London police in a campaign against the anarchists. His feebleminded brother-in-law, whom he enlists to carry the explosive, stumbles in Greenwich Park and is himself blown to bits. Because he uses her half-witted brother as his dupe, Winnie...
[The entire page is 891 words long]
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