The Sot-Weed Factor (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: John Barth
- First Published: 1960
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Picaresque
- Time of Work: Late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries
- Setting: England and colonial Maryland
- Genres: Long fiction, Historical fiction, Parody
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Colonies or colonization, Art or artists, Prostitution or prostitutes, Poetry or poets, England or English people, Eighteenth century, Seventeenth century, Idealism, Life, philosophy of, Tutors or tutoring, Celibacy, Innocence
- Locales: Chesapeake Bay, London, England, Maryland
Characters Discussed
Ebenezer (Eben) Cooke (EH-beh- nee-zur), the main character, who moves from the position of naïve fool to wounded and wise sophisticate during this novel, which describes his adventures as he learns the difference between his romantic view of the world and cruel reality. Eben and his twin sister Anna were born in 1666 in Maryland, on Malden, a tobacco plantation owned by their father, Andrew. Eben’s mother died giving birth to the twins. Andrew returned to England for the children’s education, hiring Henry Burlingame III as their tutor. Eben attends...
[The entire page is 943 words long]
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