The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Milan Kundera
- First Published: 1984
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Political
- Time of Work: The 1960’s to the 1970’s
- Setting: Czechoslovakia and Switzerland
- Genres: Long fiction, Political fiction, Metafiction
- Subjects: Freedom, 1960’s, 1970’s, Communism or communists, Politics, Love or romance, Exile or expatriates, Betrayal, Doctors, Adultery, Switzerland or Swiss people, Czechoslovakia or Czechoslovakians, Cambodia or Cambodians
- Locales: Zurich, Switzerland, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Characters Discussed
Tomas (TAW-mahsh), a noted Czechoslovak surgeon and indefatigable philanderer. At the novel’s pivotal chronological moment (the summer of 1968, when the Russians invade and occupy Czechoslovakia), Tomas is forty years old. He and his wife, Tereza, flee to begin a new life in Switzerland. After several months in Zurich, Tereza abruptly returns to Prague. The fact that Tomas follows Tereza suggests the depth of his love for his wife and homeland. There is, however, no corresponding commitment to fidelity. One of the keys to Tomas’ character, to the...
[The entire page is 959 words long]
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