The Vivisector (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Patrick White
- First Published: 1970
- Type of Work: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The first seventy years of the twentieth century
- Setting: Sydney, Australia, and its environs
- Principal Characters: Hurtle Duffield Courtney, Alfreda and Harry Courtney, Rhoda Courtney, Olivia Davenport (Boo Hollingrake), Nance Lightfoot, Hero Pavloussi, Kathy Volkov
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Culture, Family or family life, Self-discovery, Sex or sexuality, Twentieth century, Class consciousness, Poverty or poor people, Adoption or adopted children, World War I, Painting or painters, Australia or Australians
- Locales: Australia, Sydney, Australia
The Novel
Hurtle Duffield begins life as one of a large number of children whose family lives in abject poverty. Mumma Duffield does laundry for some of the wealthier people around, and on one occasion, she takes young Hurtle with her to the Courtney mansion. The Courtneys, childless except for their hunchback daughter, are charmed by the precocious little Duffield boy. They offer to purchase him from his beleaguered parents who, faced with the prospect of yet another baby on the way, agree. Hurtle therefore goes to live with Alfreda and Harry Courtney and their spiteful...
[The entire page is 2459 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
