Places Summaries

First published: 1937: The 42nd Parallel, 1930; 1919, 1932; The Big Money, 1936 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: 1900-1935 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *United States *United U.S.A.States. The United States of America of Dos Passos’s trilogy is an ironic analogue to the free country of […]

First published: 1938 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Bildungsroman Time of work: 1860’s-1870’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Yoknapatawpha County Yoknapatawpha Unvanquished, TheCounty (YOK-nuh-puh-TAW-fuh). Fictional county in northeastern Mississippi created by Faulkner and used as the primary setting for most of his fiction, including The Unvanquished. The name of the […]

First published: L’Innommable, 1953 (English translation, 1958) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Absurdist Time of work: Mid-twentieth century Places Discussed Ideal room Ideal Unnamable, Theroom. Perhaps the most frequent reference to place in the novel alludes to a room that the narrator wishes for, in contrast to the room in which he perceives […]

First published: 1594 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Picaresque Time of work: Mid-sixteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Rome *Rome. Unfortunate Traveller, TheItaly’s chief city and the center of the Roman Catholic Church. The novel’s lengthy section on Jack Wilton’s adventures in Rome provide Nashe with ample opportunity for […]

First published: 1811 (English translation, 1818) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Symbolism Time of work: Middle Ages Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Fisherman’s hut Fisherman’s Undinehut. Hut in which the knight Sir Huldbrand meets and eventually marries the water spirit Undine; situated between the wild forest and the lake that […]

First published: Los de abajo, serial, 1915; book, 1916 (English translation, 1929) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: 1914-1915 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Limón *Limón Underdogs, The (lee-MOHN). Rural village in Zacatecas in which the novel begins and ends. In the opening pages, Federalists raid Demetrio’s […]

First published: 1911 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Early twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *St. Petersburg *St. Under Western EyesPetersburg. Capital of Russia and center of its brutally despotic government. In the opening sections of the novel the main character, Razumov, finds himself […]

First published: 1867 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Sentimental Time of work: Mid-nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Household Household. Under Two FlagsLondon barracks of the 1st Life Guards, a British military unit that serves the government in a largely decorative capacity. Although the Life Guards are a military […]

First published: Pod igoto, serial, 1889-1890; book, 1893 (English translation, 1893) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: 1875-1876 Places Discussed Byala Cherkva Byala Under the YokeCherkva (BYAH-lah). Fictional Bulgarian town in which the principal action takes place. Located in the Strema Valley or valley of roses, in the mountains of […]

First published: 1947 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: November 1, 1938, and November 1, 1939 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Mexico *Mexico. Under the VolcanoNorth American country whose tortured history–conquest and enslavement, revolution and unrest–serves as backdrop to the consul’s tragedy. The Mexico through which […]

First published: 1872 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Pastoral Time of work: Nineteenth century Places Discussed Tranter Dewey’s cottage Tranter Under the Greenwood TreeDewey’s cottage. This sociable and comfortable English home of Davy’s father, who works as a tranter, or a carter, is modeled on Hardy’s own long, low cottage with a hipped […]

First published: 1954 First produced: public reading, 1953; radio play, 1954; first staged, 1956 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Domestic realism Time of work: Indeterminate Places Discussed Llareggub Llareggub Under Milk Wood (yah-REH-guhb). Small fishing village on the coast of Wales. Despite the name’s Welsh appearance, it is actually a typical Thomas joke–“bugger […]

First published: Le Feu: Journal d’une escouade, 1916 (English translation, 1917) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Political Time of work: 1914-1915 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Western Front *Western Under FireFront. The novel is set somewhere along the scar of World War I trenches that stretched across northern France, southeast […]

First published: Dyadya Vanya, 1897 (English translation, 1914) First produced: 1899 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Impressionistic realism Time of work: Nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Ukraine *Ukraine. Uncle VanyaRussian province (now an independent country) that borders the north coast of the Black Sea. The relationship between Vanya […]

First published: 1852 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Mid-nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Kentucky *Kentucky. Uncle Tom’s CabinSouth-central U.S. state that provides the setting for the first third of the novel. Kentucky is an appropriate location for slaves hoping to escape because it […]

First published: 1864 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Gothic Time of work: Nineteenth century Places Discussed Bartram-Haugh Bartram-Haugh. Uncle SilasSprawling estate in Derbyshire, a locale in the English countryside. For decades, it has been the home of Silas Ruthyn, Maud Ruthyn’s ruined uncle, and its decrepit condition is clearly intended to symbolize aspects […]

First published: Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, 1984 (English translation, 1984) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Political Time of work: 1960’s and 1970’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Prague *Prague. Unbearable Lightness of Being, TheCapital city of Czechoslovakia and home of Tomas, a successful surgeon and one of the novel’s two protagonists, […]

First published: 1912 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Satire Time of work: Early twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Bassington house Bassington Unbearable Bassington, Thehouse. London home of Francesca Bassington, whose house is hers only until Emmeline Chetrof marries. Thus, it is not truly a home, and its very […]

First published: 1922 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Epic Time of work: June 16, 1904 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Dublin *Dublin. UlyssesIreland’s capital city and principal east coast port on the Irish Sea, through which a young Irish writer and teacher named Stephen Dedalus (whom Joyce introduced in A […]

First published: 1846 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Adventure Time of work: Mid-nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Dolly DollyTypee. Whaling vessel that carries the narrator to the Marquesas Islands. Before arriving there, the ship and its crew spend six months at sea in pursuit of sperm whales. Though […]

First published: La ciociara, 1957 (English translation, 1958) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: 1943-1944 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Rome *Rome. Two WomenCapital and largest city in Italy. Cesira goes there from her girlhood home in the mountainous region of Ciociaria after her marriage to […]

First published: 1954 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Fantasy Time of work: The Third Age in a remote legendary past Places Discussed East of the river East Two Towers, Theof the river. An Orc ambush has captured Merry and Pippin, and a remorseful Boromir has died trying to protect them. Aragorn, Gimli, and […]

First published: 1634 First produced: c. 1612-1613 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragicomedy Time of work: Antiquity Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Athens *Athens. Two Noble Kinsmen, TheAncient Greek city that is the scene of much of the play’s action, Athens is ruled by Duke Theseus, whose marriage to the […]

First published: 1623 First produced: c. 1594-1595 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Comedy Time of work: Sixteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Verona *Verona. Two Gentlemen of Verona, TheCity in northern Italy in which William Shakespeare also set Romeo and Juliet (1595-1596). The Verona of The Two Gentlemen of […]

First published: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, 1869-1870 (English translation, 1873; substantially revised English edition, 1965) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Science fiction Time of work: 1866-1867 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed USS Abraham Lincoln USS Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaAbraham Lincoln. American naval frigate sent to investigate […]

First published: Dvenadtsat’, 1918 (English translation, 1920; collected in A Treasury of Russian Literature, 1943) Type of work: Poetry Type of plot: Ballad Time of work: 1917 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Petrograd *Petrograd. Twelve, TheRussian city in which the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 started, when the city was known as St. […]

First published: 1623 First produced: c. 1600-1602 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Comedy Time of work: Sixteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Illyria *Illyria. Twelfth NightRegion on the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, between Italy and Greece. Its history is marked by waves of conquering invaders, from early […]

First published: 1898 Type of work: Novella Type of plot: Ghost Time of work: Mid-nineteenth century Places Discussed Bly Bly. Turn of the Screw, TheCountry house in Essex to which an unnamed young governess, the daughter of a clergyman, is sent to look after two orphaned children whose wealthy uncle lives in London. The large […]

First published: Xin Lieguo Zhi, Ming edition, after 1627; C’ing edition, after 1644 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: 770-220 b.c.e. Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Xi’an *Xi’an Tung-chou lieh-kuo chih (shee-AN). Walled city on the right bank of the Wei river, about eighty miles west from […]

First transcribed: Alēthōn diēgēmatōn, second century (English translation, 1634) Type of work: Short fiction Type of plot: Satire Time of work: Second century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Sea Sea. True History, AThis work’s voyage takes place over a boundless ocean, which lies beyond the Strait of Gibraltar. The sea is the […]

First published: 1967 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Picaresque Time of work: Fall, 1960, through fall, 1961, with flashbacks to the 1940’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Washington Park *Washington Trout Fishing in AmericaPark. Public park in San Francisco, California, that is meticulously described in the first pages of the […]

First published: 1939 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Autobiographical Time of work: c. 1900-1928 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *New York City *New Tropic of CapricornYork City. City that represents the contradiction of opposites that must be annihilated for the self to emerge, and the spiritual and physical settings of […]

First published: 1934 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Early 1930’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Paris *Paris. Tropic of CancerFrench capital city to which the narrator has moved with the hope of becoming a writer. Tropic of Cancer is a largely autobiographical account of Henry […]

First produced: Trōiades, 415 b.c.e. Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Antiquity Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Troy *Troy. Trojan Women, TheAncient city on the coast of Asia Minor that according to tradition was destroyed by the Greeks. In Euripides’ play, the city’s breached walls–which were originally […]

First transcribed: c. 1382 Type of work: Poetry Type of plot: Love Time of work: Antiquity Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Troy *Troy. Troilus and CriseydeAncient city-state on the coast of Asia Minor. Although Troy was an actual historical place, Chaucer’s description of it bears no resemblance to the city Homer described […]

First published: 1609 First produced: 1601-1602 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Antiquity Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Troy *Troy. Troilus and CressidaAncient city in Asia Minor that is ruled by King Priam. Faced with an unrelenting siege by the more powerful Greeks, the Trojans debate the […]

First published: Il trionfo della morte, 1894 (English translation, 1896) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Rome *Rome. Triumph of Death, TheItaly’s capital city, in which the novel begins with lovers Giorgio and Ippolita meeting for the first time […]

First published: 1927 Type of work: Poetry Type of plot: Arthurian romance Time of work: Arthurian period Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Brittany *Brittany. TristramHistorical region of France that projects into the sea between the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel. In the opening and closing moments of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s […]

First published: Der Prozess, 1925 (English translation, 1937; restored German edition, 1982; new English translation, 1998) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Allegory Time of work: Twentieth century Places Discussed City City. Trial, TheKafka’s urban setting for The Trial reinforces the ordinary quality of protagonist Joseph K.’s life. K. lives and works as anyone […]

First published: Folkungaträdet, 1905-1907 (English translation, 1925) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: Eleventh and thirteenth centuries Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Folketuna farm Folketuna Tree of the Folkungs, Thefarm (FOL-keh-too-nah). Fictional farm in East Gothland that is associated with the eleventh century origins of the powerful […]

First published: 1955 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Parable Time of work: Twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Bush Bush. Tree of Man, TheAustralian term for wilderness area that also has connotations that make the bush a fearful place on one hand and a spiritual place on the other. […]

First published: 1943 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Bildungsroman Time of work: Early twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Brooklyn *Brooklyn. Tree Grows in Brooklyn, ABorough of New York City that in the early twentieth century was filled with immigrant and second-generation Irish, Poles, Jews, and Italians. In this […]

First published: serial, 1881-1882; book, 1883 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Adventure Time of work: Mid-eighteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Admiral Benbow Inn Admiral Treasure IslandBenbow Inn. Public inn owned by Jim Hawkins’s parents near Black Hill Cove, an isolated and sheltered bay on Devon’s north coast, along […]

First transcribed: Lao Ts’an youji, serialized 1904-1907 (English translation, 1952; revised, 1990) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: 1895-1900 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Inns Inns. Travels of Lao Ts’an, TheTrue to his name, Lao Ts’an moves to a series of inns of varying quality. These […]

First published: serial, 1889-1890; book, 1890 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: 1880’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Paris *Paris. Tragic Muse, TheFrance’s capital is the setting of the first few chapters of the novel and several subsequent chapters. British visitors to this many-faceted city find […]

First published: 1731 First produced: 1731 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Farce Time of work: Age of chivalry Places Discussed King Arthur’s Court King Tragedy of Tragedies, TheArthur’s Court. The public and private rooms in the legendary King Arthur’s castle are the settings for most action in this play. Through a series of […]

First published: 1957 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: 1909-1927 Places Discussed Jefferson Jefferson. Town, TheMississippi town that is home to aristocrats of the unreconstructed Old South, whose family names include the Compsons, de Spains, Sartorises, and Stevenses. The preserved culture and society of the old land-based, medieval class […]

First published: 1840 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: Sixteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Tower of London *Tower Tower of London, Theof London. Historic castle on the River Thames is the principal setting of the novel. W. Harrison Ainsworth wrote The Tower of London as […]

First published: 1927, as poem; collected in The Tower, 1928 Type of work: Poetry Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Byzantium *Byzantium. Tower, TheCapital city of the Byzantine Empire and Holy City of Eastern Christianity; renamed Constantinople in the fourth century and now called Istanbul. For William Butler Yeats, Byzantium represents the origins […]

First published: 1979 First produced: 1978-1979, at the Richard Allen Center, New York City Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Mid-1970’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *International Stud Bar *International Torch Song TrilogyStud Bar. Gay men’s hangout in New York City’s Greenwich Village that contained the […]

First published: 1935 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Naturalism Time of work: Early 1920’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Tortilla Flat Tortilla Tortilla FlatFlat. Impoverished neighborhood outside Monterey, California, in which “paisanos” (people of mixed Spanish, Indian, Mexican, and Anglo heritage) live. It is a barrio neighborhood on a hill […]

First published: 1982 First produced: 1982, at the Royal Court Theatre, London Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Early 1980’s Places Discussed Restaurant Restaurant. Top GirlsFictional space outside time and place with a table set for dinner. Caryl Churchill’s realistic dialogue, with overlapping chatter and constant ordering from menus, […]

First published: 1909 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social satire Time of work: Late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Bladesover House Bladesover Tono-BungayHouse. Fictional seventeenth century estate nine miles southeast of London. It is modeled on Up Park, a great house near Peterfield, Kent, where […]

First published: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, 1749 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Romance Time of work: Early eighteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Paradise Hall Paradise Tom JonesHall. Estate of Squire Allworthy in Glastonbury in southwestern England’s county of Somersetshire. Allworthy’s estate borders that of Squire […]

First published: 1857, anonymously; 1858, with full authorship Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Early nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Rugby School *Rugby Tom Brown’s School DaysSchool. One of the great English public schools, founded in 1567. In writing this novel, Thomas Hughes described […]

First published: Les Travailleurs de la mer, 1866 (English translation, 1866) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Sentimental Time of work: 1820’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Channel Islands *Channel Toilers of the Sea, TheIslands. Group of islands off the coast of Normandy (known to the French as the Normand Islands) […]

First published: 1932 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Naturalism Time of work: 1920’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Lester farm Lester Tobacco Roadfarm. Georgia home of Jeeter Lester’s family, near the town of Fuller. A three-room ramshackle house with a sagging porch and leaky roof stands in a grassless yard […]

First published: 1927 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Stream of consciousness Time of work: c. 1910-1920 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Summerhouse Summerhouse. To the LighthouseRamshackle Victorian house on an island in the Hebrides that accommodates both the large Ramsay family and their friends. It is here that Mrs. Ramsay […]

First published: 1960 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Bildungsroman Time of work: Mid-1930’s Places Discussed Maycomb Maycomb. To Kill a MockingbirdSeat of Alabama’s fictional Maycomb County, located twenty miles east of Finch’s Landing. Through its citizens from professional, middle, and lower classes, Harper Lee analyzes the values and problems common in small southern […]

First published: 1594 First produced: 1594 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Early Christian era Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Rome *Rome. Titus AndronicusCenter of the Roman Empire, where the play opens at Emperor Titus’s royal court. The entrance of the emperor’s sons through different doors opens […]

First published: 1914 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Naturalism Time of work: 1890’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Chicago *Chicago. Titan, TheDreiser loved and admired Chicago. He wrote about it in many of his novels, including Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925). The Titan presents a vivid, accurate […]

First published: Die Blechtrommel, 1959 (English translation, 1962) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social satire Time of work: 1899-1954 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Danzig *Danzig Tin Drum, Theor Gdansk (DAN-zik; GEH-danshk). Major Polish port on the Baltic Sea that has a long and colorful history dating from the tenth […]

First published: 1623 First transcribed: c. 1607-1608 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Fourth century b.c.e. Places Discussed Timon’s house Timon’s Timon of Athenshouse. Large, richly appointed abode in Athens in which Timon’s wealth and good nature win him many false friends and hangers-on, as his vast hall becomes the […]

First published: 1939 First produced: 1939, at the Shubert Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: 1939 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *San Francisco *San Time of Your Life, TheFrancisco. Port city in Northern California in which the play is set. Saroyan delighted […]

First published: 1895 (serial form, Science Schools Journal, April-June, 1888; National Observer, March-June, 1894; and New Review, January-May, 1895) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Fantasy Time of work: Late nineteenth century Places Discussed Time Traveller’s home Time Time Machine, TheTraveller’s home. Although it is reasonable to infer that Wells’s unnamed traveler lives in […]

First published: 1935 as La Guerre de Troie n’aura pas lieu (English translation, 1955) First produced: 1935 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Mythic Time of work: Trojan War era Places Discussed Off stage Off Tiger at the Gatesstage. Characters refer to actions that they can see, but that the audience can only imagine, […]

First produced: c. 40-55 c.e. (English translation, 1581) Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Antiquity Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Mycenae *Mycenae Thyestes (Mi-SEE-nee). Fortified city in southeastern Greece and site of the Bronze Age kingdom ruled by the mythical general who led the Greek alliance in […]

First published: 1871 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Fantasy Time of work: Nineteenth century Places Discussed Alice’s house Alice’s Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found Therehouse. The story starts and ends in the overstuffed Victorian parlor of Alice’s English home. As in Wonderland, a safe, comfortable world surrounds the sometimes threatening dream […]

First published: 1929 as Die Dreigroschenoper (English translation, 1949) First produced: 1928, at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, Berlin Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Social satire Time of work: 1837 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Soho *Soho. Threepenny Opera, TheDistrict of central London in which all the action of the play […]

First published: 1921 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: 1917-1919 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Army camp Army Three Soldierscamp. U.S. training camp in which the novel’s three soldiers prepare to be sent overseas. In the boring, restrictive confines of army camp life, Andrews, Chrisfield, and […]

First published: Les Trois Mousquetaires, 1844 (English translation, 1846) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: 1626 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Gascony *Gascony. Three Musketeers, TheRegion of southwestern France between the Atlantic coast, the Garonne River, and the western Pyrenees. In making the hero, d’Artagnan, a Gascon, […]

First published: 1909 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Bridgepoint Bridgepoint. Three LivesFictional southern port town in an unspecified state in which the entire novel is set. Created from Stein’s memories of Baltimore at the […]

First published: 1915 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Spy Time of work: 1914 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Scotland *Scotland. Thirty-nine Steps, TheNumerous rural locations in the lowlands of Scotland, including small towns, farms, country houses, and open fields, figure into this spy story. Through most of the novel, the […]

First published: 1958 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Late nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Umofia Umofia Things Fall Apart (oo-moh-FEE-uh). Area in southeastern Nigeria, comprising nine villages, where the Umofia clan live. “Umofia” is the Igbo word for “people of the forest.” The word […]

First published: 1934 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Detective and mystery Time of work: 1930’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Manhattan *Manhattan. Thin Man, TheNew York City borough that is the financial and cultural center of the United States and the primary setting for the novel. Though various plot threads […]

First published: Un Mariage d’amour, 1867, serial; Thérèse Raquin, 1867, book (English translation, 1881) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Naturalism Time of work: Early 1860’s Places Discussed Passage du Pont-Neuf Passage Thérèse Raquindu Pont-Neuf (pah-SAHJ dyu POHN-newf). Covered arcade in Paris; a flagstone-floored alley that runs between two streets lined with small shops. […]

First published: Thérèse Desqueyroux, 1927 (English translation, 1928) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Argelouse Argelouse Thérèse (ahr-geh-LOOZ). Fictional small town in an isolated part of southwestern France, largely abandoned, except for some tenant farmers and two prominent families, […]

First published: 1937 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Bildungsroman Time of work: Around 1900 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed West Florida West Their Eyes Were Watching GodFlorida. Region in which Janie Crawford spends the early years of her life. The initial part of the novel is set in her maternal […]

First published: Tevye der Milkhiger, 1894-1914 (English translation, 1949, 1987) Type of work: Short fiction Places Discussed Boiberik Boiberik. Tevye the DairymanSmall Russian town, modeled on Boyarka near Kiev, where Tevye travels in his horse-drawn wagon to sell cheese, cream, and butter to the wealthy who eat, drink, and enjoy their leisure in luxury. This […]

First published: 1891 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Philosophical realism Time of work: Late nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Wessex Wessex. Tess of the D’UrbervillesHardy’s fictionalized version of the region around Dorset, a coastal county in southern England, taking its name from the West Saxon kingdom of the […]

First published: 1934 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: 1920’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *French Riviera *French Tender Is the NightRiviera. Resort area along France’s Mediterranean coast that the novel refers to as the “home” of Dick Diver and his wife. The novel opens there, […]

First published: 1848 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Early nineteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Wildfell Hall Wildfell Tenant of Wildfell Hall, TheHall. Old run-down country house dating back to the Elizabethan era, situated in the north of England, some seven miles from the […]

First published: La Tentation de Saint Antoine, 1874 (English translation, 1895) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: Fourth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Saint Anthony’s cell Saint Temptation of Saint Anthony, TheAnthony’s cell. Hermitage in which Anthony lives. It is set on a crescent-shaped platform high […]

First published: Kinkakuji, 1956 (English translation, 1959) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: Mid-twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Kinkakuji Kinkakuji Temple of the Golden Pavilion, The (kin-ka-kew-jee). Temple, also known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, in Kyōto that is a rare masterpiece […]

First published: 1623 First produced: 1611 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Fantasy Time of work: Fifteenth century Places Discussed Enchanted island Enchanted Tempest, Theisland. Remote home of the rightful duke of Milan, Prospero, as well as his daughter Miranda and his slave Caliban. Presumably the almost deserted island is in the Mediterranean Sea, […]

First published: 1959 First produced: 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Stratford, England Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: 1950’s Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Salford *Salford. Taste of Honey, ATown adjacent to Manchester in the industrial Midlands district of England that is the setting for the […]

First published: 1623 First produced: c. 1593-1594 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Comedy Time of work: Sixteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Warwickshire *Warwickshire. Taming of the Shrew, TheCounty in England’s Midlands area, which contains William Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. The induction scenes, outside a tavern and within a […]

First published: 1669 as Tartuffe: Ou, L’Imposteur (English translation, 1732) First produced: 1664; revision, 1667 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Comedy Time of work: Seventeenth century Places Discussed Orgon’s house Orgon’s Tartuffehouse. Parisian home of Orgon, a wealthy former officer of the King’s Guard, that is the play’s principal setting. The class and […]

First published: 1590 First produced: part 1, c. 1587; part 2, 1587 Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Tragedy Time of work: Fourteenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Asia *Asia. Tamburlaine the GreatLargest continent on Earth, stretching from the Black Sea in the west to the China Sea in the […]

First published: 1924 Type of work: Poetry Type of plot: Psychological Time of work: World War I Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Carmel *Carmel. TamarNorthern California town near Point Lobos, the location of the fictional Cauldwell ranch. Robinson Jeffers lived in Carmel while he wrote this poem. He placed many of his […]

First published: Fifth of July, 1978, revised, 1982; Talley’s Folly, 1979; Talley and Son, 1986 First produced: Fifth of July, 1978; Talley’s Folly, 1979; Talley and Son, 1981 (as A Tale Told) Type of work: Drama Type of plot: Psychological realism Time of work: July 4, 1944, Talley’s Folly and Talley and Son; July 4/5, […]

First published: 1825 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: Twelfth century Places Discussed Diamond of the Desert Diamond Talisman, Theof the Desert. Natural fountain amid solitary groups of palm trees and a bit of verdure, located in the region of the Dead Sea. At this oasis, Kenneth of the Couching […]

First published: Ise monogatari, tenth century, based on Narihira kashū, ninth century (English translation, 1968) Type of work: Short fiction Type of plot: Love Time of work: Ninth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Ise *Ise Tales of Ise (ee-say). City, in province of the same name, that is the site of […]

First published: 1859 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Historical Time of work: French Revolution Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed Tellson & Co Tellson Tale of Two Cities, A & Co. English merchant bank with branches in London and Paris. The bank’s London office is dark, ugly, and staffed by old-fashioned […]

First published: Genji monogatari, c. 1004 (English translation, 1925-1933; unexpurgated and annotated translation, 2001) Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Romance Time of work: Tenth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Kyōto *Kyōto Tale of Genji, The (kyoh-toh). Japanese city in west-central Hōnshu, northeast of Osaka, that was the imperial capital […]

First published: A Tale of a Tub: To Which Is Added an Account of a Battle Between the Ancient and Modern Books in St. James’s Library; and the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit, 1704 Type of work: Satire Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *Grub Street *Grub Tale of a Tub, AStreet. Minor […]

First published: 1845 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Political realism Time of work: 1837-1843 Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed *London *London. SybilAs in Elizabeth Gaskell’s similar novel, North and South (1854-1855), the London of Sybil is not systematically portrayed. However, a contrast is set up between areas of power and […]

First published: Der Schweizerische Robinson, 2 vols., 1812-1813 (The Family Robinson Crusoe, 1814; as The Swiss Family Robinson, 1818); illustrated Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Adventure Time of work: Late eighteenth century Places Discussed Ship Ship. Swiss Family Robinson, TheUnnamed vessel on which the Robinsons are traveling when the novel opens. Readers are […]

First published: 1832 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Early nineteenth century Places Discussed Swallow Barn Swallow Swallow BarnBarn. Frank Meriwether’s plantation home on the southern bank of the James River in Virginia’s coastal tidewater region. Meriwether’s home combines the rustic and the elegant, embodying the hospitality, industry, and […]

First published: 1936 Type of work: Novel Type of plot: Social realism Time of work: Early twentieth century Asterisk denotes entries on real places. Places Discussed St. Xavier St. Surrounded, TheXavier. Mission town in western Montana’s Sniél-emen Valley. It is also the name of the church and boarding school where Indian children are trained by […]