The Passion Literary Elements

The Passion Literary Elements

Genre

historiographic metafiction

Setting and Context

Set during the time of Bonaparte, most of the novel takes place in Venice.

Narrator and Point of View

Point of View: first person
Narrator: Henri and Villanelle

Tone and Mood

Tone: questioning, speculative
Mood: suspenseful

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: there are two protagonists, Villanelle and Henri, Antagonist: the surprising antagonist that comes out at the end is the cook Henri replaces who is also Villanelle's husband.

Major Conflict

A young Frenchman Henri, goes into war to become Bonaparte's personal cook. Villanelle gets into war after being forced by her husband. The two meet during Bonaparte's siege of Russia and decide to escape.

Climax

Henri kills the cook, who is also Villanelle's husband. Villanelle inherits her late husband's fortune and Henri ends up in a madhouse which he doesn't feel like leaving.

Foreshadowing

The conflict between the cook and Henri, and the cook's threats to him after he took his place to cook for Bonaparte foreshadow the plot-twist at the end.

Understatement

Henri is idolizing Bonaparte, the object of his passion, making him understate the horrors of war that he will be forced to face.

Allusions

"Not all men are as fortunate as Ulysses." p. 83

Imagery

We have imagery of Venice, which is richly described as a city of mazes.

Paradox

"Trust me, I'm telling you stories." (a sentence, or variations thereof, used five times in the novel)
"Hopeless heart that thrives on paradox; that longs for the beloved and is secretly relieved when the beloved is not there." p.73 (use of paradox and its explanation)

Parallelism

"You play, you win, you play, you lose. You play." (an expression used four times in the novel)

Metonymy and Synecdoche

"This is a city of madmen" p. 112

Personification

"the silent city" p. 54

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